33 replies to this topic

[twitterbug]

Hi,

My mum (a British citizen) )has recently revealed to me that she has bought an apartment in Turkey. However this is not completely true. She transferred the money (full cash amount) into a friends account who I believe was born in England but has citizenship in Turkey .he then purchased the apartment with her money. The reason for this is because he said it woukld be easier and quicker (i dont see what the rush was). Since then he has been reluctant to give her any paperwork, is non responsive to emails. He says he will put the apartment into her name but doesnt say when or how. From what i undertsand as it stands her name is on nothing.

She is out there at the moment to try and sort things out, i am due to join her at the end of the week. I have tried to research what you need to do in order to transfer a proerty to someone else in Turkey but i cannot find a clear answer.

Does any one know how this can be done, the restrictions, time limits, organisations we need to go to, whether we need to instruct a lawyer or not etc...

any responses would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

[Abi]

Welcome to our forum Twitterbug and sorry that it was for the reason you outlined. Can you tell where the apartment is please as we may be able to find you a contact that can help you, As she isn't buying through an agent they would both go to the Tapu office where they would start the ball rolling. Paperwork has to be submitted for military checks and how long they take to come through depends on how busy it is. I have put a link below to one of our members website. When you open it click on the Buyers Guide and then the Legal Process. Not sure about transferring to be honest but i don't see why he couldn't transfer it over, but your mother would still have to go through the military search bit so I would think it would be treated as a normal sale. Hopefully someone that know 100% will be along soon who can advise you. I think the problem you and your mother will face is him actually wanting for this to happen, which I don't think his does from what you have said.

I have to say from what you have said about this man it isn't looking good especially as he is not responding to emails. I'm unsure about his nationality, were either of his parents Turkish?.

How much money did your mother give him and did she give it to him via a bank transfer?

I would certainly say that you will need a lawyer and we do have members on our forum who are lawyers.


Link to Jade's Website

[twitterbug]

Thank you for your response and welcoming me to the forum!

he is fully english but got married to a turkish woman and moved there, he is not with her anymore but is still married.

the apartment is in Kanyultti, Antalya.... Is there a way i could send you how much she paid privately so not everyone can view? its quite alot - it was via a bank transfer.

she said shes been told to go to the local police and they give you a form to fill out? ive told her that we should go to the tapu office first and then the paperwork will be submitted for checks. I assume he will have to be present? does anyone know how long it will take?

thanks again, nice to be able to speak to people who can help.

[Abi]

Don't worry about telling me the price as it is a lot of money you have just confirmed my fears. Yes i think he has to be there or give someone POA to represent him, I'm wondering if he isn't forthcoming with the transfer if your mother should get Interpol involved, they don't just deal with big criminals. I heard of someone involving them for something similar, maybe worth thinking about or giving their fraud squad a ring.

i will send Jade a private email as she hasn't been on the forum for a few days and see if she can offer any advice.

[sunny]

Welcome to the forum twitterbug.

IF the man is willing then the apartment can be put into your mother's name but it will be like a new sale for which tax will have to be paid again and as Abi said a military search carried out before this can happen.

If he doesn't intend to transfer it to your mother then she is in a difficult position if she hasn't had some sort of legal agreement drawn up and noterised. The bank transfer papers would not be enough - he could say, no matter how implausible, that it was a gift. She would then need legal advice.

[Abi]

Twitterbug whilst he may have taken Turkish Citizenship he will still be British as well, he will now be a dual national.

[twitterbug]

thank you for all of your advice. i am relieved that it can be transferred to her. can it be transferred into just her name if shes a british citizen? is there a time limit this has to be done within?

i just hope he does cooperate but it doesnt look good. other than the bank transfer there are a lot of emails discussing the arrangements which could be used. when i go out there i plan to get as much in wirting and achieved as possible...

[Abi]

Yes it can be put into her name as long as the apartment isn't in a restricted area where only Turks are allowed to buy. I don't know about time limits, but if he does go ahead with it as soon as the military searches come through it will be hers. Please note the charges on Jade's website that she will incur.

