Broward County Real Estate Litigation Attorney

A real estate dispute in Broward County is heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and the courthouse where it lands depends on the amount at stake, the type of claim, and sometimes whether the case qualifies for the circuit’s complex business docket. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, landlords, tenants, and co-owners throughout Broward and Palm Beach Counties, and a Broward County real estate litigation attorney from our team can tell you early which path your dispute belongs on.

Most of these cases start the same way. A buyer or seller walks from a signed contract. Two people own a property and one wants out. A title record shows a claim that should not be there. A lease falls apart. Each of these has its own deadlines and its own remedies, and choosing the wrong one, or waiting too long, can cost you the claim itself.

Below is how these disputes work in practice, what the Florida statutes say about the most common ones, and what you should be doing right now if a property or a transaction is in trouble.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in some of South Florida’s hardest business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and across Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989.

Joining him is Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience handling business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters in this market, because Broward disputes sometimes belong in the Seventeenth Circuit and sometimes in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Proof matters more than promises. In 2024, 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. Getting a judge to order a seller to actually close on a property, rather than just pay damages, takes careful trial preparation and a clean record of the parties’ dealings.

Clients also deal with a true team. Everyone working on a file knows it, we answer the phone, and we keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court. Our attorneys are comfortable in mediation and arbitration as well as the courtroom, and we look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget. We also represent out of state clients, including many from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own Florida property, and we take referrals from other attorneys whose clients have disputes here.

Types of Real Estate Disputes We Litigate in Broward County

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Breaches: Buyers who cannot close, sellers who accept a better offer, and disputes over contingencies, deposits, and extensions. Remedies can include damages or a court order compelling the sale.
• Specific Performance Actions: When the property is unique, money may not make the buyer whole. Florida sets a short one-year limitations period for specific performance, so these claims cannot sit.
• Partition Actions: One co-owner wants out and the other will not agree. Chapter 64 governs, and the court can divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds split among the owners.
• Heirs Property Disputes: Relatives who inherited real estate as tenants in common are protected by a separate statutory framework with its own buyout and valuation steps before a forced sale.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: Competing deeds, clouds on title, and claims by people who should not hold any interest. Chapter 65 lets a court determine ownership and remove the cloud.
• Adverse Possession Claims: Boundary and occupancy fights where one party has used land for years. Florida requires seven years of continuous possession and strict statutory steps.
• Commercial and Residential Lease Disputes: Nonpayment, lease termination, notice defects, and landlord and tenant conflicts under Chapter 83.
• Co-Owner and Partner Property Fights: Real estate held through an LLC or corporation, where the property dispute is really a business divorce and the dissolution statutes come into play.

What to Do When a Broward Property Dispute Is Heating Up

Start by pulling every document: the signed contract and all addenda, deeds, closing statements, surveys, title commitments, lease agreements, and every email or text with the other side. In these cases, the written record usually decides the outcome, and the sooner it is organized, the sooner a lawyer can tell you where you stand.

Next, check the clock. A claim founded on a written contract has five years under Florida law. An oral or implied contract claim has four. Rescission has four, fraud has four from discovery with an outer cap of twelve years, and specific performance has one. If your claim is short fused, do not wait for the other side to come around.

Stop making informal concessions. Do not sign a modified agreement, accept partial payments without a receipt, or tell the other side you will “work something out” in writing without advice. In landlord and tenant cases especially, mistakes in notice and in handling partial rent can undermine an otherwise strong case. A tenant who falls behind generally faces a written demand giving three days, excluding weekends and court holidays, to pay or leave. Other curable violations typically carry a seven day notice, and a landlord who takes partial rent must follow specific steps rather than simply cashing the check.

Know where your case will be heard. Broward’s circuit civil cases are filed through the Clerk of the Seventeenth Circuit, with the main civil division at the Central Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation also handle civil matters. County court hears disputes up to a limit that is periodically adjusted, while larger cases belong in circuit court. The circuit also operates complex business divisions that handle large business and construction litigation, and a case can be filed directly into one under the circuit’s administrative order.

If assets, a closing, or the property itself are at risk, ask early about emergency relief. A temporary injunction can stop a sale, a transfer, or the removal of funds while the case proceeds. Filing for that relief late undercuts the argument that harm is urgent.

How Partition, Quiet Title, and Dissolution Actually Work

These three are where property disputes most often become something bigger, so it helps to see the mechanics.

A partition action is filed in chancery under Chapter 64. The complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state each owner’s share. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, picked by the court unless the parties agree. When the commissioners report that the property cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court can order a public auction sale and divide the proceeds by ownership interest. A credit sale is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the price must be paid down unless everyone consents. If the property qualifies as heirs property, meaning co-tenants hold title as tenants in common, at least one acquired title from a relative, and further statutory conditions are met, the court applies the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act instead, which gives non-requesting owners a chance to buy out the requesting party and limits forced sales.

