The Two Justified Warnings Rule (TBK 352/2): Evicting a Habitually Late Tenant in Turkey
The two justified warnings rule lets a landlord in Turkey evict a tenant who keeps paying rent late, even after the tenant has cleared every debt. It sits in Article 352/2 of the Turkish Code of Obligations and is built for the habitual late payer, not the one-time defaulter. If your tenant always pays in the end but never on time, ordinary default eviction often fails you. This route is designed exactly for that frustration, but it is unforgiving on form, timing, and a step many landlords miss: since September 2023 you must try mediation before you can sue.
What the Two Justified Warnings Rule Actually Covers
The Turkish Code of Obligations (Türk Borçlar Kanunu, Law No. 6098, here "TBK") gives landlords several distinct grounds to recover possession of a property. The rule in Article 352/2 TBK — known in Turkish as iki haklı ihtar, or "two justified warnings" — is one of the most useful and most misunderstood.
This ground is not for the tenant who misses a single rent payment. It is for the tenant who makes a habit of paying late, even where they eventually settle every debt in full. The law treats repeated lateness as a breach of the relationship in its own right: what the tenant owes is timely payment, not eventual payment.
The core mechanism is simple to state and easy to get wrong. If the landlord lawfully warns the tenant twice over late rent within the relevant period, the landlord may then go to court to end the lease — even though the tenant has by then paid everything owed.
This is a powerful tool for foreign landlords because it does not require proving the tenant is currently in debt. It rewards landlords who keep careful records and serve their warnings correctly. The same rule applies whether you let out a home or a roofed commercial premises (çatılı işyeri), so it matters for residential and business landlords alike.
Condition 1: Two Warnings Within the Relevant Period
For a lease of one year or longer, both warnings must normally fall within a single rental year. A rental year runs from the anniversary date of the lease, not the calendar year. If your lease started on 1 March, the rental year runs from 1 March to the following 28/29 February.
There is one nuance the statute makes plain. For leases longer than one year, the two warnings may sit within a single rental year or within a period spanning more than one rental year — the wording is "a rental year or a period exceeding a rental year." So for a multi-year lease you should not assume the count automatically resets at each anniversary; the permitted window can be wider. For a one-year lease, though, both warnings do need to fall inside the same rental year.
- For leases of one year or longer, the two warnings must fall within one rental year (or, for multi-year leases, the wider permitted window).
- For leases shorter than one year, the warnings must occur within that lease term.
The two justified warnings must also relate to two separate rent periods — for example, two different months' rent — not two reminders about the same overdue month. Splitting one month's arrears into two notices gives you one justified warning, not two.
Condition 2: Correct Form and Delivery of Each Warning
A warning only counts if it is delivered in a way Turkish law and the courts will accept as proof. Form is not a technicality here — it is the heart of the case.
Valid methods
- Notary public (noter) notice — the strongest and preferred route; it produces an unimpeachable record of both content and delivery date.
- Registered mail with return receipt (iadeli taahhütlü) — acceptable, provided you keep proof of delivery.
Methods that usually fail
- Plain email, SMS or WhatsApp messages.
- Hand delivery the tenant does not acknowledge in writing.
Who must send and receive
The warning must come from the party identified as landlord in the lease. Where the property has several co-owners, the warning and the lawsuit may require a majority decision of the co-owners under the shared-ownership rules of the Turkish Civil Code, or in some cases all owners acting together. Where the lease names more than one tenant, each tenant should be served; a warning that omits a co-tenant can undermine the whole claim. Getting these names right at the lease stage saves trouble later — see our guide to drafting a watertight lease.
Condition 3: Each Warning Must Be "Justified" (Haklı)
The word that does the work in this rule is haklı — justified. A warning is only justified if, at the moment the tenant receives it, the rent it complains about is genuinely due and still unpaid (muacceliyet).
- A warning sent before the rent's due date is premature and legally void — even one day early defeats it.
- The warning must concern base rent. Demands over utilities, building dues (aidat), maintenance or other ancillary charges do not count as justified rent warnings.
