As highlighted in previous news items, the Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA) came into effect on 30 January 2012 as a means of regulating the practice of providing security over eligible personal property.  The Act introduces the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) and from 30 January 2012 all eligible security interests granted must be registered in the PPSR.  For the purposes of the PPSA, personal property includes tangible and intangible property but it specifically excludes land.  Typical examples of eligible personal property include consignment stock, plant & equipment, motor vehicles, intellectual property and licenses, therefore the likes of chattel mortgages and vehicle leases/ hire purchase arrangements would be registered on the PPSR.

Some pre-30 January 2012 security interests will have already been automatically migrated to the Register, but for those that haven’t, the 2 year grace period for registering interest will expire on 31 January 2014. If you hold an interest in eligible property pre-dating the introduction of this legislation, be sure to register your interest before 31 January 2014 to safeguard your interest. And if you lease goods or are purchasing goods second-hand, use the PPSR to register your interest in the goods and check whether the goods are safe from re-possession respectively.

For more information about the PPSR, the grace period, or to search or register an interest, visit www.ppsr.gov.au.