Quiet title is different. It asks the court to decide who owns the land and to clear away a conveyance or claim that clouds title. The plaintiff generally has to trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise, and the action can be filed in any county where part of the land sits. Where the claim involves an allegedly fraudulent attempted conveyance, Florida law provides for summary procedure and calendar priority.

When the real estate sits inside an LLC or corporation, the dispute may turn on dissolution. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a court can dissolve an LLC when managers or members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the operating agreement. A court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest. For corporations, shareholders can pursue judicial dissolution, and the corporation or other shareholders may elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value, with a 60 day window for the parties to agree on price and terms. A deadlock sale clause in your agreement, if properly started, can displace the court-ordered route entirely, which is one more reason the document needs a lawyer’s eyes before you file anything.

Broward County Real Estate Litigation Questions

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

For a claim founded on a written instrument, five years. A claim on an oral or implied contract has four years. Specific performance, where you ask the court to force the sale, carries just one year, so that claim is the one most likely to be lost by waiting.

Can a court force someone to sell me a property they agreed to sell?

Yes. Specific performance is an equitable remedy courts can award where the contract is valid and damages alone are inadequate, which is often true of real property. Our firm obtained a final judgment granting specific performance of a commercial real estate contract in Broward County after a five-day bench trial.

What is the difference between partition and quiet title?

Partition separates co-owners who both hold legitimate interests, by dividing or selling the property. Quiet title decides who actually owns the property and clears competing or invalid claims. They sometimes appear in the same case.

My relatives and I inherited a house together and one wants to sell. What are my protections?

If the property qualifies as heirs property under Chapter 64, Part II, the court must follow that act’s process, which includes valuation and an opportunity for the other cotenants to buy out the requesting owner. A forced sale is not the default, and partition in kind is considered based on the effect on the cotenants as a group.

Should this be filed in county court or circuit court?

It depends on the dollar amount and the relief sought. County court handles cases up to a threshold that is periodically adjusted; larger disputes go to circuit court. Some remedies, such as injunctions or determining title to land, are matters for circuit court regardless of the amount.

Will my Broward case go to federal court?

Most real estate disputes are state court matters. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida, which sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, becomes possible when there is a federal claim or diversity of citizenship, for instance an out of state owner suing a Florida party.

How long does a real estate case take in Broward County?

It varies with the type of claim, whether the facts are contested, and the judge’s calendar. Quiet title with summary procedure moves faster than a fully contested business case. Many matters resolve through mediation before trial.

Can I stop the other side from selling or transferring the property while we fight?

Possibly. A temporary injunction can freeze a transfer, a sale, or the movement of assets while the case is pending. Courts expect you to move promptly once you learn of the threat.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a smaller property dispute?

Often it is, because real estate disputes carry deadlines and procedural requirements that are easy to miss, and a defective notice or filing can sink a strong claim. A short consultation can help you decide whether to pursue the claim, negotiate, or let it go.

Can a tenant or landlord be forced into mediation?

Courts frequently order mediation in civil cases, and many leases and contracts contain mediation or arbitration clauses. Our attorneys handle mediation and arbitration as well as trial, and we recommend the route that serves the client’s goals and budget.

I live out of state and own a Broward property. Do I need to travel for hearings?

Generally not. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, handle the local court appearances, and keep you informed at each stage.

Serving Real Estate Litigation Clients Across Broward County and South Florida

Our work in Broward begins in Fort Lauderdale and reaches into Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Plantation, Sunrise, Davie, Deerfield Beach, Weston, Lauderhill, Margate, Tamarac, Coconut Creek, and Parkland. Disputes there involve everything from waterfront condominium and commercial property conflicts to inherited homes and investor-owned rental portfolios.

We also serve clients just north in Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach, along with owners across South Florida and clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose co-owners or properties are here. Whether the case belongs in the Seventeenth Circuit in Broward, the Fifteenth Circuit in Palm Beach County, or federal court, we handle the appearances and keep you informed.

Talk to a Broward County Real Estate Litigation Lawyer Before the Deadline Passes

If a closing has collapsed, a co-owner is refusing to cooperate, or someone has placed a claim on your title, speaking with a Broward County real estate litigation lawyer early can preserve options that disappear with time. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team will review your documents, explain your claims and deadlines, and recommend a path that fits your goals and your budget.

Call us to schedule a consultation. We answer the phone, and if we are in court, you will hear back within 24 hours.