Boca Raton Real Estate Litigation Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents property owners, investors, landlords, tenants, and families in Boca Raton whose real estate has become the subject of a fight, and the firm serves clients throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County. Whether the dispute involves a commercial building that never closed, a co-owner who will not sell, or a cloud on title nobody saw coming, a Boca Raton real estate litigation attorney has to read the contract, the deed, and the court calendar at the same time.

Real estate disputes in South Florida tend to be time-sensitive in ways that surprise people. A buyer who wants a seller held to a signed purchase agreement has only one year to bring an action for specific performance, a much shorter window than the five years Florida gives for most claims founded on a written contract. Co-owners locked in a stalemate can ask a court to divide or sell the property. A title defect can sit unnoticed for years and then stop a sale cold. Knowing which clock is running, and which court will hear the case, shapes everything that follows.

The firm handles failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, partition actions, quiet title cases, and landlord and tenant matters, along with the injunctions that sometimes have to be sought before a property is sold, encumbered, or emptied while a case is pending.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Property Disputes

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. The firm serves clients in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and across Palm Beach and Broward Counties.

The firm’s real estate work has produced results at trial. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court entered a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That kind of outcome depends on the same skills that matter in every property case: building a record around the exact language of the agreement, the parties’ course of dealing, and the timeline of who did what and when.

Clients also get a firm that practices as a true team, so everyone working on a file knows it and can answer a call. The firm keeps a strict 24-hour return call policy when attorneys are in court, handles local court appearances for owners who live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut, and works regularly with referring attorneys. Its lawyers are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and they look for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget, not a longer case for its own sake.

Types of Real Estate Disputes We Litigate

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Breaches: A buyer who wants the property can sue for specific performance, which Florida limits to a one-year filing window, while a seller or buyer seeking money damages on a written agreement generally has five years. Disputes often turn on deposit rights, financing and inspection contingencies, and whether a party was ready, willing, and able to close.
• Partition Actions: Florida’s partition statutes let a co-owner ask the circuit court to divide land or, when division would prejudice the owners, order a sale and split the proceeds. These cases arise among former business partners, siblings who inherited a home, unmarried couples, and investors who want out.
• Heirs Property Cases: When tenants in common acquired title from relatives and no binding agreement governs partition, Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act can apply, with added protections such as a buyout opportunity and a presumption favoring division in kind over a forced sale.
• Quiet Title Actions: A suit under Chapter 65 asks the court to settle competing ownership claims or cancel a deed or other instrument that clouds title. A plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise, and the case can be filed in any county where part of the land lies.
• Adverse Possession and Boundary Claims: Florida generally requires seven years of continuous possession, and a claim without color of title must also meet the statutory return and legal description requirements. Disputes over fences, driveways, and unrecorded use of a neighbor’s land often end up here.
• Commercial and Residential Landlord-Tenant Disputes: Unpaid rent, lease defaults, early terminations, and holdovers each follow their own notice rules, and a mistake in the notice can sink an eviction case before it begins.
• Partnership and Co-Owner Property Disputes: When a company owns the real estate and the owners are deadlocked, the fight over the property is usually also a fight over the entity, which can lead to claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, or judicial dissolution.
• Injunctions Affecting Property: Courts can be asked to stop a sale, a transfer, a lockout, or the removal of assets while the underlying dispute is decided.

What to Do When a Property Dispute Is Heading Toward Court

Start by collecting the documents that define the dispute: the signed contract and every amendment, the deed and any title commitment or policy, the closing statement, lease documents, correspondence, text messages, and records of payments. In real estate cases, the paper usually decides the outcome, and a dispute that looks emotional on the surface often resolves into a question about what a specific clause or recorded instrument actually says. Do not sign anything new, and do not stop paying a mortgage, taxes, or insurance on a jointly held property without understanding what that does to your position.

Next, identify the deadlines. A claim on a written contract has five years in Florida, while one on an oral or implied agreement has four. An action to rescind a contract also has four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. A specific performance claim has only one year, and that one catches people who assume they have plenty of time. Negligence claims, such as those against some professionals involved in a transaction, may carry shorter periods and different accrual rules, so the cause of action matters as much as the calendar.

Venue follows the property and the parties. Palm Beach County cases are heard by the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach and a branch courthouse in Delray Beach that serves the southern part of the county, which includes Boca Raton. Broward County cases are heard by the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, with its central courthouse in Fort Lauderdale and regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. A quiet title or partition case is filed where the land sits. Claims at or below the county court limit, which is adjusted periodically by the legislature, go to county court, and larger ones go to circuit court. Broward also maintains complex business divisions in its circuit court for large business and construction litigation, which can matter when a property dispute is entangled with an entity fight. Some disputes with federal jurisdiction go to the Southern District of Florida, which sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Finally, think about speed before filing. If the other side is about to sell, encumber, or strip a property, the right first move may be an application for a temporary injunction, not a complaint that sits for months. A judge will want to see specific facts, not suspicion. The most common mistake is waiting until the other side has already acted, which turns a preventable problem into a recovery problem. Another is negotiating informally for so long that a short limitations period quietly expires.

How Partition Cases Actually Work in Florida

Partition sounds simple, but the procedure has real steps. The complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state what share each holds. Once the court enters a judgment of partition, it appoints three commissioners, unless the parties agree on who they should be, to determine whether the land can be divided fairly. If they report that division would prejudice the owners and the court agrees, the property can be sold at public auction and the proceeds divided in proportion to each owner’s interest. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid at the outset unless everyone consents otherwise.

