A notice of pendency is effective only if, within thirty days after filing, a summons is served upon the defendant or first publication of the summons against the defendant is made pursuant to an order and publication is subsequently completed. If the defendant dies within thirty days after filing and before the summons is served upon him or publication is completed, the notice is effective only if the summons is served upon his executor or administrator within sixty days after letters are issued.
§ 6512.Service of summons.
Article 65. Notice of Pendency · Last amended 1994 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 6512 makes a notice of pendency effective only if the summons is served on the defendant, or publication is completed, within thirty days after filing, with a sixty-day extension if the defendant dies before service.
Full Text of CPLR 6512
Plain-English Summary
Filing a notice of pendency is only the first step -- CPLR 6512 makes sure the filer follows through. The notice takes effect only if, within thirty days of filing, the defendant is served with the summons, or service by publication begins under a court order and is later completed. Miss that window, and the notice loses the constructive-notice force section 6501 gives it, regardless of how carefully it was filed and indexed.
The statute also covers the case where the defendant dies before service happens. If death occurs within the thirty-day window and before service or completed publication, the notice can still hold up, but only if the summons is served on the defendant's executor or administrator within sixty days after letters testamentary or letters of administration are issued.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do you have to serve the summons after filing a notice of pendency?
Thirty days from the date of filing, or the notice loses its effect.
What if the defendant is served by publication instead of personally?
The notice remains effective if publication is made pursuant to a court order within the thirty-day window and is later completed.
What happens to a notice of pendency if the defendant dies before service?
If death occurs within thirty days after filing and before service or completed publication, the notice is still effective if the summons is served on the defendant's executor or administrator within sixty days after letters are issued.
Does failing to serve the summons in time automatically cancel the notice from the record?
Section 6512 makes the notice ineffective once the deadline passes, though a court may still need to act, such as through a cancellation motion under section 6514, to have it formally removed from the record.
Can a notice of pendency be revived if service is completed late?
The statute ties the notice's effectiveness to timely service within thirty days, so a late service does not restore the notice retroactively.
Advisory Committee Notes
This section is derived from the last two sentences of CPA § 120. The 1957 recommendation of the Judicial Conference to reduce the period for service of summons to thirty days (see 2 NY Jud Conference Rep 109-112 (1957)) was not enacted by the Legislature. The proposal was intended to parallel CPA § 905, which provided thirty days where a warrant of attachment had been granted. This section has been drafted to conform with § 6213. Express listing of the possible methods of service has been omitted; any method appropriate to the case may be utilized. See article 3. Similarly, this section omits as unnecessary the recitation in CPA § 120 of examples of the types of representatives who may be served if the defendant dies before being served but after a notice is filed. Under the first sentence of CPA § 123, the court might have ordered a notice of pendency cancelled if the plaintiff had failed to serve a summons within the time limited by CPA § 120. See § 6514(a). While an order of cancellation presents a method of clearing the record, this section makes it clear that the notice is ineffective, whether or not cancelled, if the summons is not timely served.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308; amd, L 1994, ch 563, § 8, eff July 26, 1994.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: CPLR 6512 service of summons lis pendensnotice of pendency thirty days service NYlis pendens expiration service requirement New York