Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.
"We have told the bank we are making a claim"
high likelihoodThe landlord writes to the bank asserting a claim, or simply refuses to sign the release, in order to keep the account frozen past the three-month mark.
What answers it
Article 342 requires the landlord to notify the bank in writing, within three months of the end of the lease, that they have brought a lawsuit, commenced enforcement proceedings (icra takibi) or initiated bankruptcy proceedings against the tenant. An assertion of intent is not any of those. Ask the landlord for the case or file number, and ask the bank in writing whether it has received a notification meeting the article. If it has not, the bank must return the security to you on your request.
Türk Borçlar Kanunu m. 342 — m. 342 (kiracının güvence vermesi: üç aylık kira bedeli üst sınırı; vadeli tasarruf hesabı; bankanın iade yükümlülüğü)
"Use the deposit as the last month’s rent — that is what it is for"
high likelihoodThe landlord treats the security as prepaid rent, or refuses to return it because the tenant did not let them apply it that way.
What answers it
The güvence bedeli is security, not rent. Article 342 controls what happens to it and provides for its release by agreement, by finalised enforcement or by judgment — not by unilateral set-off. A landlord who applied it to rent without your agreement has to justify that like any other deduction.
Türk Borçlar Kanunu m. 342 — m. 342 (kiracının güvence vermesi: üç aylık kira bedeli üst sınırı; vadeli tasarruf hesabı; bankanın iade yükümlülüğü)
"We have always held deposits ourselves"
high likelihoodThe landlord confirms the deposit sat in their own account, or in the agent’s, and treats that as normal practice rather than a breach.
What answers it
Where the statute says the money must be held somewhere specific — a blocked account in your name, a separate interest-bearing account, a savings book, a public deposit body — holding it anywhere else is a breach in its own right, not a matter of custom. It also means the interest the statute gives you was never earned, which the landlord must make good. Ask for the account details and the interest calculation in the same letter as the refund demand.
"We are still working out the costs"
high likelihoodThe landlord holds the whole deposit indefinitely while quotes, invoices or utility bills are said to be pending.
What answers it
The statutory return period exists precisely so the landlord can obtain quotes and final bills inside it. It does not restart because they left it late, and it does not licence holding the whole deposit against one unquantified item. Ask them to return everything not genuinely in issue now, and to quantify the rest by a stated date.
"The property needed cleaning and redecorating"
high likelihoodThe landlord charges for cleaning, carpet wear, scuffed paint or tired fittings and treats the deposit as a refurbishment fund.
What answers it
Fair wear and tear from ordinary use is not a recoverable loss in any of the regimes this product covers — a deduction must reflect damage or a breach beyond ordinary use, must be evidenced, and must be reduced for the age and remaining life of the item. Ask for the invoice, the check-in and check-out evidence, and the calculation.
"Prove you did not cause it"
high likelihoodThe landlord asserts damage and expects the tenant to disprove it, often without a check-in inventory.
What answers it
It is the party seeking to keep the money who must justify keeping it. Where there is no dated check-in record to compare against, an adjudicator has nothing to measure the alleged damage from, and the deduction generally fails on that ground alone.