Code of Alabama
Division 1 - Filing; Contents and Effectiveness of Financing Statement.
Section 7-9A-516 - What Constitutes Filing; Effectiveness of Filing.

(a) What constitutes filing. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), communication of a record to a filing office and tender of the filing fee or acceptance of the record by the filing office constitutes filing.
(b) Refusal to accept record; filing does not occur. Filing does not occur with respect to a record that a filing office refuses to accept because:
(1) the record is not communicated by a method or medium of communication authorized by the filing office;
(2) an amount equal to or greater than the applicable filing fee is not tendered;
(3) the filing office is unable to index the record because:
(A) in the case of an initial financing statement, the record does not provide a name for the debtor;
(B) in the case of an amendment or information statement, the record:
(i) does not identify the initial financing statement as required by Section 7-9A-512 or 7-9A-518, as applicable; or
(ii) identifies an initial financing statement whose effectiveness has lapsed under Section 7-9A-515;
(C) in the case of an initial financing statement that provides the name of a debtor identified as an individual or an amendment that provides a name of a debtor identified as an individual which was not previously provided in the financing statement to which the record relates, the record does not identify the debtor's surname; or
(D) in the case of a record filed or recorded in the filing office described in Section 7-9A-501(a)(1), the record does not provide a sufficient description of the real property to which it relates;
(4) in the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment that adds a secured party of record, the record does not provide a name and mailing address for the secured party of record;
(5) in the case of an initial financing statement or an amendment that provides a name of a debtor which was not previously provided in the financing statement to which the amendment relates, the record does not:
(A) provide a mailing address for the debtor; or
(B) indicate whether the name provided as the name of the debtor is the name of an individual or an organization;
(6) in the case of an assignment reflected in an initial financing statement under Section 7-9A-514(a) or an amendment filed under Section 7-9A-514(b), the record does not provide a name and mailing address for the assignee; or
(7) in the case of a continuation statement, the record is not filed within the six-month period prescribed by Section 7-9A-515(d).
(c) Rules applicable to subsection (b). For purposes of subsection (b):
(1) a record does not provide information if the filing office is unable to read or decipher the information; and
(2) a record that does not indicate that it is an amendment or identify an initial financing statement to which it relates, as required by Section 7-9A-512, 7-9A-514, or 7-9A-518, is an initial financing statement.
(d) Refusal to accept record; record effective as filed record. A record that is communicated to the filing office with tender of the filing fee, but which the filing office refuses to accept for a reason other than one set forth in subsection (b), is effective as a filed record except as against a purchaser of the collateral which gives value in reasonable reliance upon the absence of the record from the files.