Türkiye’s Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) has ruled that when a landlord files a rent determination case and the tenant leaves before the new rental period begins, the court costs and lawyers’ fees stay with the landlord, Hürriyet’s business site Bigpara and legal news outlet 12punto reported on Wednesday 28 October.
The decision by the court’s 3rd Civil Chamber settles a question on which regional appeal courts had disagreed. According to the reports, courts in Istanbul, Bursa, Antalya and Sakarya had reached different conclusions, prompting the Presidents’ Board of the Civil Chambers of the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeal to ask the Court of Cassation for its view. Neither outlet gave the decision number or date.
What a rent determination case is
A rent determination case (kira tespit davası) is a lawsuit in which a court sets the rent for a new lease period, typically when landlord and tenant cannot agree on an increase. It is governed by the Turkish Code of Obligations (Law No. 6098).
The case and the ruling
In the dispute, a landlord filed a rent determination case before a new lease period started. While the case was pending, the tenant ended the lease under the statutory notice rules and moved out before the new period began, so the case no longer had a subject.
The chamber said a rent determination case can be filed at any time, and that filing before the new period is procedurally proper. If the case is filed at least 30 days before the new period begins, the rent the court sets binds the tenant from the start of that period, the reports said.
At the same time, a tenant may decline to renew by giving notice at least 15 days before the contract ends. The court found that a tenant who uses this right and leaves before the new period cannot be said to have caused the lawsuit, so court costs and the other side’s legal fees must be borne by the landlord. The file was returned to the Istanbul board to resolve the conflicting lower-court rulings.
Who this affects
The ruling is relevant to foreign owners who let out homes in Türkiye and to foreign residents who rent, particularly where a landlord is considering court action over a rent increase near the end of a lease. Our guide to renting a home in Turkey as a foreigner explains how leases and rent increases work.
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Sources
- Ev sahibi ve kiracıları ilgilendiren karar! Masrafları kimin ödeyeceği belli oldu (Bigpara/Hürriyet)
- Kira tespit davalarında yıllardır tartışılan konu açıklığa kavuştu! Masrafları kim ödeyecek? (12punto)
Photo: Metuboy / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
