TÜRKİYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Serkan Gül, Nazım O Kurt and Türkay Avanaş, Hergüner Bilgen Üçer Attorney Partnership
Mandatory Mediation for Disputes Relating To the Condominium Law Back in 2018, applying for mediation became a pre-condition for initiating litigation for the collection of commercial receivables. As of 1 September 2023, applying for mediation has become a pre-condition for filing a lawsuit in disputes between lessees and landlords as well as disputes between neighbours that relate to Condominium Law. Development of Online Platforms As of 2019, individuals willing to carry out trans - actions before land registries can submit all of the required documents to an online land registry platform ( webtapu ) so that officials can examine such documents in advance and request missing documents, if any. Right-holders can also grant proxies through the online platform. Addition - ally, the General Directorate of Land Registers has announced that in the near future individuals will be able to obtain more comprehensive infor - mation regarding the land in question thanks to another platform, MAKS. Through this platform, people will be able to see information regarding the lessee, any geographical risks that the land is exposed to, and other annotations attached by government authorities, among others. Howev - er, it is still a requirement to be physically present at the relevant land registry office and to sign the relevant documents in the presence of land reg - istry officials to consummate transactions. The sector would no doubt benefit immensely from individuals having the opportunity to consum - mate transactions relating to the transfer of title, the establishment and cancellation of pledges, and the attachment and cancellation of annota - tions through the online platform. Specific Lease Regime In addition to the above, it appears that a lease regime specific to offices and shops may be
Short-term leases for residential units for tourism purposes became popular due to the ease of adapting rental fees for a given unit with the high inflation rate. However, the loss of tax income resulting from undeclared rental fee income gen - erated by such activities caused the government to regulate this practice. As of 1 January 2024, residential leases for a period not exceeding 100 days became subject to additional procedures and principles. For instance, in order for the owners of independent sections to rent out their immovable properties for tourism purposes, the board of condominium owners must unanimous - ly approve these activities. More details can be found in the firm’s client alert on this subject. 1.3 Proposals for Reform Urban Regeneration The urban regeneration campaign has been ongoing over the past few years in the west - ern region of Türkiye, which sits on an active earthquake zone, with the goal of replacing weak buildings with earthquake-resistant buildings. These projects tend to be small or medium- scale works with each individual project often concerning no more than a single residential building; however, these projects have covered virtually all of Istanbul with multiple new ongo - ing constructions on nearly every block in the downtown area. As a result of the tragic earthquake in South - eastern Türkiye in 2023, the urban regeneration legislation was amended to expedite the regen - eration efforts in these areas. For example, the quorum for reconstructing a building under the risk of collapsing was reduced from two thirds to an absolute majority. More details can be found in the firm’s client alert on this subject.
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