- The tenant must have no valid defence — for example, a genuine set-off right, a prior breach by the landlord, or the landlord's own refusal to accept a proper payment. A tenant whose payment was refused can lawfully deposit the rent with the court (tevdi mahalli), which then blunts a later warning.
The "payment before receipt" trap
Turkish Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) practice is strict on timing. If the tenant pays the overdue rent before actually receiving the warning, that warning is not justified and does not count toward the two. This is exactly why proof of the delivery date matters so much, and why a fast, dated notary notice beats slower or deemed-receipt methods.
Condition 4: Mediation First, Then File the Lawsuit on Time
Having two justified warnings does not, by itself, end the tenancy. The landlord must take action — and the law now requires a step that catches many landlords out.
Mandatory mediation before you can sue
Since 1 September 2023, mediation is a compulsory pre-condition (dava şartı arabuluculuk) for rental disputes filed in court, introduced by Law No. 7445 (which added Article 18/B to the Mediation Law, Law No. 6325). You must first apply to a mediator before filing an eviction lawsuit. A two-justified-warnings suit filed straight at court, without a mediation application, will be dismissed on procedural grounds (usulden ret).
In practice: you apply to the mediation office, a mediator is appointed, and the process is normally completed within a few weeks. If it fails, the mediator issues a final report (son tutanak), and you then file the lawsuit. Crucially for the deadline below, the law provides that time stops running from the mediation application until the final report is issued — so a timely mediation application protects your filing window.
- Court: the Civil Court of Peace (Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi) for the area where the leased property is located, consistent with the Code of Civil Procedure (HMK, Law No. 6100).
- Evidence to prepare: the signed lease, copies of both warnings, proof of their delivery dates, the mediation final report, and a payment record showing the pattern of lateness.
Because the window is only a month, a landlord who waits to "see if things improve" often loses the right entirely. Identify the rental-year boundary early and instruct counsel before it closes.
A Worked Example: How the Timeline Fits Together
Numbers make this concrete. Suppose your one-year lease started on 1 March 2025, so the rental year runs to 28 February 2026.
- April 2025: the tenant pays April rent late. You send a notary warning while April's rent is due and unpaid. That is justified warning one.
- September 2025: the tenant is late again on September rent. You send a second notary warning while September's rent is due and unpaid. That is justified warning two — a different rent period, within the same rental year.
- 28 February 2026: the rental year ends. Your one-month forfeiture window opens.
- By 31 March 2026: you must act. You apply for mediation within this window; the application stops the clock. If mediation fails, you file the eviction suit at the Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi using the remaining time once the final report issues.
Even though the tenant has paid every lira by February, the two justified warnings stand and the claim can proceed. Miss the March window — or skip the mediation step — and the right is lost for that year.
TBK 352/2 Versus the Single-Default Route (TBK 315)
It helps to see how this rule differs from the more familiar default-based eviction under Article 315 TBK, which targets a tenant who is currently in arrears.
| Two justified warnings (TBK 352/2) | Single default (TBK 315) | |
|---|---|---|
| Target tenant | Habitual late payer (pattern of lateness) | Tenant currently behind on rent |
| Trigger | Two justified written warnings over two rent periods | One written notice over an unpaid amount |
| Notice required | Two justified warnings; no cure period to grant | One notice granting a cure period (at least 30 days for residential/roofed-workplace leases; at least 10 days otherwise), running from the day after notice |
| When you can sue | Within one month of the rental year/term ending | After the cure period ends with rent still unpaid |
| Does the tenant paying defeat it? | No — it works even after every debt is cleared | Yes — paying within the cure period closes the route |
In practice the two grounds are often run in sequence, and the right choice for your facts is a strategic decision, not a formality. Both court routes now require mediation first.
The Enforcement Route (İcra) as an Alternative
There is a separate, faster-feeling option worth knowing about. Under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Code (İcra ve İflas Kanunu, Law No. 2004), a landlord facing a tenant in default can start an enforcement-based eviction (icra yoluyla tahliye) through the enforcement office rather than the court. The tenant is served a payment order; if they neither pay nor validly object, eviction can follow.
