Miramar Real Estate Title Dispute Attorney

A title dispute is rarely about a single bad document; it is usually about two or more people who each believe the same piece of land is theirs, or who cannot agree on who is entitled to walk away from it. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles Miramar real estate title dispute attorney matters for property owners, investors, former business partners, and families in Miramar and throughout Broward County, along with Palm Beach County and the rest of South Florida.

The disputes that reach us tend to fall into a few patterns: a cloud on title that blocks a sale or refinance, a co-owner who will not cooperate, a deed that someone signed under questionable circumstances, or competing claims that surfaced only when a buyer’s title search came back. In Florida these problems are resolved in court actions with their own procedures, their own time limits, and their own evidentiary demands, and the choices made early in a case often determine how much leverage each side has later.

Because Miramar sits in Broward County, these cases are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. That matters for strategy, for scheduling, and for deciding whether a dispute with a business flavor belongs in the circuit’s complex business division or in an ordinary civil division.

What Counts as a Title Dispute in Florida

“Title dispute” covers more ground than most owners expect. At its core, it is any disagreement over who holds legal or equitable ownership of real property, or over whether a recorded instrument should have any effect on that ownership. Florida’s chapter on quieting title gives circuit courts authority over actions brought by anyone claiming legal or equitable title to land, and over cases where two or more people claim the same land through a common source. A plaintiff can also ask the court to cancel a conveyance or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner, removing the cloud it casts.

The statute requires a plaintiff to trace the chain of title back at least seven years before filing, unless the court orders otherwise. In practice, that means assembling recorded deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, probate orders, and any unrecorded agreements that explain how ownership moved. Gaps in that chain are where most of the real fighting happens. A quiet title action can be filed in any Florida county where some part of the land lies, which for a Miramar parcel means Broward County.

Some title problems are narrower and move faster. When the claim rests on a fraudulent attempted conveyance, Florida law allows the action to proceed under a summary procedure, and the court is directed to move the case up on its calendar. That can be a meaningful advantage when a forged or fraudulent deed is blocking a sale or threatening to pass the property to an innocent third party.

Why Choose Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Title and Ownership Conflicts

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, and holds degrees from Emory University (1986) and the University of Miami School of Law (1989). His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among co-owners, which is exactly the terrain most title fights grow out of. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of business and real estate experience in both state and federal courts.

The firm serves clients in Miramar, Fort Lauderdale, and across Broward County, as well as West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County. It practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on a matter knows the file, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Many of our clients own Florida property from afar, including clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and we handle the local court appearances so they are not required to travel for every hearing. A large share of our work also comes from referrals by other attorneys.

On the results side, the firm recently won a final judgment after a 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, a 32-page order awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That outcome reflects what title and contract-to-convey disputes demand: close reading of the documents, a developed record of the parties’ dealings, and the willingness to try the case when negotiation does not resolve it. Our attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and we look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Situations That Lead to Title and Ownership Litigation

• Clouds on Title: A recorded deed, lien, mortgage, or claim that should not encumber the property but blocks a sale or refinance. A quiet title action asks the court to cancel the instrument and declare who owns what.
• Forged or Fraudulent Conveyances: A deed signed by someone without authority, or procured through deception, can strip an owner of property on paper. Florida allows these claims to proceed on an accelerated summary track, which can matter when a sale is imminent.
• Co-Owner Deadlock and Partition: When owners cannot agree to sell, keep, or divide a property, any of them can ask the court for partition. Former business partners, siblings, and unmarried couples are the most common litigants.
• Inherited Property Among Relatives: Property passed down through a family often ends up held by many cousins and siblings with different goals. Florida’s heirs property provisions give these cases special protections before a forced sale.
• Adverse Possession Claims: A person who occupies land openly for the required period under a claim of ownership may assert title against the record owner, and owners who ignore a long-term occupant can lose rights by default.
• Failed Closings and Contract-to-Convey Disputes: When a seller refuses to close, a buyer may seek specific performance to compel the transfer, a remedy with a short filing window.
• Entity-Held Property Disputes: Real estate owned by an LLC or corporation raises questions about who has authority to convey it and whether a member or manager has diverted the asset.
• Competing Claims After a Title Search: A buyer’s or lender’s search turns up an earlier unreleased interest, a gap in the chain, or an overlapping legal description that must be resolved before closing.

Partition, Heirs Property, and Forced Sales

Partition is the tool Florida law gives co-owners who are stuck together. The action 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 their 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 property can be fairly divided.

