(a)        Before transacting business in this State, a foreign limited partnership shall procure a certificate of authority to transact business in this State from the Secretary of State. No foreign limited partnership shall be entitled to transact in this State any business which a limited partnership organized under this Article is not permitted to transact. In order to register, a foreign limited partnership shall deliver to the Secretary of State an application for registration as a foreign limited partnership, signed by a general partner and setting forth:

(1)        The name of the foreign limited partnership and, if different, the name under which it proposes to register and transact business in this State;

(2)        The jurisdiction and date of its formation;

(3)        The date of formation and the period of duration;

(4)        The street address, and the mailing address if different from the street address, of the principal office of the foreign limited partnership, and the county in which the principal office is located;

(5)        The street address, and the mailing address if different from the street address,? of the registered office of the foreign limited partnership in this State, the county in which the registered office is located, adn the name of its proposed registered agent in this State;

(6)        If the certificate of limited partnership filed in the foreign limited partnership’s state of organization is not required to include the names and addresses of the partners, a list of the names and addresses or, at the election of the foreign limited partnership, a list of the names and addresses of the general partners and the address, including county and city or town, and street and number, of the office at which is kept a list of the names and addresses of the limited partners and their capital contributions, together with an undertaking by the foreign limited partnership to keep such records until such foreign limited partnership’s registration in this State is cancelled;

(7)        A statement that in consideration of the issuance of a certificate of authority to transact business in this State, the foreign limited partnership appoints the Secretary of State of North Carolina as the agent to receive service of process, notice, or demand, whenever the foreign limited partnership fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent in this State or whenever any such registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office;

(8)        The names and addresses including county and city or town, and street and number, if any, of all of the general partners;

(8a)      Whether the foreign limited partnership is a foreign limited liability partnership; and

(9)        The effective date and time of the registration if it is not to be effective at the time of filing of the application.

(b)        Without excluding other activities which shall not constitute transacting business in this State, a foreign limited partnership shall not be considered to be transacting business in this State, for the purpose of this Article, by reason of carrying on in this State any one or more of the following activities:

(1)        Maintaining or defending any action or suit or any administrative or arbitration proceeding, or effecting the settlement thereof or the settlement of claims or disputes;

(2)        Holding meetings of its partners or carrying on other activities concerning its internal affairs;

(3)        Maintaining bank accounts or borrowing money in this State, with or without security, even if such borrowings are repeated and continuous transactions;

(4)        Maintaining offices or agencies for the transfer, exchange, and registration of its securities, or appointing and maintaining trustees or depositaries with relation to its securities;

(5)        Soliciting or procuring orders, whether by mail or through employees or agents or otherwise, where such orders require acceptance without this State before becoming binding contracts;

(6)        Making or investing in loans with or without security including servicing of mortgages or deeds of trust through independent agencies within the State, the conducting of foreclosure proceedings and sale, the acquiring of property at foreclosure sale and the management and rental of such property for a reasonable time while liquidating its investment, provided no office or agency therefor is maintained in this State;

(7)        Taking security for or collecting debts due to it or enforcing any rights in property securing the same;

(8)        Transacting business in interstate commerce; and

(9)        Conducting an isolated transaction completed within a period of six months and not in the course of a number of repeated transactions of like nature.

(c)        Each foreign limited partnership authorized to transact business in this State must maintain a registered agent as required by Article 4 of Chapter 55D of the N.C. Gen. Stat. and is subject to service on the Secretary of State under that Article.

(d)       through (e) Repealed by Session Laws 2001-358, s. 50(b). (1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 989, s. 2; 1987, c. 531, s. 8.1; 2000-140, s. 55; 2001-358, s. 50(c); 2001-387, ss. 134, 159, 173, 175(a); 2001-413, s. 6; 2001-487, s. 62(y).)