Default of the creditor and its legal consequences

Default of the creditor is regulated between Articles 106 and 110 of the Turkish Code of Obligations. Default of the creditor can be defined as follows: The creditor omits to carry out an act of cooperation that is required according to the contract between the parties or the nature of the legal transaction, and in this context, he/she avoids without a justified cause to accept a performance properly offered to her/him and thereby causes delay in the actually performable service. Default of the creditor is, by its legal nature, an impediment of performance. And it is not necessary for the creditor to be culpable for go into default. The function of the default of the creditor is in play when the continuation or the completion of the performance is dependent on the cooperation of the creditor, despite the debtor's performing of all the actions that fall upon him, the debtor can be discharged from the debt without the cooperation of the creditor. Actions for cooperation required from the creditor in order for the debtor to perform the debt properly are not contractual obligations as a rule; but non-enforceable duties. Therefore, the creditor's refusal to carry out an obligated act of cooperation is not a breach of the debt; it only results in a breach of a duty.Where the creditor is in default, the debtor cannot force the creditor to take the action in question through litigation or s/he cannot demand compensation from the creditor. In return, the situation of the debtor, who continues to be bound by her/his debt due to the default of the creditor, improves against the creditor's advantage. If the creditor is in default, the debtor's liability reduces compared to the previous period, and the risk passes to the creditor who is in default. Default of the creditor excludes the default of the debtor and defense of non-performance. After the default of the creditor, no interest accrues on money debts. Upon the default of creditor in performance in kind, the debtor can be discharged from her/his debt, in principle, through using the right of deposit and as an exception through the right to sell; if debt is not related to objects, the debtor can be discharged from her/his debt through withdrawal from the contract.