The Supreme Court of Turkey announced a verdict on one of the cases, which will affect millions of landlords and tenants. With this precedent-setting decision, it became possible to legally terminate the lease agreement without loss for the tenant.
We are talking about a situation when the rented housing turned out to be in a building that does not meet the requirements of earthquake resistance. As part of the precedent decision, it was announced that if the inspected real estate with a valid lease agreement receives a report that it "has a risky structure" – that is, it is unsafe to live in the event of an earthquake – then the lease agreement can be terminated regardless of its duration.
The event that set this precedent took place in Istanbul. An agreement was signed between the office owner and the tenant for a period of 2 years for the rental of real estate as a workplace. The tenant occupied the premises and made repairs. Later, at the request of the owners, a test for earthquake resistance was conducted in the building where his new workplace was located. According to the results of the inspection, it turned out that the structure is not resistant to earthquakes; which led to the decision to evacuate people and potentially liquidate the structure.
One of the owners of the property sued the tenant for reimbursement of the actual expenses incurred. In response to this demand, the tenant filed a counterclaim for damages due to the fact that he had to move out urgently. And, although the magistrate's court rejected the claims of both sides, the case was referred to the Supreme Court. And now, at this level, a new decision was announced, confirming the valid reasons for the termination of the contract by the tenant.
Earlier in Istanbul, an inspection of buildings for earthquake resistance was launched at the request of the owners.
In the housing market, due to recent events, control has increased in all segments, including monitoring the validity of rental rates.