The Former Owner Who Sold the House Cannot Evict You: Rights of the New Owner and the Tenant

When the property you live in as a tenant changes hands, dozens of questions come to mind: Does my lease remain valid? To whom should I pay the rent? More importantly, can the former owner who made the sale try to remove you from the house, even if they hold an eviction judgment?

This situation, frequently encountered in practice, is in fact resolved quite clearly in the Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK). Yet due to lack of information, tenants can be unjustly threatened with eviction by former owners who no longer hold any legal authority. In this article, we examine in detail the legal position of the tenant and the new owner after the sale of the property, in light of Yargıtay (Court of Cassation) case law.

Summary of the Situation

A tenant lives in a property. The lessor (the former owner) may have previously initiated an eviction process against the tenant or obtained an eviction judgment. However, while the process was ongoing, or after the judgment became final, the property was sold to a third party (the new owner). Despite this, the former owner — although no longer registered as owner in the land registry — tries to enforce the old eviction judgment or to initiate new eviction proceedings.

At this point, the key question the tenant must ask is: Can someone who has transferred ownership, and therefore no longer holds the status of "lessor", still demand eviction?

The Legal Issue

At the center of the dispute lies Article 310 of the TBK. According to this provision:

"If, after the conclusion of the contract, the leased property changes hands for any reason, the new owner becomes a party to the lease agreement."

This provision establishes that upon the transfer of ownership, the lease relationship passes to the new owner by operation of law (automatically), without any need for a separate assignment or the parties' consent. In law, this is called "statutory succession" (kanuni halefiyet).

The natural consequence is this: from the moment of the sale, the former owner loses the status of "lessor" and "owner". Accordingly, their right to demand eviction (in legal terminology, "active standing to sue") also ends automatically.

In addition, Article 125/2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (HMK) provides that if the subject matter of the lawsuit (the property) is transferred after the action is filed, the transferee takes the place of the claimant and the case continues from where it left off. In other words, the transfer of ownership directly affects not only substantive law but also pending lawsuits.

What Does the Yargıtay (Court of Cassation) Say?

The Yargıtay's settled case law on this point is quite consistent:

• The 6th Civil Chamber of the Yargıtay (E. 2012/4748, K. 2012/7319, decision of 2012) clearly stated that with the sale of the property, the status of lessor passes to the new owner by way of succession, and the former owner no longer has active standing to sue.
• In another decision of the same Chamber (E. 2014/7788, K. 2014/9248, decision of 2014), it was emphasized that if the property is sold during the proceedings, the previous owner cannot pursue an eviction claim.
• In a recent decision of the 12th Civil Chamber of the Yargıtay (E. 2025/4328, K. 2025/5769, decision of 2025), it was specifically stated that where the property changes hands, the previous owner no longer has a right of action as regards eviction, and that this must be verified through the land registry records.
• The 3rd Civil Chamber of the Yargıtay (E. 2024/325, K. 2024/741, decision of 2024) ruled that the right to demand eviction for default (non-payment of rent) belongs only to the lessor in the capacity of creditor; after the property is sold, the former owner loses this capacity, and the eviction claim must therefore be dismissed.
• The 44th Civil Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeal (E. 2024/1556, K. 2025/272, decision of 2025) confirmed that since the former owner no longer has any legal power of disposition over the property, they cannot enforce the eviction judgment they hold.
• The 59th Civil Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Appeal (E. 2024/123, K. 2024/416, decision of 2024) likewise stated that the lease agreement passes to the new owner by operation of law with all its rights and obligations, and that the new owner succeeds to the rights of the former owner.

In short, according to the Yargıtay, even if the former owner holds an eviction judgment already obtained, the transfer of ownership eliminates the enforceability of that judgment.

Points to Watch

There are some critical points the parties to the lease relationship should pay attention to during this process:

• To whom should you pay the rent? From the date of the sale, the addressee of the rent is the new owner. However, payments made to the former owner before the new owner notifies the tenant (by formal notice) that payment must be made to them may release the tenant from liability. Once the tenant learns of the sale, the addressee is the new owner.
• The former owner's monetary claims may survive. The former owner may claim unpaid rent (default receivables) relating to the period before the transfer of ownership. However, this no longer gives them the power to demand eviction; it remains merely a monetary claim.
• The same rule applies to judgments at the enforcement stage. Although discussed less often than transfers during litigation (HMK 125), the transfer of ownership during the enforcement of a final eviction judgment also affects the creditor's standing in the enforcement file; the power to enforce passes to the new owner together with ownership.
• The competent court for such disputes arising from the lease relationship is the Civil Court of Peace (Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi).

Conclusion: What Should You Do?

If, in a house you have purchased or rent, you are faced with a situation where the former owner is trying to evict you, the following steps are recommended:

1. Obtain the land registry record. An up-to-date land registry record showing that the property is registered in the name of the new owner is your strongest piece of evidence.
2. If there are enforcement proceedings, file a complaint. If enforcement proceedings are being conducted by the former owner, a complaint action seeking "annulment of the proceedings" or "suspension of the eviction" should be filed before the enforcement court under Article 16 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (İİK).
3. Raise the objection of lack of active standing. If you are at the litigation stage, request dismissal of the case on procedural grounds, pointing out that the former owner's status as lessor and owner has ended.
4. Contact the new owner. Clarify to whom the rent should be paid; if possible, request a written notification (formal notice) from the new owner.

Since these processes involve technical, deadline-bound procedural rules, obtaining support from a lawyer will strengthen your position and your defense strategy and help you avoid loss of rights.