Property due diligence in Turkey is the legal review of a property’s title, encumbrances, permits, debts and seller in official records, before any deposit.
A foreign buyer usually meets a property in Turkey through photographs, a viewing and a price. The land register meets it through a parcel number, a list of entries and a history of owners. Those two descriptions of the same apartment rarely match, and the space between them is where most property disputes involving foreign buyers begin: a mortgage the seller meant to clear, a spouse who never consented, a co-owner with a right to step in, a building whose permit covers fewer floors than were built.
None of these are hidden in the sense of being secret. They sit in public registers, municipal files and court records, and a lawyer with access to those records can read them in days. They are hidden only from a buyer who looks at the property instead of the file. A property legal review is the process of reading the file before the buyer commits money to the property.
What does a property legal review in Turkey actually check? Six things: who owns the property and whether the person selling can sell it; what is registered against it in the land register; whether the building and the unit are lawful under zoning and permit rules; whether earthquake risk or urban transformation affects it; which debts will follow it to the new owner; and whether the contract reflects all of the above. Each answer comes from a different official source.
Which problems cannot be seen on the title deed itself? Some of the most serious ones. The entries most likely to cost a buyer the property are often the ones that do not appear: a family home whose non-owner spouse never consented to the sale, a co-owner’s right of pre-emption, a building permit that does not match the building. A title deed records what someone chose to register; a review also asks what should have been registered and was not.
When should the review start? Before the deposit. In Turkish practice the deposit (kapora) is usually the first payment, and it is often agreed as non-refundable if the buyer withdraws. A review completed before that payment lets the buyer walk away from a defective property at no cost; the same review completed after it turns every defect into a negotiation about losing money.
How can a property with a clean title still be a bad purchase? Through what might be called a spotless risk. A register with no mortgage, no attachment and no annotation can sit over an apartment built without an occupancy permit, in a building marked for demolition, sold by an owner whose spouse can annul the sale. A clean register is the beginning of the review, not its result.
This page sets out what a property review covers and what each finding means. It does not address the review of a Turkish company before a share purchase, which is covered on our page for the due diligence lawyer in Turkey, and it does not repeat the general catalogue of risks for foreign buyers set out on our page on hidden legal risks for foreign buyers in İstanbul.
⚖️ What Does a Property Legal Review in Turkey Check?
Six questions, each answered from a different register, make up property due diligence in Turkey.
The first question is ownership. The land register (tapu sicili) shows who owns the property and in what form: sole ownership, ownership in shares, or joint ownership. The review compares the registered owner with the person offering the property for sale, and with the person who will sign at the Land Registry Directorate (Tapu Müdürlüğü), because those are not always the same person.
The second question is what burdens the property. The register’s encumbrance sections record mortgages, attachments, annotations, easements and other rights in favour of third parties. Each entry either has to be cleared before the transfer, accepted by the buyer with full knowledge, or treated as a reason not to proceed.
The third and fourth questions concern the building. The municipality’s records show whether the building was constructed under a building permit (yapı ruhsatı), whether it received an occupancy permit (yapı kullanma izin belgesi, commonly iskan), and what the zoning plan allows on the parcel. Separately, the review checks whether the building has been designated a risky structure under the urban transformation law, which can lead to evacuation and demolition.
The fifth question is money that travels with the property: unpaid property tax, unpaid service charges, utility arrears and tenants whose leases bind a new owner. The sixth is the contract itself, which must translate everything the review has found into terms: what the seller clears before transfer, what is retained from the price, and what happens if a promised fact turns out to be false.
⚖️ Why Is a Clean Title Deed Not Enough?
Because the title deed records only what someone registered, and several of the rights that can defeat a purchase in Turkey exist whether or not they are registered.
The clearest example is the family home. Under Article 194 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 (Türk Medeni Kanunu), a spouse who owns the family home cannot transfer it without the explicit consent of the other spouse. The non-owner spouse may have the family home status annotated in the land register, but the consent requirement does not depend on that annotation. Turkish courts have set aside sales of family homes made without the spouse’s consent, which makes the question of the seller’s marital status a question about whether the buyer will keep the property.
