Personal Property Registry Search in British Columbia Explained

When you buy a business, you are usually buying equipment, inventory and other assets that the seller may have pledged to a lender. A lender's registered claim can rank ahead of a buyer's claim, although a customer buying inventory in the ordinary course of the seller's business generally takes free of it, and that protection does not extend to someone buying the whole business or its assets. That is why the Personal Property Registry search comes up early in almost every business purchase.

This article explains what the British Columbia registry records, how a buyer can run a search, how to read what comes back, and what to do if a lender has registered against the assets you want. It is general information, not advice on your deal.

This article covers the law of British Columbia.

What the Personal Property Registry records

The BC Personal Property Registry (PPR) records security agreements under the Personal Property Security Act, commercial liens under the Commercial Liens Act, and buyers' interests in goods left with the seller under the Sale of Goods Act.

In plain terms, a security agreement is a deal where a lender takes a claim over the borrower's assets as backup for a loan. Registering a financing statement perfects that security interest, and the registration takes effect from the time the registry assigns to it. A lender may even register before the security agreement is made, so a search can show a claim that is not yet fully in use.

How to run a search

Under the Personal Property Security Act, a person may request a name search, a serial-number search, a registration-number search or copies of registered documents. For a business purchase, a name search on the seller (and the business name) is the usual starting point, with serial-number searches for specific vehicles or machinery.

• In person at a Service BC location.
• Through a third-party service provider, who may charge extra.
• By mailing BC Registry Services the search type and criteria with a $10 cheque or money order payable to the Minister of Finance; results come back by return mail only.
• Through a lawyer or search agent, because direct online PPR access is limited to professionals with a premium account and is not available to the general public.

A government-staff PPR search costs $10, and a combined PPR and Manufactured Home search costs $15. Because direct online access is limited, a buyer usually searches through Service BC, a mailed request, or a lawyer or search agent instead. Fees change from time to time, so confirm the current amount before you pay.

Reading the results

Financing statements for security agreements and commercial liens are registered for 1 to 25 years at $5 per year, or for an infinite term at $500. An old-looking registration may therefore still be live, so check the expiry or term shown in the search result.

Priority matters too. Between perfected security interests in the same collateral, priority is generally decided by order of registration, possession or perfection, so a prior lender's registration against equipment, inventory or receivables can rank ahead of your claim.

What a PPR search will not show

Builders' liens, family maintenance liens and some other liens are filed with other agencies, not the PPR, so a PPR search alone does not reveal every lien. Property searches cover land only, not equipment or inventory, so the registries complement each other.

• If the business owns or holds an interest in land, a Land Title Office title search costs $11.06 as at April 1, 2026, and searches through an LTSA account carry a separate electronic transaction fee of $3.55 ($2.20 for prepaid accounts), plus GST.
• A federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Records Search covers bankruptcies and proposals registered in Canada since 1978 and receiverships registered since January 1993, with a minimum fee of $8 per search.
• A corporate search on a BC company produces a company summary and Notice of Articles showing current directors.

What to do next

If the search shows a lender registered against assets you are buying, the usual goal is to have that registration discharged or amended at closing. A debtor, or any person with an interest in property within the collateral description, may give a written demand that a secured party amend or discharge a registration. The secured party must then register a financing change statement within 40 days, and no fee may be charged for complying unless previously agreed. Because 40 days can be longer than your closing timeline, it is worth raising this early with the seller and a lawyer.

• Ask the seller for a list of lenders, leases and equipment financing.
• Run name searches on the seller and the business name, and serial-number searches on key equipment.
• Check each registration's term and which assets it covers.
• Compare the results with what the seller told you.
• Build a discharge of each lender into the purchase agreement.
• Consider land, bankruptcy and corporate searches as well.

Frequently asked questions