What the letter does, part by part

  • Who it is from. You, named as on the title deed, with your ID or passport number. A key holder releases keys on the owner's instruction, so the letter has to show that it is yours. If the deed names a second owner, they join in and sign too.
  • The authorisation. Which items go, and to whom: a member of our staff, or a person you name with their ID number. You take responsibility for the release, which is what a key holder in Turkey expects to read. The person collecting shows identification, and both sides sign the handover record at the foot of the letter.
  • The documents. From a management company, the papers that keep a tenancy running: the original lease and any eviction undertaking (tahliye taahhütnamesi), your copies of the contracts, notices sent to the tenant, where the deposit is held, the move-in inventory, the account of rent collected, the utility accounts, the service charge and the DASK earthquake insurance policy.
  • The end of the management, if you want it. Notice that the management agreement, and the authority you gave under it, ends on a date you choose; a request to stop collecting rent and to take down any listing within three days, which article 14 of the Regulation on Real Estate Trading requires once an authorisation contract ends; and a request for a written final account. Article 508 of the Turkish Code of Obligations obliges an agent, when asked, to account for its work and hand over what it received in connection with the mandate.
  • A way to check. Your e-mail or phone, so the key holder can confirm the letter with you, and copies of your ID or passport and of the title deed, listed as attachments under your signature.

Sending it from abroad

Print it or save it as a PDF, sign it by hand, and send a scan or a clear photo, with copies of your ID and title deed, to the key holder and to whoever collects. Writing "For key release only" across the copies keeps them from being reused. If we collect, we count and photograph the keys and send you the handover record the same day.

No law requires a letter like this to be notarised. A key holder can still ask for more, and the formal route is then a power of attorney. Turkish citizens can give one at a Turkish consulate, which can also certify the signature on this letter; other nationals are usually referred to a notary where they live, and the document then needs an apostille and a Turkish translation. Both take an appointment and a fee, so try the letter first.

The letter to your tenant

If the flat is let, your tenant should hear about the change from you. Under article 42 of the Code of Obligations, a tenant acting in good faith who was told that a manager acts for you may rely on that until you tell them otherwise. The second letter names the new contact and the date it starts, says the old manager may no longer act for you when you are ending its management, and gives the account the rent goes to. It keeps the new contact to rent, repairs and day-to-day matters, and says any change to the lease still needs your written consent: under article 41, authority you announce is as wide as the announcement. Rent must still be paid through a bank or the PTT; the cash-rent rule explains why.

If they will not hand over

Ask once more in writing, with a date. If they say something is owed first, ask for it in writing with the contract clause and an invoice. If that fails, a notary notice (ihtarname) is the formal next step, and a lawyer in Istanbul can send one for you. For an empty flat, a new lock cylinder is often quicker than chasing a spare set; for a let flat, the tenant's keys are the ones in use, and the documents and the money matter more than the spare set.

Changing manager altogether? The order that keeps the rent flowing, and what to collect, is in our guide to switching property management company from abroad.

A template for general use, not legal advice. Where a contract, a large sum or a dispute is involved, have a lawyer read the letter before you send it.