The second example is the building itself. The land register records the unit, its share of the land and its type of ownership, but it does not certify that the building matches its permit. An apartment can be registered, transferred and mortgaged while the building has extra floors, enclosed balconies or a changed use that the municipality never approved. Those irregularities become the new owner’s problem the day the deed is signed.
The third example is time. A register extract is a snapshot of the moment it was printed. An attachment registered by the seller’s creditor the day before the transfer, or a pre-emption claim brought by a co-owner after it, will not appear on an extract taken weeks earlier. A review therefore ends with a final register check as close to the signing as possible, and the contract allocates the risk of anything that appears in between.
The review exists to close those gaps. It reads the register as the starting point, then reads the municipal file, the seller’s personal and family position and the history of the building, and asks of each one the same question: what right could someone else assert against this property after the buyer has paid for it.
Found the property? Have the file read before you pay the deposit.
Send us the address or parcel details and the seller’s name, and we will review the register, the municipal file and the seller’s position before any money changes hands.
⚖️ When Should the Review Start, and What Does Skipping It Cost?
The review should start when a property has been shortlisted and finish before the deposit is paid. In practice, that means a window of several days between the first viewing and the first payment.
The pressure in the market runs the other way. Agents and sellers often ask for a deposit quickly to hold the property, and the deposit agreement is usually signed in a short form that says little about what happens if a problem is found. A buyer who signs it first and investigates second has given up the cheapest exit, which is simply not to proceed.
The cost of skipping the review is not the cost of the review avoided. It is the cost of whatever the review would have found. A mortgage the seller cannot discharge on the day turns into a postponed appointment and a dispute over the deposit. A family home sold without consent turns into litigation over title. A unit without an occupancy permit turns into a property that is difficult to resell, difficult to insure and, for a buyer relying on it for residence or citizenship, possibly unusable for that purpose.
For a foreign buyer, the review has one more function. It establishes, before the purchase, whether the property can be acquired by a foreign individual at all and whether it qualifies for the purpose the buyer has in mind. Those questions are covered on our pages on foreign property eligibility in Turkey and on buying property in Turkey for citizenship; the review is where their answers are applied to a specific parcel.
⚖️ Reading the Land Register: Annotations, Declarations, Mortgages and Easements
A Turkish land register extract has a main page identifying the property and its owners, and encumbrance sections listing annotations (şerhler), declarations (beyanlar), mortgages and pledges (rehinler), and easements and other limited rights (irtifak hakları). Each section answers a different question about what the buyer will acquire.
Annotations record rights and restrictions that bind third parties, including a new owner. Typical annotations are attachments (haciz) registered by the owner’s creditors, interim injunctions (ihtiyati tedbir) ordered by a court in a pending lawsuit, pre-emption or repurchase rights, and leases registered in the land register. A buyer who acquires property carrying an attachment acquires it subject to the creditor’s claim, and an injunction usually prevents the transfer altogether.
Declarations record facts about the property rather than rights over it: that the unit is a family home, that the building has been designated under the urban transformation law, that a management plan applies, or that a part of the parcel is allocated for public use in the zoning plan. Declarations do not always block a transfer, but each changes what the buyer is acquiring and should be explained before the contract is signed.
Mortgages record loans secured on the property. A mortgage in favour of a bank is common and is usually discharged at the transfer appointment from the purchase price, in coordination with the seller’s bank. The discharge must be arranged before the appointment: the bank issues a payoff figure and a release letter, and the buyer’s payment is structured so that the mortgage is lifted in the same session as the transfer.
Easements and limited rights include rights of way, usufruct (intifa hakkı) and residence rights (oturma hakkı). A usufruct in favour of a parent, for example, allows that person to use and receive income from the property for life, whoever owns it. A buyer who acquires bare ownership subject to a usufruct acquires a property they may not be able to occupy for many years. The register also records the type of ownership, which determines whether the buyer is acquiring a whole unit or a share in a parcel.
