Plantation Real Estate Attorney

Most people who search for a Plantation real estate attorney are trying to reach one of a few outcomes: close a deal that the other side is stalling, force a sale or division of a property that co-owners cannot agree on, clear a cloud off a title, or get a tenant or landlord dispute resolved without it turning into a drawn-out fight. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles real estate transactions and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families in Plantation, Broward County, and throughout Palm Beach County and South Florida.

Real estate problems in this part of Broward tend to look different from the textbook version. A commercial purchase contract falls apart over a financing contingency or a disputed survey. Siblings inherit a house and one wants to sell while the other lives in it. Former business partners hold a building together after the company is gone. A seller backs out because the market moved. Each of these has its own legal path, its own deadlines, and its own way of going wrong if handled casually.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Real Estate Disputes Near Plantation

The Andrew M. It serves Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, and the rest of Broward County, along with Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach County, and it regularly works with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property or business interests in South Florida. The firm’s clients include business owners, investors, and families, and its real estate work covers commercial and residential transactions, failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, landlord and tenant matters, partition actions, and title disputes.

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. His career has been built around complex contract disputes and conflicts between co-owners, which is exactly the terrain where real estate cases tend to get difficult. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts.

The firm’s most recent published result is directly on point for anyone with a contract-enforcement problem. After a five-day bench trial, the Broward County Circuit Court entered a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That outcome, a court ordering the other side to actually complete the deal, is the kind of relief buyers often want and sellers often underestimate.

The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on a matter knows the file and can speak to a client when the phone rings. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Andrew’s own stated view is that clients usually think they want the most aggressive lawyer available but actually want one who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do, with a cost-effective result that makes sense against the money at stake. The attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and for out of state clients the firm handles local court appearances so travel is not required for every hearing. A significant part of the practice comes from referrals by other attorneys, including lawyers outside Florida whose clients have property disputes here.

Real Estate Problems We Handle for Plantation Owners and Investors

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Disputes: A buyer who cannot close, a seller who refuses to, or a dispute over deposits, inspection periods, financing contingencies, or title objections. The written contract controls, so the case usually turns on its exact wording and on what each party did in the weeks before closing.
• Specific Performance Claims: When a buyer wants the property and not just money damages, the remedy is a court order compelling the sale. Florida gives a short window for this type of action, so a buyer who waits to see whether the seller changes his mind can lose the claim.
• Partition Actions: When co-owners cannot agree, any owner can ask a Florida court to divide the property or, when division is impractical, order it sold and split the proceeds. This comes up among former business partners, siblings who inherited together, unmarried couples, and investors who want out of a shared deal.
• Heirs Property Cases: Property held by relatives as tenants in common, often passed down informally, falls under a special statutory framework that gives other family members protective steps before a forced sale. These cases need careful handling because the usual partition shortcuts do not apply.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: A recorded deed, lien, or competing ownership claim can cloud a property and block a sale or refinance. A quiet title action asks the court to cancel the competing claim and confirm who holds title.
• Adverse Possession Disputes: A neighbor or occupant claiming ownership through years of possession, or an owner who needs to defend against that claim. Florida sets strict requirements, including a seven-year possession period and, for claims without a written instrument, a formal filing with the county property appraiser.
• Commercial Lease and Landlord-Tenant Disputes: Unpaid rent, lease defaults, early terminations, and possession fights. Florida’s notice rules are technical, and a defective notice can set a landlord’s case back to the beginning.
• Real Estate Held Through a Company: When the building is owned by an LLC or corporation and the owners are fighting, the property dispute and the business dispute are the same case, with questions of dissolution, buyouts, and misappropriated funds layered on top.

What to Do When a Real Estate Dispute Is Already Underway

The first priority is preserving documents. Gather the signed contract and every amendment, the deed, closing statements, title commitment or policy, survey, correspondence with the other side and with any agents, and records of payments made. Emails and texts matter more than people expect, because disputes about what was agreed often turn on the history of the parties’ dealings. Stop negotiating informally in writing once the relationship has soured; a casual message can later be read as an admission or a waiver.

Deadlines drive strategy, and they differ by claim. A claim on a written contract generally has a five-year limitations period, while a claim on an oral or implied agreement has four. An action for specific performance carries a much shorter one-year period, and an action to rescind a contract has four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer cap of twelve years. Negligence claims, including many professional malpractice theories against inspectors, surveyors, or other advisers, are limited to two years for causes of action arising after the 2023 amendment. Waiting to see how things develop is how people lose claims they would otherwise have won.

For landlords and tenants, the notice is everything. A nonpayment demand gives the tenant three days, not counting weekends and court-observed holidays, to pay or leave. For other lease violations that can be cured, the notice must give seven days to fix the problem, and certain violations that cannot be cured, such as intentional destruction of property, allow a seven-day notice to vacate without a cure period. A landlord who accepts partial rent after posting a notice has to follow specific steps, such as issuing a receipt with the balance due, depositing the money in the court registry when filing, or serving a new notice. A tenant dealing with a landlord who is failing to maintain the unit must give written notice and seven days before the right to terminate arises.

Where the case is heard depends on the amount at stake and the kind of claim. Disputes above the county court ceiling, and cases involving title, partition, or injunctive relief, are filed in circuit court. Broward County cases belong to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County and operates courthouses in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation; the West Regional Courthouse is in Plantation itself. Palm Beach County matters are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. A quiet title complaint can be filed in any county where part of the land sits, and the Seventeenth Circuit also maintains complex business divisions for larger commercial and construction disputes. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and can become relevant when parties are from different states, which is common with out of state owners.

