Process
From inquiry to settlement, in four steps
Most borrowers receive a credit decision within about ten business days of a completed application, and settlement can follow in as little as around thirty days — in practice it commonly runs to four to eight weeks. Before you begin, confirm the property and your residency against our eligibility criteria.
- Step 01
Inquiry & consultation
Contact us by phone or email to discuss your requirements. We ask you to complete a short client intake form (approximately ten minutes), then carry out a preliminary property and serviceability assessment and provide an indicative borrowing figure — typically within 24 to 48 hours.
24 – 48 hours - Step 02
Application
Submit the full application with identification, income evidence and property details — accepted in English, Chinese or Japanese, with nothing to translate. A non-refundable commitment fee and appraisal fee are payable at this stage (see the Fees page). We complete KYC and credit underwriting and issue a decision within ten business days.
10 business days - Step 03
Confirmation & documentation
On credit approval, you confirm the loan amount and we issue the loan documentation — the loan offer letter, loan agreement, mortgage agreement and payment instructions — for your review and execution.
5 – 10 business days - Step 04
Settlement
Settlement (決済, Kessai) takes place no sooner than five business days after documentation is finalized. Funds are exchanged through escrow, and the mortgage lien is registered with the Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局, Hōmukyoku) by YEN LOANS' designated judicial scrivener (司法書士), who also effects the ownership transfer where applicable. The property insurance policy must be in force on the day of closing.
5 – 15 business days
Application to settlement typically four to eight weeks
The four steps above are the loan. For the whole purchase — finding the property, the sequence to ownership, what is specific to Japan, and where financing fits — read the 13-page primer.
What you'll need
Documents for the application
Nothing is required for the inquiry and consultation beyond a short client intake form. From the application stage onwards, you provide the documents below. There is no requirement to translate anything into Japanese.
- Completed application form.
- Identification — a passport from an eligible country or region.
- Income evidence — tax returns or equivalent.
- Recent bank statements.
- Property details or listing particulars.
Income and supporting documents are accepted in English, Chinese or Japanese; offer documents are issued in English. See the full borrower and property tests on the Eligibility page.
Settlement in Japan
How the day itself works
Settlement of a Japanese property loan is handled a little differently from many other jurisdictions. Three parties and three terms are worth knowing before completion.
On the settlement date, the purchase price and the loan are exchanged through escrow, and the change of ownership and the mortgage are registered at the same time.
YEN LOANS' designated judicial scrivener prepares and lodges the registrations with the Legal Affairs Bureau — the mortgage lien, and ordinarily the property transfer as well. Their fees, together with valuation, registration and stamp costs, are set out on the Fees page. Once registration completes, the loan is drawn and servicing begins.
You do not need to travel to Japan. Settlement can be completed entirely remotely. If you are not able to attend in person, you may grant a power of attorney for completion to be carried out on your behalf.
- 決済Kessai
- Settlement, or completion — the day the price and loan are exchanged and title and mortgage are registered together.
- 司法書士Shihō-shoshi
- A judicial scrivener: the licensed specialist who prepares and files the title and mortgage registrations.
- 法務局Hōmukyoku
- The Legal Affairs Bureau, the government registry where ownership and the security interest are recorded.
After settlement
Servicing, for the life of the loan
Settlement is not the end of the relationship. A YEN LOANS mortgage runs for up to 35 years, and how it is serviced — who you deal with, and how you pay from outside Japan — is settled before completion, not left to work out afterwards.
From drawdown onward, the loan is serviced day to day by a specialist third-party loan servicer on our behalf. YEN LOANS remains your lender throughout: we lend as principal, make the credit decisions and retain the credit risk on the loans we offer. A loan maintenance fee of ¥39,600 a year applies (see the Fees page).
Payments are made monthly, in yen. You do not need to hold a Japanese bank account. Where you have one, payments are collected from it by arrangement. Where you do not, we require a local property manager (管理会社, kanri-gaisha), and the monthly payment is collected from the property's management account. Your responsibility is simply to keep that account funded each month. Where the property is let, the rent the manager collects flows into the same account and can cover the payment directly.
If your circumstances change during the term, tell us early. It is always better to raise something before a payment is missed — where a borrower engages early, there is usually more that can be done.
Timings are indicative and depend on the property, the borrower's jurisdiction and document turnaround. Every application is subject to credit assessment and security review under the Money Lending Business Act (MLBA); a credit decision is not a commitment to lend until the loan agreement is executed. Effective annual rate (実質年率) within 14.6%, calculated on the principal net of fees; late-payment charge up to 20.0% p.a. Applications are subject to careful review and may be declined. Please check the terms of your agreement and borrow within your means. 慎重な審査の結果、お申込みの意に沿えない場合がございます。ご契約内容をご確認のうえ、ご利用は計画的に。 YEN LOANS K.K. — Money Lending Business Operators License, Governor of Tokyo (1) No. 31998. The approved Japanese disclosure is published in full under 貸付条件の表示.