In 2026, property sale and purchase transactions take place at land registry offices (tapu müdürlükleri) across Turkey in numbers reaching into the hundreds of thousands every month, and in a significant share of these transactions buyers sign without adequately examining the legal history of the property being sold. Law No. 7579 on Amendments to the Land Registry Law and Certain Other Laws (Official Gazette of 22.05.2026, No. 33261), which entered into force in May 2026, introduced wide-ranging changes in the fields of land registry, zoning and cadastre, yet fraud schemes such as forged powers of attorney and multiple sales of the same property remain among the most common causes of disputes. Against this backdrop, a few checks carried out at the land registry before buying an apartment can prevent a lawsuit that might otherwise drag on for years.
Why the Public Nature of the Land Registry Matters So Much
The provisions of the Turkish Civil Code governing the land registry are built on the principle that registry records must be open to inspection by anyone, and that third parties acting in good faith may rely on those records. This principle of publicity grants the buyer an important right: rather than trusting the seller’s word, the buyer has the right to view and verify the land registry record personally.
Suppose Ms. Ayşe, who wants to buy an apartment in Istanbul, relies on an old photocopy of the title deed shown to her by the person listing the property, without checking whether the record has since changed. Yet a current land registry record may show a lien or mortgage placed only a few months earlier, information the old photocopy will not reflect. For this reason, every review should start with a current record obtained as close as possible to the transaction date.
Verifying the Owner’s Identity and the Power of Attorney
A significant share of real estate disputes in Turkey stem from a sale being carried out not by the true owner but under a forged or abused power of attorney (vekaletname). The scheme typically works as follows: the fraudster obtains the real owner’s identity information, has a power of attorney drawn up at a notary using forged documents, and sells the property to a third party.
The most concrete safeguard here is that, where the transaction is being carried out through an attorney-in-fact (vekil), the power of attorney should be verified against the notary’s records and, where possible, confirmed directly with the owner. For example, if an attorney-in-fact is selling on behalf of a foreign investor living abroad, the validity date and scope of the power of attorney (whether it specifically authorizes a sale) and the notary office that issued it must be checked without fail. Speaking with the owner face to face or by video call is a cost-free yet effective verification step on its own.
The sale of the same property to more than one buyer is a similar risk category; for this reason, the consistency between the date of the last transaction recorded at the land registry and the date of the sale promise agreement should also be reviewed separately.
How to Check for Mortgages, Liens and Annotations
Through TAKBİS, the electronic infrastructure of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, an owner can query mortgage, lien (haciz) and annotation (şerh) records relating to their property free of charge via e-Devlet (the government’s e-services portal). Since this query can only be carried out directly by the owner, however, the practical route available to a buyer is to request a current WebTapu certificate from the seller; this document can be verified via a QR code and is generally expected to have been obtained within the previous 24 hours.
Take a concrete example: a buyer interested in an apartment in Kadıköy who sees a bank mortgage annotation on the property in the WebTapu certificate obtained from the seller should have the contract state clearly whether that mortgage will be offset against the purchase price and at what stage the discharge (terkin) will be recorded at the land registry. In transfers carried out without the mortgage record being closed first, the buyer may later find themselves facing the bank’s right to pursue enforcement.
Lien annotations should be assessed in the same way: if the property carries a lien arising from an enforcement proceeding, a sale carried out without that record being removed poses a serious legal risk for the buyer.
Checking Zoning Status and Building Documents
A clean-looking title deed record is not enough on its own; the property’s zoning status (imar durumu), occupancy permit (yapı kullanma izin belgesi) and, where applicable, building registration certificate (yapı kayıt belgesi) must also be examined separately. The zoning status document obtained from the municipality shows whether the building was constructed in accordance with its permit and whether it has been converted to condominium ownership (kat mülkiyeti) or floor easement (kat irtifakı).
For example, an investor examining an apartment chosen for its sea view may discover that the building’s penthouse floor was added later without a permit, a situation that could later expose the property to a demolition order from the municipality. For foreign buyers, it is also mandatory for the land registry office to check whether the property falls within a military restricted zone or security zone; more detail on this process is available in our article on the military restricted zone permit and valuation report requirement.
The 2026 Debate: A Mandatory Lawyer Requirement for Land Registry Transactions
A statement made by the Ministry of Justice in March 2026 put on the agenda a proposal to make legal representation by a lawyer mandatory for parties to land registry transactions above a certain value. This proposal has not yet become law, but the debate itself points to the importance of the issue.
Some argue that such a requirement would increase transaction costs; others believe that, given that the land registry official carries out only a formal review and does not assess legal risk, such a requirement would reduce fraud cases, particularly for foreign investors and high-value transactions. In our view, the second position is the more accurate one, especially given how frequently forged powers of attorney and multiple sales occur: the land registry official’s review is limited to the formal compliance of the records and does not evaluate the risks inherent in the contractual relationship between the parties. Even if the requirement does not become law, voluntarily requesting a preliminary review from a lawyer in high-value transactions is already a workable measure, and one whose cost is low compared to the risk of fraud.
Separately from this debate, some of the changes to cadastre and zoning introduced by Law No. 7579 took effect on its publication date, while others will take effect on 31 December 2026; it is therefore advisable to obtain up-to-date information from the land registry office, under the legislation in force, close to the transaction date.
Conclusion: The Sequence to Follow Before Buying
The checks carried out at the land registry during an apartment purchase are more effective when followed in a specific order rather than at random. First, ownership information and any mortgage, lien or annotation records should be confirmed with a current WebTapu certificate; then, if the transaction is being carried out through an attorney-in-fact, the notary record and scope of the power of attorney should be verified.
After these steps, zoning status and building documents should be requested from the municipality, and for foreign buyers, whether the military restricted zone check has been completed should be confirmed. The general framework covered in our earlier article on points foreign buyers should pay attention to when purchasing a title deed complements this checklist. In high-value transactions or those carried out through an attorney-in-fact, requesting a preliminary review from a lawyer before the sale is one of the most practical ways to avoid the common mistakes made in real estate investment; see also our earlier article on 10 mistakes foreigners make in real estate investment.
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