Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: list a home

Yes, they can list it for sale. No, they cannot sell it without (a) paying off the lien, or reaching a settlment with the lienholder in which the lienholder agrees to release the lien; or (b) the home gets sold without an escrow and title insurance, in which case an unethical seller could theoretically sell the home without paying off the lien. It is entirely unethical, but home sales without title insurance and escrows happen all the time.

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Re: list a home

I don't quite agree with the previous answer. A "lis pendens" (or in the more modern language of the statute, a "notice of pendency of action" is nothing more than a recorded notice that a property is currently subject to litigation that affects ownership or the right of possession.

A property that has a lis pendens recorded against it can be listed and sold. Indeed, that just happened to a property in a current case of mine.

I hasten to add that the presence of a lis pendens on file against a property will have a very chilling effect on the market value of the property. Most would-be buyers wouldn't touch such a property without fully understanding the litigation underlying the lis pendens and even then, would normally offer only a fraction of what the property would be worth with unquestioned title.

A buyer of property subject to a lis pendens takes title subject to the ultimate resolution of the suit. If it turns out, as it may, that the seller had impaired title, or no title, then the buyer in turn receives impaired title, or no title.

Re: list a home

Yes.