Real Estate Litigation
Real Estate Litigation Attorney Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale's real estate market is one of the most active and economically significant in Florida — drawing buyers, sellers, investors, and developers from across the country and internationally, generating billions of dollars in transactions annually across residential, commercial, and industrial property. Where that level of economic activity exists, disputes are inevitable. A deal that collapses at closing, a seller who concealed material defects, a contractor who abandoned a project mid-construction, a landlord who breached a commercial lease, a title defect that surfaces after purchase — each of these situations can produce significant financial harm and require aggressive, experienced legal representation to resolve.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents buyers, sellers, investors, landlords, tenants, and developers in real estate litigation throughout Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, and South Florida. Managing Attorney Richard P. Corey is a three-time Super Lawyers Rising Stars recipient in civil litigation — a distinction awarded to fewer than 2.5% of attorneys in Florida — and brings a trial-ready litigation background to every real estate dispute we handle. Real estate litigation in Broward County moves through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, where complex property disputes require not only command of Florida real estate law but also familiarity with local court procedures, judicial expectations, and strategic litigation practice in this specific venue. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC brings all of these to every real estate dispute we handle.
Contact The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC at (954) 789-0461 or legal@rcenterpriselaw.com to schedule a consultation with a Fort Lauderdale real estate litigation attorney today.
What Is Real Estate Litigation?
Real estate litigation is the process of resolving disputes involving real property — land, buildings, and the legal rights associated with them — through the court system. It encompasses a broad range of conflicts arising at every stage of the real estate transaction and ownership lifecycle, from failed purchase and sale agreements to boundary disputes between neighboring landowners, from construction defect claims against builders to commercial lease disputes between landlords and tenants. Real estate litigation in Florida is governed by a complex framework of statutes, case law, and contractual provisions that requires experienced legal counsel to navigate effectively.
Unlike transactional real estate work — which focuses on structuring, documenting, and closing property transactions — real estate litigation is adversarial by nature. It involves formal legal proceedings, extensive discovery of documents and records, expert witnesses, and in many cases trial before a Broward County Circuit Court judge or jury. The financial stakes in real estate litigation are almost always significant — Fort Lauderdale's property values and the complexity of its commercial real estate market mean that even relatively straightforward disputes frequently involve hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in potential damages. Acting quickly, preserving evidence, and engaging experienced litigation counsel at the earliest stage of a dispute is essential to protecting your rights and maximizing your recovery.
Florida Statute § 95.11 imposes strict statutes of limitations on real estate claims — most contract-based claims must be filed within five years, while certain fraud and negligence claims carry shorter deadlines. Evidence degrades, witnesses become unavailable, and documents disappear over time. Contact The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC as soon as a real estate dispute arises to ensure your rights are fully protected from day one.
Real Estate Litigation Services in Fort Lauderdale and South Florida
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC handles the full spectrum of real estate disputes for clients throughout Fort Lauderdale and South Florida, including:
Real Estate Contract Disputes
The purchase and sale contract is the foundation of every real estate transaction — and when one party fails to perform, the financial consequences can be severe. Real estate contract disputes in Fort Lauderdale arise when buyers refuse to close after inspection issues surface, when sellers attempt to back out of binding agreements, when contingency provisions are improperly invoked or disputed, when closing is delayed due to title defects or financing failures, and when one party asserts that the other materially breached the agreement's terms. Florida Statute § 689.01 requires real estate contracts to be in writing, and the specific language of the contract — including its representations, warranties, contingencies, and default provisions — is the starting point for every contract dispute analysis.
Available remedies in Florida real estate contract disputes include compensatory damages for the financial harm caused by the breach, specific performance — a court order requiring the breaching party to complete the transaction — under Florida Statute § 689.29, and recovery of deposits and earnest money wrongfully retained by the non-breaching party. Many Florida real estate contracts also include attorney's fees provisions under which the prevailing party may recover its legal fees from the losing party — a provision that experienced real estate litigation counsel evaluates carefully at the outset of every dispute.
