Landlord, tenant conflicts overwhelm courts

ISTANBUL

This year, landlords and tenants have filed tens of thousands of legal cases to resolve the disagreements and conflicts among them, overwhelming the country’s courts.

Some 90,000 rent dispute related legal cases have been opened at courts since the start of the year, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said, noting that this marked a 100 percent increase from a year ago.

The arbitration mechanism for such conflicts will start on Sept. 1 and this should lower courts’ workload, he said.

Tunç recalled that the government extended the regulation, which limits rent hikes to 25 percent, for another year until June 2024.

Large numbers of eviction cases have been filed with courts by landlords, according to Fatih Ekrem Ekinci, a lawyer.

“Everything boils down to the economic situation and inflation,” Ekinci said.

For instance, some landlords live in rented houses but the rent they pay is higher than the rent they receive from their tenants, he explained.

“In such cases, landlords either ask the tenant to raise the rent or evacuate the home so that they can move in… So, they end up in court.”

Tenants, who are worried that if they move out, they cannot find a new affordable housing, resist demands from their landlords.

In a bid to protect themselves against inflation, some landlords in Istanbul demand that occupants pay one-year’s rent in advance.

“There is around a 10 percent increase in such cases compared with the previous years,” said Şerafettin Başaran, a real estate agent.

He noted that if a landlord wants to go with this option, they usually offer a discount.

“Let’s say if they ask potential tenants to pay one year’s rent in advance, they lower the monthly rent price from 15,000 Turkish liras to 14,000 liras,” he said.