How to Evict a Tenant Who Does Not Pay or Underpays Rent in Residential and Commercial Properties? (Fast Track)

Author: Servet Cetin

Practices: Real Estate, Litigation

Relevant Legislation: Regulated under Article 269 and subsequent articles of the Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law.

General Information

In Turkey, legal proceedings are generally time-consuming. Acknowledging this, the legislator has provided a fast-track eviction process to prevent landlords from being victimized due to unpaid or underpaid rents. This process is called the Eviction Through Non-Judicial Enforcement.

Step-by-Step Process

Initiation of Proceedings:
- The landlord applies to the Enforcement Office and initiates an enforcement proceeding with an eviction request based on unpaid rents.
Issuance of Payment Order:

The Enforcement Office sends the tenant a Payment Order Form No. 13
The tenant has:
- 7 days to object to the debt and/or the signature in the lease agreement.
- 30 days from the date of service to pay the debt if no objection is made.

Possible Scenarios and Outcomes

1. Tenant does not object within 7 days and does not pay within 30 days:

The landlord may initiate foreclosure (seizure) proceedings against the tenant’s assets after the 30th day.
Additionally, the landlord must file an eviction lawsuit before the Enforcement Court within 6 months from the end of the 30-day payment period.
The 30-day payment period is mandatory—if the lawsuit is filed early, the eviction request will be rejected.
If the court confirms the rent has not been paid, it will issue an eviction order.

2. Tenant objects to the debt (but not the signature) within 7 days:

The enforcement proceedings are halted.
The landlord cannot proceed with foreclosure.
However, the landlord can file a lawsuit before the Enforcement Court within 6 months to:
- Request the removal of the objection, and
- Seek eviction.
Again, the 30-day waiting period is mandatory before filing.

3. Tenant objects to both the debt and the signature within 7 days:

The enforcement proceedings are halted.
The landlord cannot proceed with foreclosure.
Because the signature on the lease is also contested, the case must be filed before the Civil (Peace) Court, not the Enforcement Court.
Exception: If the lease agreement is notarized or the signature is certified by a notary, the case may still be brought before the Enforcement Court due to its higher evidentiary value.

4. Tenant does not object within 7 days but pays the debt within 30 days:

Since the debt is paid within the mandatory 30-day period, the landlord cannot request eviction or foreclosure.
The lease remains valid.
However, if the tenant repeats this behavior within the same lease year (i.e., causes another enforcement action but again pays within 30 days), the landlord may then pursue eviction based on two justified warnings. This is a different legal path and topic.

After the Eviction Order by the Enforcement Court

The eviction cannot be enforced until 10 days after the eviction judgment is served or announced to the tenant.
The tenant has 10 days to vacate voluntarily.
The tenant may post a security deposit (equal to 3 months' rent) at the Enforcement Office to suspend eviction pending appeal (regional appellate court decision).

Additional Notes & Legal Nuances

Interest, enforcement costs, and attorney fees are not considered rent debt. Even if these are unpaid, eviction cannot be requested based solely on them.
In the enforcement request form, the landlord's attorney must write "EVICTION" in boxes 1/4, 1/7, and 1/9. Courts may refuse eviction if this is omitted.
The payment order must include:
- 7-day objection period,
- 30-day payment period,
- Eviction warning,
- Clear statement that failure to object to the signature means the contract is presumed valid.
Although the payment order is issued by the Enforcement Office, the landlord or their lawyer must monitor and ensure it includes the necessary details.

Legal Capacity to File Proceedings

Only the actual landlord can initiate enforcement.
A property owner who is not a party to the lease cannot file, unless:
- They have sent a prior notice to the tenant requesting payment to themselves.
In cases of joint ownership (e.g., inheritance), all co-owners must act together.
For shared ownership, proceedings may only be initiated with the consent of the majority shareholders holding more than half of the ownership shares.
If these conditions are not met, notices and proceedings are invalid and cannot be corrected later during the trial.

Additional Situations

If the tenant pays the debt before being served with the payment order but does not object to the payment order or declare this within 7 days, they cannot use it as a defense in the eviction proceedings. Instead, they must file a separate negative declaratory action under Article 72 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law.
If there are multiple tenants, the enforcement proceeding must be directed to all tenants.
The landlord must list unpaid rent amounts and their respective periods clearly in the enforcement request.
Even minor shortfalls in rent paid via bank transfer may justify eviction.
Unpaid building dues are also treated like unpaid rent and can justify eviction, provided:
- The landlord pays them to the management first,
- Then initiates enforcement against the tenant.
Unpaid tax withholdings on commercial leases are not grounds for eviction. These are obligations to the government, not the landlord.
In the event of a dispute between the lessor and the lessee regarding the rental amount based on the contents of the lease agreement (such as the offsetting of certain fixture payments from the rent as a result of mutual agreement), this situation may require judicial proceedings. Therefore, the enforcement court, which has limited jurisdiction, may reject the case for annulment of the objection and eviction, due to lack of authority to evaluate such complex contractual disputes.
In the case where the property is sold to a new owner, the new owner must send a written notice to the tenant, stating that the property has been purchased and that, pursuant to Article 310 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, the new owner has become a party to the lease agreement and that rent payments should be made to them. If such a notice is not given before initiating eviction proceedings through enforcement, there is a risk that the case will be dismissed.
If the tenant objects to the payment order, the six-month period for the lessor to file a lawsuit does not start from the expiration of the 30-day payment period, but rather from the date the objection is officially notified to the lessor.
In cases where the lease agreement stipulates the rent in foreign currency in violation of the Communiqué No. 2008-32/34 regarding the Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency, if this agreement is made after the effective date of the regulation, the Court of Cassation and most Regional Courts of Appeal reject applications for annulment of the objection and eviction, stating that such agreements are contrary to public order.
In enforcement proceedings concerning rent claims denominated in foreign currency, indicating the amount in Turkish Lira as the basis for the court fee in the demand for enforcement and the payment order is not sufficient, even if the foreign currency amount is specified and the phrase “as of the actual payment date” is included. If the demand for enforcement and the payment order do not clearly state that “collection of the foreign currency is requested based on the exchange rate on the actual payment date,” the enforcement request may be annulled. We do not agree with the Court of Cassation's overly formalistic approach in this matter.
For the enforcement proceedings requesting eviction to be valid, there must be a valid lease agreement as defined under the Turkish Code of Obligations. If the agreement is of a hybrid nature, such as a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) type contract, it cannot be subject to eviction proceedings through enforcement.
Statements like "I object to the rental relationship" by the tenant do not constitute an explicit denial of signature under Articles 269 et seq. of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law. The tenant must clearly state that they are objecting to the authenticity of the signature on the contract to be considered as an objection to signature.
In the event that the lessor, who is not the owner of the property, passes away, the right to pursue eviction via enforcement transfers to the heirs of the lessor, not to the actual property owner. However, the owner retains the right to serve a formal notice (through a notary) requesting that rental payments be made directly to them.
For further information, please contact us at info@cetin.av.tr.
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