A lis pendens is a public notice, recorded in county land records, that warns the world a lawsuit is pending over a specific piece of real property. The Latin phrase translates to “suit pending.” Once the notice hits the public record, anyone who buys the property, lends against it, or otherwise acquires an interest in it takes that interest subject to whatever the court eventually decides. In practical terms, the property becomes nearly impossible to sell, refinance, or insure until the lawsuit ends or the notice is cleared.
Lis Pendens Versus a Lien
A lien and a lis pendens often get lumped together, but they do different jobs. A lien is a financial claim: a creditor is owed money, and the property secures that debt. A lis pendens carries no dollar amount. It simply announces that a lawsuit touching the property’s ownership, title, or right to possession is underway. The property is not collateral for a debt. Its legal status is unresolved because a court has not yet decided who holds what rights.
The practical fallout can be just as bad as a lien. Buyers and lenders avoid a property with a lis pendens for the same reason they avoid one with unpaid liens: the risk that the deal falls apart, or that the buyer inherits someone else’s legal problem, is too high.
When a Lis Pendens Can Be Filed
A lis pendens only applies to a lawsuit that directly affects a property’s title, ownership, or right to possession. It cannot be filed over a plain debt dispute or a personal injury claim that happens to involve a property owner. The lawsuit itself has to put the property at stake. The common situations include:
- Ownership disputes, often arising from inheritance conflicts, fraudulent transfers, or boundary disagreements.
- Specific performance actions, where a buyer sues to force a seller to complete a signed real estate transaction.
- Quiet title actions, where an owner goes to court to resolve competing claims and establish clear title.
- Partition actions, where co-owners who cannot agree ask the court to divide the property or order a sale.
- Divorce proceedings, where one spouse records a notice on marital real estate to keep the other from selling or refinancing before the court divides assets.
- Judicial foreclosures, where the lender records a lis pendens alongside the foreclosure complaint. Roughly half of states use judicial foreclosure, and the notice is a standard part of that process.
Filing starts with an active lawsuit. You cannot record a lis pendens before a complaint has been filed with a court. The notice identifies the parties, describes the lawsuit, states the relief sought, and includes a legal description of the property. It is then recorded in the county recorder’s office where the property sits. Until the document hits the public records, it does not do its job. The same recording rules apply when the case is in federal court: the notice must comply with state recording requirements to provide constructive notice.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1964 – Constructive Notice of Pending Actions State procedure varies; some states require the notice to be filed with the court first, others allow direct recording.
What a Lis Pendens Does to the Property
Once recorded, a lis pendens creates what lawyers call a cloud on title. The property’s ownership is officially in question, and that uncertainty reaches into every part of its marketability.
Title Insurance Dries Up
Title insurers search public records before issuing a policy, and a lis pendens is one of the first things they flag. They will almost always refuse to issue a policy until the underlying lawsuit is resolved. Without title insurance, most real estate transactions cannot close. Lenders require it, and informed buyers will not proceed without it. The inability to obtain title insurance is what makes a lis pendens so effective at freezing property transactions.
Financing Becomes Unavailable
Mortgage lenders will not approve a loan on a property with an unresolved lis pendens. If a court judgment could strip the property from the borrower, the lender’s collateral disappears, and the loan is unwritable from an underwriting perspective. Refinancing is also off the table. An owner with a lis pendens recorded against the property is locked out of conventional lending until the notice is cleared.
Sales Are Legally Possible, Practically Rare
Nothing in the law prevents an owner from selling a property with a lis pendens on it. The catch is that any buyer takes the property subject to the lawsuit’s outcome. If the person who filed the notice wins, the buyer could lose the property outright or be bound by whatever the court orders. Almost no buyer will accept that risk, especially when financing and title insurance are unavailable. The rare exceptions involve cash buyers negotiating a steep discount to compensate for the litigation risk.
