In terms of sections 86(3) and 88(3) of the 2023 Act, if rejecting an application for registration of, respectively, a statutory pledge constitutive document or a statutory pledge amendment document, the Keeper must inform the applicant, or, as will be the case with the majority of applications, their agent, accordingly.
Any rejection of a submitted RSP registration application will be due to the uploaded document(s) failing to pass virus scan stage.
Where this occurs, the Keeper will notify the applicant, or, as will be the case with the majority of applications, their agent, by email that the application cannot be progressed until a virus-free document is submitted and give instructions to replace the document.
If the document isn't replaced, the Keeper will issue an email reminder after 20 days, advising that the application will be rejected in another 10 days (30 days after submission) unless a replacement document is submitted.
If no virus-free document is submitted by 30 days after submission, the application will be rejected and the applicant, or, as the case may be, their agent, notified by email.
Registration of Statutory Pledge Amendment Documents
There are two instances in which a statutory pledge amendment document can be registered:
a) If the amendment adds additional property to the encumbered property in the statutory pledge; or
b) If the amendment increases the extent of the secured obligation in the statutory pledge.
An example of a) would be the addition of a potato harvester to an existing statutory pledge over a combine harvester.
An example of b) would be the additional sums borrowed as a result of adding that potato harvester to that existing statutory pledge.
However, in the case of b), the extent of the secured obligation must be determinable from the Statutory Pledges Record entry itself.
If an amendment of a statutory pledge constitutive document does not do either of the above and instead amends the terms of the statutory pledge in another way, that amendment cannot be registered.
Instead, the amendment(s) made by that statutory pledge amendment documents would have to be given effect to using the Secured Creditor Correction process.
There is no requirement under the 2023 Act for the extent of the secured obligation in a statutory pledge to appear in a Statutory Pledges Record entry.
The secured obligation in a statutory pledge may, however, appear in the statutory pledge constitutive document that forms part of the Statutory Pledges Record entry to be amended.
A prospective applicant for registration of a statutory pledge amendment document that only increases the extent of a secured obligation should therefore confirm that the extent of that obligation appears in the statutory pledge constitutive document in the Statutory Pledges Record entry to be amended before making a registration application.
The registration of a statutory pledge amendment document that only increases the extent of a secured obligation where the extent of that obligation is not contained in that statutory pledge constitutive document will result in an ineffective registration.
Statutory Pledge Amendment Documents Which Make Other Amendments
In addition to adding an additional property or increasing the extent of the secured obligation in a statutory pledge, a statutory pledge amendment document may also make other amendments to that statutory pledge.
For example, a statutory pledge amendment document might remove property A from the statutory pledge and replace it with property B.
In such an instance, the same registration application should be used to reflect all amendments made by the statutory pledge amendment document.
The Keeper’s online registration system will prompt an applicant for registration of a statutory pledge amendment document as to whether that document amends the statutory pledge in addition to adding property or increasing the secured obligation.
The applicant will then be required to add the details of additional amendment(s) as appropriate.
Statutory Pledge Amendment Documents and Correction
An applicant for registration of a statutory pledge amendment document may also wish to correct an identified inaccuracy, such as a typo, in the Statutory Pledges Record entry to be amended by that amendment document.
The Registers of Scotland (Fees) Order 2014 (as amended by The Registers of Scotland (Voluntary Registration, Amendment of Fees etc.) Order 2015, The Registers of Scotland (Fees) Amendment Order 2021, and The Registers of Scotland (Fees and Plain Copies) Miscellaneous Amendments Order 2024) provides that, in such an event, no additional fee is payable for any correction carried out by the applicant as part of the registration of the statutory pledge amendment document.
Where an applicant for registration of a statutory pledge amendment document considers that correction of the record entry being amended is also required, they should bring this to the Keeper’s attention when asked to do so as part of that registration process.