Lis pendens — Latin for "suit pending" — is a formal notice filed in property records announcing that a lawsuit is underway involving title to, or an interest in, a specific parcel of real estate. Once recorded, it puts any prospective buyer, lender, or other party dealing with the property on notice that its title is contested, which typically makes the property very difficult to sell or finance until the litigation resolves.

Because a lis pendens can effectively freeze a property's marketability without a full merits determination, courts guard against its misuse — recording one over a dispute that doesn't actually affect title (a pure money claim, for instance) can expose the filer to liability for wrongful or improper filing, and many jurisdictions let an affected owner move to expunge a lis pendens that doesn't meet the required standard.

Juricratic models a recorded lis pendens as a real-world side effect the underlying claim produces, distinct from the claim's merits — the property becomes practically encumbered the moment the notice is recorded, which changes the settlement leverage in a case even before any court rules on who actually owns what.

Plaintiffs in property disputes record a lis pendens to protect their claimed interest and pressure a defendant who might otherwise try to sell or refinance the disputed property before the case resolves. Property owners and their lenders watch for lis pendens filings closely, since a recorded notice can stall or kill a pending sale or refinancing regardless of how strong the underlying claim ultimately proves to be.