(a) In addition to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 413.10) of Title 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, process may be served upon limited partnerships and foreign limited partnerships as provided in this section.
(b) Personal service of a copy of any process against the limited partnership or the foreign limited partnership will constitute valid service on the limited partnership if delivered either (1) to any individual designated by it as agent or, if a limited partnership, to any general partner or (2) if the designated agent or, if a limited partnership, general partner is a corporation, to any person named in the latest certificate of the corporate agent filed pursuant to Section 1505 at the office of the corporate agent or to any officer of the general partner, shall constitute valid service on the limited partnership or the foreign limited partnership. No change in the address of the agent for service of process where the agent is an individual or appointment of a new agent for service of process shall be effective (1) for a limited partnership until an amendment to the certificate of limited partnership is filed or (2) for a foreign limited partnership until an amendment to the application for registration is filed. In the case of a foreign limited partnership that has appointed the Secretary of State as agent for service of process by reason of subdivision (b) of Section 15909.07, process shall be delivered by hand to the Secretary of State, or to any person employed in the capacity of assistant or deputy, which shall be one copy of the process for each defendant to be served, together with a copy of the court order authorizing the service and the fee therefor. The order shall include and set forth an address to which the process shall be sent by the Secretary of State.
(c) (1) If an agent for service of process has resigned and has not been replaced or if the agent designated cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the address designated for personal delivery of the process, and it is shown by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court that process against a limited partnership or foreign limited partnership cannot be served with reasonable diligence upon the designated agent or, if a foreign limited partnership, upon any general partner by hand in the manner provided in Section 415.10, subdivision (a) of Section 415.20, or subdivision (a) of Section 415.30 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court may make an order that the service shall be made upon a domestic limited partnership which has filed a certificate or upon a foreign limited partnership which has a certificate of registration to transact business in this state by delivering by hand to the Secretary of State, or to any person employed in the Secretary of State’s office in the capacity of assistant or deputy, one copy of the process for each defendant to be served, together with a copy of the order authorizing the service. Service in this manner shall be deemed complete on the 10th day after delivery of the process to the Secretary of State.
(2) Upon receipt of any such copy of process and the fee therefor, the Secretary of State shall give notice of the service of the process to the limited partnership or foreign limited partnership, at its principal office, by forwarding to that office, by registered mail with request for return receipt, the copy of the process.
(3) The Secretary of State shall keep a record of all process served upon the Secretary of State under this chapter and shall record therein the time of service and the Secretary of State’s action with reference thereto. A certificate under the Secretary of State’s official seal, certifying to the receipt of process, the giving of notice thereof to the limited partnership or foreign limited partnership, and the forwarding of the process pursuant to this section, shall be competent and prima facie evidence of the matters stated therein.
(d) (1) The certificate of a limited partnership and the application for a certificate of registration of a foreign limited partnership shall designate, as the agent for service of process, an individual residing in this state or a corporation which has complied with Section 1505 and whose capacity to act as an agent has not terminated. If an individual is designated, the statement shall set forth that person’s complete business or residence street address in this state. If a corporate agent is designated, no address for it shall be set forth.
(2) An agent designated for service of process may deliver to the Secretary of State, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State for filing, a signed and acknowledged written statement of resignation as an agent for service of process containing the name of the limited partnership, the Secretary of State’s file number for the limited partnership, the name of the resigning agent for service of process, and a statement that the agent is resigning. Thereupon the authority of the agent to act in that capacity shall cease and the Secretary of State forthwith shall mail or otherwise provide written notice of the filing of the statement of resignation to the limited partnership or foreign limited partnership at its designated office.
(3) The resignation of an agent may be effective if, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State containing the name of the limited partnership, the Secretary of State’s file number for the limited partnership, and the name of the agent for service of process, the agent disclaims having been properly appointed as the agent.
(4) The Secretary of State may destroy or otherwise dispose of any statement of resignation filed pursuant to this section after an amended certificate of limited partnership or amended foreign limited partnership registration is filed pursuant to Section 15902.02 or 15909.06 replacing the agent for service of process that has resigned.
(5) If an individual who has been designated agent for service of process dies or resigns or no longer resides in the state or if the corporate agent for that purpose, resigns, dissolves, withdraws from the state, forfeits its right to transact intrastate business, has its corporate rights, powers, and privileges suspended or ceases to exist, (A) the limited partnership shall promptly file an amendment to the certificate designating a new agent or (B) the foreign limited partnership shall promptly file an amendment to the application for registration.
(e) In addition to any other discovery rights which may exist, in any case pending in a California court having jurisdiction in which a party seeks records from a partnership formed under this chapter, whether or not the partnership is a party, the court shall have the power to order the production in California of the books and records of the partnership on the terms and conditions that the court deems appropriate.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 834, Sec. 22. (SB 1041) Effective January 1, 2015.)