Condominium Manager in Turkey: Appointment, Duties and Liability for Foreign Owners (2026)

When is a condominium manager mandatory in Turkey?

Condominium Law No. 634 Article 34 contains the basic appointment rules. The owners may entrust management of the main property to one person or to a three-person board. The individual is called the manager; the three-person body is the management board. The manager or board members may be selected from among the owners or from outside the condominium.

The statute then creates a mandatory threshold: if the main property has eight or more independent units, appointment of a manager is compulsory. Where every independent unit belongs to one person, that sole owner is the manager by operation of law.

This rule is important for foreign investors who own units in apartment buildings or residential compounds. The legal role of the manager is not created by a casual service arrangement with a maintenance company. The manager’s authority comes from the Condominium Law, the management plan, the owners’ assembly resolution and, where relevant, the management contract.

A professional property-management company may perform operational services, but the owner should still identify who is formally appointed as the Article 34 manager or management board. In a dispute, notices, collection steps, accounting duties and representation may depend on that formal status.

How is the manager appointed? Article 34 requires two majorities

Article 34 requires the manager to be appointed by a majority of the owners both by number and by land share. This is a dual-majority rule. Counting only the number of people in the room is not sufficient, and counting only land-share percentages is not sufficient.

For example, assume a building has 20 owners. A candidate cannot be validly appointed merely because owners holding most of the land share support the candidate if the required owner-count majority is absent. The reverse is also true: a numerical majority without the required land-share majority does not satisfy Article 34.

The manager is appointed again each year at the statutory annual owners’ meeting, and the previous manager may be reappointed. Reappointment therefore requires a current decision rather than an assumption that the old appointment continues indefinitely regardless of the annual process.

The management plan should be reviewed together with Article 34. The plan can regulate practical management matters but cannot eliminate the mandatory statutory majority. Our separate guide on condominium management plans in Turkey explains the binding effect of the plan and the 2026 rules for collective structures.

What if the owners cannot appoint a manager?

Article 34 provides a judicial solution where the owners cannot agree on management or cannot assemble and appoint a manager. Upon the application of one condominium owner, the civil court of peace at the location of the property may appoint a manager, after hearing the other owners where possible.

A court-appointed manager has the same management powers as a manager appointed by the owners and is responsible to the owners under the same statutory framework. The owners cannot replace a manager appointed by the court until six months have passed from the appointment. If a justified reason arises before that period expires, the court that made the appointment may permit the replacement.

This mechanism is especially relevant in buildings with absentee owners, multiple heirs, entrenched voting blocs or a management deadlock. A non-resident foreign owner does not need to accept permanent paralysis simply because other owners refuse to cooperate. The statute creates a direct application route.

Article 34 also allows security to be required from the manager. The requirement may be included in the management contract; even if the contract is silent, the owners’ assembly may require security when a justified reason arises. In a development collecting substantial annual funds, this statutory option can be part of risk control.

What are the manager’s statutory duties under Article 35?

Article 35 provides the core duty list, unless the management plan states otherwise within the limits of mandatory law. The manager’s responsibilities are therefore broader than collecting monthly aidat.

The statutory framework includes implementing decisions of the owners’ assembly; taking measures necessary for the appropriate use, protection, maintenance and repair of the main property; arranging insurance; collecting advances and common expenses; paying debts connected with management; receiving amounts due to the property; and pursuing matters needed to preserve the owners’ common rights.

The manager is also expected to perform administrative acts connected with the common property and the decisions of the owners. Where an owner fails to pay lawful common expenses, the manager has collection authority under Article 20 and may initiate court or enforcement proceedings within the statutory framework.

Article 35 must be read with the management plan because the plan may distribute specific operational tasks, reporting procedures or approval limits. However, an internal plan cannot lawfully authorize the manager to disregard a mandatory provision or replace an owners’ assembly decision where the statute reserves the matter to the assembly.

The manager should also distinguish ordinary maintenance from decisions requiring an owners’ vote or a special statutory majority. The title “manager” does not create unlimited power to alter common property, impose new property rights or rewrite the management plan.

What changed in 2026 for advances and the operating budget?

Law No. 7579 was adopted on 7 May 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on 22 May 2026. Article 3 of that law amended Condominium Law Article 35(d). The former wording concerning collection and renewed collection of advances was replaced with a rule referring to collection of the advance until the operating budget is approved.

