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Glite Dictionary
lis pendens

lis pendens

1 9.9
A public notice that a court case about a property may affect its ownership
  • noun
  • /lɪs ˈpɛndənz/
  • Jargon
: lis pendens
  • The court issued a lis pendens regarding the property.

Examples

  • Before completing the transfer, the lawyer checked the registry for any lis pendens affecting the title.

  • The buyer discovered there was a lis pendens on the property and decided not to proceed with the purchase.

  • A lis pendens serves as public notice that legal action may impact the real estate involved.

  • Have you seen the lis pendens filed by the plaintiff?

  • When potential buyers see a lis pendens on a property, it indicates that there is a lawsuit affecting its ownership.

  • The court issued a lis pendens to inform everyone that the real estate was involved in a legal dispute about its title.

  • It is essential to check for a lis pendens before purchasing real estate, as it may affect your future ownership rights.

Surface Forms

lis pendens singular
lis pendens plural

Morphology

lis + pendens

This is a Latin legal term whose parts are not ordinary English words a B1 learner would know ("lis" is obscure and "pendens" is a Latin form related to "pending"). Even if a learner recognized the sense of "pending," the specific meaning as a formal legal notice affecting property title is a technical, language-specific legal concept that cannot be derived from the constituents. Therefore the expression is not transparently understandable to average learners.

Etymology

Lis pendens comes from Latin: lis means 'dispute' and pendens means 'hanging' or 'pending'. Imagine a legal fight 'hanging' over a house as a public warning to buyers. So, lis pendens is a public notice that a lawsuit is still pending and may 'affect the title' of the property.