Real Estate Law

A legal review carried out before an immovable property is bought or sold, or before an investment is made in a project, helps identify in advance the ownership, contract, use and transfer problems that may arise later.

• Review of the title deed record, the owner details and the ownership history
• Assessment of mortgages, attachments, annotations, easements, usufruct, pre-emption rights and other encumbrances
• Review of the zoning status, construction permit, occupancy permit and project details together with the relevant technical experts
• Assessment of the differences between the actual condition and the title deed, project and municipal records
• Preparation or review of the real estate sale agreement, preliminary agreement, reservation document and promise-to-sell agreement for immovable property
• Drafting the provisions on earnest money (kapora), withdrawal fee, advance payment, sale price and payment security
• Legal follow-up of title transfer, Web Tapu applications and transactions carried out by power of attorney
• Establishing or removing mortgages and other security attached to the property
• Legal review of purchases made off-plan, from a model or of properties under construction
• Preparation of a legal status assessment and a real estate risk assessment report

Where it is alleged that a registration in the land registry does not reflect the actual state of rights or rests on a legally invalid transaction, claims for cancellation and re-registration of title, actions to compel registration, rectification of the record or compensation may arise, depending on the cause of the dispute.

The legal ground of the action can directly affect the standing of the parties, the evidentiary framework, the competent court with subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction, the time limits and the relief sought.

• Actions for cancellation and re-registration of title based on wrongful registration
• Disputes based on lack of legal capacity, mistake, fraudulent misrepresentation or duress
• Title deed actions based on abuse of authority under a power of attorney
• Claims of transfer by simulation and of fiduciary transfers
• Registrations based on forged documents or a forged power of attorney
• Claims to compel registration arising from a promise-to-sell agreement for immovable property
• Rectification of erroneous, duplicate or legally unfounded records
• Requests for an interim injunction against the risk of transfer to a third party
• Compensation and receivable claims where cancellation and re-registration of title is not possible

Where co-ownership in shares or joint ownership of an immovable property cannot be continued, dissolution of the co-ownership may be requested by partition in kind or by sale. The nature of the property, its zoning status, the number of co-owners, the manner of use, the improvements on the land and the parties’ claims determine the scope of the process.

• Dissolution of co-ownership and partition (izale-i şuyu) actions
• Ending co-ownership by partition in kind or by sale
• Dissolution of the co-ownership in inherited immovable properties
• Disputes between co-owners over use and the sharing of income
• Determining to whom the improvements on the land belong
• Claims for compensation for unjust occupation (ecrimisil) between co-owners
• Sale procedures and the distribution of the sale proceeds
• Conducting the mediation that is a condition precedent to litigation

Unlawful interference with an immovable property, use of a property without a justified and valid reason, boundary and passage problems between neighboring properties and claims concerning limited real rights may be subject to different legal routes for the protection of ownership and possession.

• Actions to end encroachment and prevent interference
• Claims for compensation for unjust occupation due to unlawful use
• Actions and administrative applications for the protection of possession
• Applications under Law No. 3091
• Disputes arising from the right of pre-emption
• Establishing a right of way
• Disputes concerning easements, usufruct and the right of superficies
• Disputes over encroaching structures and structures built without right
• Disputes over boundaries, surface area and the area of use
• Preventing interference arising from neighbor law

Cadastral work, errors in the identity or property details in the land registry record, and differences in parcel boundaries and surface area can affect the right of ownership and dispositions over the property.

Where technical review is required, information and reports obtained from authorized persons in surveying, cadastre, urban planning, architecture and valuation are considered together with the legal assessment.

• Actions objecting to the cadastral determination
• Ownership claims based on legal grounds predating the cadastral survey
• Correcting the owner, identity and property details in the land registry record
• Boundary and surface area disputes
• Disputes arising from double or duplicate title registrations
• Properties without a title deed and claims of possession giving rise to acquisitive prescription
• Legal assessment of technical measurements and cadastral data

Condominium ownership disputes are not limited to the relationship between owner and tenant. The rights and obligations among condominium owners, managers, large-scale development managements and contractors are assessed by reviewing the land registry records, the management plan, the board resolutions and the actual use together.

• Establishing condominium ownership and a servitude of floor ownership (kat irtifakı)
• Correcting the land share
• Implementing or amending the management plan
• Annulment of resolutions of the condominium owners’ assembly
• Appointment and replacement of the manager and the manager’s liability
• Claims for common expenses, dues and advances
• Preventing interference with common areas
• Disputes arising from the use of an independent unit
• Requesting judicial intervention
• Disputes in the management of large-scale developments, housing complexes and apartment buildings
• Disputes arising from timeshare ownership (devre mülk) and timeshare (devre tatil) relationships
• Conducting the mediation that is a condition precedent to litigation

In disputes where the property may be transferred to a third party, new real or personal rights may be created over it, the structure may be altered or existing evidence may be lost, the need for provisional legal protection must be assessed separately, both before and during the lawsuit.

Because the conditions for provisional protection requests differ according to the nature of each dispute, the basis of the request and the documents that can be submitted are determined for the specific file.

