Real Property Litigation
Disputes and litigation are common when it comes to all types of property, especially in Southern Florida where the real estate market is booming. Over the course of their careers, Martinez Morales’ litigation team has become adept at prosecuting and defending a large variety of real property disputes, on behalf of:
Buyers
Sellers
Real estate sales agents and brokers
Escrow agents
Property owners
Homeowner’s and condominium associations
These disputes include, but are not limited to:
Breaches of purchase and sale contracts
Commercial evictions
Enforcement of restrictive covenants regulating the use of property
Quieting title following purchase of a property at a tax deed sale
Adverse possession of real property, quieting clouds on title
Partition actions
Challenging re-zoning applications before local zoning commissions
Specific performance of a real estate contract
Establishing equitable liens on property to secure return of the deposit when a sale falls through
Fraud in real estate transactions
Violations of the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act by developers
Martinez Morales’ litigation team also assists real estate professionals when they are involved in real property disputes. For example, Martinez Morales has:
Filed interpleader actions for escrow agents when there is a dispute between buyers and sellers to a real estate contract over who is entitled to return of the deposit placed
Assisted real estate agents in pursuing claims for commission in both court and in arbitration before local realtor organizations
Defended real estate agents and brokers against negligence claims
Defended agents and brokers in investigations by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Lender Litigation
Our firm’s real property litigation experience extends to foreclosing on mortgages on commercial properties, as well as enforcing promissory notes for money lent to purchase real property. We have successfully used the Motion to Show Cause process in mortgage foreclosures in order to abbreviate and expedite foreclosure cases. We can assist you with the foreclosure process, from initial default notices through a judgment of foreclosure and judicial sale, to obtaining a deficiency judgment against a borrower.
Arbitration
Our team’s real property dispute experience does not stop in the court room. We have handled disputes between brokers in arbitration before local Realtor boards. Arbitration is an alternative form of dispute resolution, where one or more neutral arbitrators serve as the decisionmaker, in place of the judge. Often, clients will find themselves in arbitration because a contract they signed contains a provision stating that all disputes relating to the contract are to be decided in arbitration. In particular, real estate agents and real estate brokers are commonly bound to arbitrate commission disputes amongst themselves as part of the terms of their membership in local Realtor organizations.
Our firm is adept and experienced in the arbitration process, from initiating arbitration, selecting arbitrators, filing motions and conducting discovery within the arbitration framework, to the final arbitration hearing. Our team has arbitrated real estate broker commission disputes before local Realtor organizations, taken those arbitrations through the local board’s review/appeal process, all the way to confirmation of the award by a court of law.
Moreover, our firm has experience litigating post-arbitration disputes before the court, such as motions to undo the arbitration award, motions to modify the arbitration award, and confirmation of arbitration awards.