⚖️ Is the Seller Really the Seller? Identity, Powers of Attorney and Inheritance
The person entitled to sell is the person registered as owner, or a representative holding a valid power of attorney from that owner. The review verifies both the identity of the registered owner and, where a representative will sign, the existence, scope and current validity of the power of attorney.
Powers of attorney are the most common route for fraud in Turkish property transactions. A forged or revoked instrument presented at the Land Registry Directorate can transfer a property the owner never agreed to sell. Notarial powers of attorney issued in Turkey can be checked against the notaries’ records, and the review confirms that the instrument exists, has not been revoked and authorises the sale of this specific property on these terms.
Where the registered owner has died, the heirs cannot sell until the property has been registered in their names through a certificate of inheritance (veraset ilamı) and an inheritance transfer (intikal) at the land registry. A buyer offered a property by heirs who have not completed that registration is being offered something they cannot yet sell, and every heir must take part in the sale unless the estate has been divided.
Where the owner is a company, the review checks the trade registry for the company’s authorised signatories and any restriction on their authority. A sale signed by a director who lacks authority under the company’s registered signature circular can be challenged by the company, and the review prevents that question from arising after the price has been paid.
⚖️ The Spouse Nobody Mentioned: Family Home Consent
Under Article 194 of the Turkish Civil Code, a spouse cannot transfer or restrict rights over the family home without the explicit consent of the other spouse. The rule applies even where only one spouse is registered as owner, and it applies whether or not the family home status has been annotated in the land register.
The family home (aile konutu) is the dwelling in which the spouses live together. A holiday home or an investment apartment rented to tenants is generally not a family home; the apartment in which the seller and the seller’s spouse actually live is. The question is factual, which is why the review asks where the seller lives and with whom, and does not rely only on the register.
The non-owner spouse may apply to have the family home status annotated in the declarations section of the land register. Where an annotation exists, the land registry will not register a transfer without the spouse’s consent. Where no annotation exists, the consent requirement still applies, and Turkish courts have annulled sales made without it; how far a buyer acting in good faith is protected in that case has been decided differently over time.
The safe course for the buyer is simple and costs nothing. Where the seller is married and the property may be the family home, the spouse’s explicit consent is obtained in writing, ideally given before the land registry officer at the signing or in a notarised instrument. A one-line consent closes a risk that would otherwise remain open for as long as the marriage, and any dispute arising from it, lasts.
⚖️ Buying a Share of a Property: Co-Owners’ Pre-emption Rights
Where a property is held in shares (paylı mülkiyet) and one co-owner sells a share to an outsider, the other co-owners have a statutory right of pre-emption under Articles 732 to 734 of the Turkish Civil Code: they may take over the share on the same terms by bringing a claim against the buyer.
The pre-emption right must be exercised within three months from the date on which the co-owners were notified of the sale, and in any case within two years from the registration of the sale. Until those periods have passed, a buyer of a share in a co-owned property holds a title that another co-owner can take from them by paying the price the buyer paid, without having to compensate the buyer for anything more.
Shares in co-owned property are often offered at attractive prices, particularly in inherited land and in buildings where condominium ownership has not been established. The review identifies the ownership type first: a unit registered under condominium ownership is an independent property whose sale does not trigger the statutory pre-emption right, while a share in a parcel is not.
Shares also have consequences beyond pre-emption. A property acquired in shares cannot be used for a citizenship application, a co-owner cannot occupy a defined part of the property without an agreement among co-owners, and selling or developing the whole requires the others’ participation. A buyer seeking an apartment should be acquiring a unit, not a share, and the review confirms which one is on offer.
⚖️ Zoning, Building Permits and the Occupancy Permit
A lawful building in Turkey has a building permit issued by the municipality before construction and an occupancy permit (yapı kullanma izin belgesi) issued after completion, confirming that the building was built in accordance with its permit. The review obtains both from the municipal file and compares them with the building as it stands.
