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How to dispute a PPSR registration

This page describes the amendment demand process. Use this process if you think a PPSR registration should not be on the PPS Register, and you want to request to have it removed.

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Dispute a PPSR registration

If you find a registration on the PPSR that you don’t think should be there, you can request to have it removed.

As an example, imagine you are trying to sell your car. However, you are unable to because there is a registration against it. The registration may be from a car loan that you have now paid off. You can use the amendment demand process to request to have the registration removed.

It is important to follow the correct process when making a request to remove a registration. The law is strict about:

  • who can request a removal,
  • the processes that need to be followed, and
  • what is needed for us to decide to remove a registration.

As part of the process, the person who made the registration (the secured party) needs to be involved.

You can also ask someone to “amend” (change) a registration, instead of removing it completely; for example, if the wrong grantor is listed or some of the property described as collateral should be removed. Follow the amendment demand process to request someone amend a registration. At each step, you need to explain the amendment you want.

Who can request to remove a registration?

To have a registration removed, you must have an interest in the property (collateral) that the registration is made over. This includes things such as owning the property or having a security interest in it.

An example of when you may not have an interest is if you have sold or disposed of the property.

If you are unsure whether you have an interest in the property, you may want to get legal advice.

The amendment demand process

You first need to do a PPSR search to find the contact details of the person who made the registration (the secured party).

1

The Amendment Demand

You need to send an email, or a letter, to the secured party and ask them to remove the registration. This communication is called an ‘amendment demand’. By law, the amendment demand must include:

  • the registration number
  • your request (demand) to remove the registration
  • your name and contact details
  • the ‘giving of notice identifier’ (GONI) if the registration shows one.

You should attach a copy of the search certificate to the demand (this will show the registration number and GONI).

Tip

Download our sample amendment demand template to assist you.

You must send the amendment demand to the secured party’s address for service

Send the amendment demand to the address for service

The amendment demand is required to be sent to the ‘address for service’ (as listed on the registration) or it is not valid. The address for service is found on the search certificate under ‘PPSR Registration Details’. You must send the demand to the email and/or the postal address listed.

AFSA National Service centre listed as address for service

If AFSA’s National Service Centre is listed as the address for service (migrated security interest), check to see if there is a different postal address listed, the demand must be sent to this postal address.

If no other postal address is listed, you can send it to:

Email: enquiries@ppsr.gov.au
Post: National Service Centre, Personal Property Security Service, GPO Box 1944, ADELAIDE, SA AUSTRALIA, 5001

Secured Party is a deregistered company

If the secured party is a deregistered company, in addition to sending your demand to the address for service, you must also send a copy of the demand to ASIC, via:

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Email: property.law@asic.gov.au
Post: Property Law Group, GPO Box 9827, Brisbane, Qld 4001

Wait five business days

After you send the demand, you must wait at least five business days, to give the secured party time to remove the registration.

Tip

You can use our Business Days Calculator to check when the five business days ends.

2

Apply to us or to a court

If the secured party does not remove the registration after five business days, you can either:

  • apply to us to assist you with your removal request; or
  • apply to a court to get an order to remove the registration.

Decide which option is better for you

There is no cost to apply to us to assist with your removal request. However, keep in mind that:

  • we can only make a decision about the registration and we can't resolve other disputes which may relate to your matter – for examples, see what we can't do; and
  • because of our legal obligations, this process can take weeks, or even months, before a decision is made.

You may prefer to seek an order from a court if:

  • you need to remove the registration urgently. For example, if you are trying to sell the property; or
  • your matter is part of a wider dispute.

If you decide to apply to us for assistance with your removal request, you are required to submit an ‘amendment statement’

To apply to us to request registration removal, you are required to send us a completed amendment statement form. For this form to be valid, you need to fill in all the required information. Additionally, you will need to also send us a copy of:

  • the amendment demand that you sent to the secured party
  • any response you received from the secured party
  • any other evidence that supports your request.
3

We contact the secured party

Once we receive a valid amendment statement, we prepare and send an ‘amendment notice’ to the secured party. We will let you know once we have sent this notice to the secured party. In the notice, we ask the secured party to remove the registration, or explain why we shouldn’t remove it. The secured party has at least five business days to either remove the registration or to tell us why the registration should not be removed.

Removing a registration can have serious consequences, so we must give the secured party a fair chance to respond.

Responding to the notice

If we get a response from the secured party, we may need to contact to you for more information. If you provide us with any new or additional information regarding the matter, we need to provide this to the secured party. This can happen several times, so the process may take some time.

4

We make a decision

We make our decisions based on the information we have been provided from both you and from the secured party.

If we decide to remove the registration, we will remove the registration from the PPSR and we will email you and the secured party to let you know we have removed the registration.

If we decide not to remove a registration, we will email you and the secured party to let you know.

What we can't do

It is important to be aware that we are not able to resolve wider legal disputes, even though they may be relevant to our decision. Sometimes, this may mean we decide not to remove a registration.

For example, we are not able to:

  • decide if a provision in a contract is not binding or ineffective
  • find that a contract is not binding
  • resolve whether a debt has been fully paid
  • settle property disputes such as in a divorce
  • decide whose security interest has a higher priority
  • remove security interests with a lower priority (except in specific circumstances).

Finding out more about the decision

If you would like further information about the decision, you can contact us by phone or email.

You also have the right to request written reasons for the decision. Your request must be in writing (via email or post) and be made within 28 days of the decision being made. We will provide you with a written statement of reasons within 28 days of receiving your request.

Your rights of review

You can apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) for an external ‘merits review’ of the decision. That means the AAT will take a fresh look at the facts and law relating to the decision and will arrive at its own decision.

To apply for a review of a decision by the AAT, you must be a person whose interests are affected by the decision (or acting on their behalf). Time limits and fees apply. For more information about how to apply, please visit: www.aat.gov.au/applying-for-a-review.

Making a complaint

If your expectations of our services have not been met, you can make a complaint to us, by phone or in writing. For more information about our complaints handling procedure, visit the AFSA website at: https://www.afsa.gov.au/about-us/complaints-and-reviews/

You may also make a complaint to the Commonwealth Ombudsman. The Ombudsman does not make a fresh decision, rather it considers the way a decision was made. For more information please visit: www.ombudsman.gov.au/

Freedom of information

The Freedom of Information Act 1982 applies to the decision-making process.  For more information, please visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website at: www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/

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