Brandolino v. Lindsay

In Brandolino v. Lindsay (1969) 269 Cal. App. 2d 319, the plaintiffs brought an action alleging alternative causes of action for specific performance of a contract to convey real property and damages for breach of that contract, and recorded a lis pendens describing the subject property. ( Id. at p. 322.) The Court of Appeal rejected the appealing defendants' argument that plaintiffs' recording of the lis pendens limited them to their specific performance cause of action and precluded their recovery of breach of contract damages. ( Id. at pp. 325-326.) After stating that the plaintiffs could properly seek specific performance and damages, alternatively, the court noted, " 'The purpose of a lis pendens is merely to furnish a means of notifying all persons of the pendency of an action, and thereby to bind any person who may acquire an interest in property, subsequent to the institution of the action, by any judgment which may be secured in the action affecting the property,' " and held that the plaintiffs' recording of the lis pendens did not preclude them from recovering damages in the event that specific performance could not be ordered. (Ibid.)