The growing economic crisis, rising inflation, and the increase in foreign exchange rates have led to significant increases in real estate prices. Due to these recent developments in Turkey, many landlords seek legal ways to evict their tenants so that they can replace them with someone willing to pay higher rent. What are the legal rights of the landlord to vacate their tenants? Below, we have summarised the most common ways to evict a tenant.
Existence of a Valid Eviction Commitment Letter
If you, as a landlord, want to rent out your property, you need to be aware that, according to the Turkish Code of Obligations Law No. 6098 (hereinafter referred to as TCO), a lease agreement is automatically renewed for a term of one year unless the tenant provides a notification to the landlord terminating the lease agreement. This means that at the end of the lease agreement, you cannot request eviction to seek a higher paying tenant.
One way to make this possible is to ask the tenant to sign an eviction commitment letter after the conclusion of the lease agreement. An eviction commitment letter, as regulated under Article 352/I of TCO, is a written commitment by a tenant to vacate residences and roofed workplaces on a certain date. In case the tenant does not vacate the leased property, you, as a landlord, have the right to terminate the lease agreement within one month starting from the date on the eviction letter by applying to the enforcement office or filing a lawsuit. In practice, many cases on these grounds were unsuccessful due to the fact that the eviction commitment letter was not prepared in accordance with the legal requirements as stated in the TCO.
So, what are the requirements for a valid eviction commitment letter?
First of all, the commitment shall be in written form. It is deemed sufficient to make the commitment in ordinary written form, as no additional criteria have been set. However, in order to prevent the possibility of the tenant claiming that the signature on the eviction letter does not belong to him or her, it is highly advisable to make this commitment letter in the form of an arrangement through a notary public.
The second criterion for a valid eviction letter is that this legal document must be signed by the tenant or their authorised representative. If there is more than one tenant, the commitment to evict must be given by all tenants. Moreover, in case the leased property is defined as a family home, the eviction commitment letter needs to be signed by both spouses to be legally valid.
The third criterion is that the commitment letter needs to include the date of the promised eviction. However, according to the decision of the General Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Supreme Court, dated 28.09.2021 and numbered 2017/975 E. 2021/1108 K, if the signature under the eviction commitment letter belongs to the tenant, and the eviction date is later filled in by the landlord, the commitment is considered legally valid.
The last criterion is that the commitment letter shall be given after the delivery of the leased property to the tenant. It is important to note that eviction commitment letters given before the lease agreement and even those made before the delivery of the leased property to the tenant, although the lease agreement has been concluded, are deemed invalid.
All of the above stated four criteria must be met in order to have a valid and enforceable eviction commitment letter.
Feel free to contact the Turkish Legal Office if you need legal assistance in the preparation of a valid eviction commitment letter or if you want to be sure that your eviction letter is legally valid before you apply for an eviction case based on this ground.
Eviction Due to late or no Payment of Rent
Due to increasing economic difficulties in Turkey, more tenants struggle with paying the rent on the date as stated in the lease agreement. In case of no payment or late payment by the tenant, the landlord shall send the tenant a written warning. The written warning must state that if payment is not made within 30 days, the landlord has the right to terminate the agreement unilaterally (TCO 315). This debt mentioned here includes not only the rent amount but also the ancillary debts. In the event that the rent is not paid despite the period as described in TCO 315, the landlord may, in accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, Article 269-269/d (hereinafter referred to as IIK), apply for eviction without a verdict against a tenant that is not paying rent.
Here it should be noted that there is no specific limit on the number of months, and missing one month’s rent payment is sufficient for eviction. In case of late payment, two justified warnings within one rental year are needed to request eviction. The first step of an eviction without a verdict procedure is to issue a payment order at the enforcement office in the debtor’s place of residence. The tenant has the right to object to this payment order within 7 days (Article 62 IIK). In case of objection, the eviction without a verdict procedure will be suspended, and to lift the objection, it is required to start a lawsuit at the Enforcement Court within 6 months or at the Civil Court of Peace within one year. Please note that with Law No. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Law Disputes, disputes arising from tenancy relationships have been included within the scope of mandatory mediation since September 2023. Your Rental lawyer should first resort to mediation before initiating the court proceeding.
Eviction Based on Grounds of Personal Needs
The landlord can terminate the lease agreement at the end of the rental period and the agreement of indefinite duration if there is a necessity to use the property as a dwelling house or as a working place for themselves, their partner, descendants, linear ancestors, or other persons whom they are obliged to look after by law. The termination notice period will be one month starting from the date determined in accordance with the terms set forth for the dissolution period or notice of termination as per general provisions regarding leasing by filing a suit (TCO 350).
If there is a necessity for the new owner to use the property as a dwelling house or a working place for themselves, their partner, descendants, linear ancestors, or other people whom they are obliged to look after by law, the new owner can terminate the lease agreement by opening a lawsuit after six months. The new owner shall inform the tenant in writing within one month starting from the date of acquisition (TCO 351).
Above, we have discussed the main eviction reasons for landlords. If the necessary conditions for the above stated eviction reasons are not met, a rent determination lawsuit can be considered to increase the current rent instead of searching for a way to evict the tenant.
Rent Determination Lawsuit
Normally, pursuant to provisional Article 2 of TCO from July 2, 2023, to July 1, 2024, rent increases for residential lease agreements subject to renewal cannot exceed 25% of the previous year’s rent amount. However, a rent determination lawsuit, as stated under Article 344/3 of TCO, allows the rent to be determined by a judge independently after five years have passed since the commencement of the lease or at the end of each subsequent five years.
At Turkish Legal Office, our team of experienced professionals specialises in every field of rental law matters, including, but not limited to, drafting commercial and residential leases and eviction commitment letters, collecting past due rents, initiating enforcement procedures and eviction lawsuits. Contact us today for a free consultation!