The 'mediator' game between landlords and tenants

The rapid rise in rents has pitted landlords and tenants against each other in courts. Following the disputes, a mediation system was introduced as a solution.

While the mediation system was put into effect to resolve disputes, as of September 1, 2023, a property owner or tenant cannot file a lawsuit directly without first applying to a mediator.

In this system, parties who go to a mediator do not pay a fee if there is no agreement, but they are subject to a fee if an agreement is reached. It is stated that some landlords and tenants say "we could not reach an agreement" in order to avoid paying the mediator's fee, and continue the process among themselves.

WARNING TO THE PARTIES

According to the report by Hürriyet; Real estate law expert Attorney Ali Güvenç Kiraz warned that this choice could lead to significant problems:

''If the mediator's fee is paid and an agreement is reached in person before the mediator, the settlement report prepared by the mediator has the force of a court judgment. In other words, it becomes like a court decision. As is known, there is a 5-year requirement for rent determination lawsuits. If an agreement is reached through mediation, the landlord cannot file a lawsuit for 5 years. However, if the parties reach an external agreement after the mediation application and determine the new rent amount with an additional protocol among themselves, in this case, since this additional protocol will not have the force of a court judgment for the property owner, the property owner can file a rent determination lawsuit again.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS AN AGREEMENT? 

The mediation fee is determined by different percentages based on the agreement amount. In case of an agreement, a model is applied where the rate decreases as the figure increases, such as 6% for the portion of the agreed amount up to 200,000 TL, 5% for the next 320,000 TL, and 4% for the next 520,000 TL.

In cases where an agreement is reached, the payment can be shared between the parties or it can be decided that one of the parties will pay it. If there is no specific determination, it is split equally between the parties.'

In voluntary mediation, it is also possible for the mediator to request their fees and expenses from the parties before the mediation process begins. If one goes to a law firm to file a lawsuit and receives legal services, the fee for this is separate from all of these.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS NO AGREEMENT?

If the parties cannot reach an agreement and hold a meeting for less than two hours, the mediation fee is covered by the Ministry of Justice's budget. In this case, no fee is paid to the mediator at the first stage. At the end of the lawsuit process, which will take an average of 2 years, the losing party pays the fee to the state according to the acceptance-rejection ratio.

If the meetings last longer than two hours, an additional hourly mediation fee of 580 TL per party is determined.

This fee schedule is determined by the Ministry of Justice. If the parties wish to continue meeting for more than 2 hours and agree to pay the fee, this fee is shared between the parties. If they do not accept, a non-agreement report is prepared by the mediator."