subject: Legal Jargon Homebuyers Must Know: Lis Pendens [print this page] "Lis pendens" like most legal terminology is in the Latin language. To a non-lawyer, it's also possible that the term doesn't make any sense. However, the expression is an important one to know in the real estate market, and it deserves a thorough explanation, as set forth below.
Literally translated, "lis pendens" actually means "suit pending." This could refer to almost any lawsuit currently pending in the United States. As a potential homebuyer, how does this affect you? Actually, it can mean quite a bit.
Once understood to mean any court case at all that was presently lacking a final decision, lis pendens is applicable to many real estate transactions nowadays. Lis pendens currently only refers to a filed written notice about real property, and sometimes also in matters of parental responsibility. Lis pendens involves the title to the property itself or a situation where someone has declared an ownership interest in the real estate. If you are searching for a lis pendens, also known as a notification, search in the county land records office.
The ramifications for a potential homebuyer are important to know. A potential buyer is put on notice that the title to the land they are thinking about purchasing is being challenged when a lis pendens exists. If you fail to pay attention to the warnings of a lis pendens for a particular piece of property and you purchase it anyway, there are further issues with which you now have to deal with. You will end up taking the land subject to any final decision that is later rendered if you purchase land that is described in the lis pendens. Property mentioned in a lis pendens is thought of by buyers or lenders to be indisputably less attractive.
Caveat emptor is a second legal expression that might be appropriate to know at this point. In this case, no clarification is required beyond the term's English interpretation. Caveat emptor is merely the fancy legal way of saying "buyer beware," but its message that due diligence needs to be used whenever possible during the home buying process is advice that should be followed. Check with your local county land records office to verify that the land's title can be obtained free and clear of any encumbrances. So much future home buying heartache can be saved by one quick and easy task.