If You Are Buying a Property With a Lis Pendens
Finding a lis pendens during a title search does not automatically kill the deal, but it demands caution. Start by figuring out what the underlying lawsuit is actually about. A notice filed over a boundary dispute between neighbors is a very different animal from one filed because someone claims they were fraudulently stripped of ownership.
Your realistic options:
- Wait it out. If the lawsuit is close to resolution, you may be able to negotiate a delayed closing. The seller handles the litigation, the notice is released, and you buy a property with clean title.
- Build a resolution into the contract. The purchase agreement can require the seller to settle the dispute or obtain a court order removing the lis pendens before closing. The seller may need to pay the claimant or post a bond to make that happen.
- Walk away. If the litigation looks complex, the claims substantial, or the timeline uncertain, finding a different property is often the safest move. Buying into someone else’s lawsuit rarely ends well.
In any of these scenarios, having a real estate attorney review the pending lawsuit before you commit is worth the fee. The strength of the underlying claim determines whether the risk is manageable or a dealbreaker.
How a Lis Pendens Gets Removed
A lis pendens does not last forever. Several paths lead to its removal.
The Lawsuit Ends
The cleanest removal happens when the case concludes, whether by dismissal, final judgment, or settlement. The party who recorded the lis pendens should then file a release or cancellation with the county recorder’s office. If they do not do so voluntarily, the property owner can petition the court to order the release. Until that cancellation is recorded, the cloud on title persists even if the lawsuit itself is long finished.
Expungement by Court Order
An owner does not have to wait for the lawsuit to end. If the lis pendens was improperly filed, the owner can ask the court to expunge it. Courts typically order expungement in two situations: when the underlying lawsuit does not actually involve a claim affecting real property, and when the claimant cannot show that their property claim is probably valid. The claimant carries the burden of proof on that second point. They have to show it is more likely than not they will win on the merits. If they cannot clear that bar, the lis pendens comes off regardless of whether the broader lawsuit continues.
Posting a Bond
Even when the claimant’s case has merit, the court can still remove the notice if the owner posts a bond large enough to cover the claimant’s potential damages. The bond substitutes financial security for the property itself. The claimant’s rights are protected by the bond money rather than by the cloud on title. This option restores marketability while the lawsuit proceeds, though the bond amount can be substantial.
Many states allow the prevailing party in an expungement motion to recover attorney fees. An owner who successfully expunges an improperly filed lis pendens may have their legal costs paid by the filer. The reverse can also apply when a claimant defeats an expungement motion. Fees are not automatic everywhere, and courts often weigh whether the losing side acted with substantial justification.
How Long a Lis Pendens Lasts
Duration varies by state. Some states set short windows, as little as one year, after which the notice expires automatically unless the court grants an extension. Others allow it to stay in force for several years or longer. In most jurisdictions, the claimant can renew or extend by motion on a showing of good cause, but the process and timeline follow local law.
If a lis pendens expires without being renewed, it no longer provides constructive notice. Someone could then purchase the property without being legally charged with knowledge of the pending lawsuit, which is a significant loss for the claimant who let the notice lapse. Tracking the expiration date carefully is part of the claimant’s job.
Filing Without a Valid Claim
Because a lis pendens can effectively paralyze an owner’s ability to sell, refinance, or borrow, courts take misuse seriously. Filing one as a pressure tactic, or without a genuine real property claim, exposes the filer to several forms of liability.
The first risk is expungement with an attorney fee award. If the court removes the notice because the claim lacks probable validity, the filer may have to reimburse the owner’s legal costs for the expungement motion. Beyond that, an owner who suffers financial harm from a wrongfully filed lis pendens can pursue separate claims for slander of title, abuse of process, or tortious interference with contract. Slander of title in particular lets the owner recover actual damages, including attorney fees spent clearing the title. In cases involving malice or bad faith, punitive damages may also be available.
A lis pendens is a powerful tool, but it exists to protect a legitimate property claim during litigation, not to harass an opponent or gain leverage in an unrelated dispute. Anyone considering filing one should have a real estate attorney confirm that the underlying lawsuit genuinely involves the property’s title or possession before the notice goes on record.