Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Removing Lis Pendens
A divorce situation. The house was under immediate threat of foreclosure and was sold to relatives. None of the parties in this matter lives in the house�it has become a rental. The divorced party owed income tax (on the husband�s income, the wife was not employed). The wife paid her portion of the community income tax. The husband has not paid his portion, and has placed a lis pendens on the property, now owned by purchasers. He wants the purchasers to pay his taxes. There are no other leans against the property�it was free and clear at the time of sale. The personnel income tax of the divorced husband is not the obligation of the purchasers. How can they get the lis pendens removed from their title.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Removing Lis Pendens
In California, there are essentially two ways to remove a lis pendens (notice of pendency of action).
The first is withdrawal. This is a voluntary act of the party that recorded and filed the lis pendens in the first place, and usually occurs as a result of the settlement of the litigation or some other agreement between the litigants.
The other method is expungement. Any party to the litigation, or a non-party who has an interest in the real property (with prior court permission), may apply to the court in which the action is pending to expunge the notice. There are several grounds for expungement. The most common one, perhaps, is that the claim does not sufficiently affect an interest in the property described in the lis pendens. Another common ground for expunging a lis pendens is that the plaintiff appears to have little chance of prevailing, i.e. his claim is not very good.
Since expungement is fairly technical, anyone seeking expungement will probably need a lawyer.
Re: Removing Lis Pendens
Generally, an improper Lis Pendens can be removed by a Motion before the Court expunging the Lis Pendens. Normally, a Lis Pendens can only be placed on real property if title is in issue. If you fax me all of your documentation, the lawsuit, and lis pendens, I will provide you with free consultation and give you an opinion on the removal of the lis pendens from the title.
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