Document your loan and take security
The register decides who gets paid back, and it does not care who lent first.You have the money and someone you are prepared to lend it to. What decides whether you get it back is not the handshake. It is whether your security is documented and registered before the funds move. Get that wrong and you rank as an unsecured creditor, behind every lender who did it properly. We prepare the loan agreement and work out what security is actually available to take. We register it so your position is real from the moment the money leaves your account.
Security that is registered
A registered interest is what gives you priority; an unregistered one gives you a promise.
A default you can act on
The agreement says what counts as a default and what you can demand the day it happens.
An honest read on the borrower
If there is nothing worth securing, you hear that before you lend rather than after.
What does taking security over a loan actually involve?
Lending money creates a debt. Taking security creates a claim over something specific you can sell if the debt is not paid, and it is a separate step with its own paperwork.
For land that means a registered mortgage. For business assets such as equipment, stock and receivables it means a security interest registered on the Personal Property Securities Register. Registration is what makes the claim count against other creditors. Priority between lenders is decided by who registered first, not by who lent first.
What security can I take over a business borrower?
It depends what they own. Land takes a registered mortgage. Business assets such as equipment, stock, vehicles and receivables take a security interest registered on the Personal Property Securities Register. Many borrowers have both, and the two are registered in different places.
Does registering really change my position?
More than anything else in the transaction. Registration is what makes your claim count against a liquidator and against other lenders, and priority between secured creditors generally runs in registration order. An unregistered security can be defeated entirely.
Can I lend to a family company without all this?
You can, and people do. The difficulty is that a related party loan is the one most likely to be questioned if the company later fails. An undocumented advance can be treated as equity rather than debt. Documenting it protects the loan and the relationship.
How long does it take to document a loan?
For a straightforward facility, usually days rather than weeks, and the registration itself is immediate. The part that takes time is searching what is already registered against the borrower. That is also the part that tells you whether the deal is worth doing.
A loan is only as strong as the security behind it
Tell us who you are lending to, how much, and what they own. We will tell you what security is worth taking and what it would take to register it.
Your capital is unsecured until the register says otherwise
You are ready to advance the funds and the deal looks sound. But money that moves before the security is documented and registered leaves you unsecured without your meaning it. That window closes when the transfer clears, and it does not reopen.
- We will draft the loan agreement covering the terms, the defaults and your remedies.
- We will tell you what security is worth taking over the borrower's assets.
- We will prepare the mortgage or PPSR security documentation.
- We will register your security interest before any funds are advanced.
- We will tell you plainly if there is nothing worth securing.
You are lending to someone you know
You have capital sitting idle and someone wants to borrow it. Often it is a person you already have a relationship with: a business associate, a family company, a developer you have backed before. The commercial case stacks up and the terms are broadly agreed, but nothing is written down beyond an email. You want the return without becoming the creditor who finds out too late that everybody else registered first.
What's included in your commercial loan and security service
- Loan agreement drafted for your transaction.
- Advice on what security is available and worth taking.
- Mortgage or general security agreement prepared.
- Security registered on the PPSR or the land register.
- Search of the borrower's title and existing registrations.
- Settlement coordination.
What happens to a lender who skipped the paperwork?
An undocumented loan is not a loan the law cannot see. It is a loan you will struggle to prove, on terms nobody agreed in writing, with no claim over anything in particular.
When the borrower defaults or goes under, the secured creditors are paid first, and they are paid from the same assets you were counting on. You join the unsecured pool with the trade suppliers. The longer it takes to get there, the less is left. Priority creditors, the insolvency practitioner’s fees and the ordinary costs of a wind-up all come out ahead of you. A sound commercial loan becomes a write-off, and the arithmetic was settled months earlier by a registration you did not make.
How we make your position real before the money moves
We start with what the borrower actually owns, because that decides what security is worth taking. Land takes a mortgage. Business assets take a security interest registered on the PPSR. Sometimes the honest answer is that there is nothing worth securing. You should know that before you lend rather than after.
We then draft the loan agreement so the terms you agreed are the terms you can enforce. That means what triggers a default, what you can demand and when, and what happens to the interest if the borrower stops paying. The security is registered before settlement, not after, so there is no gap for another creditor to step into. By the time the funds move you know exactly what you can do if they stop coming back.
How we get your loan documented
Three steps from agreed terms to registered security.Set the terms
We turn what you agreed into a loan agreement that says what a default is and what you can do about it.
Take the security
We work out what the borrower has worth securing and prepare the mortgage or PPSR documents that attach to it.
Register, then fund
The security goes on the register before the money moves, so no other creditor can step in front of you.
Money that comes back, because the security holds
Most private lending starts as a favour with interest on it. That is exactly what makes it hard to insist on paperwork. Asking for a registered security over a friend’s equipment can feel like saying you do not trust them.
We are ISO 9001 accredited, so what gets checked on a lending file, who checks it and what you are told are defined rather than left to the day. On a loan the paperwork is not an add-on to the deal. It is the only part of the deal that still exists if the borrower stops paying.
Our great lawyer guarantee
Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.
Take the time
We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.
Share our knowledge
We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.
Stick to our knitting
We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.
Work as one team
Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.
Fair pricing
A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.
It is your show
We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.
Lend with a position you can enforce
Tell us who is borrowing, how much, and what they own. We will tell you what security is worth taking, and have it registered before the funds move.
More on this area of law
Read more about commercial lending, security and getting paid back.