Enforcement Auction and Annulment of the Auction: Seven-Day Period and Grounds

Movable sales are governed by İİK m.112–115 and immovable sales by m.123 et seq. Valuation, advertising and service requirements depend on the property and the relevant provisions. Auctions operate through the electronic sales portal.

For immovable sales, the auction price must exceed whichever is greater of (a) 50 per cent of the appraised value and (b) the total of the claims secured on the property that rank ahead of the party requesting the sale — and, in addition to that amount, the costs of realisation and distribution (İİK art.115; art.129 applies that provision to immovables). Otherwise no award is made. Under the 2021 amendment (Law No. 7343) the sale request does not lapse: the creditor may ask for a new sale date within the remainder of the period for requesting sale, which is suspended by the request and resumes from the date of the record stating that the auction could not be held.

Under İİK m.134/2, the selling creditor, debtor, registered interested persons, holders of limited real rights and actual bidders may seek annulment. Applications by others are rejected on the papers with final effect. Applicants outside the first four groups, including persons relying only on bidder status, must pay the prescribed proportional fee and provide five per cent security. Under the amendment by Law No. 7571, absent or deficient fees or security must be completed within the two-week definitive period notified by the court; otherwise the application is rejected.

Annulment must be sought by complaint to the enforcement court within seven days of the auction. For grounds learnt later — such as failure to serve the sale notice — the period runs from learning of the ground, but in any event not more than one year after the date on which the decision that the auction was held was announced on the electronic sale portal (İİK art.134).

İİK m.134/2 expressly includes the grounds in TBK m.281 concerning unlawful or immoral interference with an auction. The special enforcement-auction procedure and deadlines apply. Objections to preparatory steps such as valuation have their own time limits; not every earlier irregularity can be reopened after the sale. The applicant must also demonstrate prejudice to their interest.

The enforcement court generally holds a hearing within twenty days, but may reject a procedurally inadmissible request on the papers. A fine is not an automatic result of every dismissal: m.134/5 distinguishes ineligible applicants, withdrawal by specified applicants and dismissal on the merits. The applicable sanction is up to ten per cent of the auction price, with the twenty-per-cent rate in the housing-finance and TOKİ proceedings specified in m.134/6.

In enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings, the choice of enforcement track must be determined by the basis of the claim and the available documents. Although ordinary enforcement, commercial-paper enforcement, judgment-based enforcement, preliminary attachment, composition with creditors and bankruptcy may pursue the same outcome, they differ in time limits, available objections and costs.

Dates of service, objection or payment deadlines, attachment requests, sale-request periods and complaint deadlines are the most critical stages of the file. For this reason the dates of service of the payment order, enforcement order, attachment record, valuation report and sale notice should be tracked in a separate schedule.

For the creditor, interest calculation, the clarity of the enforcement request and the inquiry into the debtor's assets are decisive; for the debtor, grounds of objection, claims of exempt assets and the possibility of a negative declaratory action must be assessed from the outset. Otherwise, a procedural oversight may eclipse a meritorious position.