سفير تركيا
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Leaving an apartment deserves as much care as moving in. Clear notice, a recorded handover and settled accounts can make a deposit dispute easier to avoid or resolve.
Editorial clarification — checked on 8 October 2026: The source’s “one month” is not a universal legal notice period, and an ordinary WhatsApp message is not automatically sufficient formal notice. The sections below distinguish fixed-term expiry from early departure, ordinary wear from damage, and deposit recovery from an automatic refund.
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1. Notify the landlord correctly━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Plan your departure early and check the type of tenancy, its dates and the applicable termination rules.
• For an ordinary fixed-term residential tenancy, the tenant must give notice at least 15 days before the end of the term to prevent the statutory one-year extension.
• Formal termination notice must be in writing. Use a legally valid written method and keep proof that it reached the landlord in time.
• Indefinite tenancies and other grounds for termination have different rules.
• Leaving early does not necessarily end your payment obligations immediately. Under Article 325, obligations can continue for a reasonable period in which the property could be re-let on similar terms. An acceptable, solvent replacement tenant ready to take over may end that liability sooner under the statutory conditions.
The source suggests discussing a move at least one month ahead as a practical courtesy. This does not replace the legal notice requirements or make every early departure penalty-free.
In your notice or accompanying arrangements, identify:
• The intended handover date.
• A proposed appointment to inspect the apartment and return the keys.
• How the deposit and remaining accounts will be dealt with.
Keep WhatsApp messages and emails as supporting correspondence, but do not assume an ordinary message alone satisfies the required legal form. Additional rules can apply to a family home, including the spouse’s express consent to termination.
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2. Prepare the apartment for handover━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
• Clean it reasonably:
- floors;
- kitchen;
- bathroom.
• Attend to routine cleaning or maintenance that is your responsibility, such as consumable bulbs where applicable.
• Discuss any damage you caused and how it will be dealt with.
• Remove extra fixings only where appropriate and without causing further damage.
Ordinary wear and deterioration from use in accordance with the agreement are not automatically the tenant’s liability. Do not assume that you must restore an older apartment to a brand-new condition.
Pre-existing structural defects and plumbing or electrical faults not caused by your misuse should not simply be accepted as your repair bill. Establish responsibility and use the proper procedure if there is a disagreement.
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3. Record the condition when leaving━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Before returning the keys:
• Photograph or film the apartment again.
• Focus on:
- walls;
- floors;
- kitchen;
- bathroom;
- any appliances included in the tenancy.
Compare these records with your move-in photographs. Keep the original files and any earlier defect reports; they can help establish whether claimed damage was already present.
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4. Make a handover record━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Where possible:
• Meet the landlord or their authorised representative at the apartment.
• Inspect it together.
• Record:
- the handover date;
- the keys returned;
- any agreed outstanding issues.
Ask both parties to sign a short record, for example:
“The apartment and keys were returned today. The following matters remain outstanding: …”
Keep written correspondence confirming the handover if a signed record cannot be obtained. Such messages may support the evidence, but do not automatically settle a disputed termination or waive all claims.
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5. Recovering the depozito━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Depozito means the tenancy security deposit.
Check:
• Any properly established claim for damage beyond ordinary wear.
• Unpaid rent or other amounts for which you are responsible.
• The security arrangement and applicable release procedure.
For residential tenancies, agreed security cannot exceed three months’ rent. Where money is provided as security, Article 342 specifies a restricted bank account and conditions for release. Bank-held security is not automatically available for either party to withdraw unilaterally.
Practical steps:
• Seek a written account of the deposit and any proposed deductions.
• Ask for supporting details, such as the alleged damage and repair cost.
• Arrange any agreed repayment through a bank so that you have a record.
• If the landlord directly holds the money, do not assume that the bank-held security procedure by itself will retrieve it.
If you dispute a deduction, keep the agreement, payment records, photographs and handover documents, and check the appropriate dispute-resolution route. An amicable settlement may help, but neither a clean apartment nor photographs alone guarantee an immediate or full refund.
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6. Close or transfer utility accounts━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Contact the relevant providers for:
• Electricity.
• Water.
• Gas.
• Internet.
Ask about:
• Closing or transferring the account.
• Final readings and bills.
• Any refundable security balance.
• Any contract-specific commitment or equipment-return requirement.
Refundable utility security is distinct from a non-refundable connection charge. Outstanding amounts may need to be settled first, and the rules differ by service.
Keep confirmation that the account has closed or transferred, so that usage after departure is not left under your name.
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7. Leave with a clear record━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Even if the tenancy has been difficult:
• Arrange the departure calmly where possible.
• Keep your documents and photographs together.
• Confirm what has been handed over and what remains unresolved.
Good records support a clear discussion and any necessary later action.
Official references checked: Turkish Code of Obligations, Articles 317, 325, 334–335, 342 and 347–349; EPDK electricity guidance; EPDK natural-gas guidance.
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