Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
There are two lies pendes filed against my property one from 2009 and the other 2011. These were both for foreclosure proceeding that were started however have since been dismissed. I'm being told by the attorney that file the lies pendes that these can NEVER be removed. Is this true?
2 Answers from Attorneys
I am not aware of a specific procedure for "removal" of a lis pendens notice. In theory, the purpose of the document is to give notice of the lawsuit, nothing more. It points a party reviewing the title to another place, the court record. So, the removal is not critical as it would simply be a "pointer" to a dismissed lawsuit. I expect that title companies will underwrite a transaction without raising the lis pendens if the case has been dismissed. I hope that helps give this some perspective. If you are in the midst of a transaction, perhaps your question can be better answered in context.
Record a certified copy of the dismissal orders related to each case. Recorded documents do not get "erased" but rather "undone" by a subsequent document, something like and on/off switch. So for example if you have a mortgage, the way it is "undone" is with a release deed. For a lis pendens, it is the dismissal order. You will have to go to court to get a certified copy and then record it.