Real Estate Litigation

 

Overview

 

Our real estate litigators are well-versed in transactional issues and steeped in the real estate market, a fact that lets us deliver exceptional creativity and efficiency during the dispute resolution process.

We regularly tackle a full range of complex disputes, while collaborating with commercial real estate owners, developers, investors and family offices to identify, mitigate and manage operational risk in their portfolios.

  • We represent partners under various ownership structures, including general partnerships and limited liability companies, in disputes that arise regarding participation rights, termination and management fees, partnership interest sales, and partnership dissolutions.

  • Our real estate litigators represent sophisticated landlords and tenants in termination and option disputes, rights of first refusals, operating expense disputes, fair market rent reset arbitrations, and other commercial lease disputes.

  • We assist owners, developers, lenders and investors in the resolution of a wide range of construction disputes, including payment disputes, lien claims, defective design and construction claims, delay claims, indemnity claims, default and convenience terminations, as well as claims against surety bonds and construction insurance policies.

  • We represent commercial property owners in a wide range of contract disputes, seeking money and liquidated damages, as well as termination or specific performance of the contract through negotiation, litigation, and alternative dispute resolution.

  • We represent title companies and commercial property owners in all aspects of title insurance claims, litigation, and coverage investigations. We regularly handle a wide range of issues, including mortgage fraud, boundary line disputes, lien priority disputes, and recoupment actions.

  • We represent lenders and borrowers in foreclosure litigation, and in related aspects of commercial real estate foreclosures, including cases involving mezzanine loans and multiple liens.

  • New York City property owners often need access to their neighbor’s property, in order to make repairs and improvements to their own property. We often represent clients in negotiating access agreements, and in disputes involving Section 881 of New York’s Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law.

Recent Experience

  • Stein Adler Secures Important Two Wins in Manhattan Foreclosure Action

    Secured two important decisions for a private real estate lender that was foreclosing on commercial property in Manhattan. In two sweeping wins for our client in New York Supreme Court, we defeated the borrower's attempt to block the appointment of a receiver for the property, as well as their motion to dismiss the foreclosure action in its entirety.

  • Stein Adler Represents Developer in $20M Lease Termination Victory

    Successfully represented a real estate developer in federal litigation brought by a commercial climbing gym tenant, seeking to terminate a long-term, $20 million lease over COVID-19 related claims. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted our motion for summary judgment, dismissing the tenant’s case and awarding our client summary judgment on liability.

  • Stein Adler Represents Real Estate Company in Hospital Lease Breakup

    Successfully represented a real estate company in litigation against Mt. Sinai Hospital, which refused to pay a breakup fee tied to the negotiation of a lease of the property. We defeated the hospital’s motion to dismiss the case in the New York Supreme Court, Commercial Division. Mt. Sinai then appealed to the Appellate Division, again seeking dismissal of the case. Drawing on our extensive appellate experience, we again prevailed, convincing the appeals court that our client’s claim should proceed to trial.

  • Stein Adler Represents Client in SoHo Family Partnership Dispute

    Successfully petitioned the New York County Commercial Division for judicial dissolution of a family-owned company, which owned a valuable mixed-use property in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. The court granted our motion for summary judgment, which resulted in a sale of the building and a dissolution of the company.

  • Stein Adler Represents Real Estate Company in Florida Contract Dispute

    Successfully represented a real estate company in a breach of contract arbitration involving a 200+ unit multifamily property in Jacksonville, Florida. We prevailed after a five-day arbitration before a panel of three arbitrators.

  • Stein Adler Represents Affordable Housing Company in Bronx Jail Challenge

    Represented an affordable housing association in an action seeking to nullify New York City’s decision to move forward with building a new 26-story jail in the Mott Haven neighborhood of The Bronx.

  • Stein Adler Represents Developer in Federal Fair Housing Act Claim

    Successfully represented a major New York City developer in a fair housing act lawsuit brought in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, involving the design of two properties in Queens.

  • Stein Adler Defends New Jersey Developer Against Easement Claim

    Successfully defended an industrial property purchaser in New Jersey, after the owner of an adjacent property derailed the closing by asserting their right to an easement. Our litigators swiftly defeated the adjacent property owner's attempt to declare an easement, as well as their motion for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented our client from closing in a timely manner.