This question is for Sean OToole in particular since he seems to be the most knowledgeable on this subject. Others feel free to chime in.
I am considering bidding on a property that has a lis pendens on the title. I researched the lis pendens document and it states the lis pendens is to establish an easement/water access and was filed by the current owner of the property against the property trustee which is a different person than the current owner.
Is this a property worth bidding on? How long will it take to get this lis lendens removed from the title and how much money should I expect to pay in legal fees to do so?
Hi AJ, I can’t really make sense of this. I can’t imagine why an owner would file a notice of pending litigation against their own property to establish an easement. And what is a “property trustee” in this case? There can be a trustee under a deed of trust (mortgage), or a trustee of a trust that owns the property, but neither of those makes sense given the information you provided.
As for resolving a lis pendens after a foreclosure sale, it really comes down to the circumstances and how the parties will proceed. If a neighbor was suing for an easement, I’d expect to either have to grant them the easement, or to have to fight it. If the owner is suing for an easement I’d imagine that might be pretty easy to get dismissed once they no longer have an ownership interest in the property. But there simply isn’t enough information above for me to have a strong opinion.
Thank you for the response. Its a very strange case indeed. It doesn’t make much sense to me either and I actually read through all the court documents.