The occupancy permit decides the type of ownership. A building under construction is usually registered under construction servitude (kat irtifakı), which records the future units and their shares of the land. Once the occupancy permit is issued, the registration can be converted into full condominium ownership (kat mülkiyeti). An apartment still registered under construction servitude years after completion is a signal that the occupancy permit was never issued, and the review asks why.
Differences between the permit and the building are common: additional floors, enclosed balconies, units merged or divided, or a commercial use in a residential building. Each difference is a potential enforcement risk under the Zoning Law No. 3194 (İmar Kanunu), and some prevent the building from obtaining an occupancy permit at all. The municipality can impose fines and order the unlawful part to be removed, and those orders follow the building, not the owner who built it.
Many buildings constructed without permits were registered under the 2018 zoning amnesty, which issued a building registration certificate (yapı kayıt belgesi) under Provisional Article 16 of the Zoning Law. The certificate allows utility connections and certain registrations, but it is a temporary document: it is not a building permit or an occupancy permit, and it does not prevent action against the building on safety grounds, including demolition of a structure found to be risky. A buyer offered a unit in such a building should know which document they are relying on.
The zoning plan also matters for the land. A parcel partly allocated to a road, a park or another public use under the plan may be expropriated in part, and a declaration of that allocation may appear in the register. The municipality issues a zoning status certificate (imar durum belgesi) for each parcel, and the review reads it against the buyer’s intended use.
⚖️ Earthquake Risk and Urban Transformation
A building designated as a risky structure (riskli yapı) under the Law on the Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk No. 6306 (Afet Riski Altındaki Alanların Dönüştürülmesi Hakkında Kanun) can be ordered evacuated and demolished, and its owners are then subject to the decisions of the owners’ majority on reconstruction. The review checks whether such a designation exists or is in progress.
A risky structure designation follows a technical assessment of the building and is notified to the owners. Owners can object within the statutory period, and once the designation is final, the building is scheduled for evacuation and demolition. Amendments to the implementing regulation published in February 2026 also provided for the land register of demolished buildings to record that the parcel falls within the scope of Law No. 6306.
For a buyer, the designation changes the asset entirely. A buyer of a unit in a building designated as risky is buying a share in a reconstruction project, with rent assistance and a future unit dependent on decisions taken by the majority of owners and the contractor they select. That may still be a sound investment, but it is not the purchase of a finished apartment, and the price, the timetable and the contract should reflect that.
Older buildings deserve particular attention. Buildings constructed before the modern seismic codes, buildings with a building registration certificate and buildings already under discussion among owners for reconstruction carry a higher likelihood of designation. The review asks the building management and the municipality what is known, and checks the register for any declaration already recorded.
⚖️ Debts and Tenants That Follow the Property
Some liabilities stay with the seller and some follow the property to the buyer. Under the last paragraph of Article 30 of the Property Tax Law No. 1319 (Emlak Vergisi Kanunu), the transferor and the transferee are jointly liable for unpaid property tax relating to the year of the transfer and earlier years, with the buyer keeping a right of recourse against the seller.
The practical effect is that a buyer can receive a payment order from the municipality for a seller’s unpaid property tax. The review therefore obtains confirmation from the municipality that property tax has been paid up to the transfer, and the contract allows any arrears to be deducted from the price. Recourse against a seller who has already left with the proceeds is a right, but rarely a practical one.
Service charges for the building (aidat) are generally treated differently: the buyer becomes liable for charges arising after the purchase, while the seller remains liable for earlier ones. The Condominium Law No. 634 (Kat Mülkiyeti Kanunu) does, however, give the other owners a statutory mortgage right over a unit for its owner’s unpaid share of common expenses, and where such a right has been registered it follows the unit. A letter from the building management confirming that the unit has no arrears closes the question.
