Validity of an Eviction Undertaking and the Eviction Process

An eviction undertaking is a written commitment by the tenant to vacate the leased property on a specified date. For an undertaking concerning residential property or roofed commercial premises to support eviction, the requirements of Article 352 of the Turkish Code of Obligations must be considered together. The existence of a document does not lead to eviction in every case.

The undertaking must be given after the property has been delivered to the tenant. An undertaking obtained when the lease is signed or before delivery may be invalid under the rules intended to protect the tenant's free will. It must be in writing, state a determinable date for vacating the property and be given by the tenant or a duly authorised representative. Where there is more than one tenant, the identity of those who signed also matters.

Documents whose signature date or vacation date was completed later are frequently disputed. The circumstances in which the document was prepared, any agreement concerning blank fields, allegations affecting consent and the available evidence must then be examined. The dates on the face of the document should not be considered in isolation; the lease, delivery record, correspondence and preparation process should be reviewed together.

If the tenant does not vacate on the agreed date, the landlord may commence enforcement proceedings or bring an eviction action within one month from that date. Because a missed one-month period may cause loss of the remedy, its beginning and end must be calculated carefully. Where a court action is contemplated, the mandatory-mediation rules applying to lease disputes since 1 September 2023 must also be considered. Eviction through non-judgment enforcement is expressly excluded from that mediation requirement.

An objection to enforcement, a disputed signature or date, or an allegation that the undertaking is invalid may affect the appropriate procedural route. The undertaking, service and enforcement documents and all relevant dates should therefore be reviewed together.

This article is for general information only. The legal assessment may differ according to the facts of a particular case.