Can Rent Increases Be Challenged Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect many people deeply in both financial and personal terms. Employees are unable to receive their salaries and are being placed on unpaid leave indefinitely, while employers have been forced to close their workplaces due to restrictions. This situation has also affected rent payments for tenants. Tenants have struggled to make rent payments to their landlords and have begun to consider what legal avenues are available against landlords who wish to increase the rent. There are many debates regarding whether the pandemic process caused by the COVID-19 outbreak should be considered a force majeure. In the decisions of the General Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Cassation, the "force majeure concept" is explained as follows: "Force majeure is an extraordinary event that occurs outside the activity and operations of the responsible party or debtor, leads to the violation of a general norm of conduct or an obligation in an absolute and inevitable manner, and is impossible to foresee or resist. Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, fires, and epidemics are considered force majeure."
As regulated in the general provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations, tenants have the right to file a lawsuit for rent adjustment because the COVID-19 pandemic is a force majeure. If tenants find themselves unable to pay the rent, they may seek to terminate the lease agreement without compensation. Rent debts are not erased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and tenants are obliged to pay their rent. However, there is no provision in our legislation stating that rent cannot be paid during the COVID-19 pandemic process or that rent increases cannot be made at the end of the year or period. It is clear from the decisions of the General Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Cassation that the COVID-19 pandemic process is accepted as a force majeure. Excessive hardship in performance is regulated in Article 138 of the Turkish Code of Obligations. Namely: If an extraordinary situation, which was not foreseen and could not be expected to be foreseen by the parties at the time the contract was concluded, arises for a reason not attributable to the debtor and changes the existing facts at the time of the contract against the debtor to such an extent that demanding performance from the debtor would be contrary to the rules of good faith, and if the debtor has not yet performed their obligation or has performed while reserving their rights arising from the extreme difficulty of performance, the debtor has the right to request the judge to adapt the contract to new conditions, or to rescind the contract if this is not possible. In contracts with continuous performance, the debtor, as a rule, uses the right of termination instead of the right of rescission.
As clearly regulated in the article of the law; due to excessive hardship in performance, the tenant has optional rights arising from the law in the presence of force majeure. Accordingly, the tenant has the right to request a rent reduction and the termination of the lease agreement without compensation. If the tenant is unable to pay the rent at all, they must vacate the house and terminate the lease agreement.
You have the right to file a rent adjustment lawsuit in accordance with the relevant articles of the Turkish Code of Obligations by refusing the landlord's request for a rent increase during the pandemic period. It is necessary to continue paying the rent at the previous rate during the lawsuit process. You can request the adjustment of the rent by notifying the court of reasons such as dismissal or being placed on unpaid leave due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rent adjustment lawsuit is filed at the Civil Peace Court where your residence is located. However, it will be legally beneficial to send a warning notice to the landlord via a notary public informing them of the situation before filing the lawsuit.