(a) In order for a limited partnership to be formed, a certificate of limited partnership must be filed with and on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State and, either before or after the filing of a certificate of limited partnership, the partners shall have entered into a partnership agreement. The certificate must state:

(1) the name of the limited partnership, which shall comply with Section 15901.08;

(2) the street address of the initial designated office;

(3) the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process in accordance with paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 15901.16;

(4) the name and the address of each general partner; and

(5) the mailing address of the limited partnership, if different from the address of the initial designated office.

(b) A certificate of limited partnership may also contain any other matters but may not vary or otherwise affect the provisions specified in subdivision (b) of Section 15901.10 in a manner inconsistent with that section.

(c) A limited partnership is formed when the Secretary of State files the certificate of limited partnership.

(d) Subject to subdivision (b), if any provision of a partnership agreement is inconsistent with the filed certificate of limited partnership or with a filed certificate of dissociation, cancellation, or amendment or filed certificate of conversion or merger:

(1) the partnership agreement prevails as to partners and transferees; and

(2) the filed certificate of limited partnership, certificate of dissociation, cancellation, or amendment or filed certificate of conversion or merger prevails as to persons, other than partners and transferees, that reasonably rely on the filed record to their detriment.

(e) A limited partnership may record in the office of the county recorder of any county in this state a certified copy of the certificate of limited partnership, or any amendment thereto, which has been filed by the Secretary of State. A foreign limited partnership may record in the office of the county recorder of any county in the state a certified copy of the application for registration to transact business, together with the certificate of registration, referred to in Section 15909.02, or any amendment thereto, which has been filed by the Secretary of State. The recording shall create a conclusive presumption in favor of any bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for value of the partnership real property located in the county in which the certified copy has been recorded, that the persons named as general partners therein are the general partners of the partnership named and that they are all of the general partners of the partnership.

(f) The Secretary of State may cancel the filing of certificates of limited partnership if a check or other remittance accepted in payment of the filing fee is not paid upon presentation. For partners and transferees, the partnership agreement is paramount. Upon receiving written notification that the item presented for payment has not been honored for payment, the Secretary of State shall give a first written notice of the applicability of this section to the agent for service of process or to the person submitting the instrument. Thereafter, if the amount has not been paid by cashier’s check or equivalent, the Secretary of State shall give a second written notice of cancellation and the cancellation shall thereupon be effective. The second notice shall be given 20 days or more after the first notice and 90 days or less after the original filing.

(g) The Secretary of State shall include with instructional materials, provided in conjunction with the form for filing a certificate of limited partnership under subdivision (a), a notice that the filing of the certificate of limited partnership will obligate the limited partnership to pay an annual tax for that taxable year to the Franchise Tax Board pursuant to Section 17935 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. That notice shall be updated annually to specify the dollar amount of the annual tax.

(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 834, Sec. 23. (SB 1041) Effective January 1, 2015.)