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IMPORTANCE OF ANNOTATING LEASE AGREEMENTS AT LAND TITLE REGISTRY

The general rule is that a lease is only enforceable among the parties of a lease agreement, i.e. the lessor and the lessee. In order to render a lease enforceable against third parties, especially a new lessor in case of the sale of the rented premises, an annotation of the lease in the land title registry would be needed. The annotations are generally made in the case of long-term lease agreements, having the duration of more than one year.

Due to the various reasons and especially in current times for residential and commercial purposes, very high demand for immovable on the market, the need for an alternative larger business space or any other commercial aims, lessors may sell their immovable to third parties during the term of the lease agreements with the lessees. In such a circumstance, the new owner becomes the lessor and is automatically part of the lease agreement. The sale of the immovable does not directly affect the lessee’s rights or obligations. Having said this, in particular, if new owner demonstrates urgent own needs or needs of those specified under the law(1), the new owner may terminate the lease as per Article 351 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (“TCO”) which provides that such new owner has a right to file a lawsuit for the eviction of the lessee after six (6) months following the acquisition of the immovable, if it is able to prove to the court that it needs to use the premises for its own or those specified under the law residential purposes or commercial activities. However, the new owner does not have such termination right if the lease is annotated in the land title registry.

Indeed, as per Article 1009 of the Turkish Civil Code, it is foreseen that “Rights arising from construction agreement in return for land share, real estate presale agreement, lease, purchase, pre-emption, repurchase agreements and other rights clearly stipulated in the laws can be annotated. These rights shall be asserted against the owners of the rights acquired later on that immovable”.

Annotation of the lease agreement with the land title registry prevents the application of Article 351 of the TCO as mentioned above and provides the lessee with the legal protection against the threats of eviction during the annotation period of the lease agreement against third parties who may acquire the leased premises subsequent to the execution of the lease agreements.

We would like to present to your attention some useful information when making an application for annotating a lease agreement at the Land Title Registry Office.

What are the requirements for the annotation of lease agreements:

  • Article 312 of the TCO provides that “In the immovable rents, it is possible to agree on annotation of the right of tenancy to the land title registry.”, hence, it is envisaged that lease agreements can be annotated with the land title registry.
  • Parties may decide on the annotation of the lease agreement in a separate agreement or the annotation may be specified as a clause in the lease agreement.
  • The annotation agreement or if annotation is foreseen in the lease agreement, such agreement shall be submitted in written and executed form to the land title registry.
  • When the lease agreement concluded as form of ordinary written and there is no signature authentication by the notary, parties or their attorneys are required to apply to the land title registry together.
  • In the case of the lease agreement is concluded via a notary or the signatures on the agreement are notarized in order that the lessee may apply to the land title registry for annotation then it would be sufficient for the lessee to be able to apply to the relevant land title registry.
  • Every application should be considered on its of specific conditions for the required documentation, however, in general, (i) the Turkish ID cards of the parties or their authorized attorneys, (ii) statutory form power of attorney (in Turkish, “Düzenleme Şeklinde Vekaletname”) if any of the parties are represented in the transaction, (iii) photograph of real persons, (iv) the original of signed lease agreement or lease agreement which is concluded and signed before a notary as per Article 47 of the Land Title Registry Regulation (in Turkish, “Tapu Sicili Tüzüğü”) are required;

Kindly note that each application differs and hence the requirements may vary. Therefore, every application should be prepared accordingly.

Our Law Firm remains at your disposal for any further clarifications you may need.


(1) Article 351 of the TCO
“if the new owner who acquires the leased immovable after the execution of the lease agreement is obliged to use the leased premises for himself/herself, his/her spouse, descendant, ancestor or other dependents due to the law, the new owner may terminate the lease agreement by filing a lawsuit six months after his/her acquisition provided that he/she informs the lessee in writing of the situation withing one month of the acquisition. 
The new owner, who subsequently acquires the leased premises, has the right to terminate the lease agreement, starting from the end of the agreement, within one month, through filing a lawsuit based on his/her need of using the immovable.
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