Lauderhill Real Estate Litigation Attorney

The deadline that decides most Florida property fights is not the one people worry about. A claim on a signed purchase contract gets five years, but a suit demanding that a seller actually hand over the property gets one. Missing that shorter window can turn a winnable case into a money-damages claim only. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles Lauderhill real estate litigation attorney matters for property owners, investors, landlords, heirs, and former business partners, serving Lauderhill, the rest of Broward County, and neighboring Palm Beach County.

Real estate litigation in Lauderhill tends to grow out of the kinds of property the area is full of: single-family homes passed down through families, small multifamily and rental buildings, commercial strip space along the main corridors, and investment parcels held by several people at once. When the co-owners disagree, a closing fails, a tenant stops paying, or someone else claims a piece of the title, the dispute moves from a conversation into a court file, and the choices made in the first few weeks shape everything after.

The sections below walk through how these disputes actually work under Florida law, which court handles them, and what to do before positions harden.

What Real Estate Disputes Reach a Lauderhill Property Litigator

Real estate litigation is a family of different case types, each with its own deadline and its own remedy. Sorting out which one you have is the first job of any Lauderhill real estate attorney.

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Breaches: A buyer who wants the property can ask a court to compel the sale through specific performance, while a party who only wants money pursues damages. The two carry different limitations periods, which is why the choice has to be made early.
• Partition Actions: When co-owners cannot agree on what to do with shared property, Florida’s partition statutes let a court divide the land or, if division would harm the owners, order a sale at public auction and split the proceeds in proportion to ownership.
• Heirs Property Disputes: Property held in common among relatives who inherited it is treated differently from an ordinary co-ownership. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act adds protections, including a buyout opportunity for family members who want to keep the property.
• Quiet Title Actions: When a recorded deed, lien, or competing claim clouds ownership, a suit to quiet title asks the court to decide who owns the land and remove the cloud. Plaintiffs generally must trace title back at least seven years.
• Adverse Possession Claims: Someone who has occupied land for seven years under a claim of title may assert ownership, but the statute demands more than occupation, including a proper filing with the property appraiser and, in color-of-title cases, a recorded instrument.
• Landlord and Tenant Disputes: Nonpayment of rent, lease violations, and wrongful termination all run on short statutory clocks and strict notice requirements that, if botched, can sink an otherwise valid eviction.
• Disputes Between Business Partners Over Real Property: When a company owns the building and the owners fall out, the real estate claim often travels with a claim for dissolution, an accounting, or a buyout.
• Emergency Relief Over Property and Funds: Where an owner is about to sell, encumber, or drain a property or its proceeds, a temporary injunction can freeze the situation while the case proceeds.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving clients across Broward County, Palm Beach County, and South Florida, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property or business interests here. Andrew M. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. His career has centered on contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which matters because so many property cases are really ownership disputes in disguise.

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 works as a true legal team, so everyone on a matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court.

The most relevant proof of that work is a commercial real estate result: after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Winning specific performance means persuading a judge to order the transaction completed rather than settling for damages, and it takes a record built carefully from the first filing. The firm also practices mediation and arbitration alongside courtroom litigation, and looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Deadlines That Decide Florida Real Estate Cases

Limitations periods in property disputes are shorter and more varied than most owners expect. A lawsuit on a contract founded on a written instrument, such as a purchase and sale agreement or a lease, must be filed within five years. A claim on an oral or implied agreement gets four years. A suit to rescind a contract also has four years, and a fraud claim runs four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of 12 years.

The outlier is specific performance, which must be brought within one year. A buyer who waits eighteen months hoping a seller will come around may find that the one remedy that would actually deliver the property is gone. Negligence claims, which can arise in construction or property management settings, now carry a two-year period for causes of action that accrued after the 2023 amendments, and professional malpractice claims also run two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered.

Property recovery has its own rule. Florida bars an action to recover real property unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was in possession within seven years before suit. That same seven-year theme appears in adverse possession, where a claimant must show continuous, exclusive possession under a claim of title for seven years and must file a return with a full legal description of the land. A judgment from a Florida court of record, once obtained, can be enforced by suit for twenty years.

Co-Owners at an Impasse: Partition and Heirs Property

Partition is the legal exit for people stuck with shared real estate. Every partition action in Florida is brought in chancery, and the complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and where they live, state what share each holds, and include whatever else the court needs to sort out the parties’ rights. Once the court enters a judgment of partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree on them, to evaluate whether the land can be divided fairly.

