Greenacres Breach of Contract Attorney

The deadline to sue over a broken contract is not the same for every contract, and the difference between an oral deal and a signed one can be a full year. If you are searching for a Greenacres breach of contract attorney, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles contract litigation for business owners, investors, and families in Greenacres and throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County, including disputes over purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts.

Most contract fights in South Florida do not start with a dramatic betrayal. They start with a payment that stops, a closing that does not happen, a partner who reads the agreement differently than you do, or a vendor who delivers something other than what was promised. What happens next depends on the exact wording of the document, the history between the parties, and how quickly you act on the clock Florida law gives you.

Greenacres sits in the middle of Palm Beach County’s commercial corridor, with small businesses, rental properties, and family-owned companies that run on handshake relationships and thinly drafted agreements. Those are exactly the arrangements that tend to end up in court when money or ownership is in question.

The Filing Deadlines That Decide Whether You Have a Case

Florida sets different limitation periods depending on what kind of claim you have, and picking the wrong frame can cost you the case before it begins. A lawsuit on a contract founded on a written instrument must be filed within five years. A contract claim that is oral or implied has four years. A claim to rescind a contract is also four years, and a fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve years.

Specific performance is the one that surprises people. An action asking a court to force the other side to carry out the contract has a one-year period. That matters in real estate deals, where a buyer or seller who wants the property conveyed rather than just money damages cannot wait around. Related claims that sit near a contract dispute can be much shorter, too: negligence actions have two years under the 2023 amendments, and professional malpractice claims, whether framed in contract or tort, also run two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered.

The 2023 tort reform did not shorten the five-year written-contract period. But a dispute often includes several theories at once, such as breach, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty, and each one carries its own clock. Sorting those out early is part of the job.

Why Clients Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Contract Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s difficult business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Greenacres, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and across Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Contract enforcement and interpretation have been at the center of founder Andrew M. Schwartz’s practice for his entire career. He has spent 37 years in litigation and was 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.

Andrew is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone handling a matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court or otherwise unavailable.

Contract cases often turn on precise wording and on how the parties actually behaved. The firm prepares them with that detail in mind. One recent result illustrates the point: after a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and looks for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake. Many clients are referred by other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes.

Contract Disputes This Firm Handles

• Purchase and Sale Agreement Disputes: Failed closings, buyers or sellers who walk away, and disagreements over deposits, contingencies, and whether a party was ready to perform. When the goal is the property itself, specific performance may be the remedy to pursue.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreement Breaches: Members or shareholders who ignore buyout terms, transfer restrictions, voting provisions, or distribution rights set out in the governing documents.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Unpaid rent, abandoned premises, disputes over repairs, build-out obligations, and personal guaranties tied to a business tenancy.
• Loan and Financing Documents: Defaults, disputed payoff amounts, and conflicts between lenders, borrowers, and guarantors over what the note and related documents actually require.
• Construction Contracts: Unpaid draws, defective or incomplete work, change-order disagreements, and delays on commercial and residential projects.
• Unpaid Distributions and Missing Funds: Partners or managers who cannot account for company money, diverted funds, commingled accounts, and disputed capital contributions, often paired with claims for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty.
• Family and Close-Friend Business Agreements: Siblings, parents and children, or longtime friends whose informal arrangements are now being tested, where discretion matters as much as the legal claim.
• Emergency Situations Within a Contract Dispute: Cases where assets are being moved or spent, and a temporary injunction may be needed to hold things in place while the case proceeds.

What to Do in the Weeks After a Contract Falls Apart

Start by pulling together everything in writing: the signed agreement and any amendments, the emails and texts that show what each side said and did, invoices, payment records, bank statements, and any notices already sent. Contract cases are won on documents, and the earlier they are collected, the clearer the picture becomes. Do not delete anything, and avoid sending angry messages that you would not want read aloud in a courtroom.

Read the agreement for its own mechanics before doing anything else. Many contracts require written notice of default, give the other side a period to cure, call for mediation or arbitration before a lawsuit, or choose a particular venue or set of rules. Skipping a required step can undermine an otherwise strong claim. Some agreements also shift attorney’s fees to the losing side, which changes the cost calculation for everyone.

Then work out the clock. Identify whether the contract is written or oral, whether you are seeking money or an order compelling performance, and whether any related fraud or fiduciary claims are in play. Waiting to see if the other side will come around is how people lose claims they should have kept.

