CORRECTED - CORRECTED-(OFFICIAL) UPDATE 1-Joint files for bankruptcy protect

(Orix corrects description of credit agreement between it and Joint in paragraph 8 to "credit line" from "commitment line". Orix wants to clarify that it was not a general commitment line but a credit line for new project, subject to lender's approval)

*Fourth-largest failure by listed Japanese firm this year

*Top shareholder Orix says may write down stake

TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - Japanese apartment developer Joint Corp 8874.T filed for bankruptcy protection with about $1.5 billion in debt, underscoring the sluggish state of the property market and dealing a blow to shareholder Orix Corp (8591.T).

Joint, which received a capital infusion from Orix late last year to shore up its finances, said it was forced to file for court protection from creditors after revenues, mainly from real estate securitisation, dried up.

"It is impossible to boost our revenue in the short term. It is also difficult to restructure the business by ourselves," Joint said in a statement.

Joint said it had liabilities of 147.6 billion yen, making it the fourth-largest failure by a listed Japanese company in 2009 after lender SFCG Co, apartment developer Japan General Estate Co and real estate investor Pacific Holdings Inc.

Japan's property market has been hit hard as the country's worst recession since World War Two saps demand for houses and office space. In 2008 alone, nearly 600 real estate firms collapsed.

Joint, which developed condominiums in Tokyo's residential areas and resort destinations, suffered a 64.6 billion yen net loss for the year ended March 2009, with sales tumbling by more than a third to 119.6 billion yen.

Orix, Japan's largest leasing firm and a major real estate investor, bought 10 billion yen worth of common and preferred shares in Joint last year, swooping into save the developer at a time when many of its rivals were failing.

Orix, which holds a 39.3 percent stake in Joint, said that it may have to write down its investment but that it had not extended any loans from a 20 billion yen credit line established as part of the deal.

Prior to the announcement, shares of Joint rose 1.9 percent to 213 yen, giving it market value of about $160 million. Shares of Orix fell 1 percent to 5,990 yen. (Reporting by Junko Fujita and Nathan Layne; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)