Dear Atty. Joji,

I am planning to purchase a parcel of land, but upon checking the title, I noticed an annotation stating "Notice of Lis Pendens." The seller assured me that it is "just an annotation" and that I can have it removed after the sale. What exactly is a notice of lis pendens? Does it mean I cannot buy the property? More importantly, how can a notice of lis pendens be canceled?

Marhan

Dear Marhan,

A notice of lis pendens literally means a "pending suit." It refers to the jurisdiction, power or control which a court acquires over the property involved in a suit, pending the continuance of the action, and until final judgment. Founded upon public policy and necessity, lis pendens is intended to keep the properties in litigation within the power of the court until the litigation is terminated, and to prevent the defeat of the judgment or decree by subsequent alienation. Its notice is an announcement to the whole world that a particular property is in litigation and serves as a warning that one who acquires an interest over said property does so at his own risk, or that he gambles on the result of the litigation over said property.

A notice of lis pendens, once duly registered, may be canceled by the trial court before which the action involving the property is pending. This power is said to be inherent in the trial court and is exercised only under express provisions of law. Accordingly, Section 14, Rule 13 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure authorizes the trial court to cancel a notice of lis pendens where it is properly shown that the purpose of its annotation is for molesting the adverse party, or that it is not necessary to protect the rights of the party who caused it to be annotated. Be that as it may, the power to cancel a notice of lis pendens is exercised only under exceptional circumstances, such as: where such circumstances are imputable to the party who caused the annotation; where the litigation was unduly prolonged to the prejudice of the other party because of several continuances procured by petitioner; where the case which is the basis for the lis pendens notation was dismissed for non prosequitur on the part of the plaintiff; or where judgment was rendered against the party who caused such a notation. In such instances, said notice is deemed ipso facto canceled.

It bears stressing, however, that the cancellation of a notice of lis pendens is not the proper subject of a separate or independent action. In J. Casim Construction Supplies Inc. v. Registrar of Deeds of Las Piñas (G.R. No. 168655, 2 July 2010), the Supreme Court explained that a notice of lis pendens is merely an incident of the principal case involving the property. Consequently, any request to cancel the annotation must be addressed to the court where that case is pending or which rendered the judgment. A different court cannot entertain a separate petition solely for the cancellation of the annotation.

For this reason, anyone intending to purchase property with an annotated notice of lis pendens should first determine the nature and status of the pending case. While the annotation does not automatically invalidate a sale, it places all prospective buyers on notice that whatever rights they acquire over the property will be subject to the final outcome of the litigation. Hope this helps.

Atty. Joji Alonso