Rental deposit

A rental deposit (depozito in Turkish, also called a security deposit or güvence bedeli) is the amount or security instrument a tenant gives the landlord at the start of a lease to secure obligations that may arise from the tenancy — unpaid rent, damage compensation, unpaid maintenance dues. Its legal basis in Turkish law is Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK) art. 342. For residential and roofed-workplace leases, the deposit cannot exceed three months' rent and cannot be handed to the landlord as cash: if paid in money, it must be placed in a time-deposit account opened in the tenant's name that cannot be withdrawn without the landlord's consent; if paid as securities, they must be deposited with a bank.

The deposit secures three categories of claims that can arise during or at the end of the tenancy: (1) unpaid rent, (2) compensation for damage beyond normal wear, (3) unpaid shared-building dues and utility debts the tenant owed. A landlord with no such claim has no right to withhold the deposit — it is not an exit fee or a termination tool.

The return process is set out in TBK art. 342/3: after the lease ends, the landlord has three months to notify the bank in writing that they have filed a lawsuit or initiated execution or bankruptcy proceedings related to the tenancy. If the landlord does not notify the bank within that three-month window, the bank must return the deposit once the tenant requests it. In other words, the deposit is not released the moment the lease ends — it becomes returnable only after this three-month notice window closes and the tenant applies to the bank. Landlords should use the window to document any damage or unpaid balances; tenants should track it to know when they can collect.

A rental deposit is the most common form the broader concept of teminat (collateral/security) takes in a lease — teminat is an umbrella term that also covers instruments like a guaranty (kefil) or a bank letter of guarantee (see the teminat glossary entry). An advance payment (peşinat) is an entirely different concept: a deposit is a security that must be returned when the lease ends cleanly, while an advance payment is money paid ahead of time that is spent against future rent — it is not returned, and it is not subject to TBK art. 342's three-month cap (see the peşinat glossary entry).