What Does a Real Estate Litigation Attorney Do?

A real estate litigation attorney helps their clients with complex legal issues involving disputes over real property such as

• Partition
• Action to quiet title
• Foreclosure
• Adverse possession
• co-owner or co-buyer disagreement
• Landlord-tenant disputes
• Easement disputes
• Boundary disputes

Most people associate real estate attorneys with the “happy law” of the purchase and sale of homes. Real estate litigation attorneys do something that is a little different. We show up where things have gone wrong.

If you are looking for a real estate litigation attorney, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. You can call us at 212-233-1233 or send us an email at [email protected].

Partition

When family members inherit real estate property from a deceased loved one, all these family members will co-own the property. Usually, this real estate property is the family residence, where some family members live on it, while other family members don’t. When this happens, those who don’t live on the property feel disadvantaged and would like to sell the property to get their share, while those who live on it don’t like to sell the property. In these cases, those who would like to sell the property need to file an action for partition. A real estate litigation attorney will help you file this action.

Quiet title

Property owners will file actions to quiet title when there appears to be a cloud in their title. This often happens when there is an easement dispute on their title – someone claiming there is an easement over their property when there is none. A cloud on the title can also occur when property is purchased from a deceased person’s estate and an heir will later step forward asserting a claim over the property. Sometimes, foreclosed properties that are purchased may come with uncertainties on the title that can be resolved in an action to quiet title. A real estate litigation attorney can help you file an action to quiet title.

Co-owner or co-buyer disagreement

Because real property is expensive, investors usually purchase real property with other investors. These investors do not form companies to purchase the real property since these are usually isolated one-time transactions. These investors usually have different percentages of ownership, depending on their contribution to the sale price. Instead of having the law govern their relationship, these investors seek a customized co-ownership or co-buyer agreement that would govern their relationship relating to profits, management, and distribution of proceeds in case of sale. A real estate litigation attorney can draft a customized co-owner or co-buyer agreement for these real estate investors.

Foreclosure

When an owner misses mortgage payments, the lender will send the owner a pre-foreclosure notice. A real estate litigation attorney can help you raise strong complex legal defenses that can delay the proceedings for a foreclosure sale, which can give you enough time to either pay off your mortgage arrears, sell your house so you can pay off the debt, refinance your house with another lender, or negotiate with the lender a modification of your loan terms. A real estate litigation attorney can assist you in achieving your goals in foreclosure proceedings to ensure that you don’t lose your home, or if you can’t pay off the mortgage debt, that you don’t become liable for a deficiency judgment.

Adverse possession

Adverse possession can affect landowners in many ways. Usually, it happens when one leaves a lot vacant for a period of time. A neighbor might begin encroaching on the vacant land by erecting structural buildings, such as an above-ground swimming pool or a tree house. If the landowner allows this structure to stay on his land for more than ten years, the neighbor will be able to acquire this property through adverse possession by proving that his construction was possession under a claim of right, open, hostile, and continuous. A tenant can also acquire ownership over the property by staying in it for at least ten years from the time of last rent payment. A real estate litigation attorney will be able to help you in issues of adverse possession.

Landlord-tenant relationships

Landlord-tenant relationships in New York can be complex, especially with the prevalence of rent-controlled and rent-stabilized units. Tenants also have rights, but landlords are the ones always asserting their rights. Issues regarding security deposits, who pays for damages beyond normal wear and tear, rent increases, and minimum habitability conditions can be points of contention between a landlord and tenant. A real estate litigation attorney will be able to advise both the landlord and the tenant regarding their rights and enforce it, if required.

Easement and boundary disputes

Easements restrict a property owner’s right and gives another property owner certain rights to do certain things in your land, such as the right to travel through one’s land in an easement of right of way. Easements can lower the value of one’s property, and for this reason, is a point of contention among property owners.

Boundary disputes also occur when clear boundary lines have not been physically established. For example, one might think, for as long as she was alive, that the boundary of her property was marked by a particular tree. However, a new neighbor comes in and disagrees. It’s always cheaper to negotiate a resolution and agreement to the dispute. However, judicial remedies are also available, such as an action to quiet title, requesting the court to determine the property line, claiming damages for a neighbor’s trespass into your property, or asserting title by adverse possession.

What does a real estate litigation attorney do? A real estate litigation attorney can help you draft special real estate agreements and will help you navigate complex legal issues that may arise from real property ownership.

When real estate disagreements arise, it is important to always have a real estate litigation attorney represent you. We at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. We have offices in New York City, Brooklyn, NY and Queens, NY. You can call us at 212-233-1233 or send us an email at [email protected].