Statutory Pre-emption Action (Önalım / Şufa)

How the right arises

The statutory right concerns a co-owner’s sale of a share to a third party. Gifts and exchanges must be distinguished from sales. Sales under Law No.2886 and compulsory auction sales are excluded under TMK Article 733; transitional provisions apply to earlier sales.

The right is exercised by court action; a notice served on the seller or the buyer is not sufficient on its own. The action is brought against the third party who bought the share.

Time limits: the most critical issue

Article 733 of the Turkish Civil Code (TMK) provides two periods:

• Three months: from notification of the sale to the other co-owners by the seller or the buyer through a notary.
• One year: the long-stop from sales made on or after 25 December 2025. The previous two-year rule continues to apply to earlier sales under provisional Article 1.

These are forfeiture periods considered by the court of its own motion, subject to statutory provisions affecting their running. The three-month period starts with notification through a notary; informal learning alone does not start it. The long-stop depends on the date of sale and the transitional rule.

The price and the deposit order

Under TMK Article 734, the court determines the share’s market value without delay. The claimant must deposit that value and the buyer’s title-transfer expenses in cash, within the definitive time limit and in the place specified by the court, for interest accrual. Failure to deposit prevents registration in the claimant’s name. The amount and accrued return are paid to the entitled person when the judgment becomes final.

The Article 734 amendment also applies to actions filed before its commencement. The deposit must not be described simply as the historical price stated in the title deed.

The de facto division defence

This is the strongest defence in pre-emption actions. If the co-owners have divided the property in fact and each has been using their own part independently for a long time, exercising the pre-emption right is held to be contrary to the principle of good faith and the action is dismissed. The court examines this defence through data such as a site inspection, witness statements, who holds the electricity and water subscriptions and who built the structures on the land.

De facto division is a fact-sensitive defence under the good-faith principle. Its existence does not provide an automatic guarantee that a pre-emption claim will fail.

Waiver of the pre-emption right

A co-owner may waive the pre-emption right in official form, and the waiver is annotated in the land register. A waiver limited to a specific sale need only be in writing. Obtaining waivers from the other co-owners when buying shared property is a practical solution that closes off later disputes from the start.

For general information purposes; whether the periods have run must be examined separately in every file.