Your Tenant Sublet the Turkish Apartment Without Consent: Article 322 and Termination

Short answer: For residential and roofed-workplace leases, Code of Obligations Article 322 requires the landlord’s written consent to subletting or transfer of use. Establish the actual arrangement and the consent given. Article 316 regulates the relevant breach notices, including the ordinary minimum thirty-day cure warning and distinct immediate-termination grounds. Subletting, transfer of the original lease and recovery of possession are separate legal questions.

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Identify whether the tenant sublet, transferred use or merely received guests

An owner should establish what actually happened before alleging an unauthorised sublease. The relevant facts include who occupies the apartment, the basis of that occupation, any payment arrangement, the original tenant’s continuing use and the documents made with the occupant. A visitor, a family member, a subtenant and a person claiming to replace the original tenant do not necessarily occupy the same legal position.

Obtain the original lease and describe the alleged arrangement accurately. An advertisement can indicate an offer to let, but it does not by itself establish that a sublease was concluded or that the whole apartment was delivered to another person. Conversely, the absence of a formal sublease document does not establish that no transfer of use occurred. The evidence should address the actual agreement and occupation.

Code of Obligations Article 322 addresses both subletting and transfer of the right to use. A claim should identify which act is relied on. Calling every unfamiliar occupant an illegal tenant substitutes a conclusion for the facts needed to apply the provision. An overseas owner should ask the representative for a documented account rather than a label supplied by a neighbour or agent.

Residential and roofed-workplace subletting requires written landlord consent

Article 322 first states a general rule allowing all or part of the premises to be sublet or use transferred without a change harmful to the landlord. Its second paragraph imposes a specific restriction for residential and roofed-workplace leases: the tenant cannot sublet or transfer use without the landlord’s written consent. The residential rule must not be replaced with the general permission stated in the first paragraph.

Check the lease and every later consent document. Establish who gave permission, whether that person could act for the landlord, the premises and use covered, and any relevant limits. Consent to one named arrangement should not automatically be treated as unlimited permission for different occupants or uses. Equally, a complete file must disclose a permission already given rather than relying only on the original lease’s prohibition.

A discussion about a future arrangement is different from the legally relevant consent. Preserve the full correspondence and assess its form and content. The written-consent requirement should be stated accurately, while any dispute about the parties’ later conduct must be evaluated on the actual evidence and applicable law. Neither party should selectively quote an isolated message and disregard the surrounding exchange.

A change of property ownership also requires the consent history to be preserved. Article 310 states that the new owner becomes a party to the lease when the premises change hands after the contract is made, subject to the reserved expropriation rules. Obtain any permission given before the sale and identify who granted it at that time. The new owner should assess the inherited contractual position rather than assume that purchasing the apartment automatically erases every prior permission. The dates of the lease, consent and transfer must remain distinct in the file.

Subletting is different from replacing the contracting tenant

Article 323 governs transfer of the lease relationship. With the landlord’s written consent, the transferee replaces the tenant in the contract, subject to the article’s rules. Subletting under Article 322 does not simply achieve the same substitution. The original tenant’s agreement with an occupant must therefore be classified by its legal effect rather than its informal heading.

The business-lease transfer guide explains Article 323’s distinct framework, including its particular business-premises rules. Those provisions should not be imported into a residential sublease as though the landlord must accept every proposed replacement. Identify the actual type of lease and transaction before applying a consent or liability rule.

The distinction also affects communication and payment records. An occupant paying money does not, without more, establish that the landlord agreed to replace the original tenant. Record who paid, what the payment represented and what the parties agreed. A rent ledger and the actual written instruments should be read together before deciding who remains bound by the original lease.

The original tenant’s permitted use limits the subtenant’s use

Article 322 makes the tenant responsible to the landlord where the subtenant uses the premises in a manner different from that permitted to the tenant. In that situation, the landlord can also exercise against the subtenant or recipient of use the rights available against the tenant. Written permission to sublet should therefore be read with the authorised contractual use, not as permission for every activity in the premises.

