When a lender files a judicial foreclosure action, the recorded notice warning third parties that title is in litigation is:

A notice of default and election to sell

Exam vocabulary · notice of pending suit

What Is Lis Pendens in Real Estate?

Definition

A lis pendens is a notice recorded in a property's chain of title warning that a lawsuit affecting title to or an interest in that property is pending. Anyone who acquires an interest while the suit is pending takes it subject to the outcome.

How the exam tests lis pendens

These mirror the phrasing you will see on test day. Answer them, then read the explanation whether or not you got it right.

Lis pendens: exam questions1/3

Property disclosures

A Virginia residential owner actually knows that a lis pendens has been filed against the dwelling. The owner argues that the public filing replaces any written disclosure to a purchaser. What is required?

score 0/0

Every lis pendens question, answered

Every question above with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Read the explanations for the ones you answered correctly too. A lucky guess and knowing the rule look identical on a score report. These are sample questions from our larger bank.

1. A Virginia residential owner actually knows that a lis pendens has been filed against the dwelling. The owner argues that the public filing replaces any written disclosure to a purchaser. What is required?
- ADisclosure if the purchaser first sends a certified written request
- BA written disclosure to the prospective purchaser even though the lis pendens was publicly filedcorrect
- CNo written disclosure if the purchaser could find the filing in a title search
- DDisclosure once the lawsuit ends in a final judgment against the owner
Why: Section 55.1-706.1 requires an owner with actual knowledge of a filed lis pendens to give a prospective purchaser a written disclosure. The public filing does not replace it, and the duty does not wait for a purchaser demand or a final judgment.
Property disclosures
2. When a lender files a judicial foreclosure action, the recorded notice warning third parties that title is in litigation is:
- AA satisfaction of mortgage
- BA writ of execution
- CA lis pendenscorrect
- DA notice of default and election to sell
Why: A lis pendens is recorded notice of pending litigation, so anyone acquiring an interest afterward takes it subject to the outcome. A notice of default belongs to the non-judicial track, where no suit is filed.
Financing
3. A Colorado seller refuses to close through no fault of the buyer. The listing firm holds the buyer's $10,000 earnest money, and the listing contract promised the firm a commission. Under Commission Rule 6.22.A, how much of the earnest money may the firm keep?
- A$0correct
- B$2,500
- C$5,000
- D$10,000
Why: Rule 6.22.A says that when the seller fails, refuses, neglects or is unable to close and the buyer is not at fault, the brokerage firm has no right to any portion of the buyer's earnest money, so the answer is $0. Any commission claim is against the seller, and Rule 6.22.B bars a lien or lis pendens on a residential property to secure it unless a judgment has been entered.
Practice of real estate
Key terms: lien, earnest money

Where lis pendens sits in the exam vocabulary

Lis pendens is a notice of pending suit, and so is judgment lien. That matters more than it sounds: a multiple-choice item builds its wrong answers out of siblings like these, because they are the options that look plausible to someone who has learned the category but not the distinction. If lis pendens appears as the correct answer, expect to see judgment lien on the same screen.

Lis pendens does not stand on its own: it assumes you already know constructive notice and chain of title. Questions that look like they are testing lis pendens are often really testing whether those ideas are solid underneath it.

The exam most often tries to catch you by putting lis pendens next to judgment lien. Each of those is a real concept sitting close enough to be tempting, and the question usually turns on the single feature that separates them rather than on the definition of either one. Read the contrast, not the term.

Related exam terms

Tested alongside

Often confused with

Know this first

Lis pendens belongs to the notice of pending suit family of exam concepts. When it is solid, take the free real estate exam prep or browse the full real estate vocabulary.