Ministry of Trade imposes escalating fines on firm for misleading housing advertisements

The Ministry of Trade has increased sanctions against a firm that published misleading advertisements for detached summer houses with gardens in the Karasu district of Sakarya. The business, which presented a 2 million TL amount as the total sale price but later demanded it as a down payment, was initially fined 28,620 TL; as similar advertisements continued, the fine was doubled to 57,240 TL.

The Ministry of Trade launched an investigation into a firm that prepared misleading advertisements to attract customers for detached summer houses with gardens in the Karasu district of Sakarya. It was determined that the 2 million TL amount stated in the advertisements was not the total sale price of the property, but only the down payment. Providing information on the matter, Bekir Kaplan, Press and Public Relations Advisor to the Ministry of Trade, stated that the practice wastes citizens' time, leads them to make decisions based on incorrect information, and damages trust. In this context, an administrative fine of 28,620 TL was imposed on the relevant business in the first stage.

Following the initial warning, the Ministry expanded the sanction process as the firm continued to publish similar misleading advertisements. The fine imposed on the business, which did not heed the first warning, was doubled to 57,240 TL. Regarding the sanction plan to be applied if violations continue, Kaplan announced that the fine rates for organizations that continue to mislead citizens will increase arithmetically, and the same firm will pay double the previous fine for each new violation.