How to prepare a rental contract: a step-by-step guide

1. Identify the parties fully and verifiably

The first piece of the contract is who the parties are. Name alone is not enough — verifying identity prevents later denial. For natural persons: Turkish ID number, date of birth, full address, and contact information are required. For legal entities: trade name, tax ID, MERSIS number, and address (including tax office) are needed. In corporate rentals, adding a KEP address (Registered Electronic Mail) is important for service of notice.

2. Define the rented item or service unambiguously

The second commonly disputed element is what is rented. In real estate rentals: deed information (block/parcel), independent unit number, gross/net square meters, fixtures. In heavy equipment rentals: brand, model, serial/chassis number, engine hours, capacity. In vehicle rentals: plate, brand, model, mileage, fuel level. These identifiers allow verifying at lease end that the item returned matches the item delivered.

3. Clarify the fee, payment terms, and duration

Monthly or daily rental amount, payment date, payment method (bank transfer, EFT, cash), and currency (TRY, USD, EUR) must be clear. For residential leases, the annual rent escalation cannot exceed the CPI year-over-year rate under TBK art. 344; a CPI-based formula must be stated in the contract.

Whether the term is definite (e.g., 1 year) or indefinite must be stated. For definite-term contracts, the contract may be tacitly renewed at term-end under TBK art. 347; this mechanism should be explained in the contract.

4. Add deposit and, if needed, guarantor clauses

For residential and roofed-workplace leases, the deposit cannot exceed three months' rent and must be held in a bank account (TBK art. 342). During the lease, the deposit can be used only for your claims (unpaid rent, damage, tax).

For high-value rentals, a guarantor can be added. The guaranty contract is subject to a written-form requirement (TBK art. 583), and the guarantor must write the guaranteed amount in their own handwriting. Akitle's web-based signature may not fully meet this handwritten requirement — so for guarantor-backed contracts, notarization is recommended.

5. Add liability allocation and a force-majeure clause

Who bears responsibility for damage, loss, fire, and force majeure must be clear. In operated heavy-equipment rental, the operator's social security falls to the lessor (Turkish Labor Law No. 4857); in bare rental, to the renter. The force-majeure clause (TBK art. 136) should govern the contract's fate (suspension, termination, or adaptation) when events like earthquake, flood, epidemic, or government prohibition make performance impossible.

• Damage compensation: market value or repair cost basis?
• Loss and theft: which party must insure?
• Notification window when force majeure arises (usually 7-15 days)
• Contract fate: suspension, termination, adaptation (TBK art. 138)

6. Sign and store in an audit-trailed archive

The contract must be signed by both parties. A wet-signed paper copy is the classic method; in the digital method, platforms like Akitle take the signature in the browser. Akitle's web-based signature is binding between parties and constitutes a 'document' under HMK art. 199, but it is NOT a 'secure electronic signature' under Law No. 5070 art. 4.

After signing, both parties should have a signed copy. In digital contracts, Akitle seals the PDF with SHA-256 and emails it to both parties; the audit trail records every event in the contract's lifecycle (creation, opening, signing) with timestamps.