A compound's budget is only as complete as the maintenance fees actually collected. A unit owner who does not pay increases the burden not only on themselves but on every other owner. The good news: the law gives managers some genuinely powerful tools.
Late payment compensation
KMK (Condominium Law) Art. 20 is clear: a unit owner who fails to pay the full amount of their expense and advance share is liable to pay late-payment compensation calculated at five percent per month for the days of delay.
In practice, many boards never enforce this, then complain that "nobody pays on time." Applying late-payment compensation consistently and without exception is the single fastest way to change collection behaviour. What matters is not the size of the amount, but that the rule is applied equally to everyone.
Against whom are collection proceedings initiated?
The party legally liable for common expenses is the unit owner. A unit owner cannot avoid paying this expense and advance share by waiving the right to use common areas or facilities, or by claiming that they have no need to benefit from them due to the condition of their unit.
The right to pursue payment rests with both the property manager and each of the other unit owners: for a unit owner who fails to pay their share of expenses or advances, any other unit owner or the manager may file a lawsuit or start enforcement proceedings under the management plan, this Law and the general provisions.
The most powerful document you have
Finalised operating budgets or resolutions of the general assembly of unit owners concerning operating expenses count as documents listed in Article 68(1) of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Code. This is decisive in the process of having an objection lifted when the debtor objects to enforcement proceedings.
The practical takeaway: if your business project has not been duly approved and notified, you lose your strongest card at the collection stage. Your decision book must also be kept in order.
Staged collection approach
The order of operations in the field is as follows:
- Pre-due reminder. An SMS or email a few days before the payment date. The cheapest and most effective step.
- The first week of delay. A polite but clear notification; the amount, due date and the late payment compensation that has started to accrue are stated.
- Second month. Written warning. The debt statement and the legal process to be initiated if payment is not made are set out clearly.
- Third month. Enforcement proceedings. At this stage the operating budget, the decision book and the debt statement must be ready.
It is important that these tiers are applied by rule, not by person. The debate over “who gets asked and who doesn’t” is what wears a property manager down the most.
No record-keeping, no collection
A large share of collection problems is really a record-keeping problem. If management cannot match who paid how much against bank transactions, disputes begin with owners who say they have paid — and enforcement proceedings are weakened too. In a setup where maintenance-fee billing is generated automatically and bank transactions are pulled in and matched against receivables automatically, this argument largely disappears.
Çözüm Hanem's bank integration and reconciliation module was designed for exactly this: transactions are pulled automatically, matches are suggested, and unmatched records appear as alerts in front of you.
This article is for general information purposes. Always seek legal advice in enforcement and litigation proceedings.