balipropertyguideRoya: removing a hak tanggungan from a land certificate
Buying a mortgaged property turns on one step. Who does it, in what order, and what to do when the bank will not.
Roya, step by step, from both laws
Every purchase of a mortgaged property turns on one step: the seller’s bank being paid and the mortgage struck off. That step is roya. The rules are split between the 1996 mortgage law and the 2020 electronic-mortgage regulation; read together, they give the order of events.
| Article | What it decides | Used on |
|---|---|---|
| Law 4/1996 art. 18(1) | A hak tanggungan ends when the debt is paid, the creditor releases it, a court orders the property cleared, or the land right itself ends. | — |
| Law 4/1996 art. 22(4)-(5), (8) | Roya needs the creditor's note or written statement that the debt is paid, or a district court order if the creditor will not give one; the land office strikes the entry within 7 working days. | — |
| Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 18 | Once paid, the creditor must register the deletion promptly, through the HT-el system. | — |
| Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 9(2)-(3) | Documents are filed by the PPAT, for registration or transfer; the creditor, for a name change, deletion or correction. | — |
| Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 17(3) | After full roya, the earlier HT-el certificate is marked as no longer valid. | — |
| Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 17(2) | After partial roya, a new certificate with the same number, carrying the latest data. | — |
| Law 4/1996 art. 19(1) | A buyer may ask the creditor to clear the property of any mortgage above the purchase price. | — |
Why the entry matters until it is gone
A hak tanggungan follows the property into whoever's hands it passes (Law 4/1996 art. 7), and several rank by the date of registration at the land office (Law 4/1996 art. 5(2)). Its certificate has the same executory force as a final court judgment (Law 4/1996 art. 14(3)). A buyer who takes a property with a live entry takes a property the creditor can still sell, whatever the seller says about the loan. That is why the order below matters more than the paperwork in it.
A hak tanggungan ends when the debt is paid, the creditor releases it, a court orders the property cleared, or the land right itself ends (Law 4/1996 art. 18(1)). Ending is not the same as disappearing from the certificate: until roya, the entry stays on the land book, and a buyer who sees it cannot tell from the certificate whether the debt was paid. What a certificate check shows.
The order of events
| Step | Who | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Debt paid | Debtor (usually from the sale price) | the debt is paid | Law 4/1996 art. 18(1) |
| 2. Paid-off statement | Creditor | Note or written statement that the debt is paid | Law 4/1996 art. 22(4)-(5), (8) |
| 3. Roya filed in HT-el | Creditor | register the deletion promptly, through the HT-el system | Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 18 |
| 4. Documents | Creditor | Files the deletion documents | Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 9(2)-(3) |
| 5. Entry struck off | Land office | Within 7 working days | Law 4/1996 art. 22(4)-(5), (8) |
| 6. Old certificate | System | the earlier HT-el certificate is marked as no longer valid | Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 17(3) |
Sources in the last column. Step 5 is the 1996 law’s deadline; the 2020 regulation’s 7th-day issuing rule (Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 16(3)) applies to its electronic outputs.
When the creditor will not cooperate
Roya needs the creditor's note or written statement that the debt is paid, or a district court order if the creditor will not give one; the land office strikes the entry within 7 working days (Law 4/1996 art. 22(4)-(5), (8)). The court route is the owner’s remedy when a bank will not issue the statement. For a buyer the lesson is timing: the payoff and the creditor’s statement should be in hand at closing, not promised after it.
If the buyer is borrowing too
A purchase financed by the buyer’s own bank adds a new mortgage the same day the old one goes. The new one is created by an APHT, a deed made by a PPAT (Law 4/1996 art. 10(2)) and born on the date of the land book, the seventh day after complete documents are received (Law 4/1996 art. 13(4)-(5)). Where the APHT cannot be signed at closing, a power of attorney to encumber (SKMHT) is used, and it must be followed by an APHT within one month for registered land and three months for unregistered land, after which it is void (Law 4/1996 art. 15(3)-(4), (6)). The roya of the seller’s mortgage and the registration of the buyer’s run through the same system, filed by different people.
Partial roya
Where only part of the security is released — one plot of several — the result is a new certificate with the same number, carrying the latest data (Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 17(2)). The remaining plots stay mortgaged.
Buying around a mortgage
A buyer may also ask the creditor to clear the property of any mortgage above the purchase price (Law 4/1996 art. 19(1)). And the land office may refuse the electronic service for a seizure or block on the land during processing, or other legal grounds (Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 24(1)), so a block on the certificate holds up roya as well as the sale. If the roya application itself fails in the system through force majeure, it is void, with the fee reusable for a new application on the same subject and object, or refunded (Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 arts. 25(1), 26).
Who answers for a false payoff statement
The land office does not check the truth of the documents behind an electronic result (Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 20(2)); forged documents are entirely the responsibility of whoever sent them, criminally and civilly (Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 art. 20(4)). A roya built on a false statement is the filer’s liability, not the land office’s — which is why the statement should come from the bank directly, not through the seller. Our reading. The mortgage law. The HT-el system. PPJB and AJB.
This is commentary on the official texts, not legal advice.
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Questions on this page
What is roya?
The striking-off of a hak tanggungan from the land book and certificate after it has ended (Law 4/1996 art. 22). It needs the creditor's note or written statement that the debt is paid, or a district court order if the creditor will not give one; the land office strikes the entry within 7 working days (art. 22(4)-(5), (8)).
Who applies for roya under HT-el?
The creditor, through the HT-el system; for a deletion, the creditor also files the documents (Permen ATR/BPN 5/2020 arts. 9, 18). After full roya the HT-el certificate is marked as no longer valid (art. 17(3)).
The bank will not give a payoff letter. What can the owner do?
Law 4/1996 art. 22(5) provides for a district court order where the creditor will not give the statement.
Can I buy a property that still has a mortgage on it?
The mortgage follows the property (Law 4/1996 art. 7). Structure the closing so the seller's debt is paid from the price and roya is registered before or with the transfer. A buyer may also ask the creditor to clear the property of any mortgage above the purchase price (art. 19(1)).
Sources cited on this page
Every rule above was read in the Indonesian original on 20 September 2026, not from an English summary. How we check this.