İzmir Landlord Tenant Lawyer: Eviction and Rent Determination Actions

A lease binds the parties through a contract that often runs for years, yet the moment a dispute arises, short and preclusive deadlines come into play. As an İzmir landlord tenant lawyer, we provide legal support in eviction, rent determination, recovery of rent arrears and tenant-side defence in residential and roofed workplace leases.

Under Turkish law, residential and roofed workplace leases are subject to a special regime protecting the tenant. Its most visible consequence is this: the expiry of the lease term is not, by itself, a ground for eviction. Unless the tenant gives notice, the contract renews on the same terms year by year, and the landlord may end it only on the grounds listed in the law. After the ten-year extension period has run, however, the landlord may terminate without giving any reason, provided notice is given within the period set by law before the end of each following extension year.

In practice, what decides a file is usually not the legal argument but the calendar and the paperwork. A notice that was not served in due form, an eviction undertaking taken on the wrong date, or a rent determination action filed late without prior written notice can leave an otherwise sound claim without result. For that reason, when we take on a file we first examine the contract, payment records, service documents and any undertaking together; the strategy is built only after that review. You can see the other fields we work in on our practice areas page.

The authority to apply to and the procedure to follow change according to the ground on which eviction is based; the table below summarises the main routes and how they generally work.

Grounds for Eviction: Need, Reconstruction, Two Justified Warnings and the Written Undertaking

Eviction on the ground of need rests on the housing or workplace requirement of the landlord, their spouse, descendants, ascendants or others they are legally obliged to support. The need must be genuine, sincere and compelling; a temporary reason, or one aimed merely at raising the rent, is not accepted. The action must be filed within the period set by law from the end of the term in fixed-term contracts, or, in open-ended contracts, from the date determined by observing the termination period and the notice periods provided for termination.

A new owner who later buys the property may also rely on the ground of need. In that case the situation must be notified to the tenant in writing within the period set by law from acquisition, and the action filed after the period set by law from the acquisition date. Alternatively, the new owner may file the action within the period set by law following the end of the contract term. Skipping the written notification requirement renders the new owner’s strongest ground for eviction unusable.

The test for eviction on the ground of reconstruction and development is whether use of the property becomes practically impossible during the planned substantial repair, extension or alteration works. Simple painting, whitewashing and maintenance fall outside this scope. The court examines the seriousness of the project and whether the necessary permits were obtained; preparing documents such as the building permit, the project and technical reports before filing therefore speeds the process markedly.

The ground of two justified warnings arises where the tenant, by failing to pay rent on time within a lease year, causes two separate written warnings to be issued. The warnings must concern separately matured rent claims, be made in writing and be duly served. Repeated warnings relating to the same month count as a single warning. The action is filed within the period set by law from the end of the lease term, or, in leases exceeding the period set by law, from the end of the lease year in which the warnings were issued.

• Each ground carries its own filing deadline; once missed, the ground cannot be carried over to the next lease year.
• Where eviction rests on need or reconstruction, statutory restrictions apply to re-letting the property.
• Making warnings and notifications through a notary makes them far easier to prove.
• Where several grounds exist, which one to lead with is decided by the documents available.

Eviction Through Enforcement Based on a Written Undertaking, and the Deadlines

An eviction undertaking is the tenant’s written commitment to vacate the property on a specified date. Its validity depends on four conditions: it must be in writing, given on a date after handover, contain a certain or determinable vacating date, and be signed by the tenant or their authorised representative. Undertakings taken at the moment the contract is signed, before the keys are handed over, are as a rule ineffective, since they are not regarded as reflecting the tenant’s free will.

If the tenant does not vacate on the undertaken date, the landlord has two options: file an eviction action before the civil court of peace, or apply directly to the execution office to have an eviction order served. The second route works faster in practice. Either application must be made within the period set by law from the undertaken date; once that passes, the possibility of relying on the undertaking disappears. We set out the process step by step in our article on how eviction through a written undertaking proceeds.

On the enforcement route an eviction order is served on the tenant. A tenant wishing to contest the undertaking notifies their objection to the execution office within the short period set by law; if no objection is made, vacating is requested at the end of the period stated in the order. Where an objection is filed the proceeding stops, and the landlord applies to the execution court seeking removal of the objection. At this stage the court examines, as a rule, documents whose signature has been acknowledged or notarised; if the signature on the undertaking is denied, the dispute may move to the general courts.