The same 2026 legislation also substantially amended Article 37. Under the current structure, the operating budget is approved by the owners’ general assembly. If no assembly-approved operating budget exists, the manager prepares a provisional operating budget that operates until the assembly approves the budget, and Article 37 requires an assembly decision within three months at the latest.

The provisional budget must show the estimated annual income and expenses, the estimated amount attributable to each owner under Article 20 and the advance each owner must pay. Where an existing operating budget remains in force, the new Article 37 also limits the relevant provisional-budget increase by reference to the revaluation rate determined under repeated Article 298 of the Tax Procedure Law.

This is not a general permission for a manager to set any monthly fee unilaterally. It is also not a universal legal cap on every aidat increase approved by the owners’ assembly. The correct question is whether the amount comes from an assembly-approved budget or from the manager’s provisional budget under Article 37. Our dedicated guide on aidat and maintenance fees for foreign owners explains the distinction in detail.

What records and accounts must the manager keep?

Condominium management creates a duty to document income, expenses, decisions and supporting records. Article 36 requires the manager to keep the owners’ assembly decisions, notices and notifications, summaries of expenses and other documents in a file and to keep the decision book required by the law. The statutory books are subject to the formal requirements stated in the Condominium Law.

Article 39 separately creates the duty to account. The manager must present the accounts to the owners’ assembly at the times written in the management plan. If the plan does not specify a time, the manager must account in the first month of each calendar year for the income obtained and expenses incurred in relation to the main property.

Article 39 gives owners an additional protection: if half of the owners request it, regardless of their land-share percentages, the manager must show the account outside the ordinary reporting time stated in the management plan.

A foreign owner who suspects unexplained expenses should therefore ask for documentary accounting rather than settle for a spreadsheet without invoices. Bank statements, contracts, invoices, payroll-related records, insurance documents, tender quotations, collection ledgers and owners’ assembly approvals may all be relevant depending on the disputed expense.

What does Article 38 mean when it says the manager is liable like an agent?

Article 38 states clearly that the manager is responsible to the condominium owners in the same manner as an agent. This links condominium management to the duties associated with agency and creates a legal standard for care, loyalty, proper performance and accountability.

The rule does not mean that a manager is automatically personally liable whenever a building suffers a loss. Liability requires a legal basis connecting the manager’s breach of duty with the damage claimed. But a manager who acts outside authority, fails to implement a mandatory decision, mishandles condominium funds, neglects required preservation steps or fails to account can face legal consequences under the applicable facts.

Article 38 also regulates representation in actions seeking annulment of assembly decisions. Such lawsuits can be directed to the manager as representative of the owners, and the manager must announce the lawsuit to all owners and to the relevant representative board where applicable. If the assembly decision is annulled, the litigation costs specified by the article are paid from common expenses.

For foreign owners, this means the manager may be the procedural contact in a challenge to an owners’ assembly resolution. Our separate Article 33 guide explains how to challenge a condominium meeting decision in Turkey.

How can owners audit or remove the manager?

Article 41 states that the owners’ assembly continuously supervises the manager’s conduct and may replace the manager whenever a justified reason arises. The manager is not beyond review merely because the annual appointment has not yet expired.

If the management plan does not set a time for account inspection, Article 41 requires an audit every three months. If a justified reason arises, the accounts may be audited at any time.

The owners’ assembly can entrust the audit to one auditor or a three-person audit board elected from among the owners by a majority both by number and by land share. The auditor or audit board reports at the time specified in the management plan or, if there is no specified time, within the first month of each calendar year. The statutory report states the result of the audit and the auditor’s view of the method of management.

The right to supervise should be used before a dispute becomes an enforcement or criminal allegation. A structured quarterly review can identify unexplained balances, missing contracts, duplicate payments or unauthorized commitments while the records are still accessible.

Do foreign or non-resident owners have different rights?

No. Condominium Law No. 634 does not create a weaker management position for an owner merely because that person is a foreign national or lives outside Turkey. A non-resident owner remains entitled to vote, receive information, challenge decisions, request accounting under the statutory conditions and participate in manager appointment and supervision.

The practical issue is representation. A foreign owner who cannot attend meetings may authorize a representative, subject to Article 31’s proxy limits. In buildings with more than 40 units, one representative cannot exercise proxies exceeding 5% of all votes; in buildings with 40 or fewer units, one person may represent at most two owners. See our guide on proxy voting at condominium meetings.

Where a lawyer is authorized to obtain records, conduct mediation or litigate, the power of attorney must contain the authority required for those acts. A power issued abroad may require apostille or legalization and certified Turkish translation depending on the issuing country and procedure.

