A bill containing amendments to 14 different laws and 1 decree law, including regulations on exorbitant site maintenance fees, was published in the Official Gazette after being accepted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
With the new regulation, the authority to set fees for exorbitant site maintenance fees has been transferred from site management to the property owners.
Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum, who shared the regulation on his social media account, said: “We are taking the steps that our citizens need. The first of our regulations regarding site fees has been published in the Official Gazette.
“The authority of site management to determine prices has been transferred to the citizens. A two-thirds majority is required for changes to the management plan. Thus, we aim to prevent site managements from making arbitrary decisions, especially regarding the amount of fees.”
The amendment to Law No. 634 on Condominium Ownership, prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and passed by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, has implemented significant regulations regarding the process of determining dues in apartment buildings and housing complexes.
With the changes made to Articles 35 and 37 of the law, the authority of managers to determine dues has been limited. Accordingly, managers of housing complexes and apartment buildings cannot increase dues above the revaluation rate.
If an increase above this rate is necessary, the manager must convene a meeting of the Board of Condominium Owners within a maximum of 3 months, and the decision on the increase can only be made with the approval of the condominium owners.
The final say on dues increases rests with the condominium owners.
Under the current system, managers can prepare annual operating budgets without any upper limit; if homeowners do not object within 7 days, the fees become final. This situation caused many citizens to face high fees and be subject to debt collection proceedings. With the new regulation, the final authority in determining fees has been given to the Homeowners’ Board.
The manager can only increase fees by a maximum of the revaluation rate.
Managers may prepare a provisional operating budget that includes an increase of up to the revaluation rate on the previous operating budget for mandatory expenses such as employee wages, insurance premiums, fuel, and electricity and water costs for common areas. Apartment owners are authorized to determine the amount of their dues according to the needs of the building or complex, and to decide on increases exceeding the revaluation rate for necessary construction and expenditure items.
A majority will be sufficient at the second meeting .
To approve an increase in the revaluation rate, a 50%+1 majority of residents will be required at the first meeting. If this participation rate is not achieved, the amount determined by a majority of those present at the second meeting will be finalized as the new fee. In this case, the final amount will be determined by the members of the homeowners’ association, i.e., the residents, not the site managers. This will prevent arbitrary spending and non-transparent spending by site managements, thus preventing residents from suffering losses.
Furthermore, with the amendment made to Article 70 of Law No. 634, the quorum required for changes to the management plan in collective buildings was reduced from 4/5 to 2/3. This will facilitate the meeting and decision-making processes of site managements, preventing difficulties and disruptions.
Source: IHA