Palm Beach County Real Estate Transactions Attorney

A real estate deal in South Florida is rarely finished when the contract is signed. The disputes that reach a courtroom usually start after that, when a buyer cannot close, a seller walks away, a co-owner stalls, or a title problem surfaces that nobody caught. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm that handles commercial and residential transactions and the disputes that grow out of them, serving clients throughout Palm Beach County and neighboring Broward County. When you need a Palm Beach County real estate transactions attorney, the practical question is often what happens when the deal breaks, so we think about the contract with that in mind from the start.

Most transaction problems trace back to the same few places: contract wording that two sides read differently, deadlines that quietly passed, deposits that one side claims and the other refuses to release, and ownership that turns out to be more tangled than the paperwork suggested. Palm Beach County is a market of waterfront homes, commercial centers, investment property, and family-held parcels, and each of those brings its own pressure points. Our work covers the front end of a deal as well as the back end when it goes wrong.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Palm Beach County Property Deals

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida real estate and business disputes, serving clients in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and throughout the region, including out of state clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold property or business interests here. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, has spent 37 years in litigation, and holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University and a law degree from the University of Miami. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts.

That litigation background matters in a transaction practice. A contract drafted or reviewed by someone who has argued over its wording in front of a judge tends to be written more carefully. In November 2024 the firm announced a result that illustrates the point: after a five-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge issued a 32-page final judgment, dated May 15, 2024, awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. In other words, the court ordered the deal to be carried out as written.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file, and we keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court or otherwise unavailable. Our attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we look for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget. Many of our matters come as referrals from other attorneys, and we handle local court appearances for clients who live elsewhere.

Palm Beach County Real Estate Matters We Handle

• Purchase and Sale Contract Disputes: Disagreements over financing contingencies, inspection and due diligence periods, deposit refunds, and whether a party defaulted. These cases usually turn on the exact language of the contract and the parties’ emails and conduct leading up to the closing date.
• Failed Closings: A buyer who cannot perform, a seller who gets a better offer, or a lender that falls through. Depending on the contract, the remedies can include keeping or recovering a deposit, damages, or a court order forcing the sale to proceed.
• Specific Performance Claims: Because real property is treated as unique, a court may order a seller to convey it. Our firm has won a final judgment of this kind after a bench trial on a commercial contract.
• Commercial Lease and Landlord-Tenant Disputes: Defaults, termination notices, build-out disagreements, and holdover tenants in retail, office, and residential settings, including the notice requirements Florida imposes before a tenancy can be ended.
• Title Disputes and Quiet Title Actions: Competing ownership claims, clouds on title, and defective conveyances that stop a sale or refinance. A quiet title case asks the court to declare who actually owns the property.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners who cannot agree on a shared property, including former business partners, siblings who inherited together, unmarried couples, and investors seeking an exit.
• Business and Investment Property Transactions: Acquisitions and sales where the real estate sits inside an LLC or corporation, which can raise ownership and authority questions on top of the usual closing issues.
• Injunctions Protecting Property: Emergency or temporary relief when a property or its proceeds are about to be transferred, encumbered, or otherwise put out of reach during a dispute.

When a Deal Starts to Go Wrong: What to Do and Where Cases Are Heard

The first thing worth doing is also the least dramatic: stop, gather the paper, and read it. Pull the signed contract, every addendum, the escrow or deposit records, and all correspondence, including texts and emails with the other side, the agents, and the closing agent. Disputes over real estate contracts are often decided by what the document says and what the parties did next, so a clean timeline of dates, deadlines, and notices sent or received is worth more than any recollection. Do not rewrite history in a heated email. Messages sent in frustration become exhibits.

Then look at the clock, because Florida’s deadlines for suing are firm. An action on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while a claim not founded on a written instrument has four. An action to rescind a contract has four years, and fraud claims run four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of twelve years. The one that catches people off guard is specific performance, which carries a one-year period. If your goal is to force a closing rather than collect money, waiting is the single most expensive mistake you can make. These periods can be affected by when a claim accrued and by the contract’s own terms, so having an attorney look at the dates early is sensible.

As for where the case goes, Palm Beach County sits in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and most significant real estate disputes are filed in the circuit court at the main courthouse in West Palm Beach. Claims above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court, while smaller contract disputes can land in county civil court, and amounts at the low end fall into small claims. Quiet title cases can be filed in any county where part of the land lies, and partition actions are heard in equity. If the property or the other party is across the county line, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County may be the proper forum, and some disputes with the right federal jurisdictional basis can be heard in the Southern District of Florida, which sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Choosing the right forum early saves months.

Realistically, expect the early phase to be about leverage and preservation. We send demand letters, analyze the contract for notice and cure provisions, and, where assets are at risk, ask the court for emergency relief to freeze a transfer. Many transaction disputes settle through negotiation or mediation once each side sees an honest read of the contract, and we pursue that path when it serves the client. When it does not, the case moves through pleadings, discovery, and, if necessary, a bench trial. Cases about real property are often tried to a judge rather than a jury, which is how the firm’s specific performance judgment was reached.

