Tangerang Selatan House Walling Case: Paid Rp 840 Million, Considered Rent, Now Trapped Inside

TANGERANG SELATAN, KOMPAS.com - A one-metre-high concrete wall now stands in front of the home of Raffa Azman’s family (21), tightly sealing off the previously free access in and out. Behind that Hebel stone wall lies a long story that began with trust but ended in a dispute, leaving the family seemingly confined in their own home. Raffa recounted that the dispute stemmed from a house sale agreement between his family and the previous owner, conducted without an official deed. According to him, their close relationship was the main reason his family dared to make that decision. “We used to be good friends. My mother already considered him like her own parent,” said Raffa when met by Kompas.com at the location. The agreement was made verbally without a sale and purchase deed (AJB), relying solely on trust. Since 2019, Raffa’s family began paying instalments for the house. An initial down payment of Rp 200 million was given at the start, and by 2021, the total payments reached around Rp 840 million. All transactions, Raffa said, were recorded in the form of receipts. “We have the payment receipts from the beginning, very complete, from 2019,” he said. In the midst of the process, the seller once asked Raffa’s family to renovate the house, even though the payments were not yet complete. The renovation costs were borne by Raffa’s family. “We wanted to settle the payment, but asked for the certificate to be processed for name transfer,” said Raffa.