Real Estate Litigation
Overview
For most owners the property is the asset, which makes a dispute over it something other than an ordinary commercial disagreement. A lien, a foreclosure action or a co-owner who will not sell puts the thing itself at risk rather than a sum of money.
The firm litigates property disputes in New York's state and federal courts — partition actions, foreclosure defense on both residential and commercial mortgages, quiet title, mechanic's liens, and actions to compel a sale that a party has refused to complete.
Timing is unusually unforgiving here. A foreclosure action requires an answer within a fixed window, and the defences available before default are not the same as those available after it.
What we handle
Results in this area
3 of 125 published matters
Court-Ordered Removal of Mechanic’s Lien.
Construction Contractor filed a Mechanic’s Lien against Petitioner’s real property.
Dismissal of Mechanic’s Lien
A General Contractor filed a Mechanic’s Lien on the client’s property following a dispute as to the final amount owed for services.
Litigation Discontinuance Against Client
Action for Specific Performance based on previously executed Real Estate Contract.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every matter turns on its own facts.
What to expect
01
Free case evaluation
A review of the documents that control the dispute — the deed, the mortgage, the contract, the lien — and of any deadline already running against you.
02
Title and record review
Establishing what the record actually shows: ownership, encumbrances, assignments, and whether the party bringing the action has standing to bring it.
03
Answer and motions
Filing within the deadline and moving where the record supports it — to dismiss, to discharge a lien, or to compel performance.
04
Resolution or trial
Negotiated resolution where it protects the property, and trial where it does not.
Common questions
The bank has started a foreclosure. Is it too late to do anything?
Usually not, but the window is real. A foreclosure action requires a timely answer, and failing to file one forfeits defences that would otherwise be available — including defects in the notice, standing, or the chain of assignment. The date on the summons is the thing to act on.
A co-owner refuses to sell the property. What can be done?
A partition action. Under Article 9 of New York's Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, a co-owner can bring an action to divide the property or, more commonly, to have the court appoint a referee to sell it and distribute the proceeds.
A contractor has filed a mechanic's lien against my property. Now what?
A mechanic's lien clouds title and will obstruct a sale or refinancing until it is resolved. Liens can be discharged where they are untimely, overstated, or filed without the required contractual basis — and they can also be bonded around while the underlying dispute is litigated.
The other side signed a contract and now will not close.
Where damages are an inadequate remedy — and with real property they usually are, because the parcel is unique — the action is for specific performance, compelling the sale rather than compensating for its loss.
Related practice areas
- Landlord & TenantHoldover and non-payment proceedings throughout New York City and the surrounding counties, for management companies and individual owners alike.
- Business TransactionFormation, purchase, sale and dissolution of businesses — with the documents drafted to keep the transaction out of litigation later.
Free confidential case evaluation