The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) is an online searchable register of security interests in personal property and is celebrating its 10th anniversary in May 2012.

Since May 2002, more than 65,000 creditors have registered as many as 5.7 million financing statements over personal property including equipment, hire purchase agreements, livestock, machinery, and vehicles.

Having said that, many New Zealanders still don’t know about the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR), let alone the benefits it can offer or how it can help them. 

There are three main ways individuals and businesses can use the PPSR:

1. Register financing statements to reduce risk
   In the event of a company failing or an individual being declared insolvent, it is likely that you will lose any personal property provided to the debtor if you have not registered your security interest on the PPSR (called a financing statement).  Secured creditors will be ahead of you in the queue when payments are made or assets distributed and as an unsecured creditor, you’re likely to lose out financially.  It only costs a few dollars to register a financing statement – and it could mean the difference between recovering what you are owed or taking a significant loss if a debtor fails.
    
2. Check collateral to reduce risk
   
   If you are about to sign an agreement and someone offers you their personal property as collateral, it is in your best interest to check the PPSR first.  In most cases priority is given to creditors based on the order in which they have been registered, so if someone else has already registered a financing statement over property they will generally have a higher priority and you could lose out if the debtor defaults.
    
3. Check that no money is owed on property before you buy
   
   If you’re buying personal property such as a car, it is in your best interest to check the PPSR to make sure there is no money owing on it.  Otherwise, you could end up paying the seller for the property and, to prevent the personal property from being repossessed, then paying the secured party too for any outstanding money owed.  And nobody wants to pay twice for the same goods.  For motor vehicles, the PPSR also offers a TXTB4UBUY service, allowing you to check whether money may be owed on a vehicle from your mobile phone.

The PPSR covers most personal property, except land and large ships.  It costs just a small fee to search the register and register financing statements – a tiny price to pay for the peace of mind it offers.

“Too many people only realise the importance of the PPSR when it’s too late and they’ve lost out financially,” said Michael Brosnahan, Operations Manager - Registries at the Ministry of Economic Development.

You should consider using the PPSR:

• When you are lending property or supplying goods on consignment.
• To determine the credit worthiness of a customer or supplying goods on credit.
• To check whether collateral offered as a security is already being used as security somewhere else.
• Before buying a motor vehicle.
• To check whether financing statements registered against you are up to date.

Read more in the release on the Beehive's website

The new Ministry will bring together the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Department of Labour, and the Department of Building and Housing. 

The Ministry of Economic Development will act as the foundation of the new Ministry, which we expect to be established by 1 July 2012. 

In the meantime, business will continue as usual. 

The Ministry of Economic Development website will be updated with more information as it becomes available. 

It is the SPG’s responsibility to keep their email address on the financing statement up to date and it is imperative that they do so for the following reasons:

• Email is the only communication method that the Registrar will use to contact a SPG.
• Users rely on the information that is entered on the PPSR and assume that it is correct.
• Where a debtor lodges a change demand to discharge a financing statement, notification of this automatically goes to the SPG’s email address listed on the financing statement. If the email address is outdated or does not exist, the financing statement is likely to be discharged without the SPG’s knowledge.
• Verification statements and confirmation of changes made to a financing statement are emailed to the SPG’s email address.

For more information on how to keep your secured party group details and financing statement details up to date, refer to the PPSR website.

Note | The Registrar does not send the SPG an email when their financing statement is going to expire. It is the responsibility of the SPG to maintain and renew their financing statements when necessary.
 

The tutorial has been split into three steps:

1. How to get a User ID;
2. How to create a Secured Party Group; and

3. How to register a Financing Statement.

These easy-to-follow guided tutorials will help you learn how to use the online service by imitating the live experience of registering in the PPSR.  They are designed to familiarise you with the PPSR screens and teach you how to complete certain transactions in a failsafe environment.

The tutorials are suitable for those who wish to learn or need to practice registering on the PPSR.

Anyone can access these tutorials, you do not need to be registered user or to be logged on.

• Take me to the tutorials now 

• Secured Party Group ID
• Secured Party Group Password
• Nominated Secured Party Group email address

You will be sent your Financing Statement numbers along with the corresponding FS PINs, Debtor PINs and the FS expiry date.  The list will be sent via email to the email address you enter, which must match the nominated Secured Party Group email address.

The ‘List Financing Statement PINs’ tool is located under the ‘Secured Party Tools’ menu available to you once you are logged in.

Further information, including step by step instructions, can be found here.