Trapping Homebuyers with Easy Payment Offer
The house purchase transaction is also uncommon. The buyers are made legally powerless. The sale and purchase agreement (PPJB) is not signed by a public notary.
Advertisements for new housing are installed at the T-junction of Jalan Tekno Widya and Jalan Ciater Barat, Serpong, South Tangerang, Sunday (1/24/2021).
Buyers of low-cost housing have lost millions of rupiah due to house sale manipulation carried out by housing developers who offer a light payment method to trap the buyers.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS— Offers of easy payment have become the modus of unscrupulous housing developers in deceiving their buyers. The rogue housing developers offer a low down payment and light installments with a long tenor without using bank loans. The developers also ask the buyers to immediately order the houses even though they are still unable to provide all the required documents.
Kompas\' investigations by tracing a number of problematic housing estates in Bekasi regency and Bogor regency, West Java, throughout September 2021, found that unscrupulous housing developers, on average, targeted buyers of small houses (maximum of 36 square meters). The house price ranges from Rp 140 million (about US$10,000) to Rp 250 million.
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The house purchase transaction is also uncommon. The buyers are made legally powerless. The sale and purchase agreement (PPJB) is not signed by a public notary. Buyers also have difficulty obtaining legal documents related to housing permits and land ownership from developers. As a result, many buyers of small houses have lost tens of millions of rupiah because the houses promised by the developers have never been built. The buyers are also unable to recoup the money they have paid to the housing developers.
Sari (37), a Depok resident, is one of the homebuyers of the Afara First Hills housing complex in Cihideung Ilir village, Ciampea, Bogor regency. She paid the booking fee at the end of 2018, but the house has still not been built.
A housing complex under construction in Ciseeng, Bogor Regency, West Java, Sunday (11/29/2020).
Sari acknowledged she was interested in buying a house in Afara because it was cheap and the developer offered a light payment method using a sharia concept. With this scheme, she thought the payment would be easier than using bank loans. “I\'ve tried to take out a mortgage, but failed. I did not pass the verification conducted by Bank Indonesia. I don\'t know why," said Sari, in Cibinong, Bogor.
No public notary
Sari has spent up to Rp 61 million, which consists of Rp 2 million for the booking fee, Rp 22.5 million for the down payment, Rp 9.5 million for the notary fee and Rp 27 million in installments. The whereabouts of the developer of the Afara housing complex are unknown.
The PPJB document that Sari received was not signed by a public notary. In fact, she had paid Rp 9.5 million for the notary fee for the issuance of the deed of sale and purchase (AJB). Sari paid the down payment and house installments into the personal account of one of the house developer’s executives.
When she visited the housing complex at the end of September, the marketing office of the housing developer was closed. A security guard said the sales representatives had not been in the office for more than a year.
Ainul immediately paid the booking fee because she was worried she would be unable to get one.
In fact, during the marketing period, buyers were assured that the houses built by Afara were in high demand. Another Afara buyer, Ainul, said at the time the company’s marketing office was crowded with potential buyers. Ainul immediately paid the booking fee because she was worried she would be unable to get one.
Of the 723 houses promised to be built, only 33 houses were built in the Afara housing complex. However, only 13 houses have been occupied. One of the residents revealed that the residential land still had girik (customary property rights) status.
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PT Afara Mandiri Suryatama, as the developer of Afara First Hills, has not apparently obtained all housing permits and did not own all the land when marketing the houses. “The initial plan was about 10 hectares. But the land that had been bought was only about 1 hectare. It was about 8,679 (square meters), more or less," said the commissioner of PT Afara Mandiri Suryatama, Maman Setiawan.
Maman also claimed to be a victim because his name, without his knowledge, was included on the list of the company’s executive board when the company was in trouble. Senior executives of PT Afara Mandiri Suryatama, including the president director, whose bank accounts were used to receive the buyers’ money, have disappeared.
Advertisements for new property offers are scattered in various corners of the city as seen in the Muncul area, South Tangerang, Banten, Saturday (4/4/2020).
When buyers asked for a refund, Maman said they should go to the old developers who received the money. "You are wrong. I am a victim too,” said Maman.
Mismanagement
It also occurred in Bogor regency. One of the buyers of the Villa Puncak Ciomas housing complex in Tamansari district, ES, admitted he was interested in buying a house there because the developer offered the concept of “bankless installments” (not using bank loans) at a price of only Rp 141 million. ES paid Rp 19 million, which consisted of a down payment of Rp 10 million, a booking fee of Rp 2.5 million, and six-month installments (Rp 1 million per month).
After paying the six-month installment, he often visited the housing site but did not see progress in the house construction. In fact, the house handover should have been carried out in December 2019 in accordance with the PPJB agreement. However, the PPJB documents were signed by ES without a notary signature and stamp.
The Villa Puncak Ciomas housing complex has changed its name to Grand Delima Ciomas. The developer of the housing complex has also been changed from PT Mahakarya Almeera Mughnii Development into PT Delima Prima Propertindo.
The former general manager of PT Mahakarya, Martinus, admitted the previous developer mismanaged the company’s finances, resulting in default. The project was then taken over by PT Delima. At present, Martinus works for PT Delima.
He said buyers of the Villa Puncak Ciomas housing would be refunded if all the houses in Grand Delima Ciomas had been sold.
The housing complex is being completed in Ciseeng, Bogor Regency, West Java, Sunday (11/29/2020).
In Bekasi regency, buyers of the Grand Madani Village (GMV) housing in Sukamekar village, Sukawangi district, were also trapped by the developer\'s offer to buy a house without using bank loans. One of the buyers, Yogi, admitted that he ordered two houses in 2019 but they had still not been built. In fact, he had already paid Rp 68 million to the developer for the order fee and down payment.
GMV\'s marketing office is no longer in operation. There was only one local resident who was hired to look after the office. The resident asked the buyers to go to the office of PT Madania Nusantara Fikr, the developer of GMV in Depok.
At the GMV housing location, only 10 houses have been built. The developer made a site plan for 1,460 houses. Most of the land within the GMV housing area still consists of farming areas. On one of the land plots, there was a notice board saying the land belonged to the residents and was not for sale.
PT Madania Nusantara’s legal manager, Fikr Yoga Priyo Widodo, explained his company had asked for time to refund all the buyers’ money. "Because, we are now in a pandemic situation. But, we will solve all the problems," said Yoga.
Separately, the chairman of the Islamic Architecture and Residential Committee of the Islamic Economic Community, Ari Tri Priyono, said many developers claimed to be sharia, but they actually violated sharia principles. They, among other things, offer housing for which the legality of the land and permits are not clear. "Islamic values are not applied seriously [by developers], but instead use the words sharia as a gimmick to simply lure buyers," said Ari.
He suspected there were certain parties who deliberately exploited the word sharia to reap profits.
According to the deputy chairperson of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI ) Anwar Abbas, many people have begun to abandon the practice of usury. He suspected there were certain parties who deliberately exploited the word sharia to reap profits. "They also exploit consumer ignorance about sharia contracts," he said.
There are actually housing developers with a credible sharia payment concept. According to a housing developer with a sharia payment concept, Hadiana, before entering into a contract, buyers must be able to ensure the legality of the land and project permits. (FRD/JOG/DIV/ILO)
