Lighthouse Point Real Estate Litigation Attorney

A dispute over a Lighthouse Point property tends to arrive in one of a few forms: a sale that fell apart at the closing table, a house held jointly by people who no longer agree on what to do with it, a recorded claim on title that nobody expected, or a tenant relationship that has gone bad. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families in Lighthouse Point and across Broward County and Palm Beach County, with a practice built around exactly these conflicts.

Finding a Lighthouse Point real estate litigation attorney usually means you already have a specific problem and a clock running. Florida attaches different deadlines to different claims, courts divide real property cases among different procedures, and an early decision about which claim to file, and where, shapes everything that follows. The sections below walk through the kinds of disputes that come up, the decisions that matter most, and what the process looks like for a Broward County property.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Real Estate Disputes in Lighthouse Point

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a South Florida litigation firm serving business owners, investors, and families in Lighthouse Point, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and throughout Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Its work centers on real estate transactions and litigation, partition actions, title disputes, complex contract cases, and the business conflicts that so often sit behind a property fight. The firm also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property or have business partners here, handling the local court appearances so those clients do not have to travel for every hearing.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida courts since his admission 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. 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, meaning everyone on a matter knows the file, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court.

The experience is not abstract. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the firm obtained a 32-page final judgment awarding its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That kind of result depends on reading a contract closely, reconstructing the parties’ dealings, and presenting both to a judge in an organized way, which is the same work that drives most real estate cases regardless of the property type. The firm is also comfortable in mediation and arbitration, and it looks for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Real Estate Disputes We Handle for Lighthouse Point Owners

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Disputes: A buyer who refuses to close, a seller who backs out for a better offer, or a disagreement over deposits, inspections, financing contingencies, or title defects can all end up in litigation. Remedies range from damages to an order compelling the sale to go forward.
• Specific Performance Claims: Real property is treated as unique, so a court may order a party to complete a sale rather than simply pay money. Florida sets a short one-year limitations period for specific performance actions, which makes timing critical.
• Partition Actions: When co-owners cannot agree to keep, sell, or divide a property, any owner may ask a court to resolve it. These cases involve former business partners, siblings who inherited a home, unmarried couples, and investors who want out.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: Competing ownership claims, a questionable recorded conveyance, or a cloud left by a prior transaction can be cleared through a quiet title action, which asks the court to declare who actually owns the property.
• Commercial Lease and Landlord-Tenant Conflicts: Nonpayment, lease defaults, termination notices, and possession disputes carry statutory notice requirements that must be followed precisely, or the entire action can be undermined.
• Disputes Between Co-Owners and Business Partners: A property held through an LLC or partnership often turns into a business divorce, with claims over distributions, management control, and diverted funds layered on top of the real estate question.
• Emergency Injunctions: When a property is about to be sold, encumbered, or stripped of value while a case is pending, temporary and permanent injunctive relief can hold the situation in place.

What to Do and Where Your Case Will Be Heard

Start by gathering the documents that define the dispute: the contract or lease, the deed and any recorded instruments, correspondence between the parties, closing statements, and records of any money paid. Do not rely on memory of who said what; courts decide real estate cases on writings. Avoid signing anything new, making partial concessions by email, or accepting payments without understanding what they might waive. In landlord-tenant situations especially, a small misstep with a notice or a partial payment can change the legal footing.

Deadlines deserve attention early. A claim on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while an oral or implied contract claim carries four years. A suit to rescind a contract has four years, and fraud has four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of twelve years. Specific performance is the outlier at one year, which is why a buyer who wants the property rather than money cannot afford to wait. Negligence-based claims, such as certain professional malpractice theories connected to a transaction, run only two years. Because these periods differ and can overlap on the same set of facts, identifying the right claims at the outset matters.

For a Lighthouse Point property, the case belongs in Broward County, which sits in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Disputes above the county court ceiling are filed in circuit court, and the Seventeenth Circuit maintains complex business divisions for larger commercial and business litigation, which can matter when a property dispute is entangled with a company. Smaller claims go to county court. Partition and quiet title actions are equitable matters heard by the circuit court, and a quiet title complaint may be filed in any county where any part of the land lies. If a case involves parties in several states or raises federal issues, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, may become relevant.

The most common mistake is waiting. Owners hope a co-owner will come around, or that a tenant will catch up, or that a title problem will resolve itself, and months pass while evidence fades and limitation periods run. A short consultation early often clarifies whether negotiation, mediation, or a filed complaint is the better path.

How Partition and Quiet Title Cases Actually Work

Partition is the cleanest answer when co-owners are stuck. Under Florida law, all partition actions proceed in chancery, and the complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and where they live, and state what share each holds. After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners, chosen by the parties if they agree, to determine whether the property can be divided fairly. For a single Lighthouse Point residence, division in kind is rarely practical, and when the commissioners report that partition would prejudice the owners, the court may order the property sold at public auction with proceeds split according to each owner’s interest. A court can allow a sale on reasonable credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless everyone agrees otherwise.

