Marriages and mortgages
Referring to Andrew Charles' letter published in The Jakarta Post on July 26, titled Racist Indonesian fees, I'd like to give some suggestions.
Andrew's Indonesian friend is married to a bule (a term used to refer to a white westerner), and his land certificate has been issued on his behalf (i.e. in his own name). And he is still an Indonesian citizen. The certificate was issued to him before he married his current wife.
If his current marriage is registered with the Vital Statistics Office (Kantor Catatan Sipil) as a kawin pisah harta (marriage with separate ownership of property), then he is still the sole owner of the land certificate. And if his land certificate is a Hak Milik (Right of Ownership) certificate, then -- according to the Basic Agrarian Law (i.e. Law No. 5/1960) -- it can be used as collateral for bank credit by encumbering it with a Hak Tanggungan (mortgage or security title).
However, if this current marriage is not registered with the Vital Statistics Office as a kawin pisah harta, then it is assumed to be a kawin campur harta (marriage with joint ownership of property), which means that the land certificate is jointly owned by him and his wife.
Referring to the Basic Agrarian Law, especially Article 21(3), I would like to suggest that the Indonesian friend of Andrew's (1) register his marriage as a marriage with separate ownership of property with Bali's Vital Statistics Office, (2) support his loan application with the marriage certificate and the land certificate, (3) go to the Land Deed Official (PPAT), together with an officer of the prospective creditor bank, for an akta hak tanggungan (mortgage deed), and (4) register the deed with the Land Office.
Different countries have different policies concerning property ownership by foreigners. Australia, for example, allows foreigners to purchase property in the country but requires them to sell the property -- in case they wish to do so -- only to Australian citizens.
Please don't have hard feelings toward "officially sanctioned racism" in Indonesia. We, Indonesians, are still struggling for an Indonesia that is better in many ways than it is now.
BAMBANG TRIONO
Jakarta