1. Every foreign limited partnership transacting business in this State which willfully fails or neglects to register with the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of NRS 87A.540 or 88.575 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. Every foreign limited partnership transacting business in this State which fails or neglects to register with the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of NRS 87A.540 or 88.575 may not commence or maintain any action, suit or proceeding in any court of this State until it has registered with the Secretary of State.

3. The failure of a foreign limited partnership to register with the Secretary of State does not impair the validity of any contract or act of the foreign limited partnership or prevent the foreign limited partnership from defending any action, suit or proceeding in any court of this State.

4. When the Secretary of State is advised that a foreign limited partnership 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 limited partnership has its principal place of business or the Attorney General, or both, for a determination of whether to institute proceedings to recover any applicable fine provided for in this section. The district attorney of the county where the foreign limited partnership 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 a fine pursuant to this section, 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 limited partnership to answer any interrogatory submitted by the Secretary of State that will assist in the investigation.

6. A limited partner of a foreign limited partnership is not liable as a general partner of the foreign limited partnership solely by reason of having transacted business in this State without registration.

7. A foreign limited partnership, by transacting business in this State without registering with the Secretary of State, appoints the Secretary of State as its agent for service of process with respect to causes of action arising out of the transaction of business in this State.

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

(Added to NRS by 2007, 477; A 2009, 1706; 2013, 877)