Undertakings left undated are common in practice and controversial. Even where the tenant is regarded as having implicitly authorised the date to be filled in later, the tenant may object by claiming the date was inserted without their consent, and the question of the burden of proof then becomes decisive. The soundest way to avoid this risk is to take the undertaking after handover, with the date already filled in and preferably drawn up before a notary.

Rent Determination and Adaptation Actions: Expert Reports and Comparable Rents

An agreement on the amount to apply in renewed lease periods is valid provided it does not exceed the rate of change in the twelve-month averages of the consumer price index for the previous lease year. Even where the parties agreed a higher rate in the contract, this ceiling applies. Because the index data is renewed monthly, the increase is calculated on the figure current at the renewal date, and that figure must be confirmed at the time of application.

In leases exceeding the period set by law, or renewed after it, and at the end of every following such period, the amount to apply in the new lease year is set by the judge without being bound by the index ceiling. In doing so the judge weighs the rate of change in the index, the condition of the property and comparable rents together, reaching a result consistent with equity. In practice the court conducts a site visit, obtains an expert report comparing rents for similar properties in the area, and applies a reduction that reflects the length of the existing tenancy.

A rent determination action may be filed at any time; what matters is the period from which the decision applies. For the amount set by the court to bind the tenant from the start of the new lease period, the action must have been filed at least the period set by law before that period begins, or the landlord must have given written notice of the increase within that period. Where notice was given, the action may be filed until the end of the following period. We explain how to read the expert report and what can be challenged in the selection of comparables in our article on expert reports in rent determination and adaptation actions.

An adaptation action rests on a different footing. Where an extraordinary situation arises that the parties did not foresee at the time of contracting and could not have been expected to foresee, which did not stem from the debtor, and which upsets the balance between the obligations to an unbearable degree against the debtor, the judge may be asked to adapt the contract to the new conditions. The request typically arises in long-term commercial leases and in rents agreed in foreign currency. As adaptation is an exceptional remedy, each of its conditions must be proved separately.

Rent Arrears, Proceedings Without Judgment and Eviction-Requested Proceedings

When rent goes unpaid the landlord has two basic tools. The first is to grant the tenant a payment period by written notice and terminate the contract if no payment follows; in residential and roofed workplace leases this period cannot be shorter than the period set by law and starts running the day after the notice reaches the tenant. The second is to collect the arrears through the execution office and, in the same file, start proceedings without judgment that also request eviction.

In eviction-requested proceedings the execution office serves a payment order on the tenant. The tenant may object within the period set by law; to pay the debt, the period granted in residential and roofed workplace leases is the one set by law. If the tenant neither objects nor pays, the landlord may seek an eviction decision from the execution court once the payment period ends. You can find the details of running the proceeding and the attachment stage on our enforcement and debt recovery page.

This route has a rule of its own: unless the tenant clearly and unequivocally denies the lease and the signature on it, the lease is deemed accepted. Where only the debt is disputed, the dispute narrows to the question of payment and the process accelerates in the landlord’s favour. On the tenant’s side, therefore, defining the scope of the objection correctly from the outset matters a great deal.

Setting out the items claimed in the proceeding request correctly from the start also affects the outcome. Rent, unpaid ancillary charges, default interest and proceeding costs must be shown separately. Because rent is a periodic obligation, its limitation period is shorter than that for ordinary claims; which part of older arrears remains claimable must therefore be calculated before the proceeding is opened.

Tenant-Side Defence: Payment, Objection and Negative Declaratory Action

The most common problem on the tenant’s side is that payment was made but cannot be evidenced. Payments made in cash, transfers without a description on the receipt, or payment into a different account create serious difficulty at the stage of proof. Paying rent through a bank, stating the month and year in the transfer description, is therefore the strongest defence in any later proceeding or action.

When a payment order is served, the tenant has several options. Where the debt has been paid in whole or in part, an objection based on payment is raised; where no lease was ever concluded, or the signature is not the tenant’s, that must be denied clearly and unequivocally. The objection must be made within the period set by law and with the correct scope; once the deadline passes the proceeding becomes final and the room for defence against the eviction request narrows considerably.

A tenant claiming not to be indebted may seek a declaration to that effect through a negative declaratory action. It may be filed before or after the proceeding; one filed after the proceeding has started does not, as a rule, stay it automatically, though an injunction may be sought upon providing security under the conditions set by law. If, after payment, the payment turns out to have been unjustified, the amount is reclaimed through an action for restitution.

