A. No lis pendens or attachment shall bind or affect a subsequent bona fide purchaser of real or personal estate for valuable consideration and without actual notice of such lis pendens or attachment, until and except from the time a memorandum setting forth the title of the cause or attachment, the general object thereof, the court wherein it is pending, the amount of the claim asserted by the plaintiff, a description of the property, the name of the person whose estate is intended to be affected thereby, and in an action to enforce a zoning ordinance a description of the alleged violation, shall be admitted to record in the clerk's office of the circuit court of the county or the city wherein the property is located; or if it be in that part of the City of Richmond lying north of the south bank of the James River and including the islands in such river, in the clerk's office of the Circuit Court, Division I, of such city, or if it be in the part of the City of Richmond lying south of the south bank of the James River, in the clerk's office of the Circuit Court, Division II, of such city. Clerks of circuit courts are authorized and directed to admit to record memoranda of lis pendens or attachment for actions pending in any court of this Commonwealth, or in any other state, federal, or territorial court. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to mean that any such memoranda heretofore recorded are not properly of record. Such memorandum shall not be deemed to have been recorded unless and until indexed as required by law. A memorandum of lis pendens admitted to record in an action to enforce a zoning ordinance shall expire after 180 days.
B. No memorandum of lis pendens shall be filed unless the action on which the lis pendens is based seeks (i) to establish an interest by the filing party in the real property described in the memorandum, (ii) to sell the real property to enforce a lien for delinquent taxes pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 (§ 58.1-3965 et seq.) of Chapter 39 of Title 58.1 or a docketed judgment lien, (iii) the partition of real property pursuant to Article 9 (§ 8.01-81 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 8.01, or (iv) to enforce a zoning ordinance.
Code 1950, § 8-142; 1973, c. 544; 1976, c. 178; 1977, c. 617; 1988, c. 503; 2008, cc. 60, 204; 2025, c. 267.
Notes of Decisions
Hart v. United Virginia Bank (In Re Hart), 24 B.R. 821 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 1982).
· cites it 17× “At one time, if title to real estate were at stake in litigation, the mere pendency of the suit was deemed sufficient to charge a purchaser with notice of the challenge to title and subject his interest in the property to the outcome of the suit.”
Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. v. Leader Funding, Inc., 70 Va. Cir. 31 (Brunswick Cir. Ct. 2005).
· cites it 25× “01-268) due to the harshness of the prior rule that, “if title to real estate were at stake in litigation, the mere pendency of the suit was deemed sufficient to charge a purchaser with notice of the challenge to title and subject his interest in the property to the outcome of…”
In Re Loy, 380 B.R. 154 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2007).
· cites it 6× “See Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-268 (2007). A court does not get involved when a lis pendens is tiled.”
Warren v. Bank of Marion, 618 F. Supp. 317 (W.D. Va. 1985).
· cites it 3× “See Va.Code § 8.01-268 (1984). The one holding title to the property, on the other hand, deserves the protection of a legal disincentive against an ill willed creditor who, without justification, wishes to apply undue pressure by tieing up the record owner’s property with a…”
DRHI v. L'Ambiance Assocs., Inc., 39 Va. Cir. 434 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 1996).
· cites it 8× “In reaching this conclusion, Defendant relies largely upon case law decided before the addition of subsection (B) to § 8.01-268. See Green Hill Corp. v. Kim, 842 F.”
Wells Fargo Funding v. Gold, 432 B.R. 216 (E.D. Va. 2009).
· cites it 4× “As Judge Mitchell noted, the Fourth Circuit instructs that under Virginia law, the “filing of the lis pendens pursuant to Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-268 ... serve[s] merely as ‘notice of the pendency of the suit to any one interested and a warning that he should examine the proceedings…”
Lee v. Garrett Homes of Virginia, L.C., 60 Va. Cir. 235 (2002).
· cites it 2× “The General Assembly clarified the matter by the lis pendens statute, Virginia Code § 8.01-268, in 1988 with the addition of a subsection B, which states as follows: “No memorandum of lis pendens shall be filed unless the action on which the lis pendens is based seeks to…”
Angell v. Faison (In re Faison), 518 B.R. 849 (Bankr. E.D.N.Y. 2014).
“deration and without actual notice of such lis pendens or attachment, until and except from the time a memorandum setting forth the title of the cause or attachment, the general object thereof, the court wherein it is pending, the amount of the claim asserted by the plaintiff, a…”
Schmucker v. Walker, 311 S.E.2d 108 (Va. 1984).
· cites it 2× “Thereafter, they instituted this suit and filed a memorandum of lis pendens (Code § 8.01-268) against the property. *585 While Pealage and Edith lived on the property, they, rather than the trustee, paid the taxes and insurance.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-268(A) — 1 case
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-268(B) — 8 cases
Palm Harbor Homes, Inc. v. Leader Funding, Inc., 70 Va. Cir. 31 (Brunswick Cir. Ct. 2005).
“01-268) due to the harshness of the prior rule that, “if title to real estate were at stake in litigation, the mere pendency of the suit was deemed sufficient to charge a purchaser with notice of the challenge to title and subject his interest in the property to the outcome of…”
In Re Loy, 380 B.R. 154 (Bankr. E.D. Va. 2007).
“See Va.Code Ann. § 8.01-268 (2007). A court does not get involved when a lis pendens is tiled.”
DRHI v. L'Ambiance Assocs., Inc., 39 Va. Cir. 434 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. 1996).
“In reaching this conclusion, Defendant relies largely upon case law decided before the addition of subsection (B) to § 8.01-268. See Green Hill Corp. v. Kim, 842 F.”
— Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-268(a) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.