Hip hip hooray, PPSR! But it may be time to renew your PPSR registration
The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR), established on 30 January 2012, has celebrated its seventh birthday.
The PPSR is a comprehensive national register of all security interests in personal property in Australia. While birthdays are a time for celebration, this seventh birthday needs to be approached with caution – for the PPSR, it marks the day that the first round of registrations (some 120,000) are due to expire.
Don’t get caught out
Whilst some registrations may last for an indefinite period, the majority of registrations automatically expire after seven years; for example, items identifiable by serial numbers (such as motor vehicles, boats and plant machinery etc.). The registration process, and the priority it affords to a secured party, is vital in protecting the interests of secured lenders and other credit providers from a borrower’s insolvency or inability to repay a loan.
If a registration expires, the security interest on the PPSR is automatically discharged from the register and cannot be renewed or amended. Registration or amendment must be done while the security interest is still registered on the PPSR. If your security interest has expired, you may become an unsecured creditor and lose security over your goods.
Taking action before expiry
There is no warning mechanism to directly notify secured parties that their security interests are due to expire. Secured parties need to monitor their registrations, renewing them before they expire. The simplest way to do this is to obtain a ‘Registrations due to expire report’ from the Australian Government-managed PPSR website for a small fee. Alternatively, many search and registration providers (such as InfoTrack, SAI Global, Veda etc.) offer these services.
For registrations that are due to expire, it is strongly recommended that businesses renew the PPSR registration and extend the expiry date. While the option to renew for up to (or for another) seven years is the cheapest, it may be extended for up to 25 years, or indefinitely, if necessary and / or available.
For more information about expiring registrations, or what you can do to protect your interests if a registration has expired, contact Hall & Wilcox or see the PPSR website.