Success for arabuluku: 90 % reduction in rental vessels

1 September marked the beginning of a new phase in resolving apartment lease disputes. Settlement of disputes between landlords and tenants began using mediation before going to court. The impact of mediation on tenancy court cases was already noticeable after 6 weeks. Before September 1, Turkey averaged 20,000 rental cases per month, now that number has dropped to 3,000. The success rate of mediation in lease disputes has reached 60%.

"The number of tenancy cases has fallen by 90%"

A mediation lawyer Umut Metin, who emphasizes that rental disputes in Turkey are easily and quickly resolved through mediation, said: "Until September 1, 2023, there was an average of 20,000 rental cases per month in Turkey. Since the introduction of mediation, the number of claims filed in the last 6 weeks is only 3,015. About 2,000 cases a month are now being processed. The number of rental cases has decreased by 90 percent," he said.

Metin drew attention to the decrease in the number of cases in Turkey's two largest courts, the Çalian Administrative Court and the court in Ankara, where the largest number of rental cases are heard. "In 6 weeks in October, about 250 rent cases were filed in the Ankara court and about 400 in the Chalyan court. We have seen a significant decrease in the number of cases in Turkey's two most important courts," he said.

"Increase in the number of agreements "

Metin said about 7,000 agreements have been reached through mediation so far. "The rate of agreements through mediation is approaching 60%. In mid-September, the figure was around 49%.

Reducing conflicts between tenants and landlords through mediation

Methin said the mediation process in disputes between tenants and landlords is completed in four weeks, and he expects the number of agreements to increase further by the end of the month. "We are close to reaching an agreement in the ongoing negotiations. This means that the number of our agreements is increasing every day. We have also seen a decrease in conflicts between tenants and landlords, which used to be violent. This is also confirmed by the numbers," he said.

"We will feel the increasing impact of mediation on society in the near future. "

Methin said the high level of agreements has reduced the judicial workload in the courts and judges and lawyers are working more efficiently to ensure justice. "We will see the public benefit of mediation by the end of the year. Considering that 7,000 agreements have been made, we can assume that this means that the two sides have reached an agreement, and this applies to 14,000 people. If we include their families, we can say that about 100,000 people got rid of their rental problems thanks to mediation. You could say that mediation has created social harmony where people understand each other better," he said.