Inherited property raises a separate layer of protection. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020. If the court finds the property qualifies as heirs property, it must be handled under that act unless every cotenant agrees otherwise. Qualifying property is held in tenancy in common with no binding partition agreement, at least one cotenant acquired title from a relative, and a further condition is met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. The act changes how a forced sale is approached, and a judgment of partition in kind is not entered until commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group.

Quiet title works differently. It asks the court to determine who owns the land and to remove a cloud created by a conveyance or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner. The plaintiff must trace title back at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise. Related doctrines come up too: Florida bars suits to recover real property unless the claimant or a predecessor was in possession within seven years, and adverse possession requires seven years of continuous possession under a claim of title, with strict requirements for color of title and for describing the property to the property appraiser. These rules decide boundary and occupancy fights that look informal but have precise legal tests.

When the Property Dispute Is Really a Business Dispute

Many Lighthouse Point properties are held through LLCs, corporations, or partnerships, and the real estate fight is the visible edge of a deeper ownership conflict. Florida’s LLC statute lets a member or manager seek judicial dissolution on specific grounds, including deadlock that threatens irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, and situations where carrying on the business under the operating agreement is no longer reasonably practicable. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. If the operating agreement already contains a deadlock sale mechanism that is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds, that contractual process generally takes priority.

Corporations follow a parallel track. A shareholder petition for dissolution can trigger the corporation’s or other shareholders’ right to elect to buy the petitioner out at fair value, and if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase. The election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. During these cases a court can issue injunctions and preserve corporate assets. Because the firm handles both the real estate and the ownership side, a client does not need to split one conflict between two lawyers.

Common Questions About Real Estate Litigation in Lighthouse Point

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

A claim founded on a written contract generally has a five-year limitations period, and a claim on an oral or implied agreement has four years. Specific performance is much shorter, at one year. The right period depends on how the claim is framed, so confirm it early rather than assuming the longest one applies.

Can a court force the seller to close on a sale?

Yes. Because real property is considered unique, a court can order specific performance, requiring the seller to complete the transaction. The firm has obtained a final judgment of this kind after a bench trial in Broward County. The remedy has a one-year filing window, which makes prompt action important.

What is a partition action and when does it make sense?

It is a court proceeding that resolves co-ownership when the owners cannot agree. The court may divide the property or, more often with a single house, order it sold and split the proceeds. It makes sense when negotiation and a voluntary buyout have failed.

Who decides whether a jointly owned house is divided or sold?

After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners to evaluate whether fair division is possible. If they report that division would prejudice the owners, the court may order a public sale. The court retains control throughout.

What is quiet title and how is it different from partition?

Quiet title decides who owns the property and clears competing claims or defective recorded instruments. Partition assumes the owners are known and divides or sells what they hold together. They solve different problems, and some disputes involve both.

My sibling and I inherited a Lighthouse Point home and disagree about selling. Are there special rules?

Possibly. Florida’s heirs property statute applies to qualifying inherited property held as tenants in common, and it adds protections before a forced sale can occur. Whether your home qualifies depends on how title passed and who holds the interests.

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

Often, yes, particularly when title, possession, or a notice defect is involved. Procedural errors in landlord-tenant and title matters can be costly to fix. The firm focuses on cost-effective resolutions and will say so when a negotiated outcome makes more sense than a lawsuit.

Can I handle a Broward County property case if I live in New York or New Jersey?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida property or business partners. It handles the court appearances locally and keeps you informed at each stage.

If my landlord or tenant dispute involves partial rent, does that waive my rights?

Under Florida’s residential landlord-tenant statute, a landlord does not waive the right to terminate or sue by accepting partial rent, but there are required steps afterward, such as giving a receipt noting the balance due, depositing the amount in the court registry, or posting a new notice. The correct step depends on the circumstances.

What if a co-owner is draining money from a company that owns the property?

You may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds, and a court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved while the case proceeds. In some situations judicial dissolution or a court-ordered buyout is also available.

Will my dispute have to go to trial?

Not necessarily. Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm pursues whichever route is most likely to meet your goals efficiently. Some cases still require a judge to decide, and the firm prepares each one with that possibility in mind.

Serving Lighthouse Point Real Estate Clients Across Broward and Palm Beach Counties

The firm’s work for Lighthouse Point owners starts in Broward County, where the property sits and where the case will generally be heard. From the waterfront streets of Lighthouse Point we also represent clients in neighboring Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Hillsboro Beach, Sea Ranch Lakes, and Oakland Park, and in Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, Parkland, Margate, Tamarac, Plantation, Davie, and Hollywood.

Because many real estate disputes cross county lines, the firm also serves clients throughout Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Wellington. Owners from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold property or business interests in these communities can work with the firm without traveling for every proceeding.

Speak With a Lighthouse Point Real Estate Litigation Lawyer

If a sale has collapsed, a co-owner has stopped cooperating, or a title problem is threatening your ownership, a conversation with a Lighthouse Point real estate litigation lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can tell you which claims you have, which deadlines apply, and what a realistic path looks like. The firm answers the phone and returns calls within 24 hours when attorneys are in court.

Call to schedule a consultation and let the firm review your documents and your options. Whether the answer is a negotiated buyout, mediation, or a case in Broward County Circuit Court, you will leave with a clear sense of the next step.