Notice of Attachment to a Third Party: What to Do Within Seven Days (Enforcement Code Art. 89)

In an enforcement proceeding, if you owe money to the debtor or hold an asset that belongs to the debtor (for example as the debtor's employer, bank, tenant or business partner), the enforcement office may send you a notice of attachment (haciz ihbarnamesi). This article summarises, under Article 89 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Code (İİK), what the notice means, the three stages and the time limits.

1. What is a notice of attachment?

When a debtor's receivable held by a third party, or a movable asset in a third party's hands, is attached, the enforcement officer informs the third party of the following (Art. 89/1):

• A person who owes money to the debtor may from now on pay only to the enforcement office; a payment to the debtor in the proceeding is not valid.
• A person holding an asset may deliver it only to the enforcement office and must not hand it to the debtor; otherwise they may have to pay the value of the asset to the enforcement office.

The notice can be served on a branch of a legal entity or on its head office to cover all branches; the head office must make a declaration covering all branches. Under a paragraph added in 2018, notices and replies may also be made through UYAP with a secure electronic signature, and notification made this way replaces service.

2. Three stages and time limits

Stage	What is expected of the third party	Time limit
First notice	If the third party claims that it owes nothing, does not hold the asset, and so on, it must tell the enforcement office in writing or orally.	7 days from service
Second notice	If no objection is made, the asset is deemed to be in the third party's hands and the debt in its account, and this is notified in a second notice. The third party may still object on the same grounds, or pay the debt deemed to be in its account and deliver the asset.	7 days from service
Third notification	A third party that has not objected to the second notice and has not paid is told to pay the money or deliver the asset to the enforcement office, or to file a negative declaratory action.	15 days

In its decision of 19.11.2018 the 12th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation described these three steps in this order, and stated that if the third party neither files an action within fifteen days nor pays the debt deemed to be in its account, the enforcement office may attach and sell enough of its assets or money to cover the debt (E.2017/6628, K.2018/11662).

3. Grounds for objection and its form

Under Art. 89/2 the third party may object on grounds such as:

• It owes nothing or does not hold the asset,
• The debt was paid, or the asset was consumed or destroyed without its fault, before the notice was served,
• The asset does not belong to the debtor or is pledged to the third party,
• The receivable was given to the debtor or to a place the debtor ordered.

The objection may be made in writing or orally, and the third party's declaration is not subject to fees or stamp duty. The 12th Civil Chamber has held that, for a valid objection, it must be recorded in the enforcement minutes and the date it was made must be established by those minutes (E.2015/1494, K.2015/12154). It is therefore useful to submit the objection in writing and to document its date.

4. What if no objection is made in time?

If no objection is made within seven days, the debt is deemed to be in the third party's account and the asset in its hands, but this does not become final on the first notice alone. In its decision of 04.03.2025 the 12th Civil Chamber held that failing to object to the first notice is not enough for the third party to be added to the proceeding as a debtor, and that the second notice and the third notification must also have been made (E.2024/8097, K.2025/1920).

A third party that did not object in time and has not paid the debt deemed to be in its account may file a negative declaratory action:

• It is filed in the court of the place where the enforcement proceeding is conducted or where the third party resides.
• If the document showing that the action was filed is delivered to the enforcement office within twenty days of the notification, enforcement measures against the third party are suspended until the judgment becomes final.
• In this action the burden of proving that it owes nothing, or that the asset does not belong to the debtor, is on the third party.
• If the action is lost, the third party is ordered to pay compensation of not less than twenty per cent of the subject of the action. These actions are subject to a fixed court fee.

5. Untrue statements and excuses

• If the third party objects in time, the creditor may prove the opposite before the enforcement court and request that the third party be penalised under İİK Art. 338/1 and ordered to pay compensation.
• If a third party, through no fault of its own, could not object in time because of an obstacle, Art. 65 applies.
• In every case the third party may sue the debtor and a bad-faith creditor to recover money paid or an asset delivered.

6. From the debtor's side

If a notice has been sent to your employer or bank, see our article on assets exempt from attachment and salary garnishment for the limits on salary and accounts. For complaints to the enforcement court and their time limits, see objecting to enforcement proceedings.

7. What to do

• Note the date of service of the notice; the time limit at each stage runs from it.
• If you owe nothing, payment has been made or you do not hold the asset, tell the enforcement office with reasons within seven days and document the date.
• Do not leave the first notice unanswered; when the second notice and the third notification arrive, follow the seven- and fifteen-day limits separately.
• 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.