Royal Palm Beach Real Estate Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents property owners, investors, landlords, and families in Royal Palm Beach and throughout Palm Beach County who have run into a real estate problem that will not resolve on its own: a closing that collapsed, a co-owner who will not sell, a cloud on title, or a tenant who has stopped paying. The firm handles commercial and residential real estate transactions and litigation, and clients also come to us from Broward County and from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut when they own property or a business interest in South Florida.

Looking for a Royal Palm Beach real estate attorney usually means one of two things. Either a deal is about to be signed and someone wants the contract read by a lawyer who has seen how these agreements fail, or a deal has already gone wrong and the question is what remedy is still available. Those are different jobs, and the second one has clocks attached to it. Some of the deadlines in Florida property law are measured in years, but at least one, the window to sue for specific performance of a contract, is only one year.

Where Real Estate Disputes Actually Start

Royal Palm Beach sits in the middle of Palm Beach County’s western communities, and the property mix reflects that: single-family homes in planned neighborhoods, small commercial and retail parcels along the main corridors, and investment property held by owners who may live in another state entirely. Disputes tend to follow ownership structure more than geography. A house owned by two siblings who inherited it behaves differently in a dispute than a strip of retail space owned by an LLC with four members, and the legal tools differ accordingly.

The most common starting points are a purchase contract that one side refuses to close, a landlord and tenant disagreement that has turned into a notice-and-eviction timeline, co-owners who want different outcomes for the same parcel, and competing claims to title that surface when someone tries to sell or refinance. Each one has its own statute, its own court, and its own way of going wrong when handled casually.

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

The Andrew M. Founder Andrew M. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University (1986) and a law degree from the University of Miami (1989). His career has centered on complex contract disputes, which matters in real estate because nearly every property fight comes back to the wording of a contract and the history between the parties.

Andrew 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. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when an attorney is in court and cannot pick up right away. Clients are not handed off to someone who has never read their documents.

Relevant proof of that work: after a 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Getting a court to order a seller to actually perform, rather than merely pay damages, requires a trial record built carefully from the first pleading forward. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and aims for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget instead of stretching a case out for its own sake. A significant share of the firm’s work arrives as referrals from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients own Florida property, and the firm handles local court appearances so out of state clients do not have to travel for every hearing.

Real Estate Matters We Handle for Royal Palm Beach Clients

• Failed Closings and Purchase Contract Disputes: A buyer who will not close, a seller who changes course after a better offer, or a financing or inspection contingency that each side reads differently. Remedies range from damages to an order compelling the sale, and the one-year period for a specific performance action means waiting to see if the other side relents can quietly forfeit that remedy.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners who cannot agree to keep, rent, or sell a property can ask the court to divide it or order it sold. Former business partners, siblings who inherited a home, unmarried couples, and investors leaving a shared deal all end up here.
• Heirs Property: When property passes to relatives as tenants in common without a binding agreement on partition, Florida applies a separate statutory framework with added protections, including a requirement that the court consider whether dividing the land in kind would prejudice the cotenants as a group before permitting that outcome.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: Competing claims, a recorded instrument someone should not be holding, or a fraudulent conveyance can cloud ownership. A quiet title action asks the court to settle who owns the land and cancel the competing evidence of title.
• Landlord and Tenant Disputes: Nonpayment notices, termination for lease violations, partial rent acceptance, and commercial lease defaults all have strict notice mechanics that determine whether a later possession case survives.
• Commercial Lease and Loan Document Litigation: Defaults, guaranty questions, and disputes over what a lease or loan agreement actually requires, often turning on a single clause.
• Adverse Possession and Boundary Claims: A neighbor or occupant asserting rights from long, open use of land, or an owner trying to defend against that claim before it matures.
• Injunctions Protecting Property: Temporary and permanent injunctions, including emergency relief, to stop a sale, transfer, or interference while the underlying dispute is decided.

What to Do When a Property Dispute Is Already Underway

Start by gathering paper before anyone starts arguing about it: the signed contract and every amendment, the deed, closing statements, loan documents, lease, and any written communication about the property. In real estate fights, emails and text messages about extensions, repairs, and promises often matter nearly as much as the contract itself. Do not delete anything, and do not rewrite the story in a new message to the other side.

