Alabama § 33-5B-29 - Effective Date; Transition Rules; Savings Clause.

§ 33-5B-29. Effective Date; Transition Rules; Savings Clause.

(a) This chapter takes effect on January 1, 2024.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), this chapter applies to any vessel for which this state is the state of principal use on or after January 1, 2024.

(c) Except as provided in subsection (d), the provisions of this chapter do not apply to a vessel as to which construction has been completed as of December 31, 2023.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c), the owner of a vessel that is 26 feet or more in length and to which subsection (b) applies may voluntarily apply for a certificate of title as provided in Section 33-5B-26, in which case the provisions of this chapter apply to the vessel for all purposes when the application for a certificate of title is delivered to the office and thereafter.

(e) The rights, duties, and interests flowing from a transaction, certificate of title, or record relating to a vessel which was validly entered into or created before the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable to the vessel and would be subject to this chapter if it had been entered into or created on or after the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable to the vessel, remain valid on and after the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable to the vessel.

(f) This chapter does not affect an action or proceeding commenced before the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable.

(g) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (i), a security interest in a vessel that is enforceable immediately before the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable to the vessel and would have priority over the rights of a person that becomes a lien creditor at that time is a perfected security interest under this chapter.

(h) A security interest in a vessel perfected immediately before the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable to the vessel remains perfected until the earlier of:

(1) the time perfection would have ceased under the law under which the security interest was perfected; or

(2) three years after the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable to the vessel.

(i) This chapter does not affect the priority of a security interest in a vessel if immediately before the date the provisions of this chapter became applicable to the vessel the security interest is enforceable and perfected, and that priority is established.