• Requests for an interim injunction
• Applications for an annotation in the land registry record
• Determining the current condition and manner of use of the property
• Applications for the preservation of evidence
• Securing land registry, municipal, cadastral and project records and bringing them into the file
• Legal applications against changes that may occur in the transfer, use or structure of the property
• Assessing the legal status of attachments, mortgages and other encumbrances

When foreign individuals and legal entities acquire immovable property in Türkiye, the acquisition restrictions, the nature of the property, foreign documents, translation, payment and current administrative practice must be assessed together with the title deed and contract review.

Foreign individuals, foreign companies and foreign-capital companies established in Türkiye are not subject to the same acquisition regime. Acquiring immovable property does not by itself give rise to a residence permit or a right to citizenship.

• Purchase and sale of immovable property in Türkiye by foreign individuals
• Acquisition of immovable property by foreign companies or foreign-capital companies
• Review of statutory acquisition restrictions and of special security zones and military areas
• Legal control of title deed, encumbrance, zoning, permit and occupancy information
• Preparation or review of sale agreements and promise-to-sell agreements
• Apostille, certification and translation procedures for foreign documents
• Title deed transactions by power of attorney
• Assessment of the foreign currency purchase document and bank payment records with regard to the transaction
• Legal coordination of processes conducted with authorized valuation firms and technical experts
• Transactions concerning immovable property acquired by inheritance or other legal means
• Assessment of the legal links between the acquisition of real estate and residence or citizenship applications

In leases of residences and roofed commercial premises, the preparation of the agreement, the determination or adjustment of the rent, rent receivables, the grounds for eviction, delivery of the leased premises and security deposit disputes are subject to separate procedural and evidentiary requirements.

Our firm provides legal services on the preparation and review of lease agreements, rent determination and adjustment, the statutory grounds for eviction, including need and eviction undertaking, the collection of rent receivables, defects in the leased premises and mediation as a condition precedent to litigation.

In construction projects, setting out clearly the legal relationships among the landowner, the contractor, the subcontractor, the property buyer, the project owner and the financing institutions is important for preventing disputes over delivery, defects, delay, price and security.

Our firm provides legal services on construction contracts in return for a land share and in exchange for units, disputes between contractors and landowners, incomplete and defective works, delay in delivery, loss of rent, progress payments and the price of the work, termination and liquidation of the contract, title transfer, security, mediation, litigation and arbitration.

The arbitration option is considered only where the dispute is arbitrable and a valid arbitration agreement exists.

Urban transformation processes, from the determination of a risky building to the owners’ decisions, and from contractor agreements to eviction, demolition, share sales and title deed transactions, involve both private law and administrative law dimensions.

• Determination of risky buildings and applications against that determination
• Legal assessment of the decisions taken by the owners
• Transformation and construction agreements to be made with the contractor
• Drafting the provisions on security, delivery, delay and termination of the agreement
• Eviction, demolition and share sale procedures
• Rent assistance and related administrative applications
• Procedures for risk areas and reserve building areas
• Title deed, ownership and contract disputes arising from the transformation process

Zoning plans, parcellation procedures, construction permits, occupancy permits, construction stop records, demolition orders and zoning fines can directly affect the use and value of a property.

• Annulment of zoning plans and plan amendments
• Parcellation and land and plot readjustment procedures
• Procedures concerning the construction permit and the occupancy permit
• Applications against permit cancellation, construction stop records and demolition orders
• Legal remedies against zoning fines
• Procedures for buildings constructed without a permit or contrary to the permit
• Ownership restrictions concerning conservation sites, coastal areas, forests and agricultural land
• Violations of the right of ownership arising from zoning practices

Expropriation procedures and the administration’s de facto or legal interference with an immovable property can have significant consequences for the right of ownership and the economic use of the property.

• Applications for the annulment of the expropriation procedure
• Determination of the expropriation price and registration actions
• Urgent expropriation procedures
• Partial expropriation and claims for the loss in value of the remaining part
• De facto expropriation (kamulaştırmasız el atma)
• Legal encroachment and immovable properties designated for public service in the zoning plan
• Claims concerning price, compensation and prevention of interference
• Legal remedies and the enforcement of decisions

The realization of a mortgage or attachment over an immovable property, its appraisal, sale preparations, electronic sale and the lawfulness of the auction are assessed within the framework of the rules of enforcement and bankruptcy law.

• Proceedings by enforcement of a mortgage
• Attachment of immovable property, appraisal and sale procedures
• Objection to the appraisal
• Legal follow-up of electronic sale and auction procedures
• Requests for annulment of the auction
• Procedures for the lifting of attachments in the land registry record

After the ordinary administrative and judicial remedies have been exhausted, allegations that the right of ownership has been violated by interference of public authority may be assessed within the scope of an individual application to the Constitutional Court and, if the conditions are met, an application to the European Court of Human Rights.

The admissibility conditions, such as the application period, victim status, exhaustion of ordinary remedies and the violation allegation having been raised before the earlier authorities, are examined separately for the specific file.