PPSR registrations – the clock is ticking!!!

Now is the perfect time to review your PPSR registrations.  Believe it or not, seven years have passed since the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (PPSA) came into force.  It’s prudent to review your PPSR registrations at this time given that some registrations may now have lapsed.  It is estimated that over 100,000 PPSR registrations will have expired on 30 January 2019 and that trend is likely to continue over the next couple of months.  The reasons behind this is the minimum period for certain registrations is seven years and it is also the default period for registrations and further, seven years also happens to be the maximum period that applies to registrations over serial numbered goods which includes things like motor vehicles and boats.

Are you protected?

Even though the PPSR has been in effect for seven years, there is still a large degree of uncertainty for small businesses with the basic concepts of the PPSR and how it all works.

This has led to small businesses being caught unprotected or losing title over goods to financial institutions who have registered, for instance, an all present and after-acquired property (ALLPAAP) over goods and the small business has either registered an interest wrongly or worse, not at all.

Don’t be one of those small businesses who fail to take proper steps to protect important business interests and security over goods.

Once a registration expires it cannot be renewed or extended, so that means the registration must be renewed or extended before the expiry of the registration in order for it to remain a valid registration. Of course, it may be possible to create a new security interest after expiry, but that may impact on the priority of your previous registration, which is not ideal.

How to check.

Fortunately, the Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) which administers the PPSR has created a list of registrations due to expire in the short-term and you can navigate the AFSA website to investigate whether this includes your registration.  Here is a link to the website: https://www.ppsr.gov.au/registrations-due-expire-report

If you own a small business and would like some advice concerning the PPSR, existing or new registrations on the PPSR, then please contact McLaughlins Lawyers and speak to one of your highly-skilled commercial lawyers who will guide you through the process.

 

Author: Matt Kollrepp

Director: Ian Kennedy

Date: 7 February 2019