Wilton Manors Real Estate Litigation Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents property owners, investors, landlords, and co-owners in Wilton Manors and across Broward County who are in a dispute over land, buildings, or the contracts that govern them. As a Wilton Manors real estate litigation attorney practice serving this part of South Florida, the firm handles failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, partition actions, quiet title cases, landlord and tenant conflicts, and requests for emergency injunctive relief.

Real estate disputes in a compact, heavily built-out city like Wilton Manors tend to center on a few recurring problems: a buyer or seller who walks away from a signed contract, siblings or former partners who own a house together and cannot agree on what to do with it, a cloud on title that surfaces when someone tries to sell or refinance, or a tenant relationship that has stopped working. Each of these runs on its own statute, its own deadlines, and its own kind of proof, and the first decisions made often shape everything that follows.

Cases from Wilton Manors are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County, and some matters involving business entities or larger commercial claims can end up in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. The sections below walk through how these disputes typically unfold, what clocks are running, and what a property owner should do early.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Broward County, Palm Beach County, and the rest of South Florida, including clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property or business interests here. Its principal, Andrew M. His career has been built around complex contract disputes, conflicts between co-owners, and the business and real estate cases that grow out of them.

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. The firm works as a true legal team, meaning everyone on a matter knows the file, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Real estate litigation often turns on the exact language of a contract and the history between the parties, and the firm prepares with that in mind.

A recent result shows the kind of work involved. 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. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and it looks for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake. Many clients also reach the firm through referrals from other attorneys, and the firm communicates with referring counsel throughout.

Common Real Estate Disputes Handled for Wilton Manors Property Owners

• Failed Closings and Contract Breaches: A buyer who refuses to close, a seller who backs out for a higher offer, or a financing or inspection dispute that turns into a claim. The remedy sought may be damages, return of a deposit, or an order forcing the sale to go through.
• Specific Performance Actions: Because real property is treated as unique, a court can order a party to complete a sale. The statute allowing this type of action has a short one-year limitations period, which makes early evaluation important.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners who cannot agree on keeping, renting, or selling a property can ask the court to divide it or order it sold. This is common among siblings who inherited a home, former business partners, unmarried couples, and investors who want out.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: Competing ownership claims, a recorded instrument that should not be there, or a fraudulent conveyance can block a sale or refinance. A quiet title action asks the court to cancel the cloud and declare who holds title.
• Landlord and Tenant Disputes: Nonpayment, lease violations, partial rent acceptance, and termination notices all follow statutory notice rules that, if mishandled, can sink an eviction.
• Disputes Between Co-Owners of Business Property: When an LLC or corporation owns the building and the owners fall out, the real estate fight and the business fight become one case, involving fiduciary duty, accounting, and sometimes dissolution.
• Missing or Diverted Funds: Rents, deposits, or sale proceeds that a co-owner or manager cannot account for can support claims for an accounting and recovery of the money.
• Emergency Injunctions: When property is about to be sold, encumbered, or damaged while a case is pending, a temporary injunction may be needed to hold things in place.

What to Do When a Real Estate Dispute Takes Hold

The first step is to stop the document trail from getting worse. Gather the purchase contract, any amendments, the deed, title commitment or title policy, closing statements, leases, loan documents, and every email or text exchanged with the other side. Real estate cases are won on paper, and the sequence of who said what and when frequently matters as much as the contract itself. Avoid signing anything new, recording anything, or making verbal concessions before someone has reviewed where you stand.

Next, identify which clock applies. Florida gives five years to sue on a written contract, four years on an oral or implied one, and four years to seek rescission. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, capped at twelve years. The one-year period for specific performance is the one most often overlooked, and it can end a claim that would otherwise be strong. For disputes over possession of land, Florida also bars recovery of real property unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was in possession within seven years before filing. These deadlines are why an early consultation is worth more than a late one.

Landlords and tenants should pay particular attention to notice mechanics. For unpaid rent, the landlord must deliver a written demand, and the tenant has three days, excluding weekends and court-observed holidays, to pay or leave. For noncompliance that can be cured, the notice must give seven days to fix the problem; for noncompliance that cannot be cured, such as intentional destruction of property, the notice gives seven days to vacate. If partial rent is accepted after a nonpayment notice, the landlord must either give a dated receipt noting the balance, deposit the payment into the court registry when filing, or serve a fresh three-day notice. Accepting partial rent does not by itself waive the right to terminate, but handling it wrongly creates an avoidable defense.

If the dispute is with a co-owner or partner and money or property may be moved, raise that immediately. A court can issue injunctive relief to preserve assets while the case is pending, and the earlier the request, the more there is left to protect. Cases from Wilton Manors are filed in the circuit court for Broward County, which hears claims above the county court threshold, and the Seventeenth Circuit has a complex business division that handles certain large business and construction matters and dissolution of some business entities. The firm assesses early whether a matter belongs there, in an ordinary civil division, or in federal court.

