A rank assignment (cession de rang) is the act by which a hypothecary creditor agrees to subordinate their priority to another creditor. It changes the payment order in case of enforcement without modifying the registered hypothecs. It is filed at the registry as a linked acte.
When a debtor has multiple secured creditors on the same asset, payment order in case of default follows each hypothec's rank (typically by filing date). A rank assignment lets a higher-ranking creditor accept that a lower-ranking creditor be paid first.
This is common in refinancing: the new lender wants first rank, and the prior creditor agrees to assign their rank in exchange for a partial payment or other terms.
In an RDPRM or Land Registry search, the rank assignment appears as a child fiche linked to the parent inscription. Tablix RDPRM automatically consolidates these fiches in the final table to show the effective rank after assignment.
Official source
RDPRM Québec — site officielWorking with these concepts daily?
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