Fraud and Misrepresentation in Real Estate Transactions
When a seller, broker, or other party in a real estate transaction conceals material defects, makes false representations about the property, or withholds information they were legally required to disclose, the injured buyer has legal recourse under both contract and tort theories. Florida law imposes a duty on sellers of residential real property to disclose facts materially affecting the property's value that are not readily observable and not known to the buyer, as established in Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985) — a foundational principle of Florida real estate law that applies broadly to residential transactions throughout Broward County.
Real estate fraud claims may be pursued as fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, or violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) under Florida Statute § 501.201, which can entitle the injured party to attorney's fees and costs in addition to actual damages. In cases of intentional fraud, punitive damages under Florida Statute § 768.72 may also be available. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC pursues real estate fraud claims with the investigative rigor and legal precision that these high-stakes matters demand — including forensic review of disclosure documents, inspection reports, and communications between the parties to establish the full picture of the defendant's misrepresentation and its financial impact on our clients.
Construction Defect and Contractor Disputes
Fort Lauderdale's active construction market — driven by commercial development, residential renovation, and large-scale infrastructure projects throughout Broward County — generates significant construction defect and contractor dispute litigation. Construction disputes arise when contractors fail to complete work on time, abandon projects mid-construction, perform substandard work that fails to meet contract specifications or applicable building codes, or use defective materials that compromise structural integrity. Property owners — both residential and commercial — suffer significant economic harm from construction defects that require costly remediation, produce lost rental income or business interruption, and in some cases render properties uninhabitable or unsaleable.
Florida's Construction Defect statute, Florida Statute § 558.001 et seq., requires property owners to provide written notice of alleged construction defects to the contractor at least 60 days before filing suit — a pre-suit procedural requirement that must be satisfied precisely to avoid dismissal. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC manages this pre-suit process with precision, ensuring all notice requirements are satisfied and that the contractor's response — or failure to respond — is properly documented as part of the litigation record. We retain construction experts, engineers, and cost-of-repair specialists to quantify the full scope of construction defects and the economic harm they have caused to our clients.
Commercial Lease Disputes
Commercial lease disputes are among the most common and economically consequential forms of real estate litigation in Fort Lauderdale's active commercial market. Disputes arise between commercial landlords and tenants over rent defaults and eviction, lease interpretation and permitted use provisions, CAM (common area maintenance) charges and audit rights, tenant improvement obligations and responsibility for repairs, early termination rights and lease renewal provisions, and the landlord's or tenant's right to assign or sublease. Commercial lease agreements are complex documents whose specific language — often negotiated over months — controls the parties' rights and obligations, and their interpretation frequently requires experienced litigation counsel who understands both the legal principles governing commercial leases in Florida and the business realities of commercial real estate in Broward County.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents both commercial landlords and commercial tenants in lease disputes throughout Fort Lauderdale and South Florida. We analyze lease provisions with precision, identify every available legal argument and remedy, and pursue our clients' interests through negotiation, mediation, and — when necessary — litigation in the Broward County Circuit Court.
Title Disputes and Quiet Title Actions
Title defects — including undisclosed liens, competing ownership claims, boundary encroachments, easement disputes, and errors in recorded deeds — can cloud a property's title and threaten its marketability and value. When a title defect cannot be resolved through negotiation or a title insurance claim, a quiet title action under Florida Statute § 65.021 allows a property owner to obtain a court judgment establishing clear, unencumbered ownership of the property. Quiet title actions are among the most common forms of real estate litigation in Fort Lauderdale's market — particularly in connection with inherited property, foreclosure-adjacent transactions, and properties with long or complicated ownership histories that create competing claims.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC handles quiet title actions and title dispute litigation throughout Broward County — conducting thorough title searches, analyzing the chain of title, identifying and joining all parties with potential claims to the property, and obtaining court orders establishing our clients' clear title.