Partition and Title Problems That Block a Sale

Some of the hardest transaction problems are not between a buyer and a seller at all. They are between people who already own the property together. Florida’s partition statutes let a co-owner ask the court to divide the property, or, when physical division would not work, to order it sold and the proceeds split in proportion to each owner’s interest. In practice, nearly every house, condominium, or commercial building is sold rather than carved up. The court can appoint three commissioners to evaluate whether a division can be made without prejudice to the owners, and a sale at public auction follows if it cannot. If a sale is ordered on credit, at least a third of the purchase money must be paid at the outset unless everyone agrees otherwise.

Inherited property has its own rules. Florida’s version of the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies when the cotenants hold as tenants in common without a binding agreement, at least one acquired title from a relative, and further conditions are met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. In those cases the court must follow a more protective process, and partition in kind is not entered unless the court is satisfied the statutory factors were considered and a division would prejudice the owners as a group. If you hold property with siblings or cousins, it is worth knowing whether this track applies before anyone files.

Title disputes work differently. A quiet title action under Chapter 65 asks the court to cancel a competing claim and clear the cloud, and the plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. Separately, Florida’s adverse possession rules require seven years of continuous possession under the statutory conditions, including a filed return with a legal description when there is no color of title. A forgotten claim, an old defective deed, or a neighbor’s long-standing use can all surface at a closing, and the sale cannot proceed until the cloud is resolved.

Questions About Palm Beach County Real Estate Transactions

Can I get my deposit back if the sale falls through?

It depends on why the deal failed and what the contract says. Many contracts allow a buyer to recover the deposit if a financing or inspection contingency was properly exercised within its deadline, and allow a seller to keep it if the buyer defaulted. Disputes usually arise over whether a notice was timely and properly given.

Can a court force a seller to complete a sale?

Yes. Because real property is considered unique, a court can order specific performance, requiring the seller to convey the property. The window is short, since the limitations period for a specific performance action is one year, so acting promptly matters.

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

Generally five years for an action founded on a written instrument. Oral or implied contract claims have four years, rescission has four years, and fraud runs four years from discovery with a twelve-year outer limit. Specific performance is one year, so identify the remedy you want before relying on the longer periods.

What is a partition action and when do I need one?

It is a lawsuit asking the court to divide jointly owned property or, more commonly, order it sold and split the proceeds. It is used when co-owners cannot agree, whether they are former business partners, heirs, or unmarried couples.

Is a property I inherited with relatives treated differently?

Possibly. If the property qualifies as heirs property under Florida’s uniform act, the court must follow a protective process that favors keeping the property in the family and limits forced sales. Whether it qualifies depends on how title is held, how it was acquired, and the makeup of the ownership interests.

What does a quiet title action accomplish?

It results in a court judgment declaring who owns the property and canceling competing claims or defective instruments. It is used to clear a cloud on title so the property can be sold, financed, or otherwise dealt with confidently.

Which court handles a Palm Beach County real estate lawsuit?

Most substantial cases are heard by the circuit court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in West Palm Beach. Smaller claims may belong in county civil court or small claims, depending on the amount in controversy. Where the land lies and where the parties are can affect the right forum.

My property is held through an LLC and my partner is refusing to sign a sale. What can I do?

Start with the operating agreement, which may contain buyout, authority, or deadlock provisions. If the members are truly deadlocked and the company is suffering irreparable injury, Florida law allows a court to consider judicial dissolution or a purchase of a member’s interest. Where assets are at risk, emergency injunctive relief may also be available.

I live out of state. Do I have to travel for every hearing?

No. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with Palm Beach County property, handle the local court appearances, and schedule calls at times that work for you.

If I accept partial rent after serving a three-day notice, have I lost my right to evict?

Not automatically. Florida law says accepting partial rent does not waive the right to terminate, but the landlord must follow one of the statutory steps, such as giving a receipt stating the amount and balance due, depositing the partial rent in the court registry upon filing, or serving a new three-day notice for the revised amount.

Is it worth hiring an attorney before I sign, not just after a problem?

Often, yes. A lawyer who litigates these disputes will read contingency dates, default remedies, and notice provisions with an eye toward how they will be enforced. Our general counsel program also gives businesses ongoing access to advice before a disagreement becomes a lawsuit.

Serving Real Estate Clients Across Palm Beach County and Beyond

We represent clients throughout Palm Beach County, from Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach in the south, through Lake Worth, Lantana, Greenacres, and Wellington, to West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, and Palm Beach. Farther north, our work reaches Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Juno Beach, and Riviera Beach, and west toward Belle Glade and the Glades communities. Property in each of these areas generates its own mix of waterfront, residential, commercial, and investment disputes.

Because the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Judicial Circuits adjoin one another, many matters cross the county line, and we also serve clients in neighboring Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, and Hollywood. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own business or real estate interests in South Florida work with us as well, with us handling the local proceedings on their behalf.

Talk to a Palm Beach County Real Estate Attorney About Your Transaction

Whether you are about to sign a significant contract, caught in a closing that is falling apart, or stuck with a co-owner or a title problem, a Palm Beach County real estate attorney can tell you where you stand before a deadline decides it for you. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles real estate transactions and litigation for clients across Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Call us to discuss your situation, and we will give you a straightforward read on your options and the most efficient way to reach your goal.