Legal

DISCLOSURE: Myron E. Siegel, P.A. is a law firm that handles real estate litigation, real estate transactions, other forms of real estate law, and general legal matters. Guaranteed Florida Title, Escrow & Abstract, Inc. (“GFT”) is affiliated with Myron E. Siegel, P.A. and Myron E. Siegel has an ownership interest in GFT.

The first thing that probably comes to mind when you hear "real estate" is the purchase of a home. GFT handles real estate purchases involving title insurance while Myron E. Siegel, P.A. assists GFT with the legal aspects of real estate closings. Myron E. Siegel, P.A. provides additional real estate legal services, such as seller’s side representation in real estate closings, deeds, Power of Attorneys, entities (e.g. LLC or Corporation formation), and trusts.

Seller’s side representation - Myron E. Siegel, P.A. represents sellers in real estate transactions. The representation includes legal advice; drafting closing documents (e.g., Warranty Deed, Bill of Sale, Affidavits); clearing title of property; and assistance with clearing liens, violations, and permit issues.

Deeds - Myron E. Siegel, P.A. drafts quitclaim deeds and other deeds to transfer property. If you have a property currently in your name and you want to transfer the property to someone, add someone to title, remove someone from title, or transfer the property to your entity or trust, then Myron E. Siegel, P.A. can help.

Power of Attorneys - Myron E. Siegel, P.A. drafts General Power of Attorneys, Durable Power of Attorneys, and Specific Power of Attorneys specifically for real estate transactions.

Entities - If you want to form an entity, such as a limited liability company or corporation, that will hold your real property, Myron E. Siegel, can form an entity of your choice. Once formed, Myron E. Siegel, P.A. can transfer the property to your entity.

Trusts - If you want to close or transfer your property to a trust, Myron E. Siegel, P.A. can draft your trust and fund the trust with your real property.

Some examples of real estate litigation that Myron E. Siegel, P.A. handles are quiet title, specific performance, partition, breach of contract, and non-disclosure of a material defect lawsuits.

Quiet title actions - The purpose of filing a quiet title action is to clear title to property when the other parties to the lawsuit will not cooperate, cannot be found, or simply disagree. Quiet title actions are generally based upon some written evidence of ownership of the real property. As an example, a corporate client was given a deed to a property; however, the corporation was not properly formed and could not take title to the property. The error was not discovered until sometime later and it was not possible to obtain a corrective deed from the previous grantor because the previous grantor could not be located. It was necessary to file a quiet title action for the Corporation to obtain good title to the property. This is rare, but it is an important tool in correcting bad titles.

Specific Performance - Specific performance is an equitable remedy that can be ordered by a court when a contract is breached. Specific performance forces the breaching party to perform the contract pursuant to the terms of the contract. What this typically looks like in practice is a seller breaches a contract and the buyer sues the seller requesting that a court force the seller to sell the property to buyer at the price and according to the terms of the contract.

Partition - Partition is an action in which the court is asked to divide real estate between two owners, or to determine that the real estate cannot be divided, and to order the sale of the property. This is used when there are two or more owners who cannot agree on what should be done with the property, or on whether the property should be sold. Generally, the property cannot be divided into two parts, so the court is asked to order the property sold and the money divided between the parties.

Breach of contract - Parties enter a contract that describes the obligations between the parties. If one of the parties does not fulfill their obligations of the contract, then that party may be in breach of the contract. The non-breaching party may have a claim against the breaching party for breach of contract.

Non-disclosure of a material defect - A non-disclosure of a material defect real estate lawsuit is a lawsuit that is usually filed by a buyer against a seller if the buyer finds issues with the property after closing that were never disclosed by seller. For instance, shortly after closing, if the buyer finds mold issues, structural issues, roof issues, or significant work done to the property without permits, then the buyer may have a claim for non-disclosure of a material defect.

While a large focus of Myron E. Siegel, P.A. is real estate law, Myron E. Siegel, P.A. also provides estate planning, business, acquisitions, mergers, bankruptcy, intellectual property, and other general legal services. Contact Myron E. Siegel, P.A. or GFT at (954) 566-600 to set up a free consultation with one of our attorneys.

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