Due to the increase in disputes regarding real estate law today, in our previous article, we wrote about the legal definition and validity conditions of eviction undertakings. In this article, as the second part, we will provide information about the ways in which the lessor can evict the lessee with an eviction undertaking.
1)Eviction of the Tenant by Execution
In the event that the tenant does not leave the immovable property subject to eviction despite the expiration of the eviction date agreed in the eviction commitment letter issued in accordance with the validity conditions, the first of the remedies that can be applied is the execution remedy, which is frequently preferred and more known in practice. Article 272 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 is as follows
(1) The eviction of an immovable leased under a contract may be requested by submitting the contract to the enforcement office within one month after the expiration of the term.
(2) Thereupon, the bailiff shall order the evacuation and delivery of the immovable within fifteen days by serving an evacuation order.
Pursuant to the Article, the lessor may initiate enforcement proceedings against the lessee within 1 month following the expiration of the eviction date agreed upon in the eviction undertaking. The authorized enforcement office in the said enforcement proceeding is the enforcement office where the immovable is located. After the enforcement proceeding is initiated, the tenant has the right to object within 7 days from the notification of the eviction order to the tenant by the relevant enforcement office. If the tenant does not object to the eviction order, he/she must evacuate the immovable property within 15 days from the eviction order. If the tenant objects to the proceeding within this 7-day legal period, the proceeding stops and in order to continue the proceeding, it is necessary to file a lawsuit requesting the removal of the objection in the Enforcement Law Court within 6 months or a lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the objection in the Civil Court of Peace within 1 year. If the court decides to continue the proceedings, the tenant can be evicted by the authorized enforcement office.
2)Eviction of the Tenant by Lawsuit
Pursuant to Article 352/1 of the Turkish Code of Obligations: “If the lessee has undertaken in writing to vacate the leased premises on a certain date after the delivery of the leased premises, but has not vacated the leased premises, the lessor may terminate the lease agreement within one month starting from this date by applying for execution or filing a lawsuit.
As can be understood from the wording of the article, in order to initiate the process through litigation, as in the case of execution proceedings, the date agreed in the eviction undertaking must have passed and the court must be applied to within 1 month from this date. The competent court is the Civil Court of Peace at the location of the immovable property or the defendant’s place of residence. The 1-month period in question is forfeited, and the lessor will lose the right to file a lawsuit if a lawsuit is not filed with the Civil Court of Peace within 1 month from the date written in the commitment letter. However, there is an exception to this prescription period as follows:
Pursuant to Article 353 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, if the lessor notifies the lessee in writing that the lessee will file a lawsuit within the period stipulated for the filing of the lawsuit at the latest, the period for filing a lawsuit will be extended for 1 lease year.
Mediation in Eviction by Lawsuit
There is an important litigation condition for the lessor to apply for eviction by lawsuit together with the conditions explained above. As of September 1, 2023, application to the mediation institution is foreseen as a condition of litigation in eviction cases to be filed. It is important to note that from the application to the mediator, the 1-month period for filing a lawsuit to the court will stop. For this reason, it is not possible to lose any rights in terms of time during the mediation process. In case of failure to apply to the mediator before filing a lawsuit, the Court will decide to dismiss the lawsuit procedurally.
