Debt Collection Lawyer
Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law
You can initiate enforcement proceedings to collect your receivables; against unjustified proceedings brought against you, you can object within 7 days. Choosing the correct type of proceeding and never missing a deadline are what determine the success of collection.
Enforcement and bankruptcy law balances the interests of creditor and debtor and is one of the most deadline-sensitive fields of law. Missing the seven-day objection period can leave you obliged to pay an amount you do not actually owe. When acting for creditors, our office builds fast and effective collection strategies with the tools provided by the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 (İİK); when acting for debtors, we protect our clients' rights through objections to proceedings, negative declaratory actions, and restitution actions. Proceedings specific to negotiable instruments, rent receivables and eviction, foreclosure of mortgages, and composition with creditors (konkordato) are our principal areas of work.
Enforcement proceedings without a judgment and the 7-day objection period
A creditor who holds no court judgment may initiate proceedings without a judgment through the general attachment route for monetary and security claims (İİK Art. 42 et seq.). The debtor who receives the payment order sent by the enforcement office may object to the enforcement office, in writing or orally, within 7 days of service (İİK Art. 62); an objection filed in time automatically stays the proceedings (İİK Art. 66). The objection may target the whole debt, part of it, or only the signature; in a partial objection, the contested amount must be stated expressly — otherwise the objection is deemed never to have been made. If the 7-day period is missed, the proceedings become final and the attachment stage can begin against the debtor; from that point on, the debtor is left only with narrower and more burdensome routes such as a late objection (İİK Art. 65) and a negative declaratory action.
Actions to annul or remove the objection
A creditor who wants to revive proceedings stayed by the debtor's objection has two routes. The action for the annulment of the objection (İİK Art. 67) is filed before the general courts within 1 year of service of the objection; if the creditor prevails and the debtor is found to have objected without justification, the debtor may be ordered to pay enforcement denial compensation of no less than twenty percent of the claim. The removal of the objection (İİK Art. 68) is instead requested directly from the enforcement court within 6 months; however, this route is open only for claims based on the qualified documents listed in the law, such as a private deed whose signature is acknowledged, a deed with a notarized signature, or duly issued documents of official authorities. Which route to choose must be determined file by file, according to the nature of the document at hand, the deadlines, and the compensation claims — choosing the wrong route can cost months.
Proceedings specific to negotiable instruments (checks, promissory notes, bills of exchange)
For claims based on checks, promissory notes, and bills of exchange, the attachment route specific to negotiable instruments under İİK Art. 167 et seq. is used. In these proceedings, the payment period stated in the payment order sent to the debtor is 10 days; objections to the debt and to the signature — unlike in the general attachment route — are made not to the enforcement office but to the enforcement court within 5 days (İİK Arts. 168-169), and as a rule they do not stay enforcement steps other than the sale. If the signature is to be contested, this must be raised expressly and separately; an unjustified signature objection carries the monetary fine and compensation sanctions prescribed by law. The advantage of proceedings on negotiable instruments is speed; the risk is annulment of the proceedings if the instrument lacks its mandatory elements and thus its negotiable-instrument character — which is why an element-by-element check of the instrument must be performed before starting the proceedings.
Attachment, exempt assets, and wage garnishment
Once the proceedings become final, the creditor may request the attachment of the debtor's movable and immovable property and of the debtor's rights and receivables held by third parties. The law, however, protects a core body of assets so that the debtor and their family can sustain their lives: assets listed in İİK Art. 82, such as professional equipment necessary for the debtor's economic activity and a home consistent with the debtor's station, cannot be attached. For the garnishment of wages and salaries, İİK Art. 83 applies; after setting aside the amount necessary for the subsistence of the debtor and their family, the remainder may be garnished, and in practice this is, as a rule, applied at one quarter of the net salary; for alimony claims, priority and a broader deduction are possible. Retirement pensions paid by the Social Security Institution (SGK) cannot, under Article 93 of Law No. 5510 — except for alimony debts and the Institution's own claims — be attached without the debtor's consent; attachments placed despite this can be lifted through a complaint.
Provisional attachment: securing the claim before the proceedings
For matured monetary claims not secured by a pledge, the creditor may ask the court for a provisional attachment order against the risk of the debtor concealing assets (İİK Art. 257 et seq.). The court usually issues the order against security posted by the creditor; the order allows protective measures to be placed on the debtor's bank accounts, vehicles, and real property before the case or the proceedings conclude. After the provisional attachment order is executed, the creditor must commence proceedings or file suit within the statutory 7-day period (İİK Art. 264); otherwise the provisional attachment lapses automatically. On the debtor's side, an objection against the order is available (İİK Art. 265). A well-timed provisional attachment is one of the most powerful tools determining collection success, especially for commercial receivables.
Protecting the debtor: negative declaratory and restitution actions
A person who faces proceedings despite not actually owing the debt may bring a negative declaratory action to establish that no debt exists (İİK Art. 72). In an action filed before the proceedings, the court may order a stay of the proceedings against security of no less than fifteen percent of the claim; in an action filed after the proceedings have begun, the proceedings are not stayed, but it can be ensured, against security, that the money in the enforcement office's account is not paid out to the creditor. If the money has already been paid under the threat of enforcement, a restitution action arises for its recovery; this action must be filed within 1 year of the date the payment was completed in full. Since the allocation of the burden of proof and the state of the evidence directly determine the outcome in these actions, compiling payment receipts, correspondence, and contracts completely is essential.
