“I Couldn’t Accept It”: Tenant Stabs Landlord After Being Forced Out of Apartment—The Dangerous Side of Eviction Negotiations

There’s a man bleeding

On the evening of September 7, a man in his 40s who had visited an apartment in Nishitokyo, Tokyo, to ask a tenant to move out was stabbed by the resident.

Arrested on the spot on suspicion of attempted murder by officers from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Tanashi Police Station was Katsuji Kondo, 66, an unemployed resident of the apartment.

“At around 5:30 p.m., an emergency call was made reporting, ‘There’s a man who is bleeding.’ When officers from Tanashi Police Station arrived, they found the injured man lying on the road outside the apartment. He had multiple stab wounds, including injuries to his face and abdomen. Although he was conscious when he was taken to the hospital, he suffered serious injuries requiring approximately six months of treatment. Kondo admitted to stabbing the man, so he was arrested on the spot.” (National newspaper crime reporter)

The injured man worked for a rent-guarantee company. Kondo had fallen behind on his apartment rent, and September 7—the day the incident occurred—was reportedly the day he was scheduled to move out of the apartment.

The man visited Kondo’s room alone to ask him to vacate the property. However, a dispute broke out between the two, and Kondo allegedly stabbed the man multiple times with a bladed weapon near the entrance to his apartment.

During questioning, Kondo admitted to the allegations, reportedly stating, “I stabbed the man with a survival knife.” He also reportedly said, “I couldn’t accept being forced to move out.” The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the circumstances in detail, including what exchanges had taken place between the two men over Kondo’s unpaid rent and his eviction.

“Kondo appears to have been behind on approximately three months of rent, totaling about ¥160,000. Several days before the incident, he reportedly tried to negotiate with the injured man, asking him to let me postpone the rent payment and let me pay in installments, but his requests were not accepted. He appears to have become increasingly frustrated over the payments.

Police also seized three bladed weapons from his home, including a survival knife and a kitchen knife, so it appears possible that multiple knives were used.” (Same source)

At around 8:40 a.m. on September 9, Kondo was sent to prosecutors from Tanashi Police Station. With a shaved head and deep wrinkles between his eyebrows, he stared at the cameras of the assembled press, his gaze seemingly conveying hostility.

A job that puts workers on the front lines of disputes

A neighbor of suspect Kondo described him as follows:

“I think Kondo had been living in his current apartment since before COVID. I had never spoken with him, and there had never been any trouble. He wore sportswear every day and would go walking in the morning or evening.”

There was also a murder this January involving an eviction from a rental apartment.

On January 15, a male resident, 40 at the time, attacked court enforcement officers and others who had visited an apartment in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, to carry out a compulsory eviction, using a kitchen knife. Two people were stabbed, including a 61-year-old employee of a rent-guarantee company who had been there as an observer; he later died.

In the Suginami incident, a court had issued a ruling the previous year ordering the resident to vacate the apartment, and around 10 people, including a court enforcement officer, had visited the property to carry out the compulsory eviction. Even so, the situation resulted in the death of an employee of the rent-guarantee company.

In the present case, meanwhile, it is reported that only the injured man visited Kondo’s apartment to ask him to move out. So, what exactly does a rent-guarantee company do?

“The basic role of a rent-guarantee company is to temporarily pay the landlord when a tenant falls behind on rent, and then seek payment from the tenant. When a matter cannot be resolved through phone calls or written notices alone, employees may visit the tenant’s home to understand the circumstances or discuss payment arrangements. If the arrears continue for an extended period, they may also work with the landlord or an attorney to coordinate the process of having the tenant vacate the property.

The difficulty is that negotiations can become challenging because they involve rent payments and a person’s home. Since employees sometimes have to deal with people face-to-face at their homes, there is a risk of being shouted at or threatened, and in some cases the situation can escalate into violence. Discussions about moving out are particularly sensitive because they concern the tenant’s basic living situation. Employees of rent-guarantee companies are also people who directly face tenants on the front lines of disputes over unpaid rent.” (Real estate industry source)

In the present case, it has yet to be determined how Kondo came to have the bladed weapon ready or what exactly was discussed between him and the injured man. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is continuing to investigate the circumstances in detail.

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