Under the Turkish Code of Obligations, a lease agreement is defined as a type of contract that creates mutual obligations: the lessor undertakes to allow the lessee to use a specific property, while the lessee is obliged to pay the agreed-upon consideration in return for such use.
Lease agreements establish a long-term legal relationship between the parties, which can lead to unforeseen issues over time that were not anticipated at the beginning of the contract. In particular, for residential and commercial leases with a roofed structure, when the lease period exceeds ten years, the lessor’s right to terminate the contract is a common but often insufficiently known issue in practice. The relevant provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations grant the lessor the right to terminate the lease under certain conditions, and this right has significant consequences, including the tenant’s eviction. In this article, we will examine the scope, legal basis, conditions, and practical application of the lessor’s termination right after a ten-year lease period.
TERMINATION OF LONG-TERM LEASE AGREEMENTS
Lease agreements are divided into two main categories based on their duration: fixed-term and indefinite-term leases. Fixed-term lease agreements are those that are agreed upon by the parties in advance and end automatically at the expiration of the period specified in the contract. In such agreements, the lease relationship terminates upon the conclusion of the predetermined period. Indefinite-term lease agreements, on the other hand, are agreements whose duration is not predetermined. Both types of agreements create different rights and obligations for the parties and will be discussed separately under two distinct headings in this article.
A) Regarding Fixed-Term Lease Agreements:
Turkish Code of Obligations, Article 347/1 provides: “In leases of residences and premises with a roof, if the tenant does not notify at least fifteen days before the end of the fixed-term lease, the contract is considered automatically extended for one year under the same conditions. The lessor cannot terminate the contract based solely on the expiration of the lease term. However, after a ten-year extension period, the lessor may terminate the contract without giving any reason, provided that notice is given at least three months before the end of each subsequent extension year.”
According to this provision, in fixed-term lease agreements, the tenant may terminate the lease by giving notice at least fifteen days before the end of the lease term; if the tenant fails to provide such notice, the contract is automatically extended for one more year under the same conditions. Similarly, the provision clarifies that the lessor cannot terminate the contract simply because the lease term has expired. However, after the completion of the ten-year extension period, the lessor may terminate the lease under certain conditions.
Within this framework, for the lessor to lawfully terminate the lease, there must first be a valid and existing lease agreement between the parties, and the ten-year extension period must have been completed following the lease term. Additionally, the lessor must issue a written notice of termination at least three months prior to the end of the year following the ten-year extension period for the termination to be legally valid.
B) Regarding Indefinite-Term Lease Agreements:
Turkish Code of Obligations Article 347/2: “In indefinite-term lease agreements, the tenant may terminate the contract at any time, while the landlord may do so after ten years from the start of the lease, by giving a notice of termination in accordance with the general provisions.”
According to this legal provision, if the lease agreement is indefinite, the landlord may terminate the contract without providing any reason after ten years from the start of the lease. However, in order to terminate the agreement, the landlord must comply with the termination conditions specified in Articles 328 and 329 of the Turkish Code of Obligations and the termination must be made in writing.
Turkish Code of Obligations Article 328: “In indefinite-term lease agreements, unless the parties have agreed on a longer notice period or a different termination period, either party may terminate the contract by adhering to the legal termination periods and notice periods. In calculating the termination periods, the start date of the lease agreement shall be taken as the basis. If the termination period or notice period specified in the contract or by law is not observed, the notice will be valid for the next termination period.”
Turkish Code of Obligations Article 329: “Either party may terminate a lease agreement relating to an immovable or movable property at the end of the rental period determined by local custom, or if such a custom does not exist, at the end of a six-month rental period, by observing a three-month notice period.”
What is a Notice of Termination and How is it Issued?
A notice of termination, under Article 347 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, is a written notification that the landlord must give to the tenant to terminate a lease agreement after the ten-year automatic renewal period has expired. For the notice to be legally valid, it must be made in writing and delivered to the tenant. Notifications that are not in writing or not delivered are considered legally invalid. Delivering the notice to the tenant via a notary or by hand against a signature provides ease of proof regarding both the delivery and the content of the notice.
