I posted this because paragraph (2) of the same article of the law says that death notifications may also be filed by non-cohabitating family members, which is what I assume happens in most cases when the deceased tenant was living alone. So I wonder if this an unspoken reason why some landlords are reluctant to rent to foreigners (particularly single students/young people)- because there are no family members nearby in case something bad happens. It used to be (and may still be) the case that middle-aged single Japanese women also had trouble renting flats, and was probably for a similar reason.   

I am not justifying such refusals, of course, I just never knew that landlords had this duty.