1. Every foreign nonprofit corporation which is doing business in this State and which willfully fails or neglects to qualify to do business in this State in accordance with the laws of this State is subject to a fine of not less than $1,000 but not more than $10,000, to be recovered in a court of competent jurisdiction.

2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, every foreign nonprofit corporation which is doing business in this State and which fails or neglects to qualify to do business in this State in accordance with the laws of this State may not commence or maintain any action or proceeding in any court of this State until it has qualified to do business in this State.

3. An action or proceeding may be commenced by such a corporation if an extraordinary remedy available pursuant to chapter 31 of NRS is all or part of the relief sought. Such an action or proceeding must be dismissed without prejudice if the corporation does not qualify to do business in this State within 45 days after the action or proceeding is commenced.

4. When the Secretary of State is advised that a foreign nonprofit corporation is subject to the fine described in subsection 1, the Secretary of State may, as soon as practicable, refer the matter to the district attorney of the county where the foreign nonprofit corporation has its principal place of business or the Attorney General, or both, for a determination of whether to institute proceedings to recover the fine. The district attorney of the county where the foreign nonprofit corporation has its principal place of business or the Attorney General may institute and prosecute the appropriate proceedings to recover the fine. If the district attorney or the Attorney General prevails in a proceeding to recover the fine described in subsection 1, the district attorney or the Attorney General is entitled to recover the costs of the proceeding, including, without limitation, the cost of any investigation and reasonable attorney’s fees.

5. In the course of an investigation of a violation of this section, the Secretary of State may require a foreign nonprofit corporation to answer any interrogatory submitted by the Secretary of State that will assist in the investigation.

6. The failure of a foreign nonprofit corporation to qualify to do business in this State in accordance with the laws of this State does not impair the validity of any contract or act of the corporation, or prevent the corporation from defending any action, suit or proceeding in any court of this State.

7. The Secretary of State may adopt regulations to administer the provisions of this section.

(Added to NRS by 2009, 1685; A 2013, 851)