Obligation to present the deed

TTK 708/1: "The holder of a policy to be paid on a certain day or after a certain period of time after the day of issuance or sighting must present the policy for payment on the payment day or within the two following business days."

Bills are subject to continuous transfer due to their nature. For this reason, it becomes almost impossible for the debtor to know who the last holder of the bill is. This is why the law regulates the obligation to present the document.

The obligation to present also serves the purposes of the debtor identifying the holder, checking the bill to determine whether he is the authorized holder, warning the debtor for payment, determining whether the bill belongs to the debtor or not, and determining whether it meets the validity elements. The person making the presentation must offer to return the bill along with the presentation.

In addition, if the bill is not paid, the holder must protest non-payment in order to appeal to those other than the principal debtor (the endorser and those who give them aval). Submission is a prerequisite for protesting non-payment. In order for a non-payment protest to be withdrawn, it must first be presented. For this reason, presentation is of great importance in order to exercise the right to apply for non-payment of a bill. If the holder wants to apply to the endorsers, he must have protested.

CONDITIONS OF PRESENTATION OF THE PROmissory Note

1-Presentation is made by the authorized holder.

Presentation is made by the authorized holder of the bill or his representative. Banks are generally used as authorized representatives. In other words, the holder can give the bill to the bank and have the presentation process done through the bank. The authorized holder is determined by following the turnover chain. If the bill is not put into circulation, the authorized holder is the beneficiary. The authorized holder is determined by a neat chain of endorsement. Breaks in the chain will require different applications. For example, if the holder is not authorized, he cannot protest. This situation is observed by notaries.

2-Submission is made to the principal debtor.

In order to have a valid presentation in the bill, the presentation must be made to the principal debtor. In terms of the bill, the principal debtor is the one who draws up the bill. If there is more than one organizer, submission must be made to all of them. Those who sign the bill other than the drawer are called application debtors. For example, endorsers are application debtors. Submission cannot be made to application debtors. However, Article 723 of the TCC imposes a notification obligation on the endorsers with its expressions as follows: "The holder must notify his/her endorser and the issuer of the non-acceptance or non-payment within four business days following the day of protest or, if there is a "no expense" entry in the policy, the day of presentation." In case of bankruptcy of the issuer of the bill, there is no submission requirement for application.

The original bill must be presented to the debtor (issuer). Since the notarized copy or photocopy will not replace the original bill, the submission will become invalid.

3- Presentation is made at the Debtor's residence, if not at his commercial place.

TTK ARTICLE 755- (1) All transactions to be carried out with a specific person, such as presenting the policy for acceptance or payment, protesting, requesting a copy of the policy, must be carried out at this person's place of business or, if he does not have such a place, at his residence.

It is stated in the text of the article that the presentation must be made at the debtor's place of business, and if there is no place of trade, it must be made at the debtor's residence.

However, it is not a mandatory form requirement for the issuer to write the place of residence in the bill. For this reason, the debtor's address may not be determined. In such cases, Article 755/2 of the Turkish Commercial Code imposes the duty of research on the pregnant woman with the following statement: "The location of the commercial place or residence is carefully investigated. If there is no result from the information obtained from the law enforcement or local postal administration, there is no need to conduct further research.". If the investigation is inconclusive, a non-payment protest may be filed before the submission requirement is met.

DURATION FOR PRESENTATION OF THE PROmissory Note

-For bills that do not have a maturity date or are issued with the phrase "on sight", the presentation period is 1 year from the date of issue. The one-year period begins with the date of issuance. "It is paid upon presentation of a bill issued to be paid on sight. Such a bill must be presented for payment within one year from the date of issuance. The issuer may shorten this period or specify a longer period. Presentation periods may be shortened by the endorsers." TTK 704/1

-For bills with a certain payment date, the submission period is determined as 2 business days following the payment day. "The non-payment protest to be drawn due to a bill of exchange requiring payment on a certain day, or on the day of issuance, or within a certain period of time after sighting, must be drawn within two business days following the payment day. The non-payment protest to be drawn due to a bill of exchange that must be paid when sighted, shall be drawn within the periods specified for the non-acceptance protest in the second paragraph." TTK 714/3

FAILURE TO PRESENT THE BILL

The consequences of exceeding the presentation period for bills are as follows:

1- If the holder does not make the presentation on time, the creditor will be in default.

2-The holder will not have the right to apply to the application debtors (endorsers). If the holder does not present the bill on time, he can only appeal to the principal debtors. As a matter of fact, the 12th Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court ruled in a decision dated 2006 that "If the drawer of the bills is not protested, as in the concrete case, the holder loses his right to apply only against the beneficiary and other endorsers, if any.". For detailed information about the holder's application to the debtors and the obligation to protest, you can review our article titled Failure to Pay the Promissory Note at Maturity.