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 Nebraska, a lis pendens is a notice that a lawsuit involving a claim on a property is pending, and it serves to warn all parties that the property's title is subject to legal dispute. This notice is typically recorded in the county where the property is located, thereby becoming part of the public record. Nebraska statutes outline the process for filing a lis pendens, which is generally found in the state's property laws or rules of civil procedure. The filing of a lis pendens ensures that any potential buyer of the property is aware of the ongoing litigation and understands that the outcome of the lawsuit may affect the property's title. This is particularly relevant in cases of divorce, foreclosure by banks, or actions by homeowners’ associations to recover unpaid fees. The effect of a lis pendens is to maintain the status quo of the property's title during the litigation, and it may impact the ability to sell or transfer the property until the legal action is resolved.