2-year eviction struggle! Moved to nursing home when tenant didn't leave

Renting their house in Didim, Hürriyet D. (65) and her husband Salih D. (80) experienced one of the biggest grievances of their lives when they wanted to return to Ankara due to health problems.

In 2017, the couple Hürriyet D. and Salih D. rented their house in the Çankaya district of Ankara to BA, who works for a private firm. The couple, who settled in Didim, experienced various illnesses during this time. Hürriyet D. had her uterus removed due to cancer. Hürriyet D., who was given a 98 percent disability report, returned to Ankara with her husband to continue her treatment and wanted to evict her tenant. BA, who did not want to vacate the house, allegedly requested an eviction fee of 250 thousand liras for 1 year's rent and moving expenses. Thereupon, the couple filed an eviction lawsuit in 2022 through their lawyers at the 21st Civil Court of Peace of Ankara. Hürriyet D. moved into her son's 1+1 rental house, while her husband Salih D., who was also sick, moved into a nursing home because the house was too small. 9 months after moving into the nursing home, the tenant BA informed the landlord that he would vacate the house. The couple withdrew their eviction lawsuit after the tenant signed a protocol agreeing to pay 200 thousand lira in compensation if he did not vacate the house in April.

'It will be released in April'

Hürriyet D. said that she and her husband decided to move to Ankara for treatment after experiencing constant health problems, but they had trouble because her tenant did not vacate the house at first. Hürriyet D. said, "My husband was diagnosed with heart failure and dementia and we came to Ankara. When the tenant did not vacate the house, I moved in with my son, but due to the inadequacy of the physical conditions of my son's house, my husband had to move into a nursing home. The tenant said he would not leave unless he bought a house. Of course, we had a hard time. However, he has now agreed to leave. He announced that he would vacate the house in April. We signed a protocol through our lawyer. We signed a protocol stating that he agreed to pay 200 thousand liras in compensation if he did not leave. We also withdrew the eviction case."

'I recommend that a mediator be consulted'

Lawyer Senem Yılmazel stated that the litigation process in landlord-tenant disputes takes too long and said, "First of all, I definitely recommend mediation. When mediation is used, cases are resolved very quickly. We can resolve cases in a very short time like 2 weeks. Therefore, I definitely recommend mediation, whether it is necessary or not. If mediation is not used and a lawsuit is filed, evidence is very important. For example, when an eviction lawsuit is filed due to necessity, all the information of the witnesses, the land registry records, the rental agreement if any, for example, if there is an illness, the related reports, everything must be prepared and submitted to the court on the day the lawsuit is filed. And if possible, I recommend that the witnesses are prepared and heard at the preliminary examination hearing. In this way, decisions can be made faster. However, if the evidence is insufficient, the court writes a letter, sends a warrant, and then the trials are prolonged. Also, unfortunately, due to the current economic situation, there is an increase in rental cases and the courts are very burdened. "I recommend that all information, documents and evidence be collected and submitted to the court quickly in order to both relieve the burden on the courts and ensure a speedy decision," he said.