Understanding Lis Pendens in Georgia Real Estate Law
A lis pendens is a legal notice recorded in the county where a property is located, alerting the public that a lawsuit has been filed involving that property. It serves to notify prospective buyers or lenders that the property is the subject of litigation and that the outcome may affect any interest they acquire. In Georgia, the controlling statute is OCGA § 44-14-610.
Crucially, a lis pendens cannot be based solely on a claim for monetary damages. Its function is to warn that the lawsuit seeks specific relief affecting the property itself. As explained in Evans v. Fulton Nat’l Mtg. Corp., 168 Ga. App. 600, 309 S.E.2d 884 (1983), the litigation must involve a direct interest in the property for a lis pendens to be valid.
Example
If a fraudulent deed is recorded, and the rightful owner files suit to challenge it, the owner can also record a lis pendens. This ensures any would-be buyer is on notice of the dispute. Should a buyer proceed with the purchase despite the notice, they are bound by the lawsuit’s outcome and could lose the property if the plaintiff prevails.
Case Study: Spinola v. Akaranta
In this recent decision, Spinola sued her neighbor, Akaranta, claiming that a water leak from Akaranta’s condominium caused damage to her own unit. Spinola sought monetary damages and also requested an injunction to prevent Akaranta from selling her unit. She recorded a lis pendens against Akaranta’s property to notify potential buyers of the ongoing litigation.
Akaranta counterclaimed, asserting that the lis pendens was improperly filed and had defamed her title, causing a sale to fall through and preventing her from purchasing another property. Initially, the trial court declined to cancel the lis pendens, based on weak property-related claims by Spinola (such as the assertion of a constructive trust). Although the court later reversed that decision and ruled the lis pendens improper, the initial ruling gave Spinola leverage, despite her ultimately admitting that her claims only involved damage to her own unit.
At trial, the jury found that Spinola had wrongfully filed the lis pendens, harming Akaranta by interfering with the sale of her property. The jury awarded damages and attorney’s fees to Akaranta.
However, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the verdict. The Court held that, under OCGA § 51-5-8, statements made in connection with judicial proceedings—including those in recorded documents like a lis pendens—are privileged if they are pertinent to the relief sought, even if ultimately found to be false or unsupported. Because Spinola’s lis pendens was filed as part of a legal proceeding and related (at least nominally) to property claims, it was protected by this statutory privilege. As a result, it could not form the basis for a slander of title or defamation claim.
Legal Takeaway
To prove slander of title under OCGA § 51-9-11, a plaintiff must show the publication of false, malicious statements that caused special damages. But when the statement is protected by privilege—as with a lis pendens filed in a pending lawsuit—it cannot support a defamation claim, regardless of the filer’s intent or the document’s eventual rejection by the court.
In Spinola, the effect was that although the jury determined the lis pendens was improperly recorded and caused real harm, the damages were overturned due to the legal protections afforded to court-related filings. The case underscores the importance of correctly filing a lis pendens and understanding the legal privileges attached to litigation-related documents.
Questions?
If you need legal guidance about lis pendens or any related real estate dispute, don’t hesitate to contact our office at (404) 382-9994.