A lis pendens is a pending lawsuit or legal action, or a formal notice of a pending lawsuit or legal action. For example, a lis pendens is an official public notice that a piece of real property has a pending lawsuit or claim attached to it—which may be especially relevant to potential buyers of the property, as a sale of the property will probably not extinguish or resolve the pending claim.

Lis pendens might also refer to the jurisdiction (power, authority, control) a court acquires over property while a legal action is pending. Or lis pendens may refer to a notice recorded in the public records (often county records) in the chain of title to a piece of real property—which is required or permitted in some jurisdictions to put all persons on notice that the property is the subject of litigation or of a claim. This notice informs potential buyers of the property that their future ownership of the property may be subject to other claims.

Lis pendens is often used when spouses are going through the divorce process and their real property assets, for example, have not been finally divided by their agreement or by the court. Banks commonly use the lis pendens process to put the public on notice that a property is in foreclosure. And a homeowners’ association may file a lis pendens when it seeks to foreclose on a homeowner’s home to satisfy delinquent fees or assessments.

The procedure for a lis pendens is usually located in a state’s statutes—often in the property code or in the code of civil procedure, for example.

In South Carolina, a lis pendens is a notice filed in the public records that indicates a pending lawsuit involving real property. This notice serves to warn all potential purchasers or those with an interest in the property that there is litigation that may affect the title or ownership of the property. The filing of a lis pendens is governed by South Carolina statutes, specifically within the South Carolina Code of Laws. The notice must be filed with the clerk of court or register of deeds in the county where the property is located. Once filed, it creates a sort of legal cloud over the property's title, informing all interested parties that any transfer of the property will not necessarily be free of the legal issues presented by the pending lawsuit. This is particularly relevant in cases of divorce, foreclosure, and homeowners' association disputes over property. The lis pendens must be properly served to all parties involved and will remain in effect until the litigation is resolved or the notice is expunged by court order.