In a September 28, 2010 decision by Justice Kitzes, the Court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint which sought specific performance of a real estate contract and to set aside a conveyance of real property. The plaintiff argued that he filed a Notice of Pendency on March 2004, but admitted that it had not been properly entered in the lien system by the County Clerk, and had not been so indexed until April 30, 2007, after the conveyance was made. In granting summary judgment, the Court held that the defendants did not have actual or constructive notice of the plaintiff’s claims until April 30, 2007, because only the filing and indexing of a Notice of Pendency can apprise a prospective purchaser or encumbrancer of the pendency of an action, and even then, the filing of a lis pendens does not create a substantive right, but merely preserves an existing right, nor precludes a party from conveying real property.
Del Pozo v Impressive Homes, Sup Ct Queens County, September 28, 2010, Kitzes, J, Index No. 5345/04