It should also be noted that the notice must clearly and unambiguously state that the lease will not be renewed, that the landlord is unilaterally terminating the agreement, and that the tenant is required to vacate the property by a specific date.
How Is the Deadline Calculated in a 10-Year Eviction Lawsuit?
In a 10-year eviction lawsuit, the deadline is one of the most important requirements for filing the case. The calculation of the deadline varies depending on whether the lease agreement is for a fixed term or an indefinite term, and it will be discussed under these two separate headings.
a) Deadline Calculation for Indefinite-Term Lease Agreements:
According to Article 347/2 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO): “In indefinite-term lease agreements, the tenant may terminate the contract at any time, whereas the landlord may do so after ten years from the start of the lease, by giving a notice of termination in accordance with general provisions.” As explicitly stated in this provision, the landlord has the right to terminate the contract once ten years have passed since the start of the lease. Unlike fixed-term lease agreements, in indefinite-term leases, the ten-year period is calculated from the commencement date of the contract.
b) Calculation of the Term for Fixed-Term Lease Agreements:
When calculating the term for fixed-term lease agreements, the end date of the lease is taken as the basis. Indeed, Article 347/1 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO) states: “The lessor cannot terminate the contract based on the expiration of the contract term. However, after the ten-year extension period, the lessor may terminate the contract without giving any reason, provided that notice is given at least three months before the end of each subsequent extension year.” This indicates that the calculation of the term begins from the expiration of the lease period specified in the contract.
The same article also stipulates that at the end of the ten-year extension period, the contract can be terminated by providing notice at least three months before the end of each subsequent extension year. Based on this provision, the criteria for calculating the term in fixed-term lease agreements are: contract term + ten-year extension period + one-year extension period.
For example, a lease agreement dated 01.01.2014 with a term of 1 year will automatically extend for another year if not terminated by the tenant. The extension period begins on 01.01.2015, and the ten-year extension period ends on 31.12.2024. The period from 01.01.2025 to 31.12.2025 represents the first extension year following the ten-year extension, during which the lessor has the right to terminate the contract in writing by 30.09.2025.
Whether the term specified in the contract is 1 year or longer does not affect the calculation of the period. Indeed, the key date for calculating the term is the expiration of the period stipulated in the lease agreement. For example, if a lease agreement signed between the parties on 01.01.2014 was for 3 years instead of 1 year, the ten-year extension period would still begin from the end of this 3-year lease term. That is, if the lease is not terminated by the tenant, it would begin to extend for 1 year starting from 01.01.2017, and the ten-year extension period would end on 31.12.2026. The period from 01.01.2027 to 31.12.2027 would represent the first extension year following the ten-year extension, during which the lessor would have the right to terminate the contract by 30.09.2027.
It is important to emphasize that if the parties come together after the initial lease to sign a new lease agreement, the ten-year extension period should be calculated based on the end date of this new agreement. In other words, each new lease agreement is considered a separate contract, not a continuation of the previous one, and the ten-year period starts anew with the new agreement. For instance, if there was a lease agreement dated 01.01.2014 and the parties signed a new lease on 01.01.2019, the ten-year extension period would be calculated based on the 01.01.2019 lease, not the 01.01.2014 lease.
DOES THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY INTERRUPT THE TIME PERIOD?
One common situation in practice is the sale of the property by the landlord to another party, resulting in a change of the landlord. In the event of the property being sold or the landlord’s status being transferred, the existing lease agreement generally continues under the same terms, and if no new agreement is made between the new owner and the tenant, the ten-year period will continue to be calculated based on the existing lease agreement. In other words, unless a new contract is established between the parties, the transfer or sale of the property does not constitute a reason to interrupt the ten-year period. However, if a new lease agreement is signed between the tenant and the new party, this new agreement will interrupt the ten-year period, and the calculation of the period will be based on the new contract.
Eviction Lawsuit Pursuant to Article 350 of the Turkish Code of Obligations
Even if the lessor has issued a valid termination notice in accordance with Article 347 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO) after ten years, in some cases the tenant may refuse to vacate the property. In such situations, the lessor has the right to file an eviction lawsuit based on Article 350 of the TCO.
