                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

WHEN AND HOW DOCKETED AND INDEXED (§ 8.01-268)

A. No lis pendens or attachment shall bind or affect a subsequent bona fide
purchaser of real or personal estate for valuable consideration and without
actual notice of such lis pendens or attachment, until and except from the time
a memorandum setting forth the title of the cause or attachment, the general
object thereof, the court wherein it is pending, the amount of the claim
asserted by the plaintiff, a description of the property, the name of the person
whose estate is intended to be affected thereby, and in an action to enforce a
zoning ordinance a description of the alleged violation, shall be admitted to
record in the clerk&#8217;s office of the circuit court of the county or the
city wherein the property is located; or if it be in that part of the City of
Richmond lying north of the south bank of the James River and including the
islands in such river, in the clerk&#8217;s office of the Circuit Court,
Division I, of such city, or if it be in the part of the City of Richmond lying
south of the south bank of the James River, in the clerk&#8217;s office of the
Circuit Court, Division II, of such city. Clerks of circuit courts are
authorized and directed to admit to record memoranda of lis pendens or
attachment for actions pending in any court of this Commonwealth, or in any
other state, federal, or territorial court. The provisions of this section shall
not be construed to mean that any such memoranda heretofore recorded are not
properly of record. Such memorandum shall not be deemed to have been recorded
unless and until indexed as required by law. A memorandum of lis pendens
admitted to record in an action to enforce a zoning ordinance shall expire after
180 days.

B. No memorandum of lis pendens shall be filed unless the action on which the
lis pendens is based seeks (i) to establish an interest by the filing party in
the real property described in the memorandum, (ii) to sell the real property to
enforce a lien for delinquent taxes pursuant to the provisions of Article 4
(&#xA7; 58.1-3965 et seq.) of Chapter 39 of Title 58.1 or a docketed judgment
lien, (iii) the partition of real property pursuant to Article 9 (&#xA7; 8.01-81
et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 8.01, or (iv) to enforce a zoning ordinance.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 8-142; 1973, c. 544; 1976, c. 178; 1977, c. 617; 1988, c.
503; 2008, cc. 60, 204; 2025, c. 267.