The mandatory registration of address changes for real estate owners will bring several significant impacts.
The mandatory registration of address changes for real estate owners will bring several significant impacts.
2025年7月9日最終更新日時 : 2025年7月9日司法書士事務所マルニキリ
Obligation and Deadline for Application
Real estate owners will be obligated to apply for registration of changes to their address, etc., within two years from the date of the change.
This obligation also applies to changes that occurred before the enforcement date of April 1, 2024, if the registration has NOT YET been completed, but a two-year grace period is provided.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
If the application is neglected without a legitimate reason, the owner will be subject to a fine of up to 50,000 yen.
The specific types of "legitimate reasons" and detailed procedures for imposing the fine are planned to be clarified through future notifications and ordinances.
Background and Purpose of the Obligation
Previously, applying for address change registration was voluntary, and owners rarely suffered significant disadvantages for not doing so, leading to many unrecorded changes.
It was also considered burdensome to apply for changes for all owned real estate every time one moved.
Surveys have shown that uncompleted address change registrations are a major cause of owner-unknown land in urban areas. Therefore, this obligation is being introduced as a measure to address the issue of owner-unknown land.
Simplification and Rationalization of Application Procedures, and Introduction of Ex-Officio Registration System
To ensure the effectiveness of the application obligation and reduce the burden on owners, a new system will be introduced where registrars perform address change registration ex-officio based on information obtained from other public institutions.
For Natural Persons:
Starting April 21, 2025, natural persons registered as property owners can provide "search information," including their name, phonetic name (romanized name for foreigners), address, date of birth, and email address, when applying for registration (e.g., preservation or transfer of ownership).
For those who newly become property owners on or after April 21, 2025, providing search information at the time of registration application is generally required. Those who are already registered owners by that date can also provide this information.
Providing search information is deemed "indispensable" for addressing uncompleted address change registrations, which are a major cause of owner-unknown land.
The registrar will use the provided search information to inquire with the Basic Resident Register Network System (Juki-Net) to obtain information on changes to the owner's name and address.
Based on the acquired information, the registrar will confirm with the registered owner about performing the address change registration (this is treated as a "request" or "consent") and then perform the ex-officio change registration (non-taxable). This will deem the owner to have fulfilled their application obligation. This ex-officio system starts on April 1, 2026.
Even if an owner does not have an email address, they can still provide search information. In such cases, the confirmation for ex-officio registration will be sent by mail to their registered address.
For Corporations:
For real estate where a corporation is the registered owner, the company/corporate number will be added as a registration item, effective April 1, 2024.
Through internal Ministry of Justice system linkage, information on corporations that have changed their name or address will be automatically notified from the commercial/corporate registration system to the real estate registration system.
Based on this notification, the registrar will perform the ex-officio change registration for the corporate owner without confirming their intent, starting on April 1, 2026. This will deem the corporation's application obligation as fulfilled.
System for Adding Supplementary Information to Names
It will be possible to add former names to the names of registered property owners and to add romanized names for foreign registered owners, effective April 1, 2024.
These additions are treated as supplementary information to the name, not as registration items themselves.
For foreign owners, even if their names are in Kanji, romanized names can be added.
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