Neighbor filed lis pendens against my house in Ca.

[SWalker]

HELP!!! My next door neighbor (zero lot line) said my sprinkler caused mold to occur in her house (she leases it out). She requested I make appropriate changes to my sprinklers and drainage which I immediately did. Her carpenter estimated $275 for the damage to her house but she has never asked me for any money. She filed a claim with my ins. co and today filed a lis pendens against my house. The lein says she wants $6,000 (previous tenants trashed her house and were evicted). My house WAS supposed to close in 4 days but now will be delayed. My question - can she legally file a lis pendens if she has NO interest in my property?

[elklaw]

Usually, the owner will file for lis pendens, but the thing that should concern you is the amount of the lis pendens. I think you should contest that with the court because if the damage is $275, then why is the lis pendens $6,000.

[SWalker]

As it turns out, she is trying to use lis pendens as a scare tactic to try and extort money from me when she has no "interest" in my house. I've learned that lis pendens is used only in cases where posession or title are involved. Her issue is $$ - she hasn't been able to lease her house and wants me to pay her the equivalent of 2 months rent. Since the lis pendens was filed but not recorded, I'll wait and see if I have any recourse against her to pay my attorney's fees. And she's a real estate agent - she should know better, but then maybe she did.

Thanks for the reply!! This is a great forum.

[SWalker]

Update and question: Is this a Crime?

1. This neighbor filed a claim in small claims court for $5,000 to use as the basis of the lis pendens - (lis pendens doesn't work this way. It cannot be from small claims)
2. Her atty told me that the reason she filed the small claims suit was because I "wasn't cooperating with the insurance co." (which really means I'm not going along with the story SHE's telling my insurance co) and that she wanted $6,300 to make her go away.
3. The lis pendens was never recorded so my escrow closed anyway. My attorney made her rescind the lien she filed.
4. She told the new buyers of my house that she knew it hadn't been recorded and that she was doing it to raise a red flad for THEM - it has nothing whatsoever to do with them. (She's now bullying them)
5. She has lied to my insurance company and she lied on the small claims application.
6. The morning she filed the lis pendens she had called the escrow company trying to find out when the escrow was going to close saying she wanted to use the house as a comp (she's an agent).

When this first started 2 months ago, she tried to bully me into making a personal liability claim with my insurance co - I was right in the middle of changing ins. co's and didn't want to make a claim for a few hundred dollars. She threatened to turn me in to the HOA, make the claim anyway AND slap a lien on me so I couldn't sell my house. She did all 3.

I filed a counter-suit in small claims for my attorney's fees partly because I don't think she would have showed up. Just yanking my chain again. We go to court on 7/28

My question is this: since she had her atty file a lien against me knowing that it would not be recorded, does this constitute harassment or extortion of any kind??? Can she be held accountable for her maliciousness???

[grasmicc]

Get an aggressive attorney. This lady is in over her head. You can sue for damages and attorneys fees and possibly even seek punitive damages based on fraud against her and the attorney.

In order to get this done, you need to get it out of small claims court first. Find an aggressive attorney.