Landlord-Tenant Disputes
Florida's landlord-tenant framework — governed by the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act under Florida Statute § 83.40 et seq. for residential leases and Florida Statute § 83.001 et seq. for commercial leases — creates a structured legal environment for resolving disputes between property owners and tenants. Common landlord-tenant disputes include eviction proceedings, security deposit disputes, habitability and maintenance claims, wrongful lease termination, and disputes over the proper handling of tenant improvements. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents landlords and tenants in residential and commercial landlord-tenant disputes throughout Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, pursuing every available remedy under Florida's landlord-tenant statutes with the urgency and precision these matters require.
Real Estate Partnership and Co-Ownership Disputes
Real estate investments are frequently held through partnerships, LLCs, or other co-ownership structures — and when the relationship between co-owners breaks down, the disputes that arise are among the most complex and economically consequential in the real estate litigation space. Disputes over management authority, profit distributions, the right to force a sale, the valuation of each owner's interest, and the obligations of departing co-owners require an attorney who combines command of Florida's business entity law with experience in real estate litigation. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC handles real estate co-ownership disputes — including partition actions under Florida Statute § 64.011 et seq. that allow a co-owner to force the sale or physical division of jointly owned property — with the same aggressive, trial-ready approach we bring to all commercial disputes.
Foreclosure Defense
When a lender initiates foreclosure proceedings against a property owner in Broward County, the property owner has legal rights and potential defenses that an experienced real estate litigation attorney can assert to challenge the foreclosure, negotiate a favorable resolution, or buy critical time for the property owner to restructure their financial situation. Foreclosure defense strategies may include challenging the lender's standing to foreclose, asserting defects in the loan documentation or the foreclosure process itself, pursuing loan modification or forbearance negotiations, and asserting claims against the lender for violations of Florida's mortgage servicing requirements. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents property owners facing foreclosure in Broward County with the same trial-ready preparation and aggressive advocacy we apply to all litigation matters.
Florida Laws Governing Real Estate Disputes
Florida's real estate litigation framework draws from a comprehensive body of statutes, case law, and procedural rules that govern the rights and remedies available in property disputes.
Florida Statute § 689.01 and § 689.29 — Real Estate Contracts and Specific Performance
Florida Statute § 689.01 requires contracts for the sale of real property to be in writing to be enforceable. Florida Statute § 689.29 provides the statutory basis for specific performance actions — court orders compelling a party to complete a real estate transaction — which are available when monetary damages are an inadequate remedy for a breach of contract.
Florida Statute § 558.001 — Construction Defect Pre-Suit Notice
Florida's construction defect statute requires property owners to provide written pre-suit notice to contractors before filing a construction defect lawsuit, allowing the contractor an opportunity to inspect the alleged defect and make a settlement offer. Compliance with this statute's procedural requirements is a prerequisite to maintaining a construction defect claim in Florida courts.
Florida Statute § 501.201 — Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act
FDUTPA provides an additional avenue of relief for real estate fraud and misrepresentation claims — allowing injured parties to recover actual damages, attorney's fees, and costs when a seller or broker engages in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in connection with a real estate transaction.
Florida Statute § 65.021 — Quiet Title
This statute provides the procedural framework for quiet title actions — lawsuits asking the court to declare that a party holds clear, unencumbered ownership of real property. Quiet title judgments, once recorded, resolve competing ownership claims and restore marketability to clouded titles.
Florida Statute § 83.40 and § 83.001 — Landlord-Tenant Law
Florida's residential and commercial landlord-tenant statutes govern the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants, establish the procedures for eviction, define the standards for handling security deposits, and provide remedies for both landlords and tenants in lease disputes.
Florida Statute § 64.011 — Partition Actions
Florida's partition statute allows a co-owner of real property to seek a court-ordered division or forced sale of jointly owned property when the co-owners cannot agree on the property's disposition. Partition actions are a critical remedy in real estate co-ownership disputes where one party seeks to exit a shared investment and the other refuses to sell.