What can an owner do if the manager exceeds authority or refuses to account?

The correct remedy depends on the problem. If the issue is a defective owners’ assembly decision, Article 33 and its one-month/six-month timetable may apply. If the manager personally breaches statutory or contractual duties, Article 38 responsibility and general private-law remedies may be relevant. If owners cannot appoint management at all, Article 34 provides a court-appointment route.

Disputes arising from Condominium Law No. 634 fall within the mandatory mediation regime of Law No. 6325 Article 18/B before a lawsuit within the statutory scope. This has applied since 1 September 2023. Owners should therefore identify the claim precisely and begin the pre-action process before substantive deadlines become a problem.

Do not confuse dissatisfaction with management style with a legal breach. A strong claim identifies the specific article, management-plan clause or assembly resolution, the manager’s act or omission, and the financial or legal consequence.

Checklist for a foreign owner reviewing a Turkish condominium manager

1. Confirm the formal appointment. Obtain the owners’ assembly resolution and check the Article 34 number-and-land-share majority.
2. Check the annual appointment date. Article 34 requires annual appointment or reappointment.
3. Read the management plan. It may define additional management duties and reporting rules within the law.
4. Obtain the operating budget. Distinguish an assembly-approved budget from a 2026 Article 37 provisional budget.
5. Request the account records. Use Article 39 where the statutory conditions are met.
6. Audit income and expenses. Match bank movements and invoices to the budget and assembly approvals.
7. Check collection authority. Confirm that common-expense demands follow Article 20 and the valid budget.
8. Review contracts and insurance. Determine whether commitments were within the manager’s authority.
9. Use Article 41 supervision. A justified reason can support replacement and immediate audit.
10. Act promptly if litigation is needed. Different remedies carry different procedural requirements and deadlines.

Official legal sources

• Condominium Law No. 634 — especially Articles 34–41.
• Law No. 7579, Official Gazette 22 May 2026 — amendments to Articles 35 and 37.
• Law No. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes — Article 18/B.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a condominium manager mandatory in Turkey?

Yes when the main property has eight or more independent units. Article 34 makes appointment compulsory at that threshold.

Can a foreigner be a condominium manager?

Article 34 allows the manager to be selected from among the owners or from outside. The statutory condominium rule does not require the manager to be one of the unit owners.

What majority is needed to appoint the manager?

A majority is required both by number of owners and by land share. Both elements must be satisfied.

How long is a manager appointed for?

Article 34 provides for annual appointment at the legal annual meeting. The previous manager can be reappointed.

What happens if the owners cannot agree on a manager?

One owner can apply to the civil court of peace at the property’s location, and the court may appoint a manager under Article 34.

Can a manager set aidat without the owners?

The 2026 Article 37 framework distinguishes the assembly-approved operating budget from a manager’s provisional budget. The manager’s authority is not an unrestricted power to impose any amount.

Must the manager show the accounts?

Yes. Article 39 requires accounting at the time in the management plan or, if no time is specified, in the first month of each calendar year. Half of the owners can also request an account outside that time regardless of land shares.

Is the manager personally liable for mistakes?

Article 38 states that the manager is responsible to the owners like an agent. Personal liability depends on the specific breach, authority, causation and damage; it is not automatic for every loss.

Can owners remove the manager before the year ends?

Article 41 allows the owners’ assembly to replace the manager when a justified reason arises. A special six-month restriction applies to a manager appointed by the court, unless the appointing court permits earlier replacement for justified reason.

How often should management accounts be audited?

If the management plan contains no audit time, Article 41 provides for an audit every three months. A justified reason also permits inspection at any time.

Can a foreign owner handle a manager dispute from abroad?

Yes. With a properly issued power of attorney, Turkish counsel can obtain records, participate in mediation and handle litigation without the owner traveling for every procedural step.

Conclusion

The Turkish condominium manager is a statutory fiduciary-style administrator, not merely a person who sends maintenance invoices. Article 34 controls appointment; Article 35 defines core duties; the 2026 amendments regulate advances and provisional operating budgets; Article 38 establishes responsibility like an agent; Article 39 requires accounting; and Article 41 gives the owners a continuing audit and supervision mechanism.

Foreign owners should verify the manager’s formal appointment, obtain the current management plan and operating budget, monitor accounts and exercise voting or representation rights before a financial problem becomes an enforcement dispute. Where management is deadlocked or the manager acts outside legal authority, the Condominium Law provides direct court, audit, replacement and challenge mechanisms.