Continuing on with our series of explaining the various conveyancing searches available in Queensland in more detail, we’ll now look at the Personal Property Securities Register and the importance of undertaking this search when purchasing a property.
The Personal Property Securities Register, or PPSR as it is more commonly known, is a national register maintained by the Australian Government’s Australian Financial Security Authority. It contains information to help protect consumers when purchasing personal property, other than land or buildings, such as cars, boats, or artworks.
But if the PPSR does not contain information about land and buildings, why is it relevant to the conveyancing process when buying a property?
It’s relevant, because often when you purchase a property it will contain fixtures and chattels that are property that may be listed on the PPSR, for instance in most cases a property’s kitchen will contain a dishwasher, which may have been purchased under a hire to buy scheme, which means that the retailer may still hold an interest in it, even though you are buying the property with it.
Conducting a search of the PPSR will provide information as to whether the chattels, or fixtures, include with the property have a security interest attached to them. It is important to know this because if these items do have a security interest attached, it is possible for the person or business with this interest to repossess the item. Imagine you buy a property and find that your dishwasher is being repossessed, even though it came with the house.
By electing to have a PPSR search undertaken by your conveyancing solicitor you can easily find out if the any of the inclusions with the property being sold have a security interest attached. By finding out this information prior to settlement your solicitor can liaise with the seller’s solicitor to ensure that this interest is released prior to settlement, providing you with clear ownership of everything included in your purchase.
Whilst it is not necessary to undertake a PPSR search, you should consider it where the property you are purchasing includes a number of chattels and you want to ensure that another party will not have a superior interest to you in these items.