Next, identify which clock applies to you. A claim on a written contract generally carries a five-year limitations period, while contract claims that are not founded on a written instrument carry four years. A suit to rescind a contract has four years, and a fraud claim has four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of twelve. The one that catches owners off guard is specific performance, which must be filed within one year. Negligence claims carry two years following the 2023 amendment to the limitations statute, and professional malpractice claims, such as against a negligent closing professional, also run two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered.

If you are a landlord, be exact about notices. For unpaid rent, the tenant gets three days after delivery of the written demand, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed legal holidays, before the landlord may terminate. For other lease violations that can be cured, the notice must tell the tenant they have seven days to fix the problem or the lease will be terminated, and for violations that cannot be cured, the landlord may give a seven-day notice to vacate. Accepting partial rent after posting a nonpayment notice does not by itself waive your right to proceed, but you must either give the tenant a dated receipt stating the balance due, deposit the partial payment into the court registry when you file, or post a fresh three-day notice for the new amount. Skipping that step is one of the most common ways a landlord loses an otherwise winning case.

On the question of where a case will be heard, Royal Palm Beach is in Palm Beach County, which falls within the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. County civil court handles disputes up to a jurisdictional ceiling, and circuit court handles larger claims along with matters in equity such as partition, quiet title, and injunctions. The Palm Beach County Clerk operates a branch in Royal Palm Beach for filings and records, while the main circuit and county civil courts sit in West Palm Beach. If the property or the opposing party is in Broward County, the case belongs in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has complex business divisions, and federal court sits in both West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale for cases that qualify. Call early, before deciding whether to negotiate or file, because the choice of court and the choice of remedy are often made in the same conversation.

Partition, Quiet Title, and Adverse Possession in Florida Practice

All partition actions are brought in equity. The complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state each owner’s share. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the parties if they can agree. When the commissioners report that dividing the land would prejudice the owners, the court can order a sale at public auction and divide the proceeds by ownership share. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase price must be paid at the outset unless all parties agree otherwise. For heirs property, the court must follow the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act unless every cotenant agrees otherwise in a record, and a partition in kind is not entered unless the commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that division would prejudice the cotenants as a group.

Quiet title actions determine who holds legal or equitable title when claims compete, or where someone not entitled to title holds a conveyance that clouds it. The suit may be filed in any county where part of the land lies, and the plaintiff must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. A quiet title action based on an alleged fraudulent conveyance can proceed under summary procedure, and the court is directed to move it up the calendar.

Adverse possession is the flip side. Without color of title, a claimant must show actual, continuous 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. With color of title, seven years of continuous possession is also required, but the instrument the claim rests on must have been recorded in the county where the property sits. Separately, a Florida statute bars suits to recover real property unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was in possession within seven years before filing, so an owner who ignores an occupier risks permanently losing the right to challenge them.

When Co-Owners Are Also Business Partners

Real estate disputes in Royal Palm Beach are frequently entity disputes in disguise. If property is held through an LLC, a court may dissolve the company on petition from a member or manager when management is deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, when it is no longer reasonably practicable to carry on the company’s activities under its operating agreement, when controlling members are acting illegally or fraudulently, or when assets are being misappropriated or wasted. In those proceedings the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest. If the operating agreement contains a deadlock sale provision that was properly initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds, that provision generally takes the place of a judicial dissolution order.

For corporations, shareholders can seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation or the other shareholders can elect to buy the petitioner out at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order directing the purchase on those terms, and the election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. During the case the court can issue injunctions and appoint a custodian to preserve assets. These tools matter when the main asset is a building and one partner is draining the account that pays the mortgage.

Questions Royal Palm Beach Property Owners Ask

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

For a contract founded on a written instrument, the limitations period is five years. An oral or implied agreement carries four years. If what you want is a court order forcing the other side to complete the sale, that is specific performance, and the action must be brought within one year. The shorter period controls the remedy you can seek, so waiting out negotiations can cost you the stronger remedy.

Can a court force a seller to complete a sale instead of just paying me damages?

