Tennessee Abstract of Suit for Liens Lis Pendens of Real Property

Both a lis pendens and a lien against property represent claims against it. Yet, the lis pendens is not the same thing as a lien. Instead, it is a notification of a potential lien.

After a notice of lis pendens or a notice of default is filed and recorded in the public records, it becomes public information. The legal term lis pendens is Latin for "a pending lawsuit" and refers to the period of time between when a lawsuit is filed and when the case is actually heard in court.

Lenders are usually unwilling to finance a mortgage until the lis pendens has been removed from the title. In addition, while a property can still be sold while there is a lis pendens, title companies will not insure the property, and that alone should be a deterrent to purchasing.

The lis pendens can be removed once the lawsuit is settled and the court has ruled on an outcome. It might also be resolved on its own if an agreement is reached between the title owner and whoever filed the complaint. If the claim was wrongfully filed, the lis pendens will be expunged.

The doctrine of lis pendens literally means pending suit, and lis pendens notices are the machinery whereby a party with an unrecorded or unperfected claim to real property can put third persons interested in the property on notice of the claim or interest.

Lis pendens provides constructive notice, or a warning, to prospective homebuyers that the ownership of a property is in dispute and there is litigation pending. Lis pendens can only be filed if a claim is related specifically to the property.

So in the lien situation there has to be a debtor-creditor situation.So think debtor-creditor every time you see the word lien. A lis pendens, on the other hand, is filed or is created automatically when a lawsuit is started that has to do with the land, and usually with the title to the land.