Losing ownership of your assets

A fundamental principle of law is that if you own an asset, you cannot lose that ownership through the acts of a third party. However, the Personal Property Security Act (PPSA) has changed this.

Under that act, if you allow a company to have possession of your assets, and it goes into liquidation, then you will lose title to those assets, unless your ownership is registered. Registration is online, at the Personal Property Security Register (PPSR).

Many businesses supply products on terms that they retain ownership until they are paid. These are known as retention of title arrangements. However, if this is not registered, the goods cannot be recovered, if the company goes into liquidation.

One of our clients runs a substantial business of hiring plant and equipment. They are now required to register their ownership of the equipment with each hirer, to protect their ownership.

For more details, please contact Andrew Somerville.