Seven Days Against an Enforcement Auction: Annulment of the Auction, Security and Fine (Art. 134)

Parties who believe there was an irregularity in the enforcement auction of real estate can ask the enforcement court to annul the auction by way of complaint. Article 134 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Code (İİK) regulates who may use this route, within what period, and with what risk of sanctions. The article was most recently amended by Law No. 7571 of 24.12.2025 (Official Gazette: 25.12.2025). This article summarises the current rules.

1. Ownership through the auction

The buyer to whom the enforcement office awards the property acquires ownership of it (Art. 134/1). Until the auction becomes final, the enforcement office decides how the property is to be kept and managed. The auction price is not paid to creditors until the auction becomes final and the property has been delivered to the buyer or made ready for delivery.

2. Who may complain, and within what time?

• Who: only the creditor who requested the sale, the debtor, the interested persons recorded in the official register of the attached property, holders of limited real rights, and those who took part in the auction by bidding.
• Time limit: seven days from the date of the auction. The 12th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation has stated that this period is a forfeiture period and is taken into account by the enforcement court of its own motion (E.2018/10109, K.2019/830).
• Address in Türkiye: the complainant must give an address in Türkiye. The same chamber has stated that where this requirement is not properly met, the request to annul the auction is rejected without examining the merits for lack of a condition for suit (E.2022/13663, K.2023/931).
• Grounds: grounds for annulment, including those in Art. 281 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, may be raised in the complaint.
• Other persons: if persons other than those listed above request annulment, the court rejects the request on the file and definitively. This sentence was added by Law No. 7571.

3. When the period starts

The law deems the interested parties to have learnt of irregularities in acts up to the moment of the auction at the latest on the day of the auction. Exception: if the sale notice was not served, or if a mistake about essential qualities of the property or fraud in the auction is discovered later, the period starts from the date of learning. This period cannot, however, exceed one year from the date the decision on the auction was announced on the electronic sales portal.

4. Fee and security

For an annulment request made by persons other than the requesting creditor, the debtor, registered interested persons and holders of limited real rights, that is, those who took part in the auction by bidding:

• A proportional fee is charged on the auction price; half is paid in advance with the request. If the request is accepted, the fee is refunded; if rejected, it is not refunded and the remaining half is collected from the complainant.
• Security of five per cent of the auction price must be provided to cover possible loss.
• If the security or fee is not paid or is underpaid, the court serves a notice; if it is not made good within a two-week final period, the request is rejected on the file and definitively (added by Law No. 7571).

5. Hearing and outcome

• The enforcement court holds a hearing within twenty days of the request and gives the necessary decision even if the parties do not attend. Where the request must be rejected on procedural grounds, a decision may be given without a hearing.
• The interested party who complains must prove that their own interests were impaired as a result of the irregularity.
• If the complaint is filed with an enforcement court lacking subject-matter or territorial jurisdiction, the court reviews the file and, within ten days at the latest, gives a final decision of lack of jurisdiction and sends the file on of its own motion to the competent court.

6. Risk of a fine

If the enforcement court rejects the request (a) because it was made by persons with no right to complain, (b) because of a waiver by those who took part by bidding, or (c) on the merits, it orders the person who requested annulment to pay a fine of up to ten per cent of the auction price whose annulment was sought. In proceedings for housing finance claims and claims of the Housing Development Administration secured by pledge, this rate is twenty per cent. As for the security taken from bidders: if no compensation action is brought under the general provisions within one month of the rejection becoming final, the matter is notified to the collection office to collect the fine; if the collection office does not collect the fine from the security within three months of the notification, the security is returned to the person entitled on request.

Ten per cent is an upper limit. In a case applying Art. 134 as amended by Law No. 7343, where it considered, in light of the grounds for annulment and the status of the complainant, that the complaint was aimed at prolonging the auction process, the 12th Civil Chamber reduced the fine from ten per cent to five per cent of the auction price, by the principle of proportionality (E.2022/13664, K.2023/930). The rate is not set this way in every case; it varies with the facts.

7. The price is paid during the complaint

A buyer who did not take part in the auction by offsetting against their own claim must pay the sale price immediately or in cash within the period given under Art. 130 even if annulment has been requested. The price paid earns interest in a bank until the decision on the complaint becomes final, and is then paid with its interest to those entitled. Notification to the land registry for registration takes place after the complaint period has passed or, if a complaint was made, after the decision has become final.

For the sanctions on a buyer who does not pay the auction price, see our article on failure to pay the tender price in enforcement sales.

8. What to do

• Establish immediately whether the sale notice was served and the date of the auction; the seven-day period runs from the auction day (with exceptions assessed separately).
• Give an address in Türkiye in the complaint. If you took part in the auction by bidding, pay the fee and the five per cent security in full.
• The complaint should not rest on irregularity alone; you must also be able to prove how your interests were harmed.
• For steps before the auction, our articles on assets exempt from attachment and objecting to enforcement proceedings may also help.
• If you would like your file assessed, you can book an appointment or reach us on the contact page.

This article is prepared for general information and does not replace legal advice. Every file is different, and rights can be lost if time limits are missed.