I previously wrote about the new legislation, Law no. 5782, which was passed in July. Following this, I received many e-mails stating that although the new law which allows foreigners to acquire property in Turkey was enacted and published in the Official Gazette, the land registry office still refuses to take the necessary steps to transfer title deeds to foreigners.
Law no. 5782 was enacted by Parliament on July 3 to regulate property acquisition by foreigners. This new law regulates Article 35/7 of the Land Registry Law, which was revoked by the Constitutional Court. The law also regulates the previously pending Article 36, which was revoked earlier.
Here is one of those e-mails I received; this one is from David and Lorraine. "Dear Sir, As I read your articles on a regular basis and being a foreigner now living in Ürgüp I wish to request your assistance re the following problem. My husband and I are residents of Turkey, having arrived in March 2007. David works for Göreme Balloons as a hot air balloon pilot and as we can foresee several years employment with Göreme Balloons and loving Ürgüp as we do, we have purchased a property for the amount of YTL 55,000. Our next step was to have the tapu signed across into our name … hence the brickwall … the local authority refuses to sign this across as he says the Turkish government does not allow foreigners to invest in real estate in this country. We thought by your articles that this law had been changed by the government and went ahead with this transaction in good faith. Our question is … what do we do now? … do we ask for our money back, as no contract has been signed? … is there any advice you can give us regarding this matter please. We just want to have our own little part of Ürgüp … we live amongst the locals, contribute to the local economy as residents should and we are very frustrated that this situation has occurred. What is the law and where do we now stand? You seem to be the only person who could perhaps assist us in this matter. In anticipation, Kind regards, David and Lorraine"
Dear David and Lorraine, I see that you repeated "Göreme Baloons" and Ürgüp a couple times in your letter and I presume that you want this company and Urgup to be mentioned in this article. For this reason I decided not to delete these details and use "…" or initials instead. I hope this has made you, Ürgüp and Göreme Baloons happy.
A change in legislation regarding foreigners acquiring foreign property in Turkey has been changed recently as cited by my readers in their letter. Article 35 and 36 and temporary Article 3 of the respective law were amended. Article 35 is related to foreign real person and foreign companies. Article 36 regulates a Turkish company owned by foreign investors. I would like to briefly explain the limitations for purchasing property in Turkey for foreigners.
The country of a foreign real person and a foreign company (the country in which the commercial seat is located) must have a reciprocal agreement with Turkey as regards to purchasing property. I will write more in my next article concerning other limitations and explain the results of not taking the necessary action upon receiving a correctly completed application.
NOTE: Berk Çektir is a licensed attorney at law and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living in Turkey. Send enquiries to b.cektir@todayszaman.com. The names of the readers are disclosed only upon written approval of the sender.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended to give basic legal information. You should get legal assistance from a licensed attorney at law while conducting legal transactions and not just rely on the information in this corner.
