A sample motion to expunge a lis pendens in California is built around three statutory grounds in Code of Civil Procedure sections 405.31, 405.32, and 405.33, and the package you file typically contains four documents: a notice of motion, a memorandum of points and authorities, supporting declarations with exhibits, and a proposed order. The claimant who recorded the notice carries the burden of justifying it, and any party to the lawsuit — or a nonparty with an interest in the property — can bring the motion at any time after recording.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.30 – Motion to Expunge
Pick Your Ground Before You Draft Anything
The ground you choose determines what your memorandum has to argue, what evidence your declarations need to carry, and whether the court can condition expungement on a bond. California gives you three statutory grounds plus a procedural challenge.
No Real Property Claim in the Pleading
The court must expunge the notice if the complaint does not contain a real property claim — a claim that, if the plaintiff wins, would directly affect title to or possession of the property. A suit for money damages, even one arising out of a real estate deal, does not qualify. The court looks only at the pleading itself.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.31 – Expungement for Lack of Real Property Claim
This is the cleanest ground because the complaint is often the only exhibit you need. If you win on this basis, the court cannot condition expungement on a bond. The notice simply comes off.
Claimant Cannot Establish Probable Validity
When the complaint does plead a real property claim, the court must still expunge the notice if the claimant fails to show the claim is probably valid. Probable validity means more likely than not to prevail. The claimant bears the burden by a preponderance of the evidence, not you.3California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.32
This is the most heavily litigated ground. Your memorandum attacks missing elements of the cause of action, contradictory evidence, limitations problems, and defenses. Again, no bond substitute is available: if the claimant fails this test, the notice must be expunged.
Adequate Relief Through an Undertaking
If the claim is probably valid but money could make the claimant whole, the court must expunge on the condition that you post a bond covering the damages the claimant would suffer from removal if they later win the case.4California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.33 – Expungement of Notice The court sets a return date to confirm the undertaking. Miss it and the motion is denied without further hearing. This is the fallback when grounds one and two look weak but you need to close a sale or refinance before the lawsuit ends.
Procedural Defects
Before recording, the claimant must mail a copy of the notice to all adverse parties and all record owners by certified or registered mail.5California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.22 – Service of Notice Defective service, recording against a property not described in the complaint, or recording before the lawsuit was filed can each support expungement. Procedural challenges usually ride alongside one of the statutory grounds rather than stand alone.
What to Include in the Motion Package
Four documents go in, and they are filed in the Superior Court where the underlying lawsuit is pending.
Notice of Motion
The notice tells the court and the claimant what you want and when the hearing is set. Identify the Code of Civil Procedure section you are moving under (405.31, 405.32, 405.33, or a combination), the date, time, and department of the hearing, and the property. Include the legal description and assessor’s parcel number so the court can match the motion to the recorded document.
Memorandum of Points and Authorities
This is the legal brief. It lays out the statutory framework, applies the facts, and explains why expungement is required. If you are moving under section 405.32, work through each element of the claimant’s real property cause of action and show where the proof fails. If you are moving under section 405.31, keep the brief focused on the four corners of the complaint — the question is whether any pleaded cause of action, taken at face value, would affect title or possession.
Supporting Declarations and Exhibits
Declarations supply the facts. Each one is signed under penalty of perjury and based on personal knowledge. Attach the recorded lis pendens, the complaint, deeds, contracts, correspondence, and anything else that undermines the claimant’s position. A section 405.31 motion may need no exhibit beyond the complaint itself. A section 405.32 motion typically needs considerably more.
Proposed Order
Give the judge a signable draft. The proposed order should describe the property by legal description and APN, identify the lis pendens by recording date, instrument number, and county, and direct the county recorder to expunge the notice. A clean proposed order shortens the gap between the ruling and the signed order you take to the recorder.
Filing Fees, Service, and the Hearing Timeline
Fees
The motion filing fee in California Superior Court is $60 as of January 1, 2026, unless the motion is your first paper in the case, in which case the first-appearance fee applies instead. After the hearing you will need a certified copy of the signed order to record; the certification fee is $40.6California Courts. Statewide Civil Fee Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
Service
Serve the claimant and their attorney of record at least 16 court days before the hearing. Add five calendar days for mail within California, ten for mail to an address elsewhere in the United States, and two for overnight delivery or fax.7California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1005 – Written Notice These are floors. Missing them by a day is a valid objection, so build in a buffer.
Hearing Priority
California law requires courts to give priority to lis pendens expungement motions, so your motion should move faster than a typical law-and-motion matter.
Attorney’s Fees and Pre-Hearing Leverage
The court is required to award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the prevailing party on the motion unless the losing side acted with substantial justification or other circumstances make an award unjust.8California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.38 – Attorney Fees and Costs For a property owner, that means your motion costs are recoverable if you win. For a claimant with a shaky lis pendens, the exposure creates pressure to withdraw voluntarily.
Substantial justification is not automatic. The losing side must affirmatively convince the court that its position was reasonable. If the claimant recorded against a complaint with no real property claim, that argument is hard to make.
A withdrawal is handled by the claimant recording a notice of withdrawal with the same county recorder. The withdrawal must be signed by the party who recorded the notice (or a successor in interest) and acknowledged.9Justia Law. California Code CCP 405.50 – Withdrawal of Notice A demand letter citing section 405.38 before you file the motion often does the job.
Forcing a Bond Instead of Full Expungement
You can also move to require the claimant to post a bond as a condition of keeping the notice on title. Any person with an interest in the property can bring this motion, with or without an expungement motion pending.10California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.34 – Undertaking to Maintain Notice The court sets the type and amount. If the claimant misses the deadline, the lis pendens is expunged automatically with no further hearing. The court cannot order a bond under this section when the pleading has no real property claim or the claimant has failed to establish probable validity, because in those cases the notice must be expunged outright.
After the Ruling
Writ of Mandate, Not Appeal
Orders on lis pendens motions are not appealable. The losing side must petition the Court of Appeal for a writ of mandate within 20 days of receiving written notice of the order, and the trial court can extend that once by up to 10 days.11California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 405.39 – Nonappealability of Orders Do not record the expungement order until the writ period runs. Recording early and then losing on writ leaves a messy gap in the title record.
Recording the Order
Once the writ period closes, pick up a certified copy of the signed order from the clerk and record it with the county recorder in the county where the lis pendens was filed. The notice remains visible on a title search until that order is recorded, even after the court has invalidated it.