Actions to set aside fraudulent transfers
Where the debtor transfers assets to third parties with the aim of shielding them from creditors, the creditor may bring an action to set aside fraudulent transfers under İİK Art. 277 et seq., asking that these transfers be deemed ineffective as against the creditor's own claim and that attachment and sale of the transferred assets be made possible. The law regulates gratuitous (uncompensated) transfers, certain transactions made while insolvent, and transfers made with the intent to harm creditors under separate provisions; transfers to close relatives and sales at prices markedly below true value are among the strong grounds for setting aside in practice. The action is subject to a 5-year preclusive period running from the date of the transfer (İİK Art. 284), and as a rule it requires that a definitive or provisional certificate of insolvency have been obtained against the debtor; planning these preconditions is part of the litigation strategy.
Collecting rent receivables and eviction through enforcement
Against a tenant who fails to pay rent, the landlord may initiate enforcement proceedings with a request for eviction (İİK Art. 269 et seq.). In residential and roofed workplace leases, the payment order gives the tenant a 30-day payment period; if the tenant pays within that period, no eviction occurs, but if the tenant neither pays nor objects within 7 days, the creditor may ask the enforcement court to order the tenant's eviction. Because this route can produce results far faster than an eviction lawsuit, it should be the first option assessed by property owners with accumulating rent arrears. In addition, if there is a written eviction undertaking, separate eviction proceedings without a judgment are possible for premises not vacated by the promised date; the validity conditions of the undertaking (given after the lease agreement and in writing, among others) must be scrutinized carefully.
Konkordato and bankruptcy: managing a debt crisis
For businesses unable to pay their debts as they fall due, or at risk of becoming unable to, composition with creditors (konkordato, İİK Art. 285 et seq.) is a mechanism that allows debts to be restructured by agreement with creditors under court supervision. Upon application, the court grants a provisional respite of 3 months, extendable by at most 2 months; if the conditions are met, a definitive respite of 1 year follows, extendable by up to 6 months in cases of difficulty. During the respite, as a rule, no proceedings may be brought against the debtor and pending proceedings are stayed. Konkordato is both a breathing space for debtor companies and a process requiring creditors to rebuild their collection strategy; our office represents clients on both sides at the stages of filing claims, creditors' meetings, and negotiating the composition plan.
Proceedings before the enforcement offices at the Büyükçekmece Courthouse
Files of debtors and creditors in Büyükçekmece, Beylikdüzü, and Esenyurt are handled predominantly by the enforcement offices and enforcement civil courts at the Büyükçekmece Courthouse. Opening the enforcement request electronically through UYAP (the national judiciary IT system), keeping service addresses current, and planning attachment requests in step with asset inquiry results are the practical steps that most accelerate files in the region. Because of the area's dense residential and commercial fabric, rent receivables, site maintenance fees, and small-business check and promissory note files make up a significant share of the enforcement offices' daily workload; monitoring the auction process, which runs through the electronic sales portal at the sale (realization) stage, requires separate attention. In this largely hearing-free process, most errors stem from document and deadline tracking; regular file review eliminates that risk to a large extent.
The most common mistakes in the enforcement process
The mistakes we encounter most often in practice are these: receiving the payment order and letting the 7-day objection period pass with the thought 'I don't owe this anyway'; failing to state the amount expressly in a partial objection; in proceedings on negotiable instruments, mistakenly filing the objection with the enforcement office instead of the enforcement court; and, on the creditor's side, starting the proceedings but failing to renew attachment and sale requests in time, causing the file to be removed from processing. Undertakings signed by debtors under enforcement pressure, without considering their legal nature, are another risk area: breaching such an undertaking is separately sanctioned by law. For both creditor and debtor, tying the process to a calendar and taking every step with a document behind it can prevent all of these mistakes.
Example scenario — planning collection after an objection
(The following example is fictional, constructed to illustrate a common case type; it does not refer to any actual client or case.) A supplier initiates proceedings without a judgment for an unpaid invoice receivable; the debtor company objects to the entire debt within 7 days and the proceedings stop. At this point, the creditor's documents are assessed: if there is a signed contract, delivery documents, and reconciliation correspondence, an action for the annulment of the objection is filed within 1 year, and where the conditions are met, enforcement denial compensation is also claimed. While the case is pending, a provisional attachment is considered against the risk of the debtor transferring assets. This scenario shows which document opens which procedural route and how the deadlines are planned as a chain — in real files, the strategy is built on this skeleton according to the state of the documents.
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Services We Provide in This Area
- Enforcement proceedings with and without a court judgment
- Proceedings specific to negotiable instruments (checks, promissory notes, bills of exchange)
- Conducting attachment, safekeeping, and forced-sale procedures
- Objections to enforcement proceedings and actions to annul or remove objections
- Negative declaratory and restitution actions
- Collection of rent receivables and eviction proceedings
- Enforcement through foreclosure of mortgages and pledges
- Bankruptcy, postponement of bankruptcy, and konkordato advisory
Frequently Asked Questions
Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law: Frequently Asked Questions
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