Lis Pendens
Understand lis pendens in Canadian real estate — what it is, how it affects title, and why it matters in property transactions.
August 08, 2025
What is Lis Pendens?
Lis pendens is a legal notice filed in the land registry indicating that a property is subject to ongoing litigation that may affect its title.
Why Lis Pendens Matters in Real Estate
In Canadian real estate, lis pendens warns potential buyers or lenders of legal disputes that could impact property ownership.
Key points:
- Recorded in the land registry during litigation
- Clouds title and can hinder sales or financing
- Can be removed if litigation is resolved or dismissed
Understanding lis pendens helps parties assess risk in property transactions.
Example of Lis Pendens in Action
A lis pendens was filed on the property due to a boundary dispute, discouraging potential buyers.
Key Takeaways
- Public notice of litigation affecting property
- Filed with the land registry
- Can prevent sale or financing of property
- Must be resolved or removed to clear title
- Important for buyers and lenders to check
An overview of Hedge Road Landing. (Alliance Homes)
6525 Mississauga Road and its surrounding context. (RBC Capital Markets & CBRE)
Property details for 6525 Mississauga Road. (RBC Capital Markets & CBRE)
National average resale-price growth and housing-starts growth, smoothed over three months. The comparison illustrates the cycle; it does not establish how much a price change causes construction to change.
Trailing 12-month starts in centres of 50,000 or more remove the usual monthly seasonality. Ownership combines the homeowner and condominium categories; rental is shown separately.
Six-month averages of provincial starts, expressed at annual rates. The smoothing reduces the influence of individual apartment projects.
The same August benchmark compared with two different starting points. Three-month changes are not annualized.
Average sale prices show the difference in purchase costs across markets. They do not measure affordability relative to local incomes or construction costs.
Newfoundland and Labrador remains above its pre-pandemic sales pattern, but August activity was below last year. Historical lines retain their original release vintages.
Average and median describe different aspects of the same month’s transactions. Both are affected by the mix of homes sold.
Category averages compare different homes and locations; the gaps are not estimates of the cost to upgrade an otherwise identical property.
The five categories shown account for 5,000 of the board’s 5,057 sales. The remaining 57 transactions were in other housing categories.
Monthly observations are not seasonally adjusted. Active listings count properties available at month-end; they are not construction inventory.
Average and median prices share one dollar axis. These unadjusted transaction measures do not control for changes in the homes sold.
TRREB’s 416/905 categories compare the apartments sold in each area. The difference does not isolate a location premium for equivalent units.