If you can get him to put it into writing please go to the Noter and get it noterised. Don't let him fob you off with it's not necessary as it is and he will know that.

[twitterbug]

thank you abi. i will make sure that everything is verified as much as possible.

i have had a look and i cant see which areas are restricted to only Turks, all i can gather is cant be more than 25,000 sqm. does anyone know if Konyaalti, Anatalya is a restricted area?

i really appreciate all of this advice

[Cukurbagli]

If it's an apartment in Konyaaltı I doubt very much that it's in a restricted area, most of them are in the city part of that area.

Twitterbug you'd better be prepared for things taking at least three times as long as you think, don't expect to come out here for a week and achieve anything, this sort of thing can hang on for years. If you meet this guy and he agrees to transfer the apartment you will have to get the military search done first which is likely to take up to three months. You need to have a charge registered on the apartment so that he cannot sell it in the meantime, if he does you've lost the lot. You need to see a lawyer as soon as you can.

[AKDOGAN76]

Hi Twitterbug, welcome to the forum. I would urge you to seek legal advice even if this man appears to be cooperating. As other members have pointed out this can be a long process so its in your best interests to have someone of legal standing representing you. Good luck and I do hope your Mum has a positive outcome, Jo x

[jade]

Good afternoon,

unfortunately this has happened to hundreds of people in the past. This so-called friend of your mum's was right in saying that the paperwork would be finalised quicker through a Turkish citizen because, being a foreigner, you should pay a deposit on the property you want to buy ONLY (that's if the owner of the property you want to buy agrees with this - it varies from case to case I'm afraid.

then the paperwork has to be sent to Izmir for military clearance to ensure that the property is not located in an area in which foreigners are not permitted to buy and up to now that takes around 3 months. Whereas a Turk can go to the Tapu office (land registry office or title deeds office) and get all the paperwork dealt with in one day.

Your mum must have a receipt from the bank stating that the money was transferred to this person's account surely?

It definitely sounds as if this person doesn't intend handing over any documents so please, please find yourselves a good lawyer who speaks very good English. Yes, that's going to cost you quite a lot of money but there is really no other alternative.

Where is this property located in Turkey? I know of 2 lawyers in Antalya who speak excellent English who specialise in Real Estate Law.

If you go into my website: http://www.anatolianrosehomes.com/ you will see an advert there for the lawyer we work together with here in Antalya. If you click on the logo you can contact her through writing an email to her. She is a lawyer and at the same time, she lived in London for a few years and is also a translator for English-Turkish. She is absolutely trustworthy. Her name's Ceyda.

Here in Turkey you have to pay upfront to carry out a court case and don't automatically assume that, if you win, that you will get the money refunded by the person who loses the court case. Clarify all of these points with your lawyer FIRST and be sure to get receipts for all monies handed over to the lawyer.

If you write on the forum where this property is located, I'm sure other expats can give you the names of lawyers in that area.

Hope this has been of help to you and pse let me know how you get on.

Jade

Edited by Ken, 03 May 2012 - 03:47 PM.
Link to website corrected and approved by Ken.

[Abi]

Thanks for responding Jade with some good information. The apartment is in Konyaaltı area of Antalya.

[jade]

hi there,

yes I've just read through the posts regarding this matter. I see that the apartment is in Konyaalti - an area in which foreigners can buy so no problem there at least. Somebody suggested going to the police - as I wrote before it is imperative to go to a lawyer FIRST. I've had several dealings (unfortunately) with the police here as my flat was burgled, jewellery was stolen off me and much worst matters and my experience is that before anything is settled it takes YEARS - yes YEARS and you need very good nerves so go to a lawyer and then you'll always have someone with you to help you and support you, even in front of the court.
As an after-thought this afternoon I also thought of a Turkish lawyer in England who deals with such cases as this one.

www.kobaltlaw.co.uk
Turkish lawyer LLP
aLI Onur Ulusakarya

I don't know him personally but recently he wrote to me to see if we could work together when something like this happens to English people. Please note that we are NOT getting commission for recommending him. I just want to help you if I can in any way.

