Picture the situation. You take an off-plan unit in a cluster, pay the booking fee, sign the PPJB, then close the mortgage at the bank. Construction is promised in fourteen months. Around month eight, work on site stops. The site hoarding is still up, but the crew is gone. One thing does not stop: the autodebit at the start of every month.
The question that follows is usually the same, why keep paying for a house that does not exist yet. The answer sits in how the contracts are structured, and that part rarely gets much airtime at signing.
You signed two agreements, not one
Buying off-plan with a mortgage means two separate agreements are running side by side:
- The PPJB between you and the developer. It binds the developer to build and hand over the unit to the agreed specification and date.
- The credit agreement between you and the bank. It binds you to repay the funds the bank has already disbursed, with interest.
In an off-plan mortgage the money has usually already reached the developer, either in stages tied to progress or in full at signing. The bank has done its part. When the developer then walks away, the party in default is the developer towards you, not you towards the bank.
That is why the installments keep running. Stop paying unilaterally and the arrears are recorded under your name in SLIK, the national credit information system, which will complicate any borrowing you attempt for years afterwards.
Withholding payment is not an effective protest. It moves the loss off the developer's books and onto your own credit record.
What you can claim, and from whom
| The problem you are facing | Who you deal with | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| The unit was never built, or work has stopped | Developer | PPJB + Law 8/1999 on Consumer Protection |
| Build quality does not match what was promised | Developer | PPJB + the technical specification annex |
| Handover has passed the date in the PPJB | Developer | The late-handover penalty clause in the PPJB |
| The master title has not been split into your name | Developer, with the bank as an interested party | PPJB + the bank-developer cooperation agreement |
| Installments keep being charged with no house to show | The bank, and your position here is weak | The credit agreement you signed |
That right-hand column sets the order of your steps. Everything resting on the PPJB points at the developer, and only the last row involves the bank.
A sensible order once the project stalls
Get your evidence in order before you talk to anyone
Collect the full PPJB with every annex, all payment receipts, the written construction schedule, dated site photos, and every exchange with the sales team and the developer's office. Add a copy of the credit agreement and bank statements showing the installments still going out. This same bundle gets used again at every stage that follows.
A written somasi, not a phone call
A somasi is a formal demand letter covering three things: what was promised, what was not delivered, and what you want done by a stated deadline. Send it in a way that leaves proof of receipt, such as a tracked courier or a formal letter to the developer's registered office. If the matter escalates, the somasi is what shows you tried the reasonable route first.
BPSK before the courts
BPSK, the consumer dispute resolution body, handles consumer cases through mediation, conciliation, or arbitration. It is far quicker and cheaper than a civil suit, and complaints can also be filed with the national consumer protection body BPKN. Where the developer is still operating and still willing to talk, this route often settles the matter without a courtroom.
A breach-of-contract suit at the District Court
The suit is filed at the district court where the developer is domiciled. The usual claims are cancellation of the PPJB plus return of the money paid, along with any other losses you can evidence. It is the strongest route and also the slowest and most expensive, so weigh the amount in dispute against the cost of litigating.
If the developer is declared bankrupt
This is the hardest scenario. Your claim gets registered with the court-appointed receiver, and buyers usually rank as unsecured creditors, meaning they are paid only after secured creditors. Meanwhile the obligation to the bank does not disappear. At this point legal representation stops being optional.
The rules already put a fence up front
Law 1/2011 on Housing and Settlement Areas, Article 42, allows a house to be marketed before it is built only if the developer already holds certainty of land-use designation, certainty of land rights, certainty of the ownership status of the house, the construction permits, and a construction guarantee.
Government Regulation 12/2021 adds a condition that is easier for a layperson to verify: a PPJB may only be signed once there is certainty over land ownership status, the subject of the agreement, the building approval (PBG), the availability of public infrastructure and utilities, and at least 20 percent completion. For landed and terraced houses, that 20 percent is measured against the total number of units being marketed. The same regulation requires the developer to hold a construction guarantee from a guarantor institution.
The fence looks tidy on paper. The problem is that buyers rarely ask for the proof before signing, even though all of it exists as documents you can request at the sales desk.
Ready stock removes this entire class of risk
Everything above starts from the same condition: the house did not exist when the money left your account. If the building already stands and you can walk into it before signing, the stalled-project risk drops off the list. What remains is document risk, and that can be checked in a single day.
The Emerald 70 house on Jl. Raya Perjuangan, North Bekasi, is sold as ready stock: two storeys, 70 sqm of floor area on a 47.25 sqm plot, 4.5 m x 10.5 m, bore-pile foundation, priced in the Rp 700 million range with VAT included. What you inspect is the unit itself, not a scale model. The same goes for the Sapphire commercial unit, three storeys plus rooftop, 172 sqm of floor area on a 72 sqm plot, driven-pile and stone foundation, 2200 VA supply.
None of that makes document checks unnecessary. The certificate, the PBG, and the written specification still have to be matched up. The difference is that you match them while standing inside the house you are buying.
Four questions worth asking before you sign
- Is the unit I am buying already standing, or still a plan? If it is still a plan, ask for evidence of 20 percent completion and a copy of the construction guarantee.
- Who is the guarantor institution, and how would a claim actually work if construction halts?
- What is the daily late-handover penalty in the PPJB, and is it capped?
- If I cancel because the developer defaults, what percentage of the money paid comes back, and within how many days?
Those four questions do not make you a difficult buyer. A developer who answers them comfortably is the one most worth transacting with.
Want to see a unit that is already standing?
The Kingspoint team can walk you through a ready-stock Emerald 70 house in North Bekasi along with its certificate and building approval, before a single rupiah changes hands.
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