Article 350 of the TCO: The lessor may terminate the lease agreement and file a lawsuit:
- If the lessor, their spouse, descendants, ascendants, or other persons legally dependent on them need the leased property for residential or business purposes;
- If the leased property requires substantial repairs, reconstruction, expansion, or modification for rebuilding or development purposes, and its use is impossible during these works;
In fixed-term leases, the lawsuit can be filed at the end of the lease term, and in indefinite-term leases, it can be filed following the applicable termination period and notice requirements under the general provisions related to leases, to be concluded within one month from the designated date.
WHEN CAN AN EVICTION LAWSUIT BE FILED?
As explicitly explained in the relevant legal provision, this lawsuit can be filed by the landlord in the event that the tenant does not vacate the property despite a valid termination notice. For fixed-term lease agreements, it is filed within one month from the end of the lease term, and for indefinite-term leases, it is filed within one month from the date determined in accordance with the general provisions regarding the lease’s termination period and the notice periods specified for termination.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO FILE AN EVICTION LAWSUIT BASED ON MULTIPLE GROUNDS SIMULTANEOUSLY?
The Turkish Code of Obligations regulates various grounds that allow the landlord to terminate a lease agreement. In practice, it is common to assert multiple grounds simultaneously. The landlord may base the eviction claim on different legal justifications, either within the same lawsuit or through separate lawsuits.
Indeed, the 3rd Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation stated in its decision dated 30.09.2020:
“…Eviction lawsuits can be filed based on more than one ground within the same case. There is no legal provision prohibiting this. In the present case, the court examined each eviction ground separately and dismissed the claim for each. Since the eviction case was dismissed, only a single attorney’s fee should have been awarded in favor of the defendant’s attorney. The court’s decision to award multiple attorney’s fees without considering this constitutes a procedural and legal violation and is grounds for reversal.” (Court of Cassation, 3rd Civil Chamber, 2020/2920 E., 2020/5059 K., 30.09.2020)
The decision emphasized that filing an eviction lawsuit based on multiple grounds within the same case is legally permissible.
In particular, the expiration of the ten-year extension period (Turkish Code of Obligations, Art. 347) and the landlord’s or their relatives’ need for housing or business premises (Turkish Code of Obligations, Art. 350) are among the main justifications that can form the basis for an eviction claim. In such cases, the landlord may assert these reasons as grounds for eviction within a single lawsuit petition. The court will then evaluate each reason separately, and if any of them are deemed valid, it will issue a ruling for the tenant’s eviction from the property.
Competent and Authorized Court
In a ten-year tenant eviction lawsuit, the competent court is the Civil Peace Court (Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi), while the authorized court is the court where the property is located.
Supreme Court Decisions
“…The legislator has specifically regulated residential and roofed workplace leases as a separate category in the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO). The reason for this is that in residential and roofed workplace leases, the tenant is considered the weaker party in the contract, and therefore such lease agreements need to include provisions and rules aimed at protecting the tenant in terms of nature and content (Eren, Fikret: Special Provisions of the Law of Obligations, Ankara 2019, p. 398). Residential and roofed workplace lease agreements can be either for a fixed term or an indefinite term. If a specific term is explicitly or implicitly set and the lease ends upon the passage of this term without any notice, it is considered a fixed-term lease agreement. These are contracts with a clearly defined start and end date (Ceran, Mithat: Lease Agreements and Eviction Cases, Ankara 2019, p. 130). Fixed-term residential and roofed workplace leases can be terminated either by notice or through litigation. The termination of fixed-term lease agreements for residential and roofed workplaces by notice is regulated under Article 347 of the TCO. According to this article: “In residential and roofed workplace leases, unless the tenant gives notice at least fifteen days before the expiration of a fixed-term lease, the contract is deemed extended for one year under the same conditions. The landlord cannot terminate the contract based on the expiration of the term. However, at the end of the ten-year extension period, the landlord may terminate the contract without providing any reason, provided that notice is given at least three months before the end of each subsequent extension year.”
“In indefinite-term lease agreements, the tenant may terminate the contract at any time, while the landlord may do so only after ten years from the start of the lease, by giving notice of termination in accordance with the general provisions. In cases where the right of termination under the general provisions applies, either the landlord or the tenant may terminate the lease.”