If assets or property are at risk of being moved, encumbered, or sold while the case is pending, ask about emergency relief early. Courts can issue temporary and permanent injunctions to hold things in place, and the firm has experience obtaining them on an expedited basis. The biggest mistakes people make are signing something to “make it go away” without review, stopping payments on a mortgage or lease out of frustration, and letting a deadline pass while hoping the other party comes around.

Partition, Dissolution, and Buyouts When Property Is Owned Together

Co-ownership is where real estate law and business law collide. A partition case in Florida is filed in the chancery side of the circuit court. The complaint has to describe the land, identify the owners and where they live, and state what share each holds. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners to evaluate whether the land can be divided fairly. If they conclude it cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court can order the property sold at public auction and divide the proceeds by ownership interest. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase price must be paid down unless everyone consents otherwise.

Inherited property gets different treatment. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, when the property is held as tenants in common, at least one cotenant took title from a relative, and further conditions are met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. Once a court finds property is heirs property, the special procedures apply unless every cotenant agrees otherwise, and a partition in kind cannot be entered unless the commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group. For families who assume a sale is automatic, this changes the leverage considerably.

When the property sits inside an LLC or corporation, the remedy may be dissolution rather than partition. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a court can dissolve a company on petition of a member or manager where owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury threatens the company, where assets are being misappropriated or wasted, where controlling members are acting illegally or fraudulently, or where it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. In these proceedings the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest. If the operating agreement already contains a deadlock sale mechanism and it is initiated in time, that mechanism can take the place of a judicial dissolution order. For corporations, a shareholder petition can lead to dissolution, but the corporation or the other shareholders may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value, and if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. Courts can also issue injunctions and appoint a receiver to preserve corporate assets while the case is pending.

Plantation Real Estate Questions Answered

What does a real estate attorney do that a title company or broker does not?

Brokers negotiate and title companies insure and close. Neither represents your legal interests if the deal goes wrong. A real estate attorney drafts and reviews contract terms, advises on remedies when a party defaults, and files suit when negotiation fails.

Can I force a seller to go through with the sale?

Often yes, through an action for specific performance, where a court orders the seller to convey the property under the contract. Florida allows one year to bring that action, and the buyer generally has to show he was ready, willing, and able to close. The firm recently obtained a final judgment granting specific performance of a commercial real estate contract after a bench trial in Broward County.

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

For a contract founded on a written instrument, five years. For oral or implied agreements, four. Specific performance is one year, rescission four, and fraud four years from discovery with a twelve-year outer limit. The right deadline depends on how the claim is pleaded, so do not assume the longest one applies.

My sibling and I inherited a house and cannot agree. Can one of us force a sale?

One co-owner can file a partition action, but if the property qualifies as heirs property, the court must follow a protective statutory process that gives other family members time and options before any sale. Whether your situation qualifies depends on how title is held and how the interests are distributed among relatives.

What is the difference between partition and quiet title?

Partition divides or sells property among people who all admittedly own it. Quiet title resolves who owns it, removing a competing claim or a cloud such as a defective deed or an adverse claim. A plaintiff in a quiet title case generally has to trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.

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

Adverse possession is possible under Florida law but requires continuous, exclusive possession under a claim of title for seven years, and a claimant relying on possession without a written instrument has to file a detailed return with the property appraiser that includes a full legal description. A claim under color of title requires the underlying instrument to have been recorded. Owners who discover someone occupying part of their land should address it quickly rather than assume the claim fails.

My business partner and I own a building through an LLC. Can I get out if we deadlock?

That depends first on your operating agreement, which may contain a buyout or deadlock sale mechanism. If it does not, Florida law lets a member petition for judicial dissolution on grounds such as a true deadlock threatening irreparable injury, and the court can order a buyout instead of a wind-down.

What if my partner is draining money from the company that owns our property?

Claims may include breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. Where assets are being moved, a court can order emergency injunctive relief, and in a dissolution case it can appoint a receiver to protect what remains.

Will my case be heard in county court or circuit court?

County court handles civil claims up to a statutory ceiling that is adjusted periodically, and small claims handles the smallest disputes. Larger claims, and cases involving title, partition, or injunctions, go to circuit court. In Broward, larger commercial matters can be directed to the complex business divisions of the Seventeenth Circuit.

I live in New York and own property in Broward. Do I have to be in Florida for the case?

Generally not for every proceeding. The firm handles local court appearances for out of state clients and keeps them informed at each stage, with scheduled calls arranged around the client’s availability.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a landlord-tenant problem?

If the notice is defective or the lease is commercial, yes. Florida’s three-day and seven-day notice requirements are technical, and an error can force a landlord to start over. Tenants benefit too, since improper termination or a landlord’s failure to maintain the property carries its own remedies.

Does every real estate dispute end up in a courtroom?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm’s attorneys are experienced in all three. The goal is the outcome that serves the client’s objectives and budget, not a longer case for its own sake.

Serving Real Estate Clients Across Plantation and South Florida

The team represents property owners and investors in Plantation and the neighboring communities of Sunrise, Davie, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Tamarac, and Weston, as well as Fort Lauderdale, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, and Oakland Park. Farther north in Broward County, the firm serves clients in Coral Springs, Parkland, Margate, Coconut Creek, Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Beach. In Palm Beach County, it works with clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens. Whether the property is a house inherited by siblings, an office building held by former partners, or a shared investment gone sour, the work is the same: protect the client’s position and find the path that makes sense.

Talk With a Plantation Real Estate Lawyer Before the Deadline Decides for You

Real estate disputes reward early action. Limitations periods differ by claim, notice defects can be fatal, and assets can move while a case is pending. If you are looking for a Plantation real estate lawyer to enforce a contract, resolve a partition or title problem, or handle a dispute with a co-owner or tenant, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your documents and explain your options. Call today to schedule a consultation.