Human rights institution fines those rejecting ‘single tenants’
Emin Mert Kırarslan- SAMSUN
A human rights institution has made a landmark decision by fining a real estate agent and landlords who rejected renting their apartment to a woman on the grounds that she was unmarried.
A woman from the northern province of Samsun filed a complaint to the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye (TİHEK) as she received a negative response regarding an apartment she wanted to rent.
As per the claim, the agent stated that the landlords of the apartment want to rent it to only married persons.
The institution fined the real estate consultant and two landlords, who refused the young woman’s request as she was single, on the grounds of “violation of the prohibition of discrimination,” with a fine of 10,000 Turkish Liras for each.
Evaluating the decision, lawyer Ayşe Hüseyinoğlu stated those who face this kind of rejection can apply to the TİHEK.
“TİHEK can impose fines from 1,000 to 15,000 liras. The decision in Samsun may set a precedent,” Hüseyinoğlu.
“According to the constitution, everyone is equal without discrimination. It is a violation of the prohibition of discrimination that landlords do not rent their immovables to single or foreigners,” said another lawyer Dilek Yüksel.
Aydın Yaşar, who works as a real estate agent in Istanbul’s Bayrampaşa, stated that similar problems are often experienced between singles and homeowners.
“Homeowners usually don’t prefer renting a house to an unmarried person. We are experiencing similar problems. We are torn between the two sides,” he said.
