The Personal Property Registration Branch is composed of the Personal Property Registry and the Land Titles Office.  The registry provides searches and registrations of interests in personal property.

Why Register A Personal Property Interest?

To avoid possible loss of your interest in personal property, and to advise others of your interest in property, it’s a good idea to register your interest in a property, be it land, equipment, auto or other.

Registering doesn’t guarantee priority over all other interests, but it may be necessary to protect you.

We can do Personal Property Registry searches for you.

Consider doing a search before buying personal property or accepting personal property as collateral for a loan. The search result will tell you if the personal property is subject to another registration. It also protects the rights of buyers and creditors.

The Alberta Personal Property Registry Electronic System (APPRES) does not record the amount owing/involved for some registrations. Persons requesting searches should contact the secured party or creditor for more information.

All information registered on APPRES will have a status of “current” or “deleted”. Make sure to check the status of information being provided on a search result.

When purchasing a used vehicle, in addition to a Personal Property Registry search, we can provide a Vehicle Information Report

What can be searched at the personal property registry?

Individual Debtor Name Search

This determines if there are any registrations for a specific individual debtor’s name.

Business Debtor Name Search

This determines if there are any registrations for a specific business debtor name.

Serial Number Search

This determines if there are any registrations for specific serial number goods.

Registration Number Search

This determines the status of a specific Personal Property Registry registration number.

Distribution Seizure Search

This determines if there are any registrations for individual and/or business names that may participate in distribution proceeds. This type of search will determine if enforcement proceedings are viable.

Business Secured Party Search

This determines all the registrations for a specific organization.

Items you can register as a lien include:

• vehicles
• household goods
• machinery
• aircraft

If you are accepting goods as security against a loan, these goods are considered interests. You should register your interests to protect against the loss, legal conflicts, or if the person doesn’t pay you back.

For more information on liens and the Personal Property Registry, visit this page.