Where the case is filed depends largely on the amount in dispute. County court in Palm Beach County hears actions at law up to the county court limit, which is adjusted periodically, while larger claims go to the circuit court, which in Palm Beach County is the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, sitting in West Palm Beach with county-level branches in the county’s other communities. If the other party is in Broward County, the case may belong in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Fort Lauderdale, which also has a complex business division for large business and construction disputes. Cases with parties from different states, or with federal questions, can end up in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, among other locations.

Expect an early demand letter or negotiation, then a complaint, an answer, and discovery. Many contract disputes settle in mediation once each side sees the documents and the real exposure. If you live out of state but own a business or property here, the firm handles the Florida court proceedings so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

When Money, Ownership, and the Contract All Collide

Breach of contract rarely travels alone in business disputes. When partners fall out, the contract claim often sits beside a request to dissolve the company. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a court can dissolve a company on a member’s petition when the owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, when it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement, or when controlling members are acting illegally or fraudulently. A court may also appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest.

Corporations have a parallel framework. A shareholder petitioning for dissolution can trigger a right for the corporation or other shareholders to 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. Agreements that contain their own deadlock sale mechanism can change this analysis, which is one more reason the exact text of your agreement matters.

Real estate adds another layer. Co-owners who cannot agree can ask the court for partition, either dividing the land or ordering a sale and splitting the proceeds. Inherited property held by relatives may fall under Florida’s special heirs property rules, which add protections before a forced sale. And when competing ownership claims cloud a title, a quiet title action asks the court to cancel the competing evidence of title and settle who owns what.

Questions People Ask About Breach of Contract Claims

What counts as a breach of contract in Florida?

A breach occurs when a party fails to do something the agreement requires, does something it forbids, or performs so poorly that the other side does not receive what it bargained for. A claim generally requires a valid contract, a breach, and damages caused by that breach.

How long do I have to file a breach of contract lawsuit?

Five years for a contract founded on a written instrument, and four years for oral or implied contracts. Related claims can be shorter. Specific performance carries a one-year period, and negligence and professional malpractice claims run two years.

Does a contract have to be in writing to be enforceable?

Not always. Many oral agreements are enforceable, though some categories, such as certain real estate transactions, generally need a writing. Oral deals are also harder to prove, which is why emails, texts, and payment history become so important.

What can I recover if the other side breached?

Usually money damages meant to put you where you would have been had the contract been performed. In some cases a court can order specific performance, which compels the other party to carry out the deal. Where the contract or a statute allows it, attorney’s fees may also be recoverable.

Should I send a demand letter first?

Often yes, and sometimes the contract requires written notice of default before you can sue. A well-drafted demand can also prompt settlement without litigation. The wording matters, because the letter can become evidence later.

Which court will hear my case?

That depends mostly on the amount in controversy and the parties involved. County court handles claims up to a periodically adjusted limit, small claims handles the smallest disputes, and the circuit court takes larger cases. Some disputes belong in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.

My contract says disputes go to arbitration. Can I still sue?

Usually the arbitration clause controls, and a court will typically send the dispute to arbitration if the clause covers it. There can be arguments about scope, validity, or waiver, so the clause deserves a careful read before anyone files anything.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the amount at stake is modest?

It can be, particularly if the contract has a fee-shifting provision or if the dispute is part of an ongoing business relationship. A lawyer can tell you early whether the claim justifies the cost of litigation or is better resolved through negotiation or mediation.

What if my business partner is taking money from the company?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of funds, along with breach of the operating or shareholder agreement. If assets are being moved or spent, a court can issue injunctive relief to preserve them while the case is pending.

Can I enforce a contract if I live outside Florida?

Yes. Out of state owners with Florida businesses or real estate bring contract claims here regularly. The firm handles local filings and appearances and keeps you updated, so you do not have to travel for every proceeding.

Does a lawsuit have to end in a trial?

No. Many contract disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, or are narrowed by motion practice. Trial is the backstop when the other side will not resolve the matter on reasonable terms.

Serving Contract Dispute Clients From Greenacres Across South Florida

From Greenacres, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents clients throughout Palm Beach County, including nearby Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Atlantis, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Springs, and Delray Beach, and farther north in Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter. To the south, the firm serves Boca Raton and Deerfield Beach, along with clients across Broward County in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, and Hollywood. The firm also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate interests in South Florida and need a local litigator to handle the court work here.

Speak With a Greenacres Breach of Contract Lawyer

If a contract has gone wrong and the deadline is running, talk to a Greenacres breach of contract lawyer before the options narrow. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review the agreement, explain which claims and deadlines apply, and recommend whether negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or a lawsuit makes the most sense for your situation. Call to schedule a consultation and bring the agreement and whatever correspondence you have.