Fixture notice (PPSA)

A lender that finances equipment may claim goods that later become attached to a building. A buyer of premises with installed equipment can find that claim in the land records, not only in the personal property registry. Searching both is a question to put to your lawyer.

Ontario

Section 54 of Ontario’s Personal Property Security Act says a notice of security interest, in the required form, may be registered in the proper land registry office where the collateral is or includes fixtures or goods that may become fixtures; under section 54(1.1), that does not apply to consumer goods except as the regulations provide. Section 34 sets priority between the secured party and people with an interest in the real property, depending on when the security interest attached and whether the goods had become fixtures, subject to the exceptions in section 34(2), which turn on whether notice was registered under section 54. A secured party that may remove a fixture must serve notice on those shown in the land registry records.

Other provinces

Alberta’s and British Columbia’s Acts each have their own section 36 on fixtures, with their own priority rules. This entry covers Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia only; check the rules in the province where the business is.

• Is there a registered notice against the land as well as a personal property registration?
• Which installed items are fixtures under the lender’s agreement?
• Has the landlord or mortgagee consented or disclaimed?

See how to run a PPSA registry search and priority of security interests.