If the commissioners report that division cannot be made without prejudice to the owners and the court agrees, the property can be sold at public auction to the highest bidder, with proceeds shared in proportion to each owner’s interest. The court may allow a sale on reasonable credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid up front unless everyone consents otherwise. For a house or commercial building that cannot sensibly be split, a forced sale is the usual outcome, which is why co-owners who want to keep the property often negotiate a buyout before that point.

Florida has a separate set of rules for heirs property, found in the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which governs partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020. Property qualifies when it is held as tenants in common with no binding agreement among the cotenants on partition, at least one cotenant acquired title from a relative, and further conditions are met, such as twenty percent or more of the interests being held by relatives. When the act applies, a 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. For families who inherited a Miramar home, this framework can change the outcome and the leverage in a way that matters.

Time Limits That Shape Title Cases

Florida’s limitation periods vary sharply depending on the theory of the case, and choosing the wrong one, or waiting too long, can end a claim before it starts. An action on a written contract or obligation founded on a written instrument carries a five-year period, while oral or implied contract claims carry four years. An action to rescind a contract also has four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer cap of 12 years. The 2023 tort reform legislation shortened the negligence period to two years but did not change the five-year written-contract period or the four-year intentional-tort period.

Specific performance is the one that surprises people: an action to compel a sale of real property under a contract has a one-year period. Owners who wait to see whether a reluctant seller will come around can lose the remedy entirely. Separate rules govern possession. Florida bars an action to recover real property unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was in possession within seven years before filing. For adverse possession without color of title, a claimant must show actual, continued possession for seven years under a claim of title exclusive of any other right, and must file a return with the property appraiser that includes a full legal description. Where the claim rests on color of title, the instrument must also have been recorded with the clerk in the county where the land lies before the possession counts. Property owners who suspect someone is treating their land as their own should address it long before those periods run.

What to Do When Ownership of Your Property Is Challenged

Start by getting the paper trail in order. Pull your deed, closing documents, title insurance policy, surveys, mortgage and satisfaction records, and any correspondence about the property. If an adverse claim has appeared, obtain a copy of the recorded instrument from the Broward County Clerk or Official Records, and note its recording date, the parties named, and the legal description it uses. A title search by a qualified professional can reveal gaps and competing interests that a casual review misses, and the findings often shape what claim to bring.

Next, identify the clock. If you have a contract to buy property and the seller is refusing to close, the one-year window for specific performance begins to matter immediately. If someone else has been living on or using your land, document when it began and what they have done, because the seven-year possession periods are measured from that point. If you suspect forgery, preserve the original documents, notary logs if obtainable, and any communications about the signing, and do not confront the other side in a way that prompts a quick transfer to a third party.

Be careful about what you sign. Co-owners under pressure sometimes sign quitclaim deeds, listing agreements, or “temporary” transfers that later become the other side’s best evidence. Do not stop paying taxes, insurance, or the mortgage because the title is in dispute; a lender or tax authority will not wait for the court to sort out ownership, and carrying costs can become part of the damages or contribution claims later. When a sale, transfer, or encumbrance is imminent, emergency injunctive relief may be needed to freeze the property while the court decides who owns it.

Cases concerning Miramar property are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Matters above the county court’s dollar limit, and all actions for quiet title and partition, belong in circuit court. Broward’s circuit also has a complex business division that handles, among other things, the dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation, and a case can be filed directly into it only through the procedure laid out in the circuit’s administrative order. When the dispute involves a real estate holding company or a failed partnership, that route can be worth evaluating. Federal court is generally not the forum for these claims, though the Southern District of Florida sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach for cases that do meet federal jurisdiction.

When a Title Dispute Is Really a Business Divorce

A large share of the title cases we see are not about strangers at all. They are about co-owners who used to be partners. Two members of an LLC buy a building, the relationship sours, and one of them records something, refuses to sign, or moves the property into another entity. The title question and the business question are then one problem, and resolving only half of it leaves the client exposed.

Florida’s LLC statute lets a circuit court dissolve a company in a proceeding brought by a manager or member on specific grounds, including that the company’s activities cannot reasonably be carried on under its articles and operating agreement, that assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or that managers or members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened or occurring. In a dissolution case the court may, on a showing of sufficient merit, appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. If the operating agreement has its own deadlock sale mechanism that is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds, that provision generally governs in place of a judicial dissolution order. For corporations, the parallel statute allows shareholder petitions on various grounds and lets the corporation or other shareholders elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value, with a court order entered if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election. The court can also issue injunctions and preserve assets while the case is pending.