When the commissioners report that division would prejudice the owners and the court agrees, the court may order a sale at public auction to the highest bidder, with the proceeds distributed according to each owner’s interest. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the price must be paid down unless everyone consents to different terms.

Heirs property changes the calculation. Property held in common, where relatives acquired title from a family member and there is no binding agreement among the cotenants about partition, can qualify when conditions such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests are met. When it qualifies, the court must apply the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act unless every cotenant agrees otherwise in a record. Partition in kind is not entered unless the court is satisfied that the commissioners weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group. In practice, this gives a family member who wants to keep inherited property a real chance to do so rather than being forced into an auction.

Clearing Title and Resisting Competing Claims

A quiet title action is how an owner converts a cloud on title into a court-confirmed answer. Florida’s chancery courts have jurisdiction over suits by anyone claiming legal or equitable title to land, including cases where two or more people claim the same property under a common source. A complaint can also seek cancellation of a deed or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner. Suit may be filed in any county where part of the land lies, and the plaintiff must generally deraign title for at least seven years before filing, unless the court orders otherwise.

Where the claim rests on a fraudulent attempted conveyance, the statute provides for summary procedure and directs the court to advance the case on its calendar, which can matter a great deal when a forged or fraudulent deed threatens a pending sale or refinancing. Adverse possession claims, by contrast, come at title from the opposite direction: a person occupying land may assert ownership, and the record owner must be ready to show that the statutory requirements were not met.

Leases, Evictions, and the Notice Rules That Trip People Up

Landlords who skip steps lose cases. For nonpayment of rent, the landlord delivers a written demand for payment or possession, and the tenant has three days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed legal holidays, before the landlord may terminate. Accepting partial rent does not waive the right to terminate or sue, but the landlord must follow one of three paths: give a receipt stating the date, amount, and agreed balance and due date; place the partial payment in the court registry when filing; or serve a fresh three-day notice for the new amount.

For other violations, the notice depends on whether the problem can be cured. A curable violation gets a notice giving the tenant seven days to fix it before termination. Where the violation cannot be cured, such as intentional destruction of property, or repeats within twelve months of a written warning, the landlord may deliver a notice of intent to terminate with seven days to vacate. On the tenant’s side, a landlord’s material failure to comply with its obligations, if not corrected within seven days of written notice, allows the tenant to terminate. A tenancy with no fixed term ends by written notice delivered in the manner the statute prescribes. A defective notice is a common reason an eviction fails, so both landlords and tenants benefit from having it reviewed before it is served.

What to Do Now if a Property Dispute Is Developing

Start by identifying which claim you actually have, because that determines the clock. A seller who has refused to close needs to weigh the one-year window for specific performance against the longer window for damages immediately, not after months of negotiation. Gather the signed contract, any amendments, the deed, title commitments, surveys, closing correspondence, texts and emails with the other side, rent ledgers, and proof of who paid what toward taxes, insurance, repairs, and mortgage payments. In co-ownership fights, records of contributions often decide how proceeds are divided.

Pull the recorded documents for the property from the county records. Lauderhill sits in Broward County, so circuit-level real estate cases are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and a claim above the county court’s limit belongs in circuit court. The Broward circuit also has a complex business division that handles, among other things, large business and construction litigation and dissolution of certain business entities, and cases can be filed directly into it under the circuit’s administrative order. Claims involving federal questions or diverse parties may belong in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Do not take unilateral steps that hand the other side an argument: do not change locks, cut off utilities, accept partial rent without the right paperwork, or record documents you are not sure you can support. If assets or the property itself are at risk of being sold, encumbered, or drained, raise that with counsel right away, because emergency injunctive relief only works if it is sought before the damage is done. Many of these disputes can also be resolved through negotiation or mediation, and preparing the case thoroughly is usually what makes a favorable settlement possible.

When the Property Belongs to a Company: Dissolution and Buyouts

Real estate disputes often sit inside business disputes. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a member or manager can seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include conduct of the company’s affairs unlawfully, a situation where it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the articles and operating agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by controlling members or managers, misappropriation or waste of assets causing injury, or a deadlock that cannot be broken and threatens irreparable injury to the company. 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 contains a deadlock sale provision that is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds, that provision governs instead.

