Oakland Park Real Estate Attorney

A real estate dispute that starts with a Broward County property is heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and the forum matters because a contract fight, a co-ownership standoff, and a title cloud each follow a different procedural track. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate transactions and litigation for owners, investors, and families across Broward County, Palm Beach County, and the rest of South Florida, and works with clients who need an Oakland Park real estate attorney for disputes that cannot be settled across a table.

Oakland Park sits in the middle of Broward’s commercial corridors, with light industrial buildings, small retail centers, multifamily properties, and single-family homes often owned by more than one person. That mix produces a particular set of problems: failed closings on commercial contracts, siblings stuck co-owning an inherited house, former business partners who hold property together, landlords and tenants disagreeing over notice and possession, and title questions that surface when someone tries to sell or refinance. Each of these has its own deadlines and its own remedies, and choosing the wrong one early can cost a client the claim.

This matters most because the remedies are not interchangeable. A buyer who wants the property needs specific performance, which carries a short filing window. A co-owner who wants out needs partition. An owner who wants a competing claim erased needs a quiet title action. Knowing which door you are standing in front of is the first real decision in any real estate case.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Oakland Park Real Estate Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in some of South Florida’s most contested business and real estate matters, serving Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and the surrounding communities of Palm Beach County and Broward County.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built on 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. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true team, so everyone working on a file knows it and can answer when a client calls, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court.

Real estate trial work is where that experience shows. 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 outcome reflects the kind of detail-driven preparation these cases demand, because they usually turn on the wording of the agreement and the history of how the parties dealt with each other. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration and looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake. Many clients live out of state, including in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and the firm handles the Florida court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing.

Real Estate Disputes That Reach Litigation in Oakland Park

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Disputes: Buyers and sellers of commercial and residential property end up in court over missed closing dates, financing contingencies, inspection and title objections, and deposits. Depending on the facts, the remedy may be damages, return of a deposit, or an order compelling the sale to go forward.
• Specific Performance Claims: Real property is treated as unique, so a buyer who wants the property rather than money can ask the court to order the seller to close. Florida sets a short one-year period for this kind of action, which makes timing a threshold issue.
• Partition Actions: When co-owners cannot agree to keep, sell, or divide a property, any of them may ask the court for partition. Common Oakland Park scenarios include siblings who inherited a house, unmarried couples, and former business partners holding an investment together.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: A recorded deed, lien, or competing ownership claim can stall a sale or refinance. A quiet title action asks the court to cancel the conflicting claim and confirm who owns the land.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Disagreements over rent, repairs, defaults, and termination are common for the small retail and light industrial tenants in the area. Lease language usually controls the outcome.
• Landlord and Tenant Matters: Residential possession cases follow strict statutory notice requirements, and a defective notice can undo an otherwise valid eviction.
• Injunctions Protecting Property: When a co-owner, partner, or counterparty threatens to transfer, encumber, or damage property while a case is pending, temporary and permanent injunctions can preserve the status quo.

What to Do and Where to Go When a Property Dispute Starts

The first practical step is to stop and collect paper. Gather the signed contract and every amendment, the deed, any title commitment or survey, closing correspondence, texts and emails with the other side, and proof of payments. These records usually decide real estate cases, and the story you remember matters less than the document that shows what was agreed. Do not sign new agreements, accept partial payments on disputed amounts, or move out of or change a property without understanding how that affects your position.

Then look at the clock. Florida’s limitations periods vary by the type of claim: five years for an action founded on a written instrument, four years for an oral or implied contract and for rescission, four years from discovery for fraud with an outer limit of twelve years, and just one year for specific performance. Negligence claims are now two years for causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023, and professional malpractice claims are also two years from discovery. A buyer who waits to see whether a seller will relent can lose the specific performance remedy entirely while the longer contract claim remains.

Landlords and tenants face their own short fuses. For unpaid rent, a landlord must serve a written demand and the tenant has three days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed holidays, to pay or leave. For other violations that can be cured, the notice gives seven days to fix the problem, and some conduct, such as intentional destruction of property, permits a seven-day termination notice with no chance to cure. A landlord who accepts partial rent after posting notice has to handle it carefully, either by giving a receipt that states the balance and new due date, by depositing the money in the court registry when filing, or by serving a fresh notice, but accepting partial rent does not by itself waive the right to terminate. A tenant who believes the landlord has materially failed to maintain the unit can give written notice and, if the problem is not fixed within seven days, may terminate the lease.

Oakland Park properties fall within Broward County, so these cases are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Disputes above the county court ceiling are heard in circuit civil court, with county civil court handling the middle range and small claims handling the smallest cases. Broward’s courts operate from several locations, including the Central Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale and regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Large business and real property disputes tied to entity dissolution or major commercial litigation may belong in the circuit’s complex business division, which accepts direct filing under a specific administrative order. If a case involves parties from different states and meets federal requirements, the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, may be an alternative forum.

Partition, Quiet Title, and Co-Ownership Breakdowns

Partition is the remedy most people do not know exists until a co-owner stops cooperating. All partition actions are heard in equity, and the complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and where they live, and state what share each holds. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the parties if they agree. When dividing the land physically would prejudice the owners, as it would with a single-family house or a small commercial parcel, the court may order a sale at public auction and split the proceeds in proportion to ownership. A court can allow a sale on credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the price must be paid at the outset unless everyone consents otherwise.

