Virginia § 8.01-268 - When and how docketed and indexed

§ 8.01-268. When and how docketed and indexed

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'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'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'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 (§ 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 (§ 8.01-81 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 8.01, or (iv) to enforce a zoning ordinance.

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