Enter accurate debtor information
Because they are the data values that determine whether a registration will or will not be revealed in a PPRS search, debtor names and serial numbers are arguably the most important information to be entered accurately in a PPRS registration or search. Here are some tips to help you enter accurate debtor information:
- Determine the type of debtor (individual or enterprise) and the correct name of the debtor according the rules proscribed in the PPSA [General] Regulations. Read the Regulations and use them!
- For enterprise debtors, the Regulations will tell you things like the following:
- How to determine whether the debtor should be entered as an individual or an enterprise. This is not always obvious. For example, look up the rules for how to enter the estate of a deceased or bankrupt person.
- For different types of enterprise debtors -- corporations, estates, trade unions, trusts, trustees, bankrupts, partnerships, syndicates, and other enterprises -- how to enter the name(s) for that enterprise.
- For some types of enterprise debtors, when you need to enter the names of representative persons as individual debtors.
- For a corporation with names in multiple languages (e.g. English, French and bilingual), which forms of the names should be entered.
- For a corporation, which words like "Limited", "Incorporated" and "Company" may be abbreviated, and if so, what valid alternative abbreviations may be used.
- For individual debtors, the Regulations will tell you things like the following:
- What documentation -- birth certificate, passport, citizenship document, etc. -- you should use to determine the name of the debtor. Answer: there are different documentation priorities depending upon whether the person was born in Canada and is a Canadian citizen, but a driver’s license is typically NOT the best way to determine the name of the debtor for the purposes of the PPSA.
- What to do for someone with has changed his or her name by marriage or otherwise.
- What parts of the individual name -- first, middle, and last -- need to be entered. Answer: all of them that apply! If someone has a middle name, don’t leave it out.
- How to enter titles like "Mr", "Mrs", and "Dr". Answer: don’t enter them at all.
- How to enter designations like "Junior" or "Jr". Answer: it varies by jurisdiction. Atlantic Provinces do not include such designations as part of the name. Northwest Territories and Nunavut require a designation such as "Junior" or "Jr" that is included in source documentation to be entered as part of the First Name field.
- For both enterprise and individual debtors, you may enter multiple debtor records in the same registration or perform multiple searches using different names. In other words, you are not limited to registering or searching only one form of the name; you may register or search for all that apply.