A lis pendens is a pending lawsuit or legal action, or a formal notice of a pending lawsuit or legal action. For example, a lis pendens is an official public notice that a piece of real property has a pending lawsuit or claim attached to it—which may be especially relevant to potential buyers of the property, as a sale of the property will probably not extinguish or resolve the pending claim.

Lis pendens might also refer to the jurisdiction (power, authority, control) a court acquires over property while a legal action is pending. Or lis pendens may refer to a notice recorded in the public records (often county records) in the chain of title to a piece of real property—which is required or permitted in some jurisdictions to put all persons on notice that the property is the subject of litigation or of a claim. This notice informs potential buyers of the property that their future ownership of the property may be subject to other claims.

Lis pendens is often used when spouses are going through the divorce process and their real property assets, for example, have not been finally divided by their agreement or by the court. Banks commonly use the lis pendens process to put the public on notice that a property is in foreclosure. And a homeowners’ association may file a lis pendens when it seeks to foreclose on a homeowner’s home to satisfy delinquent fees or assessments.

The procedure for a lis pendens is usually located in a state’s statutes—often in the property code or in the code of civil procedure, for example.

In California, a lis pendens is a formal notice that is recorded with the county recorder's office to indicate that a particular property is subject to a pending legal action. This notice serves to warn all potential buyers or other interested parties that the property's title could be affected by the outcome of the lawsuit. Under California law, specifically the California Code of Civil Procedure sections 405-405.24, the filing of a lis pendens requires a real property claim, which is a claim in a lawsuit that would affect title to or the right to possession of specific real estate. This is commonly seen in cases of divorce, foreclosure, and homeowners' association disputes over property. Once recorded, a lis pendens binds any subsequent purchaser or encumbrancer of the property to the outcome of the litigation, potentially impacting their interests in the property. To ensure the validity of the lis pendens, the claimant must also provide notice to the property owner, and the owner has the right to challenge the notice. If the court determines that the lis pendens was improperly filed, it can order it expunged and possibly award attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing party.