Yes, the whole judicial system here is slow - slower ...... so be prepared that this is going to take time. I'm wondering if it would be possible to put him on a RAT LIST to make his name public or is that against the law because you've only got the transfer receipt to prove what you've said?

If you're in Antalya, Twitterbug, give me a call (you can find the phone number on our website) and I can come with you personally to the lawyer to make things a bit easier for you. I know how nerve-racking these things are when you go it alone! And in a completely different country to your own!!!!

I know this is not going to make you feel any better but I have spent the past few years via the court trying to get money repaid to me which was extracted from me through illegal methods and the end is still not in sight!!!! Sorry to have to give you a sobering thought there but this is Turkey and things take a lot longer here than back in the UK.

Hope to see you when you are in Antalya,
Jade

hi there Abi,
thanks for informing me about Twitterbug's situation. We've heard these kind of stories so often haven't we - unfortunately - and it must be awful to be in a strange country, not knowing the language nor the lie of the land and feel isolated and alone. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone - except my ENEMY who I've been fighting against for years via the police and courts.

I certainly don't know everything but it's great to have forums like these where people feel they've got a helping hand and that they don't have to go it alone.

Have a nice evening,
Jade

[Abi]

What a kind person you are Jade with your offer of help, I'm sure it will be very much appreciated. Yes, you are right, sadly we hear of these stories far to often. It's a shame that you too have experienced life at the sharp end here. I hope twitterbug hasn't missed your post as they said they were coming to Turkey at the end of this week, but hopefully they will log on when they are here.

As for naming that person the only way it could be done is by asking if anyone is knows anything of this person and give their name without reference to anything else.

[sunny]

Anyway, so far he hasn't refused to transfer the ownership over to twitterbug's mum so let's wait and see what happens.

[twitterbug]

good evening everyone! thank you for all of your responses. sorry for my late response, i have had a manic time of it before leaving england. i have arrived in antalya today. i have spoken to my mum and showed her all of your comments.

so far the friend is being civil and the subject of transfer has not been approached. i am here til the end of the week so am assessing his demeanour and the best way to approach him first.

i plan to go to the tapu office with my mum tomorrow and find out the procedure for all of the above (i have found the addresses for four in antalya, does anyone know which one to go to? i cant find an address on tapu, although i can read turkish anyway!), especially putting a charge on the property on the meantime. a friend of mine in england thinks he does not need to authroise this as my mum will be claiming an interest and so a charge can be created in the meantime until this is ressolved. does anyone know if this is correct and how you go about doing this?

does anyone know if people at the tapu office speak english or whether we would need to get an interpreter? and if so where i could locate one?

jade i am very grateful for your offer of meeting up. i think after assessing the steps we can achieve this week tomorrow and when we find out if he is cooperative we will endeavour to instruct a lawyer and hopefully we can meet you some point this week. this site is amazing and i am so garetful for everyones responses and kindly surprised by your concern and suggestions. my mum is thankful also and we both feel less alone in this ordeal. hopefully he does co operate but he seems to me on first impression as a strange fish and quite controlling.

i will try and check this regurlarly now i am here and keep everyone posted on any progress or developements.

Once again thank you x

[sunny]

Thanks for the update and good luck.

[Cukurbagli]

Yes, nice to know what's happening. Give Jade a call as soon as you can and she will be able to help you through all the questions you asked.

[Abi]

Hi twitterbug thanks for the update. I think Cukurs suggestion was good, you do need Jade. The reason being is that some Tapus offices will not give our information to people that don't own the property in question they are enquiring about, but will give it to estate agents and lawyers. I don't know about Antalya but most Tapu offices don't have staff that speak English, also some interpreters are useless. I think that Jade is fluent in Turkish or she could recommend someone. Jade will also be able to help you about Tapu offices. I think you will need to ask a lawyer about putting a charge on the property and ther way to do it. If you can put a charge on the property at least he won't be able to sell it or take a loan out.

I've really got my fingers crossed for you and your mum