Title Deed Annotations in Turkey: Mortgage, Lien and Şerh Explained

A Turkish title deed tells you who owns a property, but the full picture is in the land registry record behind it. That record can carry mortgages, attachments, court injunctions, lease rights, family home notes and other entries that stay with the property after it changes hands. This guide explains how the record is organised, what the most common entries mean and how to deal with them before you buy.

Last updated: November 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Have a lawyer review the record for the specific property you plan to buy.

How a Turkish Title Record Is Organised

The land registry record of a property, often called the encumbrance record (takyidat), is divided into sections. Each one has a different legal effect:

• Ownership: who owns the property and in what share.
• Annotations (şerhler): personal rights and restrictions that become enforceable against later owners once they are recorded, such as attachments, injunctions, sale promises and leases.
• Declarations (beyanlar): information about the legal or physical status of the property, such as a family home note, a management plan or a risky building designation.
• Easements (irtifak hakları): rights that limit how the owner can use the property, such as usufruct or a right of way.
• Mortgages (rehinler): loans secured on the property, with their rank and amount.

An annotation does not automatically stop a sale, but it can follow the property to the new owner. That is why reading the record is as important as checking the price. For the basics of the document itself, see what is a tapu in Turkey?

Mortgages (İpotek)

A mortgage secures a loan, usually from a bank, on the property. A mortgaged property can be sold without the lender's consent, but the mortgage stays on the record and goes with it.

• Rank: each mortgage has a rank that decides the order of repayment if the property is sold to settle debts.
• Fixed amount or maximum amount: a maximum-amount mortgage covers future debts up to the recorded limit, so the balance actually owed can be different from what the seller tells you.
• Removal: once the debt is paid, the lender gives consent and the mortgage is cancelled at the land registry.

What to do: agree in writing who pays off the loan and when, ask the lender for the exact payoff amount and make sure the mortgage is removed at or before the transfer.

Attachments and Injunctions (Haciz and İhtiyati Tedbir)

• Attachment (haciz): placed by an enforcement office because of the owner's debts. The owner cannot freely dispose of the property, the attachment stays with the property and the creditor can request a forced sale if the debt is not paid.
• Interim injunction (ihtiyati tedbir): placed by a court during a dispute, for example over ownership or a sale promise. It stays until the court lifts it.

What to do: treat these entries as red flags. Do not pay until the attachment or injunction has been formally lifted and removed from the record, or until a lawyer has confirmed a safe structure for the payment.

Sale Promise, Lease and Option Annotations

• Sale promise annotation (satış vaadi şerhi): shows that the owner has already promised to sell the property to someone else. The holder can enforce that right against later buyers. The land registry removes the annotation if no transfer or court claim follows within five years.
• Lease annotation (kira şerhi): a recorded lease can be enforced against the new owner, so you may not be able to end the tenancy when you buy.
• Pre-emption, purchase and buy-back rights: rights created by contract that may allow another person to buy the property in certain situations.

What to do: ask for the underlying contract, check whether the right is still active and require its removal before the transfer if it conflicts with your purchase. These annotations are also relevant for off-plan purchases, where your own sale promise can be annotated to protect you.

Declarations (Beyanlar)

• Family home note (aile konutu): the spouse's explicit consent is needed to sell or mortgage the property. Even without the note, a lawyer will usually check whether the property is used as a family home.
• Management plan (yönetim planı): the building's internal rules, which bind new owners and can affect pets, short-term rentals or the use of common areas.
• Risky building (riskli yapı): the building has been designated under Turkey's urban transformation law, which means demolition and reconstruction may follow under its own rules.
• Expropriation note (kamulaştırma): a public authority has started expropriation, and a later sale does not stop the process.
• Buildings owned separately from the land (muhdesat): a structure on the land may belong to someone other than the landowner.

Easements (İrtifak Hakları)

Usufruct (intifa), rights of way and building rights limit what the owner can do with the property and bind the new owner. A usufruct, for example, can give another person the right to live in or rent out the property for life. Check the scope and duration of any easement before you agree a price.

How to Check the Record Before You Buy

1. Ask the seller for a current title record extract from the land registry or the e-Devlet title services.
2. Have a lawyer review every annotation, declaration, easement and mortgage.
3. Agree in the contract how each entry will be removed and who pays.
4. Keep part of the payment back until removals are completed, where possible.
5. Obtain a fresh extract on the day of the transfer, because new entries can be added at any time.

Reviewing the record is one part of a wider check of the property, the building and the seller. See our full guide to property due diligence in Turkey and the documents needed to buy property in Turkey.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I buy a property with a mortgage on it?

Yes, but the mortgage stays with the property unless it is paid off and cancelled. Agree with the seller that the loan will be closed and the mortgage removed at or before the transfer.

Can a property with an attachment be sold?

An owner cannot freely dispose of a property under attachment, and the attachment follows the property. A buyer should only proceed once it has been lifted or a lawyer has structured the payment safely.

What does "şerh" mean on a Turkish title deed?

Şerh means annotation. It is an entry that records a right or restriction, such as a lease, a sale promise or an attachment, and makes it enforceable against later owners.

Does a family home note stop the sale?

No, but the owner's spouse must give explicit consent to the sale or to a mortgage.

Buy With a Clear Title

Follow each step of the purchase in our property buyer's guide for Turkey, start with our Property Turkey guide or ask our team to review a title record for a property you are considering.