How to verify a Turkish eviction undertaking: Tahliye Taahhüdü
An eviction undertaking is not an ordinary lease clause that can be evaluated without its timing and context. Its significance is that it may provide a specific termination route if the requirements of Article 352 of Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 are satisfied. The provision addresses a tenant who, after delivery of the leased property, gives the landlord a written undertaking to vacate on a specified date and then fails to do so. The landlord may then use enforcement or court proceedings within the statutory period. The strength of the document therefore depends on the evidence of delivery, signing, identity, promised date and timely action.
1. Start with the lease and delivery evidence
Before assessing the undertaking, obtain the lease for the same unit and evidence showing when possession was delivered to the tenant: a handover record, key delivery, documented occupancy start or another reliable record. This matters because Article 352 refers to an undertaking given after delivery of the leased property. If the file cannot establish when occupation began and when the undertaking was signed, the chronology is materially incomplete. A printed date on a form should not be used to fill that gap without corroborating evidence.
2. Verify writing and the identity of the tenant who undertook to leave
The statute refers to a written undertaking by the tenant. Reconcile the name, identification details and signature with the lease and other records. Where the lease has multiple tenants or several people occupy the property, determine which legal tenant gave the undertaking and whether all relevant parties are covered. If a representative signed, establish the authority to make this particular commitment rather than assuming that any person connected with the apartment can bind the tenant.
3. The vacating date must be clear
The undertaking concerns leaving the premises on a specified date. Record that date exactly as it appears. Check for conflict between numeric and written dates, unexplained corrections, insertions or blank areas. Where the date appears altered or there is a dispute about when it was completed, do not convert uncertainty into a clean fact for the buyer. The original document and circumstances may require legal review because timing is central to the statutory mechanism.
4. Compare the undertaking date with actual delivery
Create a timeline containing the original lease date, actual handover date, undertaking-signing date and promised vacating date. The after-delivery requirement is not merely decorative. If the document appears to have been signed as part of the conditions imposed before the tenant was allowed into possession, do not assume compliance just because a later date is typed on the page. Preserve independent evidence that supports the sequence and record any contradiction.
5. Track the one-month action period after the promised date
Article 352 provides the route when the tenant does not leave as promised, but it ties termination to commencing enforcement or filing an action within one month starting from the promised vacating date. A document that was potentially useful can therefore lose practical value if the relevant action window is missed. In an acquisition review, ask whether the date has passed and, if so, what was filed and when. Obtain the enforcement or court file number and filing date rather than relying on a statement that eviction has started.
6. Do not confuse an undertaking with a new-owner need claim
Article 352 and Article 351 are different routes. Article 351 deals with specified genuine needs of a person who acquires the leased property, whereas Article 352 concerns tenant-based termination grounds including the written vacating undertaking. A buyer who intends to occupy the property should not treat an unverified undertaking as an automatic substitute for the conditions and deadlines of another legal route. Analyse each basis separately and record which facts and deadlines actually exist.
7. Review what happened after signing
Collect later amendments, renewals, new leases, settlement correspondence and messages that move or discuss the intended vacating date. An old undertaking should not be assessed in isolation if the parties later changed their relationship. Build the chronology and identify any conduct that appears inconsistent with the landlords reliance on the earlier document. The legal effect of later arrangements depends on their content and should be evaluated from the actual records rather than assumptions.
8. If the sale is priced on vacant possession
Do not release the full purchase price solely because an unexecuted undertaking exists. If vacant possession is a condition of the acquisition, stronger closing evidence is actual departure, key handover and inspection of the unit, or a clear contractual retention mechanism until the condition is achieved. A tahliye taahhüdü may support a legal position but it is not the same thing as a property that is already physically vacant.
9. If proceedings are open
Obtain the enforcement or court file, service documents, objections and decisions. Confirm that the property, tenant and undertaking date in the case match the document being shown to the buyer. A copy of a petition does not prove that it was filed within the statutory window. Record the current procedural stage, next date and any dispute about signature, date or delivery.
10. Preserve an evidence chain
A complete file should contain the lease, delivery evidence, original or reliable complete copy of the undertaking, relevant identification and signature material, later notices, enforcement or court records and any settlement. Preserve the document as it exists and do not retype it in a way that hides blanks, corrections or additions. Another reviewer should be able to reconstruct the chronology directly from the evidence.
Red flags
- The undertaking predates delivery or its timing cannot be proven.
- No clear vacating date appears.
- The date has unexplained blanks or alterations.
- The signer does not match the tenant relationship.
- More than one month has passed with no evidence of timely action.
- The document is presented as equivalent to completed physical eviction.
- A later agreement conflicts with the sellers narrative but is not analysed.
- Proceedings are claimed without a file number or filing date.
Frequently asked questions
Is an undertaking signed together with the lease automatically sufficient? Article 352 refers to a written undertaking given after delivery, so the actual chronology must be established.
How quickly must the landlord act after the promised date? Article 352 links enforcement or an action to a one-month period beginning from that date.
Does an undertaking guarantee vacant possession on the sale date? No. Actual departure or the real status of legal proceedings must be checked.