Parkland Real Estate Transactions Attorney

A real estate deal in Broward County can fall apart at any point between a signed contract and a recorded deed, and when it does, the dispute lands in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. For buyers, sellers, investors, and co-owners in Parkland, that means a contract written in a few pages can end up being interpreted by a judge months later. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm that handles real estate transactions and disputes for clients in Parkland, Coral Springs, Boca Raton, and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County.

If you are looking for a Parkland real estate transactions attorney, the practical question is usually one of two things: you want a deal papered correctly before anyone signs, or you are already in a deal that has gone sideways. Parkland’s market includes large single-family homes, gated communities, vacant land, and investment property held by people who live elsewhere, and each of those brings its own contract problems. Ownership split among siblings, former business partners, or an LLC adds another layer. The right time to involve a lawyer is before the contract is signed, though a good deal of our work begins after a closing has failed or a co-owner has stopped cooperating.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Parkland Real Estate Transactions

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University (1986) and a law degree from the University of Miami (1989). He is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts.

That litigation background shapes how we handle transactions. A lawyer who has spent decades watching contracts get picked apart in court drafts and reviews them differently. Our real estate practice covers commercial and residential transactions as well as the litigation that follows when they fail, including purchase and sale contract disputes, failed closings, and landlord and tenant matters. The firm recently obtained a 32-page final judgment from the Broward County Circuit Court, following a five-day bench trial, awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That result reflects what the firm does: take a contract dispute through trial when that is what the client’s position requires.

We practice as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on your matter knows the file, and we keep a strict 24 hour return call policy. Our attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we look for the resolution that fits your goals and budget. We also serve as outside general counsel for businesses and as registered agent through that program, which suits property owners who hold real estate through companies. Many clients come from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with Florida property, and we handle the local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every proceeding. A significant part of our practice also comes from referrals by other attorneys.

Real Estate Situations We Handle for Parkland Owners and Investors

• Purchase and Sale Contract Disputes: Disagreements over financing contingencies, inspection periods, deposits, and whether a buyer or seller defaulted. These cases often turn on the exact wording of the contract and the parties’ emails and communications leading up to closing.
• Failed Closings and Specific Performance: When a seller refuses to close or a buyer walks away, the remedy may be money damages or a court order compelling the sale. Specific performance claims carry a short filing window, so timing matters.
• Commercial Real Estate Transactions: Purchase agreements, commercial leases, and loan documents for investors and business owners acquiring or disposing of property in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners who cannot agree can ask the court to divide the property or order it sold. These arise among former business partners, siblings who inherited a home, unmarried couples, and investors who want out of a shared investment.
• Title Disputes and Quiet Title Actions: Competing ownership claims, clouds on title, and conveyances that should not have been recorded. A quiet title action asks the court to determine who owns the land and remove the competing claim.
• Landlord and Tenant Matters: Nonpayment notices, lease terminations, and disputes over partial rent payments, governed by the notice rules in Florida’s residential landlord-tenant statute.
• Property Held Through Business Entities: Real estate owned by an LLC or corporation where the members or shareholders are in conflict, which can pull a property dispute into a business divorce.
• Emergency Relief to Protect Property: Temporary and permanent injunctions to stop a transfer, encumbrance, or misuse of property while a dispute is pending.

What to Do When a Parkland Real Estate Deal Is in Trouble

Start by gathering paper before you say anything further to the other side. That means the signed contract and every addendum, the deposit receipt, all emails and texts between buyer, seller, and agents, any inspection reports, lender correspondence, and anything that was recorded. Do not rely on memory or verbal assurances. If you are the party who may have defaulted, resist the urge to explain yourself in writing; those messages tend to become exhibits.

Next, calendar the deadlines. Florida sets different limitation periods depending on what you are suing over. A claim on a written contract has five years. A claim on an oral or implied contract has four. An action to rescind a contract has four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. A claim for specific performance, the remedy of forcing a sale to go through, has just one year. That last deadline surprises people more than any other, and it is the reason a buyer who is waiting out a stalling seller can lose the right to compel the closing. The negligence period is two years for claims arising after the 2023 law change, which can matter if a professional such as a closing agent or inspector contributed to the problem; professional malpractice claims also run two years from discovery.

Then think about where the case would be filed. Disputes over an amount above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court. For Parkland properties, that is the Broward County Circuit Court within the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which hears civil cases at the Central Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale, and the Broward Clerk also handles county civil matters at regional courthouses including the one in Plantation. Broward also has a complex business division, set up in 2004, that takes large business and construction litigation and certain entity dissolutions; a case can be filed directly into that division only by following the circuit’s administrative order and completing the required form at filing. If your property or the other party is in Palm Beach County instead, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit handles it. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and becomes relevant in certain cross-state disputes.

Finally, avoid the mistakes that cost people leverage: letting a deadline run while “negotiating,” recording or conveying anything without advice, withholding rent or deposits unilaterally, and signing a release or amendment without understanding what it gives up. A call to a Parkland real estate transactions lawyer at this stage is far cheaper than repairing a bad paper trail later.