Habitual late payers also tend to contest rent increases. If that is part of your dispute, the rent-determination (kira tespit) process runs alongside these eviction grounds and is also subject to mandatory mediation.
If You Are a Landlord Abroad
Managing a Turkish property from overseas adds practical hurdles, none of them fatal if you plan for them.
- Acting through a representative: you can authorise a Turkish lawyer or agent by a power of attorney (vekaletname) to serve warnings, apply for mediation, and file the suit. A power of attorney executed abroad usually needs an apostille and a certified Turkish translation.
- Serving the tenant: warnings can be served by a Turkish notary on your behalf, which sidesteps the difficulty of you posting documents from another country.
- Co-ownership: if the property is jointly owned, confirm early who must authorise the warning and the suit, so a missing signature does not derail the case.
These are easy errors to make from a distance and hard to undo. It is worth having a lawyer review your warning before you serve it, or asking us to check a process you have already started.
Common Mistakes That Sink These Cases
- Skipping mandatory mediation and filing straight at court — the suit is dismissed on procedural grounds.
- Miscounting the rental year so the two warnings fall outside the relevant window.
- Defective delivery — using email/WhatsApp, omitting a co-tenant, or sending from someone not named as landlord.
- Warning over the wrong sums — demanding aidat or utilities rather than base rent.
- Premature warnings sent before the rent is due.
- The payment-before-receipt problem — the tenant pays before the warning is received.
- Missing the one-month window after the rental year or lease term ends.
If any of this feels uncertain, that instinct is correct — the rule is technical and the deadlines are short. Our real estate and lease dispute lawyers can review your facts and tell you which route, if any, fits before you commit time and cost. For a longer-running problem with a tenant who simply will not leave, you may also want to read about the ten-year extended-lease eviction route.
Frequently asked questions
What is the two justified warnings rule in Turkey?
It is an eviction ground under Article 352/2 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (Law No. 6098). If a landlord gives a tenant two valid written warnings over late rent within the relevant period, the landlord may sue to end the lease, even if the tenant has since paid everything owed. It targets habitual late payers rather than one-time defaulters.
Can I evict a tenant under TBK 352/2 if they have now paid all the rent?
Yes. This rule is about a pattern of habitual late payment, not current arrears. If you served two justified warnings in the same rental year, you can pursue eviction even after the tenant has cleared every debt, provided you start mediation and file within the one-month window after the rental year or lease term ends.
Do I have to try mediation before filing an eviction case in Turkey?
Yes. Since 1 September 2023, mediation is a compulsory pre-condition for rental disputes filed in court, introduced by Law No. 7445. You must apply to a mediator before filing a two-justified-warnings eviction suit; filing straight at court without it leads to dismissal on procedural grounds. The mediation application also stops the one-month deadline from running until the final report is issued.
Do the two warnings have to be about different months' rent?
Yes. The two justified warnings must relate to two separate rent periods. Two reminders about the same overdue month count as one warning, not two.
Is a WhatsApp message or email a valid warning?
Generally no. Turkish courts expect warnings to be provable. A notary public notice is strongly preferred, and registered mail with return receipt is acceptable. Plain email, SMS or WhatsApp usually will not satisfy the requirement.
What happens if the tenant pays the moment before receiving my warning?
That warning is not justified and does not count. Under Court of Cassation practice the rent must still be due and unpaid when the warning is received, which is why a fast, dated notary notice is safer than slower or deemed-receipt methods.
How long do I have to file the eviction case?
For leases of one year or longer, you must act within one month from the end of the rental year in which the two justified warnings were given. For leases shorter than one year, the month runs from the end of the lease term. This is a strict forfeiture period the court applies on its own. Apply for mediation within that month, which freezes the clock until the final report.
Which court hears a two-justified-warnings eviction?
The Civil Court of Peace (Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi) for the location of the leased property, in line with the Turkish Code of Civil Procedure (HMK No. 6100), after mediation has been attempted.
