The definitions in this chapter govern the construction of this title.
§ 405.Generally
Title 4.5. Recording Notice of Certain Actions · Chapter 1. Definitions and General Provisions · Enacted 1992 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 405 states that the definitions set out in the sections right after it -- claimant, notice of pendency, probable validity, and real property claim -- control how every other section in Title 4.5 is read.
Full Text of § 405
Plain-English Summary
Section 405 is a short pointer, not a substantive rule. It tells you that the words defined in the sections that follow -- § 405.1 through § 405.4 -- carry fixed meanings throughout the rest of this title, the one that governs California's lis pendens procedure.
That matters because lis pendens practice turns on a handful of terms of art. Whether someone recording a notice qualifies as a “claimant,” whether their pleading states a “real property claim,” and how solid that claim needs to be to survive a challenge (the “probable validity” standard) all trace back to the definitions this section incorporates. Read § 405 as the doorway into the chapter, not a rule you would cite on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Section 405 of the California Code of Civil Procedure do?
It directs courts to apply the definitions in the sections that follow -- claimant, notice of pendency, probable validity, and real property claim -- whenever those terms appear elsewhere in Title 4.5.
Is Section 405 itself a rule about recording a lis pendens?
No. It only sets up the definitions used throughout the rest of the title; the recording procedure begins at § 405.20.
Where do the substantive lis pendens rules start if Section 405 is just definitions?
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1992, Ch. 883, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1993.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: lis pendens definitions californiacalifornia notice of pendency of action statute