Co-Owned Property: Partition, Heirs, and Quiet Title in Broward

Co-ownership is where many Parkland real estate disputes begin. When owners cannot agree to sell, keep, or buy each other out, Florida’s partition statute lets any of them file in the circuit court. Partition actions are heard in equity. The complaint has to 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, selected by the court unless the parties agree on them, and they decide whether the property can fairly be divided. When division would prejudice the owners, which is the usual result for a single house, the court can order a public sale to the highest bidder and divide the proceeds by ownership share. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the price must be paid at the outset unless everyone consents otherwise.

Inherited property has its own rules. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition cases filed on or after July 1, 2020. Property qualifies as heirs property when it is held as a tenancy in common with no binding agreement among all the cotenants about partition, at least one cotenant got title from a relative, and another statutory condition is met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. If it qualifies, the court must follow the Act’s procedure, and a partition in kind is not ordered unless the court is satisfied the commissioners weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group. For siblings who inherited a family home, that framework can change the strategy considerably.

Quiet title is the other tool. A property owner can sue to have a court determine title and remove a competing claim or recorded instrument that clouds ownership. The plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years before filing, unless the court orders otherwise, and the action may be filed in any county where part of the land sits. Related issues include adverse possession, which in Florida requires seven years of continuous possession and, without color of title, a claim of title not founded on a written instrument, along with a return filed with the property appraiser that includes a full legal description. These claims are rarely simple, and the paper record often decides them.

Questions Parkland Property Owners Ask About Real Estate Transactions

What does a real estate transactions attorney do in a Parkland purchase or sale?

We review and negotiate the contract, explain contingencies and deadlines, address title and survey issues, and make sure the closing documents match what was agreed. Because our practice is built around litigation, we draft with an eye toward how a provision would hold up if the deal were ever contested.

My seller will not close. Can I force the sale?

Possibly. A buyer can ask a court for specific performance, which orders the seller to complete the sale on the contract terms. That claim has a one-year limitation period in Florida, and success depends on your own compliance with the contract, so do not wait to get the contract reviewed.

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

For a contract in writing, the period is five years. For an oral or implied agreement, it is four. Rescission claims are four years, fraud claims are four years from discovery with a 12-year cap, and specific performance is one year. These periods run from different events, so the first step is identifying which claim you actually have.

What happens to the deposit if a closing fails?

That depends on the contract’s default and deposit provisions and on who failed to perform. Disputes over deposits usually turn on whether a contingency was properly exercised and whether notices were given as the contract required. Keep every communication about the deposit.

Can a co-owner force me to sell our property?

In Florida, any co-owner can file a partition action, and if the property cannot be divided fairly, the court can order it sold at public auction with proceeds divided by ownership share. Whether an agreement among the owners, or the heirs property rules, changes that outcome depends on the facts.

What is the difference between partition and quiet title?

Partition separates the interests of people who agree they co-own the property but disagree about what to do with it. Quiet title resolves who owns the property, or removes a competing claim or recorded instrument that clouds title.

Do I need to hire a lawyer for a landlord-tenant problem on a Parkland rental?

Notices carry strict timing in Florida. A nonpayment notice gives the tenant three days, excluding weekends and court-observed legal holidays, before the landlord may terminate. A non-curable violation or a repeat violation within twelve months of a written warning calls for a seven-day notice to vacate, while a curable violation gives seven days to correct it. A defective notice can undo an eviction, so having a lawyer review it often saves time.

Does accepting partial rent waive my right to evict?

Not by itself. A landlord who takes partial rent after posting a nonpayment notice does not give up the right to terminate or sue, but the statute requires one of three things: a receipt noting the amount and the agreed balance and date, depositing the partial rent in the court registry when filing, or posting a fresh three-day notice for the new amount.

I live in New York and own property in Parkland. Can you handle a dispute without my traveling?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida holdings. We handle the local court proceedings, schedule conference calls at times that work for you, and keep you informed at each stage.

When a property is owned through an LLC and the members are fighting, is that a real estate case or a business case?

Often both. Florida law allows a court to dissolve an LLC when members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout. Because the property sits inside the company, the real estate and the entity dispute have to be handled together.

Will my case have to go to trial?

Not necessarily. Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and we pursue the path most likely to achieve your goals efficiently. When trial is the right course, as it was in our recent specific performance judgment, we are prepared for it.

Serving Real Estate Clients Across Parkland and Broward County

Our work for Parkland owners and investors starts in Parkland and extends outward through the rest of Broward County. We represent clients in Coral Springs, Margate, Coconut Creek, Tamarac, Sunrise, Plantation, Weston, Davie, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Hollywood, as well as the many neighborhoods and gated communities in between. Because Parkland sits at the county’s northwest edge, many clients also have property or business partners just north in Palm Beach County, and we serve clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, and West Palm Beach along with the rest of Palm Beach County. Whether the dispute involves a single home, a commercial parcel, or an investment shared with a former partner, we handle the transactions and litigation on both sides of the county line, and we work with out of state owners from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold South Florida property.

Speak With a Parkland Real Estate Transactions Lawyer

If you are about to sign a contract, stuck in a closing that will not close, or locked in a dispute with a co-owner, talk to a Parkland real estate transactions lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team before the next deadline passes. We will review your documents, explain where you stand, and lay out whether negotiation, mediation, or litigation is the better route. Call our team today to schedule a consultation.