How Our Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Litigation Attorneys Fight for You
Real estate disputes in Fort Lauderdale move through the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit — a court system with its own procedures, timelines, and judicial expectations that experienced local litigators understand and navigate more effectively than attorneys without Broward County practice experience. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC begins every real estate dispute with a thorough analysis of the governing documents — contracts, deeds, leases, title reports, and correspondence — and a precise assessment of every available legal theory, remedy, and potential vulnerability in our client's position.
We conduct targeted, aggressive discovery — depositions, document production, interrogatories, and expert retention — to build the factual record necessary to win at trial or achieve maximum settlement leverage. We retain the expert witnesses that real estate litigation demands — appraisers, construction experts, engineers, real estate brokers, and forensic accountants — to establish liability, quantify damages, and present our clients' case with the evidentiary depth that high-stakes real estate disputes require. And we prepare every case for trial — because the credibility of a trial threat is what produces fair outcomes in negotiation and mediation when the other side is motivated to delay or minimize your claim.
Richard P. Corey has been featured in USA Today, Yahoo News, and Influencive, is a TEDx Ocala 2025 speaker, and is a Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. His experience in complex, multi-party civil litigation — including active federal litigation — means he understands how to build and prosecute the kind of thorough, evidence-driven case that high-stakes real estate disputes demand.
Why Choose The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC as Your Real Estate Litigation Attorney in Fort Lauderdale?
Real estate litigation requires an attorney who combines deep civil litigation experience, command of Florida real estate and contract law, and the practical understanding of how real estate transactions and investments work in the Fort Lauderdale market. Richard P. Corey brings all three.
Recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in civil litigation for three consecutive years — a distinction awarded to fewer than 2.5% of attorneys in Florida — Richard has the courtroom experience and legal knowledge that high-stakes real estate disputes demand. Our firm is boutique by design. Every real estate litigation client works directly with Richard — not a paralegal or junior associate — and receives the focused, senior-level attention that consequential property disputes require. Whether your dispute involves a failed residential transaction, a multi-million-dollar commercial property conflict, a construction defect claim, or a complex co-ownership dispute, we build the legal strategy to protect your interests and pursue your goals.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC handles real estate litigation throughout Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Miami-Dade County, and Palm Beach County in the Seventeenth, Eleventh, and Fifteenth Judicial Circuits of Florida.
Serving Real Estate Litigation Clients Throughout South Florida
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents real estate litigation clients throughout:
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Fort Lauderdale
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Broward County
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Miami
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Miami-Dade County
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Boca Raton
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West Palm Beach
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Palm Beach County
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Pompano Beach
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Hollywood
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Coral Springs
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Plantation
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Davie
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Deerfield Beach
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Weston
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All of South Florida
We handle real estate litigation matters in Florida state courts statewide and in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Schedule a Consultation With a Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Litigation Attorney
If you are facing a real estate dispute in Fort Lauderdale or South Florida, do not wait to seek legal counsel. Evidence disappears, statutes of limitations run, and the other side is already building their position. Contact The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC today to schedule a consultation with an experienced Florida real estate litigation attorney.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC
915 Middle River Drive, Suite 408
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
Phone: (954) 789-0461
Email: legal@rcenterpriselaw.com
Website: rcenterpriselaw.com
Related Practice Areas
Real estate disputes frequently intersect with broader civil litigation and business law matters. Our civil litigation attorneys represent clients across the full spectrum of complex commercial disputes throughout South Florida, including multi-party real estate conflicts requiring federal court representation. When a real estate dispute arises between business co-owners or investment partners, our partnership dispute practice provides the integrated business ownership and property dispute representation your matter demands. For buyers, sellers, and investors seeking to structure and document real estate transactions to prevent disputes from arising in the first place, our real estate law attorneys provide comprehensive transactional counsel throughout South Florida.