As explicitly stated in Article 347 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO), in residential and roofed workplace leases, the tenant may terminate a fixed-term lease by giving notice at least fifteen days before the end of the term. However, if the tenant does not provide such notice, the lease is deemed automatically extended for one year under the same conditions. Conversely, the landlord does not have the same option and cannot terminate the lease by giving notice fifteen days before the end of the term. The landlord may only terminate the contract after the ten-year extension period, provided that notice is given at least three months before the end of each subsequent extension year, and may do so without providing any reason. Since this provision is a mandatory rule established in favor of the landlord, the parties cannot include a clause in the lease contract to the contrary.
Even after the ten-year period, a termination notice right creating a modifying effect in favor of the landlord is granted. Previously, under Law No. 6570 on Property Leases, no such right to terminate the contract was granted to the landlord (Eren, pp. 416-417). For the landlord to benefit from Article 347 of the TCO, the lease term set in the original contract must have expired, the initial contract must have been extended annually for ten years without a new agreement, the landlord must have given notice of termination at least three months before the end of the last extension year after the ten-year period, and the lawsuit must be filed at the end of the extension year…” (General Assembly of Civil Law, 2017/1546 E., 2021/1517 K., 30.11.2021).
“…As for our case; the plaintiff, relying on the oral lease agreement dated 10.01.2000, requested eviction due to the termination of the contract under Article 347 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO). The defendant did not dispute the start date of the contract. In this case, the dispute must be resolved in accordance with the provisions on the termination of indefinite-term lease agreements regulated in Article 347/2 of the TCO.
According to Article 347/2 of the TCO, in indefinite-term lease agreements, the tenant may terminate the contract at any time, while the landlord may terminate it only after ten years from the start of the lease by giving notice of termination in accordance with the general provisions. The termination notice sent by the plaintiff to the defendant on 06.06.2014 was served to the defendant on 19.06.2014, and the lawsuit was filed on 01.12.2015. It is understood that the termination notice was made in compliance with the three-month notice period for the end of the six-month rental period and that the lawsuit was filed within the prescribed time. Therefore, the court should have ruled in favor of the plaintiff, and the decision to dismiss the case on the grounds of time limitation was incorrect and required reversal…” (Court of Cassation, 3rd Civil Chamber, 2017/6655 E., 2018/712 K., 25.01.2018).
“…The first instance court found that the lease agreement had a start date of 26/06/1997 and that the ten-year term of the contract ended on 28/06/2007. However, under the terms of the agreement, the contract was automatically extended for another ten years under the same conditions until 28/06/2017. According to the law, the landlord has the right to terminate the contract without giving any reason after the ten-year extension period, provided that notice is given at least three months before the end of each subsequent extension year. In the present case, the notice was served on 26/03/2018, three months before the end of the extension year, and the lawsuit was filed on 29/06/2018, within the legal period. Therefore, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff and ordered the eviction of the defendant from the leased property.
The defendant appealed the decision to the regional court of appeal. The appellate court ruled that the legal conditions for eviction were met and that the first instance court’s decision and reasoning were in accordance with procedural and substantive law, thus rejecting the defendant’s appeal on its merits. The decision was further appealed by the defendant’s attorney.
According to Article 331 of the Code of Civil Procedure: “In cases where it is not necessary to rule on the merits of the case due to the case becoming moot, the judge shall assess and decide on the litigation costs based on the parties’ legal positions at the time the case was filed.” In the present case, it was understood that the defendant tenant terminated the lease during the proceedings and delivered the keys to the notary as recorded in the custody report dated 20/11/2020. Accordingly, since the leased property had already been vacated, there was no need to rule on the now-moot eviction case. The litigation costs should have been decided based on the parties’ legal positions at the time of filing. The first instance court’s decision to order the defendant’s eviction without proper examination was therefore incorrect and required reversal…” (Court of Cassation, 3rd Civil Chamber, 2022/3662 E., 2022/5277 K., 31.05.2022).
Lawyer. Gökhan AKGÜL & Lawyer. Yasemin ERAK