For corporations, a court may dissolve the company or order another remedy, and in a shareholder’s proceeding the corporation or other shareholders may elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase. Within 30 days of a shareholder proceeding being commenced, the corporation must notify the other shareholders that they can avoid dissolution by electing to purchase. Courts can also issue injunctions and appoint a receiver to preserve assets while the case is pending. When the contested asset is a building or parcel, these tools determine whether it is sold, bought out, or protected.

Questions About Real Estate Litigation in Lauderhill

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

If the claim is founded on a written instrument, such as a purchase and sale agreement, the period is five years. Oral or implied contract claims have four years. The exception is a suit for specific performance, which carries only one year.

Can a court force a seller to complete a sale?

Yes, through specific performance, an equitable remedy that orders the seller to perform. The firm obtained a final judgment awarding specific performance of a commercial real estate contract after a five-day bench trial in Broward County. Because the limitations period for this remedy is one year, delay can eliminate it.

What is the difference between partition in kind and a partition sale?

Partition in kind physically divides the property among the owners. A partition sale orders the land sold, usually at public auction, and divides the proceeds in proportion to ownership. A sale is typically ordered only when the commissioners report that division cannot be done without prejudice to the owners and the court is satisfied.

Does inherited property get special treatment in a partition case?

Often, yes. If the property qualifies as heirs property, the court must apply the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act unless all cotenants agree otherwise in a record. Qualification turns on factors such as there being no binding agreement among the cotenants, at least one cotenant acquiring title from a relative, and further conditions, including relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests.

What does quiet title require me to show?

You must establish your claim of legal or equitable title and generally trace the chain of title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. The suit can cancel a deed or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner.

Can someone take my land by occupying it?

Possibly, but only if they satisfy strict requirements. Adverse possession without color of title requires seven years of actual, continuous possession under a claim of title exclusive of others, along with a filing identifying the land by full legal description. Color-of-title claims require the instrument to be recorded in the county where the land is located.

My co-owner is selling or draining a property we share. Is there anything I can do quickly?

A temporary injunction can freeze the situation while the case proceeds. Courts can also take other protective steps to preserve assets, and the sooner relief is requested the more it can accomplish.

How many days does a tenant have after a nonpayment notice?

Three days after delivery of the written demand, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays. If rent is not paid in that time, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement. The notice must be correct, or the later eviction case can fail.

If a landlord takes partial rent after serving a notice, is the eviction ruined?

Not automatically. Accepting partial rent does not waive the right to terminate or sue, but the landlord must either issue a receipt with the date, amount, and agreed balance, place the money in the court registry on filing, or serve a new three-day notice reflecting the amount now owed.

Which court would hear my case if I live out of state but own property in Broward County?

Cases about Broward County land are heard in Broward’s courts, with larger claims in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit and, in suitable cases, the federal court for the Southern District of Florida. Out of state owners do not need to travel for every hearing; the firm handles local court appearances for clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and keeps them informed throughout.

Can a business dispute and a real estate dispute be handled in one case?

Frequently they must be. When a company owns the property and the owners are in conflict, claims for dissolution, an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and property relief are often litigated together, and a Broward complex business division may be available for qualifying matters.

Serving Lauderhill and the Surrounding South Florida Communities

The firm represents property owners in Lauderhill and throughout Broward County, including neighboring Sunrise, Plantation, Tamarac, Lauderdale Lakes, North Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Margate, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Davie, and Deerfield Beach. Clients in Lauderhill’s established residential neighborhoods, its apartment and rental properties, and its commercial corridors bring the same kinds of disputes: contested inheritances, shared investments gone wrong, failed sales, and tenant conflicts.

The firm’s reach continues north into Palm Beach County, including West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with real estate or business interests in these communities are a regular part of the practice, and the firm handles the Florida proceedings so they can protect their interests without constant travel. Attorneys who do not handle business litigation also refer matters to the firm, including out of state counsel whose clients have disputes in Florida.

Speak With a Lauderhill Real Estate Litigation Lawyer Before a Deadline Closes

When a closing collapses, a co-owner stops cooperating, or someone else asserts a claim to your property, the available remedies narrow as time passes. A Lauderhill real estate litigation lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your documents, identify which claims are still open, and recommend whether negotiation, mediation, or a filed case is the right path. Call the firm to arrange a consultation and get a clear picture of where your dispute stands.