How Partition and Quiet Title Cases Actually Move

A partition case begins with a complaint in chancery describing the property, naming every owner and where they live, and stating what share each holds. If the court enters a judgment of partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree on who they should be. The commissioners report on whether the property can be divided fairly. A single-family home in Wilton Manors rarely can be, so the realistic outcome is usually a sale, with proceeds split in proportion to ownership. If the court orders a sale at public auction, it may allow reasonable credit for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless every party consents otherwise.

Inherited property deserves separate attention. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020. If a court finds the property qualifies, for example where cotenants hold title as tenants in common without a governing agreement, one or more acquired title from a relative, and at least twenty percent of the interests are held by relatives, the case must proceed under that act’s protections unless all cotenants agree otherwise. Those protections include a process for the court to consider whether dividing the property in kind would prejudice the owners as a group, before any forced sale.

Quiet title actions work differently. Under Chapter 65, a person claiming legal or equitable title can ask the court to determine ownership and cancel a conveyance or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner. The suit may be filed in any county where part of the land lies, and the plaintiff generally must trace title for at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise. Where the claim rests on a fraudulent attempted conveyance, the statute provides for summary procedure and calendar priority.

Adverse possession claims sit at the other end of the same subject. Without color of title, a claimant must show seven years of actual, continuous possession under a claim of title exclusive of any other right. With color of title, the instrument relied on must be recorded in the county where the land lies. Anyone claiming adverse possession must also file a return with a full legal description for the property appraiser. If you are on either side of such a claim, the details of the possession history will decide the case.

Real Estate Disputes That Are Really Business Divorces

Many property fights are really ownership fights. When an LLC holds a building and its members stop cooperating, Florida law lets a court dissolve the company on grounds that include deadlock that threatens irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, and situations where it is no longer reasonably practicable to carry on under the operating agreement. A court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member. Corporations have a parallel framework: a shareholder can petition for dissolution on specified grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders may elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value, with a 60-day window to agree on price and terms before the court steps in. Those elections are generally irrevocable.

Any deadlock sale provision in the operating or shareholder agreement matters here, because a properly initiated one can displace judicial dissolution. That is why the firm reads the governing documents before choosing a path.

Questions About Real Estate Litigation in Wilton Manors

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

For a contract founded on a written instrument, the period is five years. For oral or implied contracts it is four years. An action for specific performance, which asks the court to compel the sale, has only one year, so it should be evaluated quickly.

Can a court force someone to complete a property sale?

Yes. Because land is treated as unique, a court can order specific performance of a purchase contract. The firm obtained such a judgment for a client in a commercial real estate case after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court.

What is a partition action?

It is a court case asking to divide jointly owned property or, when division is not practical, to sell it and split the proceeds. Co-owners such as siblings, former partners, and unmarried couples commonly use it.

Can I be forced to sell a house I inherited with relatives?

Possibly, but heirs property rules add protections. If the property qualifies under Florida’s heirs property statute, the court must follow a process that considers whether dividing it in kind would prejudice the cotenants, and it generally cannot jump straight to a sale.

What does a quiet title action accomplish?

It asks the court to declare who owns a property and to cancel a recorded instrument or claim that clouds title. It is often needed before a clean sale or refinance.

How much title history do I need to prove in a quiet title case?

The statute generally requires the plaintiff to trace title for at least seven years before filing, unless the court orders otherwise.

How does a tenant get evicted for not paying rent?

The landlord must deliver written demand for payment or possession. If the default continues three days after delivery, excluding weekends and court-observed holidays, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and proceed to court.

If a landlord accepts partial rent, is the eviction ruined?

Not automatically. Accepting partial rent does not waive the right to terminate, but the landlord must follow one of the statutory options, such as a dated receipt stating the balance, placing the payment in the court registry, or serving a new three-day notice.

Which court would hear my Wilton Manors property dispute?

Larger disputes are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. County court handles smaller claims within its dollar limit, and certain large business or construction matters may be directed to the circuit’s complex business division.

Can you handle my case if I live in New York or New Jersey?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property in South Florida, handling local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing.

Can a court stop my co-owner from selling or encumbering the property while we fight?

It can, through a temporary injunction. These requests are time-sensitive, because the goal is to preserve the property or funds before they are moved.

Does every dispute end in a trial?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm pursues whichever route best serves the client’s goals and budget.

Serving Real Estate Litigation Clients Across Wilton Manors and Broward County

The firm represents property owners in Wilton Manors and the surrounding Broward County communities, including Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Lighthouse Point, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, Plantation, Sunrise, Davie, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, Pembroke Pines, and Weston. It also serves clients in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and throughout Palm Beach County, along with owners from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold real estate or business interests in South Florida.

Speak With a Wilton Manors Real Estate Litigation Attorney

When a contract falls apart, a co-owner stalls, or a title problem blocks a sale, the options narrow as deadlines pass. If you need a Wilton Manors real estate litigation lawyer who will read the documents closely and tell you plainly where you stand, call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation.