A lis pendens recorded in Florida lasts one year from the date the underlying lawsuit begins when the claim is not based on a recorded instrument or a construction lien. If the lawsuit is founded on a recorded document such as a mortgage or deed, or on a construction lien under Part I of Chapter 713, the notice has no automatic expiration and stays on the property’s title until the case ends or a court removes it. That split is the whole answer to how long a lis pendens lasts in Florida, and which track your situation falls into controls everything that follows.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 48.23 – Lis Pendens
The Two Tracks That Decide Duration
Florida Statute 48.23 sorts every lis pendens into one of two categories, and the duration flows from that sort.
Founded on a Recorded Instrument or Construction Lien
When the lawsuit is based on a document already in the public records, like a mortgage, a deed, or a recorded contract, or on a construction lien under Part I of Chapter 713 of the Florida Statutes, the lis pendens does not expire on its own. It remains in effect for as long as the lawsuit is active. In complex cases that can mean years. The filer does not have to go back to court to keep it alive.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 48.23 – Lis Pendens
Mortgage foreclosures are the most common example. The mortgage being foreclosed is itself a recorded instrument, so the lis pendens runs with the case.
Not Founded on a Recorded Instrument
If no recorded document or construction lien underlies the claim, the lis pendens automatically expires one year after the lawsuit was commenced. The clock runs from the start of the action, not from the date the notice was recorded. Claims that typically fall here include specific performance on an unrecorded contract and fraud claims that touch real estate.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 48.23 – Lis Pendens
Extending the One-Year Lis Pendens
When your lis pendens sits in the one-year category, the only way to keep it on the title past that date is to go back to court before it expires. The judge can extend the notice only if the filer gives reasonable notice to the other parties and shows good cause for leaving it in place. The court may also attach conditions to any extension.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 48.23 – Lis Pendens
Extensions are not automatic and nothing happens on its own. If the one-year date passes without a court order, the lis pendens simply dies. Many claimants assume the notice will last as long as the lawsuit does and only learn otherwise after it is too late to fix.
What Expiration Actually Costs the Filer
Florida law gives no second chances on this. Once a lis pendens expires, is discharged, or was never recorded in the first place, any person who afterward buys the property or takes a lien against it for value is treated as if the lawsuit did not exist. That protection applies even when the buyer or lender actually knew about the pending case.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 48.23 – Lis Pendens
The practical consequence is severe. A claimant who lets the one-year deadline slip can win the lawsuit and still find the property in someone else’s hands, free of any claim. For the person who filed the notice, the expiration date deserves the same attention as any statute of limitations in the case.
Removing a Lis Pendens Before It Expires
Property owners do not have to wait out the clock. Several paths can clear the notice earlier.
Voluntary Withdrawal
The cleanest removal happens when the filer withdraws the notice, usually after a settlement or when the parties resolve the underlying dispute. The filer records a notice of voluntary dismissal or withdrawal in the same county records where the original lis pendens sits.
Court-Ordered Discharge
A property owner can move the court to discharge the lis pendens. When the lawsuit is not based on a recorded instrument or construction lien, the court treats the motion the same way it would treat a motion to dissolve an injunction.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 48.23 – Lis Pendens That puts the burden on the filer to show a likelihood of success on the merits and that the property is sufficiently connected to the lawsuit. If the filer cannot clear that bar, the notice comes off.
A court can also discharge the notice when the lawsuit no longer affects the property, regardless of category. If the case has been dismissed, the property-related claims have been dropped, or a final judgment has been entered, the lis pendens no longer serves any purpose and should come off the record.
Bond From the Filer
Florida courts have discretion to require the filer to post a bond when the property owner can show that the notice is likely causing financial harm and may turn out to be unjustified. The bond protects the owner against damages if the lis pendens proves unwarranted. This remedy comes from Florida case law rather than the text of the statute, so whether a court will impose it depends on the specific facts.
What the Notice Does While It Sits on the Title
A lis pendens is a recorded notice that a lawsuit is pending over a specific piece of property. It does not transfer ownership and does not create a lien. Its one job is to warn buyers, lenders, and anyone else that the title is in dispute. Once it is recorded in the county where the property sits, it effectively freezes marketability.
The notice does not legally prohibit a sale, but it kills most transactions in practice. Title companies will not issue clear title insurance on a property with an active lis pendens, and most buyers walk away rather than take on the risk of ongoing litigation. Lenders face the same concern and typically refuse to approve a mortgage because the uncertain title raises their risk. The longer the notice stays in place, the more pressure it puts on the owner to settle, which is why some litigants record one in the first place.
One thing a lis pendens does not do: show up on your credit report. Since 2017, the major credit bureaus have removed civil judgments and most public records from consumer credit reports, and bankruptcies are now the only public record type that appears.2Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A New Retrospective on the Removal of Public Records A lis pendens was never a judgment to begin with, so it has no direct effect on your credit score.
Federal Cases Follow the Same Timeline
Florida’s lis pendens statute reaches lawsuits in both state and federal courts within the state. For a federal court action to give the same constructive notice as a state-court lis pendens, the notice must be recorded in the same manner and place that Florida law requires for state cases.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 U.S. Code 1964 – Constructive Notice of Pending Actions In practice that means filing in the county official records, and the same duration rules apply.
What Bankruptcy Does to the Clock
If the property owner files for bankruptcy, the automatic stay immediately halts most proceedings against the debtor and the debtor’s property, including actions to enforce liens or exercise control over property of the bankruptcy estate.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 362 – Automatic Stay The lis pendens stays on the record, but the lawsuit it depends on cannot move forward without permission from the bankruptcy court. For a filer in the one-year category, that complication is worth raising with counsel early, because the expiration deadline continues to matter even when the underlying case is frozen.