In California, there are essentially two ways to remove a lis pendens (notice of pendency of action). The first way to remove a lis pendens is withdrawal. Withdrawal is a voluntary act by the party that initially recorded and filed the lis pendens, and usually occurs as a result of the settlement of the litigation or some other agreement between the litigants. The second method to remove a lis pendens is expungement. Any party to the litigation, or a non-party who has an interest in the real property (with prior court permission), may ask the court to expunge the notice.

There are several grounds for expungement. The most common one, perhaps, is that the claim does not sufficiently affect an interest in the property described in the lis pendens. Another common ground for expunging a lis pendens is that the plaintiff appears to have little chance of prevailing, i.e. his claim is not very good. Since expungement is fairly technical, anyone seeking expungement should seek the advice of competent local counsel.