Pembroke Pines Real Estate Attorney

A real estate dispute that starts in Pembroke Pines is a Broward County case, which means it is filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and that choice of court shapes how fast the case moves, who hears it, and how much leverage each side has. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business litigation and real estate firm that represents owners, investors, landlords, tenants, and families in disputes and transactions across Broward County, Palm Beach County, and the rest of South Florida. If you are looking for a Pembroke Pines real estate attorney, the first question is usually not “can I sue” but “what is the quickest way to stop the damage and fix the ownership problem.”

Most real estate trouble falls into a handful of patterns: a buyer or seller walks away from a signed contract, co-owners cannot agree on a property they hold together, someone else claims a piece of your title, or a landlord and tenant reach the point where notices start flying. Each one runs on its own clock and its own rules. Some have deadlines as short as one year, and others take months of procedure before a judge decides anything.

We handle both sides of the business: real estate transactions and the litigation that follows when a transaction or ownership arrangement goes wrong.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Pembroke Pines Real Estate Matters

The Andrew M. We serve clients in Pembroke Pines and throughout Broward County, along with Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach County. Our work covers real estate transactions and litigation, partition actions, quiet title and title disputes, partnership and co-owner disputes, injunctions, and outside general counsel services.

Andrew M. Schwartz, our founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built around complex contract disputes and conflicts between co-owners. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. He is joined by Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts.

Relevant proof matters more than adjectives. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That is a case about forcing a deal to close rather than collecting damages for a deal that collapsed, and it required careful preparation around the contract language and the history between the parties.

We practice as a true legal team, so everyone working on your file knows it and can answer when you call. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy, and we look for the resolution that fits your goals and budget, whether that is mediation, arbitration, or a courtroom. Many of our matters come from referrals by other attorneys, and we handle local court appearances for owners who live outside Florida, including clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Common Real Estate Problems We Handle for Pembroke Pines Owners

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Disputes: A buyer who refuses to close, a seller who backs out for a better offer, or a financing or inspection dispute that turns into a deposit fight. Remedies can include damages, return of a deposit, or an order compelling the sale to go through.
• Partition of Jointly Owned Property: Siblings who inherited a home, former business partners holding an investment property, or unmarried couples who bought together and cannot agree on selling. Florida courts handle partition in chancery under Chapter 64.
• Heirs Property Cases: When property is held in common among relatives who acquired title from a family member, Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act can change how the case is run, including how a sale is approached.
• Quiet Title and Cloud on Title: A competing deed, a disputed conveyance, or a claim by someone who says they own part of your land. A quiet title action asks the court to decide who owns the property and remove the competing claim.
• Adverse Possession Claims: A neighbor or occupant asserting ownership after years of use. Florida sets specific requirements, including seven years of continuous possession and formal steps with the county property appraiser.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Rent defaults, personal guaranties, build-out disagreements, and renewal fights between landlords and business tenants in shopping centers and office space.
• Landlord and Tenant Disputes: Nonpayment, lease violations, and terminations governed by the notice rules in Chapter 83, where a defective notice can derail an eviction.
• Co-Owner and Business Entity Property Disputes: Property held through an LLC or corporation where members or shareholders are deadlocked, funds have gone missing, or one owner is acting against the others.

What to Do Right Now If a Real Estate Dispute Has Started

Start with paper. Gather the signed contract, any amendments, the deed, the closing statement, your title policy if you have one, emails and texts with the other side, and every notice either party has sent. In real estate cases the document usually decides the outcome, and the first conversation with an attorney goes much faster when the documents are in one place.

Then check the clock. Florida’s deadlines differ sharply by claim type. A lawsuit on a written contract generally has five years, while an oral or implied contract has four. A suit to rescind a contract has four years. Fraud runs four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve. The one that catches people off guard is specific performance, the claim to force a sale to close, which carries a one-year period. If you want the property rather than money, waiting is the most expensive choice you can make.

If you are a landlord or tenant, read the notice you received before doing anything else. For unpaid rent, the tenant has three days after delivery of the written demand, not counting weekends and court-observed holidays, before the landlord may terminate. For other lease violations the landlord must typically give seven days to fix the problem, unless the violation cannot be cured, in which case a seven-day notice to vacate can be delivered. Accepting partial rent after a nonpayment notice has its own traps: the landlord keeps the right to terminate but must follow specific steps, such as giving a receipt, depositing the money with the court registry when filing, or posting a fresh notice for the new amount.

Know where your case will be heard. A Pembroke Pines property lies in Broward County, so state court cases are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Disputes between roughly eight thousand and fifty thousand dollars go to county court, and larger claims go to circuit court. Claims for partition, quiet title, injunctions, and specific performance are equitable matters heard in circuit court. The Seventeenth Circuit also operates complex business divisions that handle larger business and construction disputes, and a qualifying case can be filed directly into one. Cases with federal grounds can end up in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which sits in Fort Lauderdale.

Finally, avoid the common mistakes: do not move out of a shared property without advice, do not stop paying a mortgage or taxes on a co-owned property and assume the other side will cover it, do not sign a quitclaim deed or a “settlement” a co-owner hands you, and do not delay if money, deeds, or title are being moved. When assets or property are at risk, we can seek temporary or emergency injunctive relief to hold things in place while the case proceeds.