Heirs property changes the analysis. If title passed down through relatives, no binding agreement governs partition, and the statutory conditions are met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests, the court must apply the heirs property rules unless all cotenants agree otherwise. Those rules favor keeping the property in the family where possible and require the commissioners to weigh specific factors before a division in kind is ruled out. Before filing or defending, a co-owner should know which regime applies, because it determines whether a forced sale is realistic or whether a buyout is the practical endpoint.

When the Property and the Business Are Tangled Together

Many of the real estate cases the firm sees are really ownership disputes in disguise. A building held by an LLC or a corporation can become the center of a fight between members or shareholders, and the remedies come from the entity statutes as much as the property statutes. In an LLC, a member or manager can seek judicial dissolution on grounds such as deadlock that threatens irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, or the impracticability of carrying on under the operating agreement. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member. If the operating agreement has a deadlock sale mechanism that is initiated in time, that provision can take the place of a judicial dissolution order.

For corporations, a shareholder may seek dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders can often elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value, which can end the case without a dissolution. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order on those terms, and the election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. Courts handling these cases can also issue injunctions and take steps to preserve company assets. A lawyer who understands both the entity law and the real estate law can choose the vehicle that actually gets a client the result, whether that is a sale, a buyout, or a partition.

Boca Raton Real Estate Litigation: Common Questions

How long do I have to sue over a breach of a real estate contract in Florida?

For a claim founded on a written contract, the period is five years. A claim on an oral or implied agreement has four years. Specific performance, which asks the court to force the sale to happen, has only one year, so a buyer who wants the property should not wait.

What is specific performance, and when does it make sense?

Specific performance is a court order requiring a party to carry out the contract instead of just paying damages. It is available in real estate because each parcel is considered unique. It tends to fit when a buyer still wants the property and was ready to perform, and less so when money would fully compensate the loss.

Can one co-owner force the sale of a jointly owned property?

Often yes. Florida allows any co-owner to ask the circuit court for partition. If the property cannot be divided fairly, the court can order it sold and the proceeds split by ownership share. Heirs property carries extra protections that can limit or delay a forced sale.

What counts as heirs property under Florida law?

Generally it is real estate held as tenants in common with no binding agreement among all owners about partition, where at least one owner got title from a relative and further statutory conditions apply, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. If it qualifies, the court must use the special heirs property procedures unless all owners agree otherwise.

What is a quiet title action?

It is a lawsuit asking the court to declare who owns land and, where needed, cancel a deed or other instrument that clouds title. A plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. These cases can be filed in any county where part of the land is located.

Can I claim a neighbor’s land because I have used it for years?

Possibly, but Florida’s requirements are strict. Adverse possession generally requires seven years of continuous possession under a claim of title, and the statute adds procedural steps, including a return with a full legal description of the land claimed. Claims under color of title also depend on recording of the underlying instrument.

What notice does a landlord need before evicting a tenant for unpaid rent?

Under the residential landlord-tenant statute, the landlord delivers written demand for payment or possession, and if the default continues for three days after delivery, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays, the landlord may terminate. A defect in the notice can undermine the entire case.

Does accepting partial rent ruin an eviction?

Not automatically. A landlord does not give up the right to terminate or sue by taking partial rent, but the statute requires specific steps afterward, such as giving the tenant a dated receipt stating the balance due, depositing the partial payment in the court registry when filing, or serving a new three-day notice for the reduced amount.

Can a court stop a sale of property while a lawsuit is pending?

Yes. Courts can issue temporary injunctions to preserve property and assets when a party shows that harm is likely before the case can be decided. The request has to be backed by specific facts, and speed matters because the relief is meant to prevent a transfer or loss that cannot be undone.

I live in New York and own property in Palm Beach County. Do I have to travel for every hearing?

No. The firm handles the local court appearances and proceedings for out-of-state owners and keeps clients informed at each stage, so a client from New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut can protect a South Florida interest without making repeated trips.

Do property disputes always end in a trial?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, especially when a buyout or structured sale gives both sides what they need. The firm’s attorneys are experienced in alternative dispute resolution as well as trial work, and they pursue the path most likely to reach the client’s goal efficiently.

Serving Real Estate Litigation Clients From Boca Raton Across South Florida

From Boca Raton, the firm represents owners and investors throughout southern Palm Beach County, including Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Lantana, and Lake Worth. Work extends north through Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Jupiter, and Palm Beach Gardens to West Palm Beach, where the county’s main courthouse sits. The firm also serves clients across Broward County, from Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Parkland, and Coral Springs through Pompano Beach, Margate, Tamarac, and Plantation, and down to Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Davie.

Many of the people the firm represents own a condominium, commercial building, or investment parcel here while living elsewhere, and the firm regularly works with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, as well as with referring attorneys whose clients have disputes in Florida. Whether the property is a waterfront home, a strip center, an office building, or vacant land, the venue question is answered by where the land sits and who the parties are, and the firm handles cases in the circuit courts of both counties.

Speak With a Boca Raton Real Estate Litigation Lawyer

When a closing collapses, a co-owner digs in, or a title problem threatens a sale, the options narrow quickly, and the right first step depends on the documents and the deadline. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a Boca Raton real estate litigation lawyer for owners, investors, and families who need a clear read on their position and a plan that fits their goals and budget. Call to schedule a consultation and talk through your situation with the team.