A copy of said articles of association shall be filed with the corporation and securities bureau of the department of commerce, and thereupon the persons who shall have signed said articles of association, their associates and successors, shall be a body politic, and corporate by the name expressed in such articles of association, and by that name they and their successors shall have succession, and shall be persons in the law, capable of suing and being sued, and they and their successors may have a common seal, and the same may change and alter at pleasure; and a certified copy of the record of such articles of association under the seal of the corporation and securities bureau of the department of commerce, shall be received as prima facie evidence in all courts in this state, of the existence and due incorporation of such corporation.
MCL 457.3