The Ministry of Treasury and Finance ("Ministry") announced in the 2023-2025 period of its 2022 Action Plan for Combating the Informal Economy ("Action Plan") that lease agreements could be concluded through the e-Government portal to support the decision-making processes of the parties involved and conduct risk analysis studies. The first phase of this activity was launched on November 4, 2024, through the e-Government portal, and the second phase is expected to be implemented by the end of the year.
Lease agreements are regulated under Articles 299 and following of the Turkish Code of Obligations ("TCO"). According to the TCO, the principle of freedom of contract applies to lease agreements in terms of form, meaning that the parties are free to conclude the terms of the agreement as they wish. Currently, the Ministry's initiative within the Action Plan to implement the conclusion of lease agreements through the e-Government platform is only one of the possible methods for the conclusion of such agreements. No legal changes have been made requiring lease contracts to be executed exclusively through the e-Government portal. Therefore, under the current legal framework, concluding lease agreements via the e-Government system is not mandatory.
The first phase of this activity has already been implemented. In this phase, only property owners who are 18 years of age or older and have an e-Government account can prepare lease agreementsthrough the "Ministry of Treasury and Finance / Lease Agreement Transactions" section. In this section, details about the tenant, and if applicable, the guarantor, including the agreement commencement date, duration, amount, and payment terms, are entered into the system. Once the data is submitted, the lease agreement is presented to the tenant and the guarantor (if any) for approval through the e-Government system. If the agreement is not approved by the tenant and/or guarantor within three days, it will not be valid. After approval, the lease agreement is generated as a barcode-enabled document, and the parties can download the PDF version of the agreement from the e-Government portal at any time. Under the current phase, the system is only available for properties where the owner is a natural person and the number of shareholders is fewer than 10. In such cases, the approval process for the tenant and guarantor starts after obtaining approval from the other shareholders. Considering the general provisions of the Turkish Civil Code, shareholders who want to make a lease agreement through the e-Government system and whose number is less than 10 must take the decision to lease the relevant immovable property unanimously if they have joint ownership, or by by double majority vote in terms of both the number of shares and the number of shareholders if they have shared ownership.
Additionally, we would like to further note that in the second phase of this activity, which is expected to be launched at the end of the year, real estate consultants and authorized persons will be involved in the process, enabling them to prepare lease agreements and present them for approval by the parties involved.
You can access the text of the Action Plan via the link below:
https://ms.hmb.gov.tr/uploads/2022/12/Kayit-Disi-Ekonomiyle-Mucadele-Eylem-Plani-2023_2025-1.pdf
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