Urgent Alert Australian Businesses – Are you ready for PPSA?

Posted by: Tom Wood | Date: 7 December 2011

The Personal Property Securities Act (“PPSA”) will come into effect early in 2012. This legislation is very important and you need to act now. It will dramatically alter the way in which security over personal property can be protected.

“Personal property” is any property, whether tangible or intangible, e.g. machinery and equipment, inventory, motor vehicles, book debts, receivables, stock, crops, trademarks and patents.  Only land, fixtures and certain licences are excluded from the definition of “personal property”.

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you need to urgently get legal advice to protect your interests

• Do you own any equipment, goods or other property that you hire to other people?
• Do you sell goods on consignment?
• Do you manufacture and sell goods?
• Do your conditions of sale include a retention of title clause?
• Do you lease chattels as part of a lease of land?
• Do you have security over a motor vehicle, boat or aircraft?
• Do you have security over property which has a serial number identification?
• Are you involved in transactions under which debts are assigned to you?
• Are your security agreements in writing?
• Are your security agreements registered on existing registers?
• Do you lend money for purchase of inventory or for specified articles of personal property?
• Do you take security over intellectual property e.g. design, patent, plant breeder’s right, trademark?
• Do you have “fixed and floating” charges?
• Do you have an interest in livestock, crops or equipment not in your possession?
• Do you buy or sell personal property either with real estate or on its own?

If you do not protect your security in personal property you risk losing it

If you feel that any of your transactions will be affected by PPSA, you should ensure you have proper advice about protecting them. This posting sets out some areas affected by PPSA which may be unexpected. If you have transactions in any of these areas, you should urgently seek advice about protecting your interests.

Register to protect your interests

Registering a security interest gives qualified priority.  Any delay in registering the interest or any inaccuracy in the registration could be disastrous.  Any new security interests created after the commencement of PPSA must be registered quickly (there are strict time limits for some securities) and may be registered before the transaction is effected.

Our role

It is not my normal practice to promote our business on this blog, but this legislation is very important and you need to act now. Because of this we have a special offer for December 2011 for all of the subscribers of this blog and for anyone one that you may feel will benefit.

We are offering a free review of your documents so that we can let you know whether you are protected.

Failure to protect security interests could be expensive. I therefore urge you to think seriously about the matters raised.

Please contact me if you wish to discuss anything relating to the Personal Properties Securities Act (PPSA).