Yes, in appropriate cases. Real estate is treated as unique, and a court sitting in equity can order specific performance of a purchase contract. The firm obtained such a result for a client in a commercial real estate matter after a five-day bench trial. Success depends on proving a valid contract, your own readiness to perform, and the absence of a legitimate defense.

What is a partition action, and can I force the sale of a house I co-own?

A partition action asks the court to divide jointly owned land or, if dividing it would prejudice the owners, to order a sale and split the proceeds in proportion to ownership. A co-owner generally has the right to ask for partition even if the others object, though the court handles valuation, appointment of commissioners, and the method of sale.

My siblings and I inherited a house. Does anything different apply?

Often yes. Property held in common by relatives without an agreement governing partition may qualify as heirs property, which brings extra procedural protections, including buyout rights for cotenants who want to keep the property and a limit on partition in kind unless the court finds it would prejudice the group. A court that finds the property qualifies must apply that framework unless every cotenant agrees otherwise.

What is the difference between a quiet title action and a partition action?

Partition resolves what happens to land that several people agree they own together. Quiet title resolves who owns it when ownership itself is contested, or when someone holds a recorded instrument that clouds the real owner’s title. They sometimes appear in the same dispute, with title settled first and partition afterward.

Can someone take my property just by living on it?

Not quickly. Adverse possession requires seven years of actual, continuous, exclusive possession under a claim of title, plus a filing with the property appraiser that includes a legal description. Where a claim rests on a recorded instrument, additional recording requirements apply. Owners who discover an occupant should act well before that period runs.

My tenant paid part of the rent after I posted a three-day notice. Did I ruin my eviction?

Not necessarily. Accepting partial rent does not waive your right to terminate or sue, but you must follow one of three paths: give a receipt showing the date, amount, agreed payment date, and balance, deposit the partial rent into the court registry when you file, or post a new three-day notice for the updated balance. Missing this step is a common reason possession cases get dismissed.

Can I handle this from New York or New Jersey without flying down for hearings?

Generally yes. The firm represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own Florida property or business interests, handles the local court appearances, and keeps clients informed at each stage so travel is limited to what is truly necessary.

Is a county court or a circuit court the right place for my property dispute?

It depends on the claim and the amount at stake. County civil court hears money claims up to a statutory ceiling that is adjusted periodically, and circuit court hears larger claims plus equity matters such as partition, quiet title, and injunctions. Palm Beach County cases go to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and a dispute tied to Broward County property goes to the Seventeenth.

Can a co-owner be stopped from selling or encumbering a property while we fight?

Possibly. Temporary injunctions, including emergency relief, can freeze a transfer or prevent assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending. The firm regularly pursues this relief where delay would make a later judgment hollow.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer before signing a purchase contract or lease, rather than after a dispute?

Often it is cheaper. Most litigation traces back to a vague clause, a missing contingency, or an unclear default provision. Having a litigator read the agreement before signing, or serve as outside general counsel on an ongoing basis, tends to prevent the disagreements that otherwise end up in court.

Does every real estate dispute have to end in a trial?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm is experienced in each. Litigation is pursued when it is the path most likely to achieve the client’s goals, and the firm weighs cost against outcome rather than prolonging a case.

Serving Real Estate Clients Across Palm Beach and Broward Counties

The firm’s work for Royal Palm Beach clients begins in the village and extends across Palm Beach County, including Wellington, Loxahatchee Groves, Greenacres, Lake Worth Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton. Owners of western Palm Beach County parcels, residential subdivisions, and commercial properties turn to the firm when a closing, lease, partition, or title problem needs a litigator.

We also represent clients in Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, and neighboring communities, and appear in the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Judicial Circuits as well as federal court in the Southern District of Florida when a case belongs there. Out of state owners from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with Florida property are a regular part of the firm’s practice, and we manage the Florida proceedings on their behalf.

Talk With a Royal Palm Beach Real Estate Lawyer About Your Property

If a closing has fallen apart, a co-owner is blocking a sale, a title problem has surfaced, or a lease dispute needs a legally sound next step, speak with a Royal Palm Beach real estate lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team before a deadline closes the remedy you need. Call to schedule a consultation, and bring the contract, deed, and any correspondence you have. We return calls within 24 hours, and the attorney who reviews your file will know it.