Identify the difference alleged. Compare the original contractual purpose with the actual occupation and use, and preserve relevant records. A change in the number of people present, a new business activity and conduct affecting neighbours raise different factual questions. The landlord’s case should state the proved conduct and its relationship to the lease instead of assuming that every change is legally equivalent.

Any public-law permission required for a particular activity must be examined separately from the private landlord’s consent. Article 322 regulates the lease relationship; a consent document should not be presented as proof that every administrative requirement for the occupant’s activity has been satisfied. The article’s civil consequences should remain distinct from any separate administrative decision or procedure.

Build an evidence file without treating ownership as unrestricted access

Useful evidence can include the relevant agreements, complete communications, lawful payment records, an identified advertisement and properly obtained observations of occupation. Preserve dates and sources. A screenshot should show enough context to identify the listing and its connection to the actual unit. Do not edit a collection of unrelated images into apparent proof of one continuous arrangement.

The owner’s title does not eliminate the tenant’s contractual position. Record access and inspection should be pursued through lawful authority and the applicable lease rules. Article 319 addresses necessary repair work and specified viewings, with advance notice and attention to the tenant’s interests. The landlord-entry guide explains that framework.

Where evidence is disputed or likely to disappear, assess the appropriate judicial evidence route with counsel. The objective is to establish the arrangement and relevant use, not to create pressure through interference with possession or personal belongings. The case should rely on verifiable material obtained through a lawful process so the factual allegation can be evaluated independently.

Article 316 requires a proper cure notice in the ordinary residential route

Article 316 requires the tenant to use the premises carefully in accordance with the contract and respect the other occupants and neighbours. For breach in a residential or roofed-workplace lease, it provides for a written warning giving at least thirty days to remedy the breach and stating that the lease will be terminated otherwise. The notice must be matched to the contractual breach actually relied on.

An owner relying on unauthorised subletting should identify the arrangement and the corrective action required. A notice merely demanding that the tenant contact the owner does not necessarily communicate the statutory warning and consequence. Include the correct parties, property, breach, cure requirement and period, and preserve the legally relevant delivery record. The actual content and service of the notice need review before further action.

The thirty-day residential period should not be replaced with a shorter interval selected in frustration. Article 316 distinguishes other types of lease and contains separate immediate-termination grounds. The fact that the landlord is abroad or the arrangement was discovered unexpectedly is not, by itself, one of those statutory grounds. The legal route follows the established breach and the applicable lease category.

Immediate termination is confined to the statutory circumstances

For residential and roofed-workplace leases, Article 316 permits immediate termination by written notice in the stated situations: intentional serious damage to the premises, circumstances showing that giving a period would be useless, or conduct rendering the situation intolerable for the landlord, other occupants or neighbours. These are legal conditions requiring supporting facts. The word “unauthorised” does not automatically establish each of them.

If immediate termination is considered, identify the precise ground and the evidence supporting it. A report of serious conduct should state dates, participants and the actual impact. Distinguish direct observations from information supplied by someone else. The landlord should not exaggerate a routine disagreement into a claim of intolerable conduct merely to avoid the ordinary cure procedure.

The notice must still be written under the provision. Keep the termination decision, evidence and delivery record together. A message expressing anger or an agent’s statement that the tenant must leave may fail to communicate the legally relevant action. The assessment should explain which route was used and why the facts were considered sufficient for it.

Check what happened during the cure period before proceeding

After a notice requiring cure, establish whether the identified breach continued, ended or changed. Obtain lawful evidence of the actual position. The owner should not proceed solely on the conditions that existed before the notice if subsequent performance materially affects the ground relied on. Equally, a tenant’s unsupported statement that the issue is resolved should be checked against the documented arrangement.

Keep rent performance separate from the subletting issue. Acceptance of a payment, an arrears demand and a decision about an occupation breach have different legal significance. Record the purpose and context of communications so neither side assumes an unstated agreement. Where a compromise is reached, identify whether it permits a particular sublease, requires it to end or changes the original tenancy.

A settlement should specify the persons, property, authorised use, dates, payment consequences and any agreed handover. Confirm that those signing can bind the relevant parties. An agreement between the original tenant and subtenant alone should not be described as the landlord’s written consent. The resulting legal arrangement must reflect the people whose rights and obligations it purports to change.