Inherited property gets special treatment. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition cases filed after July 1, 2020. It covers real property held as tenants in common with no binding agreement governing partition, where a cotenant acquired title from a relative and certain further conditions are met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. Once a court finds the property is heirs property, Part II governs, and a partition in kind is not ordered unless commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group. In practice, that gives family co-owners procedural protections against a forced sale that ordinary co-owners do not get.

Quiet title addresses a different problem: someone who is not the rightful owner holds, or asserts, evidence of title. A plaintiff may file in any county where part of the land sits and must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. Adverse possession claims sit in the same neighborhood. Without color of title, a claimant needs seven years of continued possession under a claim of title exclusive of other rights, and must file a return with the property appraiser that includes a full legal description. With color of title, the instrument must be recorded in the county before the possession counts. When real estate is held inside an LLC or corporation, a co-owner dispute can also become a dissolution case, where Florida law lets a member seek judicial dissolution for deadlock, misappropriation of assets, or conduct that makes carrying on the business impracticable, and lets the court appoint a receiver or order a buyout.

Questions Oakland Park Property Owners Ask

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

For a claim founded on a written instrument, such as a signed purchase agreement or lease, the period is five years. An oral or implied contract gets four years. Specific performance, where you want the court to order the sale to close, has only one year, so that remedy can expire long before the damages claim does.

Can I force the sale of a house I co-own with a relative?

You can ask the court for partition. If the property qualifies as heirs property, because it was inherited and the statutory conditions are met, the court must follow the heirs property procedures, which add protections against a forced sale. Those protections can change both the timeline and the outcome.

What is the difference between partition and quiet title?

Partition resolves what happens to a property that several people legitimately own together. Quiet title resolves who owns it when someone holds a competing or defective claim. A case can involve both, but they ask the court for different relief.

What happens if the seller backs out of a signed commercial contract?

You may have a claim for damages, return of your deposit, or specific performance, depending on the contract terms and your goals. Because land is treated as unique, a court can order the seller to close, as the firm achieved for a client after a bench trial in Broward County. The one-year window for specific performance makes prompt action important.

Does a landlord have to give a tenant a chance to fix a lease violation?

For most non-rent violations that can be corrected, the notice must give seven days to cure. Certain conduct, including intentional destruction of property and repeated unreasonable disturbances, allows termination on a seven-day notice with no cure right. For unpaid rent, the tenant gets three days, excluding weekends and court-observed holidays.

Can a court stop my co-owner from selling or mortgaging our property while we litigate?

Yes. A court can issue temporary and, in the right case, permanent injunctions to preserve the property or company assets while the dispute is pending. The request typically has to show why waiting for a final judgment would cause harm that money cannot repair.

I own property with former business partners. Is that a real estate case or a business case?

Often it is both. The property may be titled personally or held in an LLC, and the answer drives whether you pursue partition, a dissolution proceeding, or claims for breach of the operating agreement or fiduciary duty. The firm handles both sides of that overlap.

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

It depends on the type of claim, how contested the facts are, and whether the case is assigned to a standard track or a complex business division. A simple dispute can resolve through negotiation or mediation, while a contested case that goes to a bench trial takes substantially longer. A lawyer can give you a realistic range after reviewing the documents.

Do I need to live in Florida to hire your firm for a dispute over Oakland Park property?

No. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property or business interests in South Florida. It handles the local court appearances and keeps out-of-state clients informed at each stage.

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

Often yes, because notice defects, missed deadlines, and wrong-remedy filings can end a strong claim regardless of its size. Many disputes resolve in mediation or negotiation, and a lawyer’s early involvement can keep a disagreement from turning into a lawsuit. The firm weighs cost against the value of the claim from the start.

Do you work with other attorneys on real estate cases?

Yes. A significant part of the firm’s practice comes from referrals by other lawyers, including out-of-state attorneys whose clients have Florida property disputes and Florida attorneys who do not handle business litigation. The firm communicates with referring counsel throughout the matter.

Serving Real Estate Clients From Oakland Park Across Broward and Palm Beach Counties

The firm’s real estate work begins in Oakland Park and extends across Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Tamarac, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Sunrise, Hollywood, and Hallandale Beach. Just to the north and across the county line, it also represents owners and investors throughout Palm Beach County, from Boca Raton and Delray Beach through Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, and West Palm Beach.

Whether the property is a duplex held by siblings, a retail bay leased to a small tenant, a warehouse bought through an LLC, or an investment parcel shared with a former partner, the same questions come up about who owns it, who controls it, and how to separate cleanly. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida holdings work with the firm without needing to be in the courtroom for every hearing.

Talk With an Oakland Park Real Estate Lawyer About Your Dispute

If a closing has collapsed, a co-owner has stopped cooperating, or a title problem is blocking a sale, an Oakland Park real estate lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your documents, identify which remedy fits and how soon you must act, and tell you plainly whether litigation, mediation, or negotiation serves your goals. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and learn what your options are before a deadline decides them for you.