These tools matter for title because the real property is often the company’s main asset. Seeking a receiver, an accounting, or an injunction against transfer can protect the property while ownership of the entity is sorted out. Our attorneys handle both sides of that picture, which is why the firm’s work on business divorce, missing funds, and partition so often overlaps with title litigation.

Questions About Miramar Title Disputes

What is a quiet title action?

A quiet title action is a lawsuit asking the court to determine who owns a piece of real property and to remove competing claims or clouds on title. A successful judgment gives the owner a court-confirmed title that can be relied on for a sale, a refinance, or a title insurance policy.

Where would a Miramar title case be filed?

Because Miramar is in Broward County, these cases are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. An action to quiet title may be filed in any county where any part of the land is located.

How far back does a quiet title plaintiff have to trace ownership?

Florida’s statute requires the plaintiff to trace title for at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise. Gaps in that chain, missing releases, and unrecorded transfers are often the center of the dispute.

Can I stop a co-owner from selling property we own together?

It depends on how title is held and whether an agreement controls. A co-owner generally can convey only his or her own interest, but a deed that purports to convey the whole may create a cloud. If a transfer is imminent, emergency injunctive relief may be available to hold the status quo while the court decides the underlying dispute.

How does a partition action work if my co-owner will not agree to sell?

Any co-owner can file for partition in circuit court. The court appoints commissioners to determine whether the property can be divided fairly; if it cannot, the court may order a sale at public auction and distribute the proceeds according to each owner’s share. Many cases settle with a buyout once the process is underway.

We inherited a property with several relatives. Does anything protect us from a forced sale?

Florida’s heirs property act applies to qualifying inherited property held as tenants in common, and it adds protections before a court can order a sale instead of dividing the land. It applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, and requires the court to consider specific statutory factors, so the details of how the property was acquired and who holds interests matter.

How long do I have to sue to force a seller to close?

An action for specific performance carries a one-year period. Because that is much shorter than the five-year period for most written-contract claims, buyers who delay can lose the ability to compel the sale even though a damages claim remains.

Can someone take my land by living on it?

Under Florida’s adverse possession rules, a person must generally possess the land continuously for seven years, openly and under a claim of title. Possession without color of title requires, among other things, a return filed with the property appraiser. Color-of-title claims depend on a recorded instrument. These claims are fact-heavy and are often defeated by the owner’s permission, a lack of exclusivity, or incomplete filings.

What if a deed to my property was forged?

A forged deed generally conveys nothing, but it can still cloud your title and complicate a sale until a court says so. A quiet title action based on a fraudulent attempted conveyance can proceed on an accelerated summary procedure, and prompt action helps prevent the property from reaching a good-faith buyer or lender.

Do I live too far away to handle a Miramar title dispute?

No. Many of our clients own Broward and Palm Beach County property from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or elsewhere. We handle the local filings and court appearances and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Does every title dispute end up at trial?

No. Many are resolved through negotiated buyouts, recorded corrective instruments, mediation, or arbitration where an agreement requires it. We evaluate which path is most likely to reach your goal efficiently, and we are prepared to try the case when the other side will not move.

Can a title problem be tied to a business partner who left the company?

Yes, and it is common. When the property is held by or tied to an LLC or corporation, the title claim often runs alongside claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, or dissolution. Addressing them together protects the asset while the ownership questions are resolved.

Serving Miramar and Broward County Property Owners

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents owners and investors in Miramar and across Broward County, including neighboring Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Pembroke Park, Hallandale Beach, Davie, Weston, Cooper City, and Southwest Ranches. We also work with clients in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Sunrise, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Coral Springs, Parkland, Margate, Coconut Creek, Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Beach, as well as Oakland Park and Wilton Manors.

Our reach continues north into Palm Beach County, where we serve clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Wellington. Whether the property is a single-family home in a Miramar neighborhood, a commercial parcel along a Broward corridor, an investment holding, or an inherited residence, we bring the same attention to the documents, the chain of title, and the people involved. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida holdings work with us regularly.

Speak With a Miramar Title Dispute Lawyer Before the Deadline Passes

Ownership disputes reward the owner who acts early: the chain of title is easier to document, the limitation periods are still open, and the property has not yet moved. If you are facing a cloud on your title, a stubborn co-owner, a failed closing, or a claim by someone else to land you believe is yours, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your documents and explain the realistic options. As a Miramar real estate title dispute lawyer serving Broward and Palm Beach Counties, we will give you a direct assessment of the claim and the path most likely to resolve it. Call our office to schedule a consultation.