By Daphne Reaume on October 23rd, 2013 in
“Sometimes people wonder what is a Lis Pendens and what does it involved and when can one be used. I’m Kent Berk and I’m an attorney at the Scottsdale Arizona law firm of Berk Law Group, P.C. where we real estate and other types of disputes in Arizona.
Basically, a Lis Pendens is written notice that’s recorded in the county recorder’s records where the real estate is located and that gives notice than an action, a lawsuit involving title to the real estate is pending.
Basically, a Lis Pendens is a very narrow document. They can only be used in certain circumstances where a lawsuit is actually been filed and the lawsuit involves title to real property. So for example, if someone files a lawsuit seeking money damages because somebody breached a contract, even though the plaintiff may be able to seize and sell the defendant’s real estate in satisfaction of the judgment, the lawsuit itself is just a claim for damages. So in that situation, the plaintiff would not be permitted under Arizona Law to record a notice of Lis Pendens cause in the actual lawsuit that’s filed, there’s no claim to title to the real property.
On the other hand, let’s say if the plaintiff was a buyer of real estate, of a home for example and the seller breached the contract and refused to sell the home to the buyer and the buyer filed a lawsuit for specific performance to get a court order to require the seller to sell the property to the buyer, that would be an instance where title to the real property is involved and a Lis Pendens recording a notice of Lis Pendens may be proper. And the reason for the notice of Lis Pendens would be to prevent the seller from selling the property to someone else and depriving the buyer of title to the property that could be awarded to the buyer at the end of the claim for specific performance.
So basically, you need to be careful because Lis Pendens can only be used in certain limited circumstances where title to real estate is directly involved.
If have any questions about real estate matter or Lis Pendens, or any other type of matter in Arizona or dispute in Arizona, please contact us through our website or don’t hesitate to give us a call. Thank you.” – Kent Berk