The tenant may also have claims of their own. Where defects prevent use of the property, the tenant may demand that they be remedied, seek a reduction in rent, or, if the conditions are met, claim compensation for loss. The landlord’s obligation to keep the property fit for use in accordance with the contract continues throughout the term. These claims may also be raised as part of the defence against eviction or arrears proceedings.

Lease Disputes Within the Scope of Mandatory Mediation

In disputes arising from a lease relationship, having applied to a mediator before filing suit is a condition of action. A case filed without meeting it is dismissed on procedural grounds without reaching the merits, and the party loses both time and litigation costs. The scope is broad: eviction claims, rent determination, claims for rent arrears pursued through litigation, return of the deposit and claims arising from defects in the property all fall within it.

There is one important exception: proceedings for the enforcement-based eviction of leased immovables without judgment fall outside the scope. It is therefore unnecessary to go to mediation before starting eviction-requested proceedings for rent arrears. Where the same claim is pursued through litigation, however, the mediation stage cannot be skipped. You can find detailed information on how the mediation process works and on the enforceability of the settlement document on our page devoted to the mediation process.

Mediation is not merely a formality to be cleared. A significant share of lease disputes lends itself to agreement on an instalment plan, a staged rent increase or handover on a set date. Where a settlement is reached, the resulting document is treated as equivalent to a judgment if signed by the parties together with their lawyers; and once an enforceability annotation is obtained, it can be made the subject of enforcement with judgment directly. That is a meaningful advantage in avoiding litigation that could otherwise stretch over years.

Security Deposit, Common Expense and Building Dues Disputes

In residential and roofed workplace leases, the security may be agreed up to the upper limit set by law. Where the security is given in money, the tenant deposits it in a time savings account at a bank, not to be withdrawn without the landlord’s consent; where it is given as negotiable instruments, the bank sets them aside. In practice this rule is often ignored and the deposit is paid directly to the landlord, which is the main source of disputes over its return at the end of the term.

The law provides a clear mechanism for return. If the landlord does not notify the bank in writing, within the period set by law following the end of the lease, that an action relating to the lease has been filed against the tenant or that enforcement or bankruptcy proceedings have been initiated, the bank must return the security upon the tenant’s request. A claim that damage exceeding ordinary use exists in the property must be proved separately; here, the handover and vacating records and photographs become decisive.

In common expenses and building dues, the division follows the nature of the expense. Unless otherwise agreed in the contract or dictated by local custom, expenses tied to use such as heating, lighting and water belong as a rule to the tenant, while insurance premiums for the main building, major repairs and structural improvements belong as a rule to the owner. We address how dues items are divided and the role of the management plan in our article on what building dues are.

For unpaid dues the assembly of owners may claim default compensation at the rate set by law and pursue the receivable through enforcement; alongside the owner, those occupying the independent unit as tenants may also bear joint liability. In disputes extending to condominium ownership, land registry records and title conflicts, the assessment on the title deed and condominium side is carried out in parallel.

Process Flow at the İzmir Civil Court of Peace and Execution Office

In actions arising from a lease relationship the competent court is, as a rule, the civil court of peace, while enforcement-based eviction of leased immovables without judgment runs through the execution office and the execution court. As to venue, application may be made to the court of the place where the property is located or that of the defendant’s residence. In İzmir these units sit within the İzmir Courthouse campus in Bayraklı, where the execution offices also operate.

A typical eviction file follows this order: review of the contract, payment records and any undertaking; where needed, service of a notice through a notary; an application to mediation if the litigation route is chosen; and, failing settlement, filing the action before the civil court of peace. If the enforcement route is chosen, a proceeding request is filed, a payment or eviction order is served, and where no objection follows, an eviction decision is sought from the execution court. Once the decision becomes final, actual eviction is carried out through the execution office.

It is worth being realistic about timing. Enforcement files based on an eviction undertaking and left unopposed conclude comparatively quickly, whereas files that are contested or require expert examination can lengthen markedly. In rent determination actions the site visit and expert report stage takes up most of the calendar. Service problems, the courthouse caseload and appeal applications also affect the timeline; no definite period can therefore be promised, but the stage the file has reached is shared regularly.

Across İzmir, and particularly in Konak, Karşıyaka, Bornova, Buca, Bayraklı, Gaziemir and Karabağlar, we provide legal support in lease disputes on both the landlord and the tenant side. The document review carried out at the very outset makes it possible to see which route is shorter and less costly.