How to recover your investment in real estate from a contractor in Turkey?

Cosar Akkaya Law Firm assist foreign nationals who are encountering with problems in their Real Estate Investment  

It is possible from a legal perspective to recover your investment in real estate from a contractor in Turkey, if such contractor breaches its obligations arising from the sale contract or from the Turkish laws and regulations.

In principle, there is a law protecting consumers in Turkey if a contractor breaches its obligations  including but not limited to delivering the subject matter real estate on time determined in the sale contract. In this case, consumers have right to cancel the contract and request his/her losses.

One of the first point that we would like to mention is that the consumer has right to withdraw from the contract without any need for justification until the delivery or transfer of the title deed pursuant to Regulation on Prepaid Housing Sales. In case of withdrawing from the contract, the contractor or seller may request some payables consisting of tax, fees and other costs arising from legal obligations due to the sale of the housing or preliminary sales contract. In addition, the contractor or seller is able to request the payment of compensation up to two percent of the contract price.

Furthermore; if there are amendments/changes made related to the project, it is mandatory to notify the buyer/customer in written form. In such cases, within one month from the notification, the buyers/customers are entitled to reject the changes and terminate the contract without paying any tax, fee, expense, compensation or other payments under different names. Whereas no such notification is made, this will be deemed as breach in the obligations therefore; allows customers/buyers to terminate the contract without any payment.

In this type of cases, it is important to know your rights and take the correct legal actions to recover your investment in real estate from the contractor in Turkey.

HOWEVER; it is important to make sure that the governing scheme of such dispute shall fall under the consumers protection law. If a person purchase several flats as investment it may not be considered as consumer purchase therefore; above scheme may not be applicable. This should be evaluated case by case. Even if your case is not fall under the consumer protection scheme, it will still be possible to claim your losses from the contractor on the basis of Turkish Code of Obligation. Turkish Code of Obligation also provides remedies for the buyer to cover its losses and the main investment.

We as. Cosar Akkaya Law Firm will be happy to assist you in your disputes here in Turkey and represent your case against the contractors under real estate law. We help you to recover your investment in real estate from the contractor in Turkey. Please click here to see our services under Real Estate Law.

We usually follow the below road map.

Road Map:

1. We will prepare the relevant termination documents and carry out the necessary legal actions for your the subject matter real estate in Turkey. The issue may be solved at this stage. If not,
2. We will file a collection order and see the reaction from the contractor. The debtor must respond within 7 days otherwise the debt will become collectable. If the contractor objects the debt, then we will file a case against the contractor.
3. At this stage we will file a case against the contractor and support our legal standpoint. There is 20% interest if the case is succeeded.

By following the above path, it may be possible to recover your investment in real estate from a contractor in Turkey. Of course, it is required to check whether the contractor is bankrupted or not before taking any action.

If you purchase a real estate in installments and sign promissory notes as part of the Sale Contract;

According to Turkish Law, promissory note will be evaluated independent from the main contract. In such cases, right of terminating the contract may be valid and the buyer will be able to recover its investment. However, the promissory note signed by the buyer/customer will always be eligible to be enforced against the him/her.

In Turkish Law, Promissory notes are one of the three main negotiable instruments by which the issuer promises to pay a determined amount of money to the beneficiary, on a determined date. The payment of the promissory notes cannot be bounded to any conditions or terms. Therefore, foreigners should always be careful in taking any legal action under such circumstances.

As per article 776 of the Turkish Commercial Code numbered 6102 (“TCC”) a valid promissory note must include the following elements;

• The expression “promissory note” must be included within the text or if it is written in a language other than Turkish, the equivalent of “promissory note” in that foreign language should be included within the text of the promissory note
• An undertaking of a promise for “unconditional” and “absolute” payment of a definite sum of money
• The due date
• The place of payment
• The name of the beneficiary of payment
• The place and the date that the promissory note was issued
• The signature of the issuer