Snakes with ladders
In the weeks leading up to the typhoon season last autumn, I had a series of unexpected visitors. They all looked gravely at the roof of my 20-year-old home. Then they all looked gravely at me. Did I know typhoon season was coming? Did I realise my roof tiles probably should be replaced? Did I want a free check-up and estimate? Each claimed to be a professional roofer.
They were concerned, attentive and very, very slick. One even climbed his ladder to check out my roof, and came down with digital pictures of the defective areas. He kindly suggested we take action 'before it's too late'. Something 'serious' could happen in the next typhoon.
The next day, my husband climbed onto the roof and found nothing amiss, no emergency in the making. In the nine months since then, nothing terrible has happened - to us. But many other people made a different decision, and got swindled. Millions of yen have been lost in the latest scam to hit this country - home-repair fraud.
It first hit the headlines in May, when one horrendous case was revealed. Two old sisters, 78 and 80, were forced to sell their home, in Fujimi city north of Tokyo, at public auction. Both were senile. It turned out they had signed home-repair orders with 19 different contractors, for roughly 50 million yen ($3.4 million), and had to sell the home to settle their debts.
The con men are taking advantage of two social trends. Many homeowners have taken to renovating their own homes, rather than buying new ones, in Japan's prolonged economic malaise. And the number of elderly people living by themselves has risen, and now makes up one household in six. Many are approaching senility.
The old and mentally weak, and the young and ignorant, fall for the warnings and sweet words of concern. The contractors propose unnecessary repairs and charge inflated bills for exterminating termites, installing under-floor anti-humidity devices, reinforcing foundations, wall repairs, installing anti-earthquake devices, fixing sagging ceilings and, of course, replacing roof tiles.