Marriages and mortgages
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