A homeowner in Coral Springs lists her house on Friday. By Tuesday, the buyer’s title company calls with bad news: there’s a lis pendens recorded against the property from a lawsuit filed three months ago. The closing is dead. The buyer walks. And the seller had no idea the notice even existed until the deal fell apart.
This happens more often than you’d think. A lis pendens doesn’t take your property. It doesn’t prove anyone has a valid claim. But it immediately makes your property nearly impossible to sell or refinance until the underlying lawsuit gets resolved or the notice gets discharged.
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What a Lis Pendens Actually Is Under Florida Law
A lis pendens is a recorded notice that a lawsuit affecting specific real property is pending. Under Florida Statutes § 48.23, the lawsuit itself doesn’t cloud your title unless someone records this notice in the official records of the county where your property sits. Once recorded, it puts the world on notice that litigation is happening and that the outcome might affect ownership, liens, or other property rights.
The statute requires the notice to include the parties’ names, the case number or filing date, the court where the action is pending, a legal description of the property, and a statement of the relief being sought. Miss any of those elements and the notice can be challenged as defective.
Here’s the part that catches people off guard: a lis pendens doesn’t require a court order. The plaintiff files the lawsuit and records the notice. That’s it. No judge reviews it beforehand. No hearing happens first. The cloud hits your title immediately.
The Situations Where Lis Pendens Gets Used Most
Mortgage foreclosures account for the bulk of lis pendens filings in South Florida. Lenders record one in almost every foreclosure case to ensure that any liens or interests recorded after the lawsuit take subject to the foreclosure judgment. That’s standard practice and rarely disputed.
Specific performance cases are the second most common scenario. Say a buyer signs a contract to purchase a Pembroke Pines townhouse and the seller tries to back out because another buyer offers $40,000 more. The first buyer sues for specific performance and records a lis pendens. The seller now can’t close with the second buyer because title companies won’t insure a transaction when there’s pending litigation claiming someone else has the right to purchase the property.
Probate disputes also generate lis pendens filings. A personal representative sells estate property without proper authority or in violation of a trust agreement. Beneficiaries file suit challenging the sale and record a lis pendens to block the buyer from closing. The notice warns the buyer and any lender that ownership is contested.
Title disputes and ejectment actions round out the typical cases. Someone claims they actually own the property or have an interest in it that isn’t reflected in the public records. The lis pendens preserves their claim while the lawsuit plays out.
How It Destroys Your Ability to Sell or Refinance
Title companies treat a lis pendens like a radioactive warning label. They won’t issue a title insurance policy on property with an active lis pendens because the litigation could result in a judgment that invalidates the sale or wipes out the buyer’s interest. Lenders won’t close loans for the same reason. Their mortgage could end up subordinate to whatever judgment comes out of the lawsuit.
Buyers who discover a lis pendens during due diligence almost always walk. Even if they’re willing to take the risk, their lender won’t be. Cash buyers might proceed, but they’ll demand steep discounts to compensate for the litigation risk and the likelihood they’ll be bound by whatever the court decides.
This is why lis pendens carries so much leverage. The property owner faces immediate financial pressure even though no court has ruled on the merits of the underlying case. Pending sales collapse. Refinances to avoid foreclosure become impossible. The owner either settles the lawsuit quickly or fights to get the lis pendens discharged.
Anyone who records an interest in the property after the lis pendens goes on record takes subject to the outcome of the litigation. If the plaintiff wins, that later mortgage or deed might be void or subordinate. This rule exists to prevent property owners from transferring assets or encumbering them to defeat pending claims.
The One Year Expiration Rule and When It Doesn’t Apply
Most people assume a lis pendens lasts as long as the lawsuit does. That’s wrong. Under § 48.23, a lis pendens expires automatically one year after the lawsuit is filed unless it falls into one of two exceptions.
The first exception covers cases where the relief sought is founded on a duly recorded instrument. That means a deed, mortgage, contract, or other document that’s already in the public records. If your lawsuit is based on a recorded purchase agreement or a recorded deed, the lis pendens doesn’t expire after one year.
The second exception covers construction liens under Chapter 713, Part I. Contractors and subcontractors who file valid mechanic’s liens can record a lis pendens that lasts beyond one year.
If your case doesn’t fit either exception, you need to ask the court to extend the lis pendens before the one-year mark or it dissolves automatically. Courts grant extensions for good cause, but you have to request one. Attorneys who miss this deadline hand the property owner a clean title and lose all the leverage the lis pendens provided.
Here’s the catch: lawsuits claiming only money damages don’t support a lis pendens at all, even for one year. If the complaint seeks a judgment for unpaid rent or breach of contract damages but doesn’t ask for specific performance or a declaration affecting title, recording a lis pendens is improper from day one.
When a Lis Pendens Is Wrongful and How to Challenge It
Florida law requires a “fair nexus” between the lawsuit and the property. This comes from case law like Chiusolo v. Kennedy, which held that lis pendens is only proper when the action directly affects title, possession, or rights in the specific property described in the notice.
Lawsuits seeking only monetary damages don’t meet that standard. Say a contractor sues a homeowner for $50,000 in unpaid invoices but doesn’t file a construction lien and isn’t seeking to foreclose anything. Recording a lis pendens against the homeowner’s property in that case is improper. The contractor wants money, not the house. There’s no fair nexus.