Use the proper dispute-resolution and court route

Law No. 6325 Article 18/B requires an application to mediation before bringing a rental-relationship lawsuit, subject to its stated exception for eviction through enforcement without a judgment under Law No. 2004. The intended claim must be classified accurately. A landlord’s private warning is not the same as completing the applicable statutory mediation requirement.

Code of Civil Procedure Article 4 assigns rental-relationship cases, including related claims, to the Civil Court of Peace within its stated scope and exception. Identify the correct court and parties for the actual relief. The landlord should not assume that ownership alone permits an immediate administrative removal of every occupant.

Preserve the mediation record and the documents establishing notice, breach and the position after any cure period. A court must be able to assess the legal ground and requested outcome from those materials. Filing a case does not itself prove termination, establish a damages amount or complete recovery of possession. The report to an overseas owner should distinguish each stage.

An occupant should verify the permission on which their use depends

A person taking a residential sublease should obtain the original tenant’s relevant lease and the landlord’s written consent before treating the arrangement as authorised. The subtenant’s contract and payments to the tenant do not by themselves establish that the landlord approved the occupation. Read the documents for the particular apartment, duration and use rather than relying on a general claim that subletting is common.

If a dispute arises, preserve the sublease, deposit record, payments and representations made about permission. Claims between the subtenant and original tenant are distinct from the landlord’s rights under Article 322 and the main lease. A refund dispute with the tenant does not automatically confer a right to remain against the landlord. Each relationship requires its own legal basis.

The occupant should also identify whom they can lawfully give notices or payments to and in what capacity. An agent collecting money may not be the landlord or the contracting tenant. Keep receipts and communications showing the payment’s purpose. This evidence is relevant to resolving the actual obligations without assuming that every participant has accepted the same arrangement.

Verify possession and the final accounts separately

If the arrangement ends, record the legally effective handover, keys, condition and remaining property. The end of the subtenant’s stay and the end of the original lease are not automatically the same event. State which relationship has ended and which obligations remain. An overseas landlord needs evidence of the actual possession position, not merely a promise that an occupant will leave.

Account separately for rent, ancillary expenses, damage allegations and deposits under the relevant contracts. Any claimed loss must be supported and connected to the conduct relied on. A successful objection to subletting does not establish every amount the owner subsequently lists. The final account should show agreed items, disputed items and payments actually received.

The legal analysis is strongest when it preserves the distinctions in the Code: written consent for residential subletting, substitution of the tenant under a different article, the original tenant’s responsibility for misuse and the correct notice-and-remedy route. Establishing those points from the actual documents allows the dispute to progress without treating an unfamiliar occupant as proof of every alleged breach.

Frequently asked questions

Can a residential tenant sublet without written consent?

Article 322 prohibits residential and roofed-workplace subletting or transfer of use without the landlord’s written consent.

Is every guest a subtenant?

No automatic classification follows from presence alone. Establish the actual arrangement, occupation and any transfer of use.

Does subletting replace the original tenant?

Not simply. Transfer of the lease relationship is governed separately by Article 323.

Does permission cover every later use?

Read its scope and the original lease. Article 322 addresses the tenant’s responsibility where the subtenant uses the premises differently from the permitted use.

How long is the ordinary residential cure period?

Article 316 requires at least thirty days in the written warning for the ordinary residential or roofed-workplace breach route.

Does unauthorised subletting always permit immediate termination?

Do not assume that. The immediate-termination grounds in Article 316 require their own factual basis.

Can the owner ignore events after sending the warning?

No. Verify whether the stated breach continued or was remedied before assessing the next step.

Is mediation relevant before suing?

Article 18/B imposes the stated pre-action requirement for rental disputes, with its specific enforcement-eviction exception.

What should a proposed subtenant check?

Check the relevant lease, the landlord’s written consent and the identity and authority of the person offering the premises.

Does ending the sublease automatically close every account?

No. Original-lease obligations, possession, deposits and proved financial claims must be addressed separately.