Chapter 4 - § 4.2 NOTICE AND RELEASE OF LIS PENDENS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 4.2 NOTICE AND RELEASE OF LIS PENDENS

In addition to timely filing the foreclosure lawsuit, a notice stating that such action has been commenced — i.e., a lis pendens — must also be filed with the clerk and recorder's office where the property is located within the same six-month period.⁸ The lis pendens should include "the name of the court where such action is pending, the names of the parties to such action at the time of such recording, and a legal description of the real property."⁹

Only one lis pendens per lawsuit is necessary.¹⁰ As such, other lien claimants named as defendants in a mechanics' lien foreclosure action do not need to file their own lis pendens with their cross-claims if one has already been recorded by the plaintiff.¹¹ But beware that the original plaintiff may be asked to voluntarily release its lis pendens as part of a settlement with the owner. Also, some attorneys may not want to rely on the accuracy of another attorney's lis pendens. So an attorney representing a lien claimant named as defendant in a foreclosure action may want to consider whether recording a separate lis pen dens is worthwhile.

If a mechanics' lien foreclosure is dismissed either by order or stipulation, then the appropriate way to deal with the cloud on title caused by the lis pendens is to request that the court clerk issue a certificate of dismissal and to record the same with the clerk and recorder's office.¹² The lis pendens, after all, is merely a notice that a lawsuit affecting property is pending. So a certificate from the clerk indicating that the lawsuit has been dismissed should suffice for "releasing" the lis pendens. But some property owners and lenders want the added security of a court order expressly releasing the lis pendens. And it is not uncommon for parties to ask the court to issue an order specifically releasing the lis pendens once a mechanics' lien foreclosure action is resolved...