Property owners facing an improper lis pendens should file a motion to discharge it under § 48.23. The statute gives courts the power to “control and discharge” a lis pendens in the same manner as dissolving an injunction. That means the property owner can argue the notice should be lifted because the underlying lawsuit doesn’t actually affect the property.
Courts take wrongful lis pendens seriously. Filing one that has no legal basis can expose the plaintiff to damages, attorney’s fees, and sanctions. Florida Statutes § 817.535 creates a civil cause of action against anyone who records a materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent instrument in the public records. That section explicitly covers lis pendens recorded under § 48.23.
If someone records a lis pendens in bad faith — say, to retaliate against a property owner or to pressure them into an unrelated settlement — the property owner can sue for damages under § 817.535 and potentially recover attorney’s fees. This remedy exists because abusive lis pendens filings can cause tens of thousands of dollars in lost sale proceeds, loan costs, and carrying expenses.
What Happens When You Ignore a Lis Pendens
Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. The notice stays on your title until the lawsuit resolves, someone withdraws it, or a court discharges it. Meanwhile, your property sits in limbo.
Sellers lose deals. Buyers back out. Lenders refuse to fund. Carrying costs pile up — mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, HOA fees. If you’re already behind on payments and trying to refinance to avoid foreclosure, a lis pendens can be the final obstacle that pushes the property into foreclosure sale.
Some owners assume they can just sell the property anyway and let the buyer deal with the lis pendens. That doesn’t work. The buyer’s title company will require the lis pendens to be resolved before closing. Even if you find a cash buyer willing to take the risk, they’ll insist on a massive price reduction to account for the litigation cloud.
The other mistake is thinking the lis pendens will automatically disappear if the plaintiff’s lawsuit is weak. It won’t. You need to either settle the case, win a judgment, or file a motion to discharge the notice. Doing nothing guarantees the problem persists for at least a year, and potentially much longer if the case drags on or the plaintiff extends the notice.
Steps to Take the Day You Discover a Lis Pendens on Your Property
Pull the recorded notice from the county’s official records. It’s public. You can access it online through the Broward County Clerk’s website or whichever county your property is in. Read it carefully. Identify the case number, the court, and the relief being sought.
Next, pull the complaint from the court file. You need to see what the lawsuit actually claims. Is it foreclosure? Specific performance? A title dispute? A money-damages-only case that shouldn’t have a lis pendens at all? The complaint tells you whether the lis pendens is even proper.
Consult an attorney who handles real estate litigation in Florida. You need someone who can evaluate whether the “fair nexus” requirement is met and whether you have grounds to move for discharge. If the case is legitimate, you need a defense strategy. If the lis pendens is abusive, you may have a claim for damages.
In some cases, you can negotiate a partial release or an agreement to escrow funds at closing to satisfy the plaintiff’s claim. Say you’re selling the property and the plaintiff is claiming $30,000 in unpaid contractor bills. You might agree to hold $30,000 in escrow with the title company pending resolution of the lawsuit. That lets the sale close and removes the lis pendens, while still protecting the plaintiff’s potential recovery.
Don’t assume the plaintiff will voluntarily withdraw the lis pendens just because you ask. They filed it for leverage. They’ll want something in return — either a settlement or a court order forcing them to remove it.
What Buyers and Investors Need to Know Before Closing
Always run a title search before you close. That search will reveal any recorded lis pendens. If one exists, stop. Do not proceed until you understand the underlying lawsuit and have a plan to resolve it.
Foreclosure sales and distressed properties carry higher lis pendens risk. Investors buying at auction or purchasing short sales sometimes discover lis pendens notices tied to secondary litigation — maybe a contractor’s lien foreclosure or a divorce case where one spouse is contesting the sale. You take the property subject to that litigation if you close before it’s resolved.
Some investors assume they can buy the property cheap, then fight the lawsuit later. That’s a gamble. If the plaintiff wins, your ownership interest could be void or subordinate. You might end up with nothing but a lawsuit of your own against the seller, who’s probably judgment-proof by that point.
Title insurance doesn’t always cover lis pendens issues if you had notice of the litigation before closing. The insurer will carve out an exception for “matters disclosed in the public records” or “litigation of which the insured had knowledge.” That means you’re on your own if the plaintiff wins.
Whether you are buying a home, dealing with a landlord dispute, or recovering from an injury, Eric Goldman can help. Serving clients throughout Florida.
The Difference Between Lis Pendens and Other Title Clouds
A lis pendens is not a lien. It doesn’t give the plaintiff a security interest in the property. It’s notice of pending litigation. The lien, if any, comes later if the plaintiff wins a judgment.
It’s also not a judgment. The court hasn’t ruled. The plaintiff might lose. But the notice still clouds title because it warns third parties that the outcome of the case could affect ownership or liens.
This distinction matters because some owners think they can ignore a lis pendens the same way they might ignore a frivolous lawsuit. You can’t. Even if the lawsuit is garbage, the lis pendens itself prevents you from selling or refinancing until it’s removed.
Other title clouds — like unresolved estate issues, missing signatures on old deeds, or breaks in the chain of title — require different remedies. A lis pendens is unique because it’s tied to active litigation, which means the only ways to clear it are settlement, judgment, voluntary withdrawal, or a court order discharging it.
If you’re in Broward, Miami-Dade, or Palm Beach County and a lis pendens just appeared on your property, you’re not stuck with it forever. But you need to act quickly. The longer it sits on your title, the more deals you’ll lose and the more leverage the plaintiff gains. Call an attorney who handles real estate litigation and get the complaint reviewed the same week you discover the notice.
