17/09/2016, 10:54:AM
17/09/2016, 10:54:AM
How do you register your interest on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR)?
Protecting your interest in property under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPSA), requires registration of a financial statement on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).
The financial statement that needs to be completed is an online form accessible through the PPSR website.
When the financial statement is being prepared the secured party, which is the person or company that is protecting their interest, needs to provide the following information:
1. whether the secured interest being protected is commercial or consumer goods;
2. if the secured party’s interest is a transitional security;
3. provide a secured party group number, and indicate the class of goods;
4. ensure the free text description is properly detailed;
5. the length of time the security registration needs to apply;
6. the secured party’s and grantor’s details ((who is the party that has the charge against them).
In relation to the free text description field, this will not be available in all circumstances. However, when the field is available, great care is required to avoid the description of the property being seriously misleading or to narrow, which could result in the registration being ineffective.
If the information in the financial statement is seriously misleading with a defect in any data or it contains a defect as noted in the PPSA section 165, the registration will be ineffective, which means the personal property is not protected from competing claims.
There are specific rules that apply to the details that need to be provided about the grantor and secured party in the financial statement.
So let’s have a general look at these rules!
If the grantor or secured party is a body corporate and subject to their registration type, they either have to provide their ARSN, or ACN, or ARBN, or name of body corporate, as provided for in the body corporate’s constitution or equivalent document to be recorded in the financial agreement.
Where the grantor or secured party is an individual, as a person, then that person’s surname, given name, date of birth is required to be recorded in the financial statement. In relation to the personal details of an individual, this information must be verified through the process of verification of identity, because if the information is incorrect and detailed in the financial statement, this will result in a defect in the registration and it being ineffective.
When the grantor or secured party is involved in a partnership the ABN of the partnership needs to be recorded in the financial agreement for the registration to be effective.
If the grantor or secured party is a trustee and not a body corporate, the ABN relevant to the trust needs to be recorded in the financial statement for the registration to be effective. Where there is no ABN for the trust the details that need to be recorded are detailed in Schedule 1 of the PPSR.
A body politic that is either a grantor or secured party the information required to be recorded in the financial statement is the ABN or the name of the body politic in accordance with their constitution.
The description of the collateral, which is the property being secured, needs to be accurately described in the financial statement to stop the registration being ineffective, as a result of a defect in the description of the goods.
There are many important information requirements that need to be recorded on the financial statement, and it is prudent to seek the assistance of a lawyer in securing an interest in property on the PPSR.
So take that extra step to protect your legal rights and interests.
The comments in the aforementioned do not constitute legal advice and are general in nature, and if legal advice is required please contact: John Melis at Legal AU Pty Ltd (03) 9999 7799
Legal AU Pty Ltd Lawyers are “Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.”
