Australians have lost substantial sums in Indonesian property. Most of those losses were avoidable, and most followed the same sequence: money paid against a rendering, no independent verification, and a contract with an entity holding nothing worth suing for.
This checklist is not legal advice. It is a list of documents to obtain before money moves.
Land
Get the certificate number for the specific parcel, and verify it independently at the local land office through your own lawyer — not the developer’s.
Establish the certificate type. Hak Milik is freehold and cannot be held by a foreigner. Hak Guna Bangunan is a right to build. A leasehold is a lease. These are materially different and are frequently blurred in marketing.
Confirm the registered owner is the entity you are contracting with. If the land is owned by a third party, ask what agreement binds them.
Check for encumbrances and existing mortgages over the title.
Permits
Obtain the PBG — the building construction approval — for your specific building. Issued, not applied for. Without it, construction is unlawful.
Check the zoning permits development of the type being sold.
Verify legal road access. A parcel without a registered access easement is a serious problem that is invisible in a rendering.
The counterparty
Identify the exact legal entity named in your contract. Obtain its company profile from the Indonesian registry.
Establish who its directors and shareholders are, and search each name.
Ask what assets the entity holds. If your villa is not delivered, this is what you can enforce against.
Ask whether any director or beneficial owner is subject to regulatory action in any jurisdiction, and get the answer in writing.
Payment
Never pay into a personal account.
Establish whether payments go to the contracting entity or somewhere else. If funds are routed through a third country or a third party, ask why in writing.
Use staged payments tied to verified construction milestones, inspected by someone you engage.
Verification
Visit the site, or send someone you instruct. Take dated, geotagged photographs.
Speak to the contractor directly. Ask whether they have been paid.
Search the Denpasar District Court and local court records for proceedings involving the entity.
The single most useful question
Ask the sales representative, in writing: what adverse regulatory history, court judgments or bans apply to any person associated with this development, in any country?
Keep the answer. If it is incomplete and you later discover why, that document becomes the most valuable thing you own.
Verification
Visit the site, or send someone you instruct. Take dated, geotagged photographs.
Speak to the contractor directly. Ask whether they have been paid.
Search the Denpasar District Court and local court records for proceedings involving the entity.
The single most useful question
Ask the sales representative, in writing: what adverse regulatory history, court judgments or bans apply to any person associated with this development, in any country?
Keep the answer. If it is incomplete and you later discover why, that document becomes the most valuable thing you own.
