Ankara Debt Collection Lawyer

UTU Hukuk & Danışmanlık provides litigation and advisory services on the creditor’s side in initiating and conducting enforcement proceedings for cheque, promissory note and invoice receivables, actions for annulment and removal of objection, precautionary attachment requests, attachment and sale procedures, and third-party ownership (istihkak) actions.

A creditor holding a promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque may initiate attachment proceedings specific to negotiable instruments; the original instrument, or in the case of a cheque a photocopy, is attached to the enforcement request. The creditor is not obliged to use this route and may also proceed by general attachment proceedings. In the negotiable-instrument route, the payment order sent to the debtor warns that the debt must be paid within ten days.

In general attachment proceedings, an objection made by the debtor within seven days stays the proceedings. If the creditor holds one of the documents listed in Art. 68 or 68/a of the EBL, it may, within six months of service of the objection on it, request removal of objection from the enforcement court or, within one year, request annulment of objection before the general courts. In proceedings specific to negotiable instruments, however, the objection is filed with the enforcement court within five days and does not stay enforcement steps other than sale.

Final attachment requires the proceedings to have become final and a request from the creditor; it is not necessary to wait for the debtor to make a declaration of assets before attachment. Attachment must be requested within one year of service of the payment order; if it is not requested in time, the file is removed from processing, but the proceedings do not end and the file may be renewed. A precautionary attachment order may also be requested from the court to secure the outcome of the proceedings.

If, during attachment, the debtor indicates that the property belongs to another person, or a third party claims ownership or a right of pledge, the third-party ownership claim (istihkak) is recorded in the report and the creditor and the debtor are given three days to object; a party that remains silent is deemed to have accepted the claim. If the property is in the possession of the third party, the enforcement officer gives the creditor seven days to file a third-party ownership action. The competent court is the enforcement court.

A holder who has been dispossessed of a cheque against their will may ask the court to prohibit the drawee bank from paying it; if it is known who holds the cheque, an action for recovery (replevin) is brought, and if not, an action for cancellation of the cheque. For a bounced cheque, the no-funds endorsement is made at the holder’s request; the offence is prosecuted only upon complaint, the right of complaint belongs to the lawful holder, and the cases are heard by the enforcement criminal court.