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The role of the Registrar

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The Registrar of Personal Property Securities is appointed under section 136 of the Personal Property Securities Act 1999.

The Registrar is required to establish and maintain the PPSR in accordance with the Act and Personal Property Securities Regulations 2001.

The role of the Registrar of Personal Property Securities is to manage the operation of the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) and make it available for public use). The PPSR is a centralised electronic register and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Searching and Registration

The Registrar does not provide searching or registration services. If you want to conduct a search or register a financing statement, you will have to be a registered user. If you prefer, you can engage an agent to act on your behalf.

PPSR staff are not able to register or maintain financing statements, or conduct searches of the register for you.

Disputes

From time to time we receive calls asking the Registrar to help resolve disputes between secured parties and debtors or persons with an interest in certain collateral. Some of the more common calls include requests to update the register where –

a debtor has repaid their debt but the financing statement has not been discharged, or
a debtor or another interested party believes that the secured party does not hold a security interest over the collateral described so has no grounds for registering the financing statement.

It is not the Registrar’s role to resolve these types of disputes.

The Personal Property Securities Act 1999 places the responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of financing statement registrations squarely on the shoulders of the secured party.

What should you do if you are the debtor or an interested party and you believe there is a problem with a financing statement?

In the first instance you should contact the secured party with a written notice asking them to put it right. If the secured party fails to respond to this written notice within 15 working days – the debtor, or interested party, can consider lodging a change demand.