How Partition and Quiet Title Cases Move Through a Broward Courtroom

A partition case begins with a complaint that describes the land, names every owner and where they live, and states what share each holds. If the court finds a right to partition, it enters a judgment and appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree on who they should be. The commissioners decide whether the property can be physically divided without harming the owners. A single-family home in Pembroke Pines usually cannot be, so the likely outcome is a court-ordered sale at public auction, with proceeds split in proportion to ownership. The court can allow a sale on credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the price must be paid down unless everyone consents otherwise.

Heirs property changes the playbook. If the property qualifies, the court must follow the heirs property procedures unless all co-owners agree otherwise, and a partition in kind is not entered unless commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that a division would prejudice the co-owners as a group. These rules were designed to keep family land from being forced into a sale too easily, so identifying early whether your property qualifies matters.

Quiet title works differently. The plaintiff asks a court of equity to decide ownership and cancel any conveyance or other record that clouds title. The plaintiff must trace title back at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise, and the case can be filed in any county where part of the land sits. When the claim rests on an alleged fraudulent conveyance, Florida law allows summary procedure, and the court is directed to move the case up on its calendar. For owners trying to close, refinance, or sell, that faster track can make the difference.

When the co-owners are also business partners, the property fight often travels with a dissolution fight. Florida allows a court to dissolve an LLC where members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, where assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or where carrying on the business under the operating agreement is not reasonably practicable. A court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member. Many operating agreements contain deadlock-sale provisions, and those can control. Reading your agreement before filing anything is essential.

Pembroke Pines Real Estate Questions We Hear Most

When do I need a real estate attorney for a Pembroke Pines purchase or sale?

Any time the contract is unusual, the property is commercial, an investor group is involved, or the other side has already started to push back. Residential closings with clean paperwork often move without a lawyer, but a signed contract that has gone sideways is a litigation question, and early advice usually preserves more options.

The buyer backed out of our contract. What can I do?

Depending on the contract, you may be able to keep the deposit, sue for damages, or seek specific performance to force the closing. Specific performance has a one-year filing period, so waiting to see whether the buyer changes their mind can cost you that remedy.

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

A written contract claim has five years. An oral or implied contract has four. Rescission has four years, and fraud has four years from discovery up to a twelve-year cap. Specific performance is one year. The 2023 negligence change from four years to two did not alter the written-contract period.

Can one co-owner force a sale of a house we own together?

Generally, yes. A co-owner can ask the court for partition. If the property cannot be divided fairly, which is typical for a single home, the court can order it sold and the proceeds divided by ownership share. Heirs property has additional protections.

What is a quiet title action?

It is a lawsuit asking a court to decide who owns a piece of land and to cancel competing deeds or claims that cloud the title. It is commonly used after a disputed conveyance, an old unreleased claim, or a disagreement among heirs.

My relative left us a property and one sibling wants to sell. What are my rights?

If title passed from a relative and the co-owners hold it as tenants in common, the property may qualify as heirs property. If it does, the court must follow special partition procedures, which include a valuation process and opportunities for co-owners to buy out the one who wants to sell.

Can someone take my land by living on it for seven years?

Adverse possession in Florida requires continuous possession for seven years under a claim of title, plus a formal return filed with the county property appraiser that includes a full legal description. It is a demanding standard, but an owner who ignores a long-term occupant can face a real problem.

My tenant has not paid rent. How fast can I terminate?

A written demand for rent or possession starts a three-day period, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays. If the tenant does not pay within that time, the landlord may terminate and proceed to court. A mistake in the notice can force you to start over.

Does accepting partial rent ruin my eviction?

Not automatically. The landlord does not waive the right to terminate by accepting partial rent, but must follow one of three paths: give a written receipt stating the date, amount, and balance due, place the money in the court registry upon filing, or post a new three-day notice reflecting the reduced amount.

Which court handles a Pembroke Pines real estate lawsuit?

State court cases go to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Claims of moderate size go to county court, and larger claims, plus equitable claims like partition and quiet title, go to circuit court. Federal cases proceed in the Southern District of Florida.

Can you represent me if I live in New York or New Jersey and own property in Broward County?

Yes. We regularly represent owners from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, handle the Florida court appearances, and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Does every real estate dispute end up in a courtroom?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and our attorneys are experienced in all of them. We pursue the path that is most likely to reach your goal at a cost that makes sense.

Serving Real Estate Clients in Pembroke Pines and Across South Florida

We represent property owners in Pembroke Pines and throughout Broward County, including neighboring Miramar, Hollywood, Davie, Cooper City, Weston, and Southwest Ranches. Our Broward clients also come from Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Sunrise, Coral Springs, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Margate, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Lauderhill, Tamarac, and Hallandale Beach, whether they own a single-family home, a retail center, or a share of an investment property.

Our work also extends north into Palm Beach County, where we serve clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, West Palm Beach, and neighboring communities. Disputes often cross county lines, such as co-owners split between Broward and Palm Beach or a business entity in one county holding land in the other, and we handle matters in both the Seventeenth and Fifteenth Judicial Circuits. We also work with owners who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and hold Florida property, along with attorneys who refer us Florida matters.

Talk With a Pembroke Pines Real Estate Attorney Before the Deadline Decides for You

Real estate disputes reward early action and punish delay, whether the issue is a one-year specific performance window, a notice period measured in days, or a co-owner moving money or title. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your documents, tell you plainly which claims and deadlines apply, and recommend the quickest route to resolution. Call to schedule a consultation with a Pembroke Pines real estate attorney who has spent decades litigating South Florida property and business disputes.