Tenants follow the property. Under Article 310 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (Türk Borçlar Kanunu), a new owner becomes the landlord under an existing lease, and a residential tenant cannot be removed simply because the property was sold. Article 351 allows a new owner who needs the property for their own or their family’s residence to terminate within limits and on notice. A buyer who wants vacant possession must have it written into the contract as a condition of the transfer.
Utility debts for electricity, water and natural gas generally follow the subscriber, not the property, but a supplier may refuse to open a new subscription until the old one is closed. A final meter reading on the transfer date and the closure of the seller’s subscriptions protect the buyer against the seller’s last bills.
⚖️ What the Review Covers, Where It Looks and What a Finding Means
A property legal review in Turkey usually takes five to ten working days for a completed residential unit with a single owner, and longer for land, co-owned property or buildings with permit irregularities. The table summarises the sources and what each finding means for the buyer.
| Check | Source | A finding means |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership and type of ownership | Land register extract | Share instead of unit: pre-emption risk; construction servitude: occupancy permit question |
| Mortgages, attachments, injunctions | Encumbrance sections of the register | Must be cleared at or before transfer, or the purchase is subject to them |
| Seller’s authority | Identity documents, notarial records, trade registry, inheritance records | Invalid power of attorney or incomplete inheritance: no valid sale |
| Family home | Register declarations, seller’s residence and marital status | Spouse’s explicit consent required (Civil Code, Art. 194) |
| Permits and zoning | Municipal building file, zoning status certificate | Missing occupancy permit or unlawful additions: fines, removal orders, resale difficulty |
| Risky structure | Register declarations, municipality, building management | Evacuation, demolition and reconstruction under Law No. 6306 |
| Property tax and service charges | Municipality, building management | Unpaid property tax: joint liability (Property Tax Law, Art. 30); arrears deducted from price |
| Tenancy | Lease, register annotations, site visit | Lease binds the buyer (Code of Obligations, Art. 310); vacant possession must be agreed |
The table describes the review of a residential purchase. Land acquisitions add questions about agricultural status, cadastral boundaries and access, and commercial property adds questions about operating licences and the permitted use. Whatever the property, the review ends with a written report that the contract can be built on, and a final register check as close to the signing as possible.
⚖️ From Review to Contract: Turning Findings Into Protection
A review is only as useful as the contract that follows it. Each finding becomes a term: a condition the seller must satisfy before the transfer, a retention from the price until a risk has passed, a warranty with a remedy, or a decision not to proceed.
A mortgage becomes a discharge arrangement in the same session as the transfer. A family home becomes a consent clause and the spouse’s signature. Unpaid property tax or service charges become a deduction from the price. A tenancy becomes a vacant possession condition or a price adjustment. A permit irregularity becomes either a reason to walk away or an allocation of the cost of regularising it, with a timetable.
For payments made before the transfer, the contract should also state how the money is protected. From 1 December 2026, the Secure Payment System (Güvenli Ödeme Sistemi) is scheduled to require that purchase prices paid in cash, by transfer or by electronic funds transfer move through a state-linked system that releases the price when ownership changes. The mechanics of the transfer itself are set out on our page on title deed transactions and property transfer processes.
Buyers who cannot travel can have the review, the contract and the transfer completed through a representative. The review is document work and does not require the buyer’s presence, and the transfer can be signed under a power of attorney, as explained on our page on the power of attorney in Turkey. Disputes that arise after the transfer are handled by our team as described on our page for the real estate lawyer in Turkey.
⚖️ Read the File Before You Buy the Property
Every property in Turkey has two descriptions: the one a buyer sees at the viewing, and the one recorded in the land register, the municipal file and the seller’s personal circumstances. A purchase goes well when the two match, and a review is the way to find out whether they do while the buyer can still walk away.
Most of what a review finds can be fixed: a mortgage discharged, a spouse’s consent obtained, arrears deducted, a tenant’s departure agreed. What cannot be fixed is the timing. The same finding costs nothing before the deposit and a great deal after the transfer, which is why the review belongs at the very beginning of the purchase rather than the end.
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