Real Estate Litigation

A real estate dispute puts your most valuable asset in someone else's hands. A partner diverts distributions. A co-member refuses to honor a buyout. A counterparty walks from a signed contract. A transfer that looked routine turns out to be a fraud. Until the dispute resolves, the building, the deal, and the capital behind them sit frozen.

Dynamis litigates these disputes for developers, property owners, investors, joint-venture partners, and high-net-worth individuals across New York, Miami, Massachusetts, and California. Our attorneys are trial lawyers and former federal prosecutors. We have taken commercial real estate fights to summary judgment and trial, stopped foreclosures, unwound schemes among business partners, and negotiated buyouts and settlements when settlement served the client better than a verdict.

When the asset is an eight- or nine-figure property and the other side has retained counsel for a long fight, the question is who is more prepared to try the case. We are built to try it.

Partnership and Joint-Venture Disputes Decide Who Controls the Asset

Most high-value real estate fights are ownership fights. A co-member exercises an option the others refuse to honor. A managing partner stops distributions, locks out a minority holder, or treats company property as his own. The operating agreement says one thing; conduct on the ground says another.

We represent partners, LLC members, and joint-venturers on both sides of these disputes — enforcing buyout and option rights, pursuing breach of fiduciary duty and accounting claims, and litigating control of the entity that holds the property. We have litigated LLC-member ownership disputes over commercial properties across multiple jurisdictions at once, and we resolve them through judgment or buyout, whichever serves the client.

Real Estate Fraud Hides in the Paperwork

Fraud in a real estate matter rarely announces itself. It surfaces as a misstated valuation, a concealed encumbrance, a diverted asset, or a transfer engineered to put property beyond a creditor's reach. By the time it is visible, the money has often moved.

We bring and defend fraud, misrepresentation, and fraudulent-transfer claims arising from real estate transactions and partnerships. Our former prosecutors know how to build a fraud case from the documents and the money trail, and how to dismantle one that does not hold. Where partners have misappropriated company assets, we pursue the assets and the people who took them.

A Signed Purchase Agreement Should Close

When a deal collapses, the contract decides the remedy. A seller who refuses to convey can be ordered to perform. A buyer who walks can forfeit a deposit and answer for damages. The party in breach often counts on the cost and delay of litigation to force a discount.

We litigate breach of purchase and sale agreements, deposit and earnest-money disputes, specific-performance claims, and disputes under commercial loan documents. We have defended principals against specific-performance and breach claims under commercial loan documents and secured a favorable buyout, release, and settlement.

Foreclosure Is Not the End of the Negotiation

A foreclosure action is a demand, not a verdict. Lenders and counterparties file to apply pressure and to foreclose options. Aggressive early litigation changes the leverage.

We defend foreclosure actions and litigate commercial loan disputes, establishing and protecting the client's interest in the property. In one matter, we defended against a thirteen-million-dollar foreclosure action over a loan secured by commercial property in New York, stopped the foreclosure, established the client's interest, and secured a favorable global settlement across multiple forums.

Real Property Locked in a Trust or Estate

Real estate held through a trust or estate creates its own disputes — over control, valuation, and possession. A fiduciary holds property the beneficiaries cannot reach. An estate refuses to turn over assets it has no right to keep.

We litigate trust and estate disputes involving real property and high-value assets, including turnover actions and valuation fights, in state court and specialized business-litigation forums.

Selected Experience and Results

The matters below are real representations by Dynamis attorneys. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Defeated a thirteen-million-dollar commercial foreclosure and secured a global settlement. We defended a client against a $13 million foreclosure action over a loan secured by commercial property in New York. Through aggressive litigation, we stopped the foreclosure, established the client's interest in the property, and secured a favorable settlement across multiple forums. Read the result.

Resolved a multi-forum LLC ownership fight over commercial properties. We represented multiple LLCs in litigation in the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, and Florida state court after the defendants refused to honor the clients' exercise of options to purchase a deceased co-member's interests in commercial properties. We secured a global settlement. Read the result.

Defended specific-performance and breach claims under commercial loan documents and secured a favorable exit. We represented an LLC and its principal against breach of contract and specific-performance claims in New York under commercial loan documents, and obtained a favorable buyout, release, and settlement for the client.

Pursuing turnover of eight-figure trust assets in Florida. We represent a trustee in Florida state court seeking turnover of eight-figure trust assets from wrongful possession by an estate.

Litigating a $1 billion-plus estate dispute over real property and art. We represent an individual in a dispute involving more than $1 billion in property, real estate, and paintings, pending in the Business Litigation Section of the Massachusetts state court.

Why Dynamis

Former federal prosecutors who try cases. Dynamis is led by founding partner Eric Rosen, the lead prosecutor in Operation Varsity Blues. We approach a real estate dispute the way we approached an investigation: build the record, follow the money, and prepare to prove it in court.

Trial-ready, not settlement-dependent. We prepare every matter for trial. That preparation is what produces favorable buyouts and settlements — the other side settles because it does not want to try the case against us.

Chambers- and Legal 500-ranked. Our litigators are recognized by Chambers and Legal 500 for complex civil litigation and white-collar defense.

A record across the markets that matter. We have stopped foreclosures, resolved multi-forum ownership disputes, and litigated nine- and ten-figure asset fights in New York, Florida, Massachusetts, and California.

Real Estate Litigation FAQ

When should I bring in litigation counsel for a real estate dispute?

Before you send the email or the demand letter you think will settle it. Early positioning shapes the leverage in a real estate fight — what you preserve, what you put in writing, and whether you move first for an injunction or a lis pendens. Waiting until a complaint arrives surrenders that advantage.

My partner is freezing me out of an LLC that owns the property. What can I do?

You have remedies. Depending on the operating agreement and the jurisdiction, those can include claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, enforcement of buyout or option rights, and in some cases a receiver or injunctive relief to protect the asset. The first step is reading the agreement against what the controlling member is actually doing.

Can a court force the other side to go through with a real estate sale?

Sometimes. Real property is treated as unique, so specific performance — an order compelling the sale to close — is available in real estate disputes in a way it usually is not in ordinary contract cases. Whether it applies depends on the contract and the conduct of the parties.

What can I do about a fraudulent transfer of property?

Property moved to defeat a creditor or a co-owner can be reached. Fraudulent-transfer and fraudulent-conveyance laws allow a court to unwind the transfer or hold the recipients liable. Speed matters: the sooner the transfer is challenged, the easier the asset is to recover.

Do you handle disputes outside your office cities?

Yes. Dynamis has offices in Boston, New York, Miami, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, and represents clients nationwide, working with local counsel in jurisdictions where we are not admitted.

What does a real estate litigation matter cost?

It depends on the dispute, the forum, and how hard the other side fights. We discuss fee structure at the outset and align it with the result you are trying to reach — a fast buyout, a settlement, or a trial. Contact us for a confidential consultation.

Talk to a Real Estate Litigator

A frozen asset gets more expensive every week. If you are facing a partnership fight, a failed deal, a fraudulent transfer, or a foreclosure, the sooner we are involved, the more options you have.

Email erosen@dynamisllp.com. You can also reach us through our contact form. Offices in Boston, New York, Miami, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. Representation nationwide.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.