Real Estate Litigation

Real estate transactions are complex in nature for both individuals and businesses and there is a wide scope of potential disputes that can result from the development, sale, lease, or even simply the use of physical property. Under the two main classifications of real estate, residential and commercial, there are different governing laws and Loftus & Eisenberg, Ltd is proficient across both legal arenas. Common deals and dealings across both residential and commercial real estate consist of the following, which can lead to disputes:

• Purchase or sale of property;
• Leases and lease agreements;
• Property management agreements;
• Financing agreements;
• Code compliance;
• Property inspections;
• Property appraisals;
• Title and title insurance;
• Zoning issues;
• Contracts for both new construction and renovations;

In addition to the general disputes that occur over real estate, additional disagreements within commercial real estate can arise due to conflict over contracts, fraud, and commercial property development. Some of these disputes are caused by the following:

• Conflicts relating to zoning and land use regulations
• Issues across development or construction agreements, including general breach of contract, negligent/unsatisfactory services, lack of payment, and breach of warranty
• Failure to run a business as portrayed in the lease contract
• Non-payment of rent
• Misunderstandings between tenants and property owners
• Undisclosed contamination of real estate and other impediments inhibiting use of property.

Some residential real estate disputes resulting from residential real property transactions are similar to commercial disputes, including breach of contracts, non-payment issues and proper use of property, but many are exclusive to residential real estate law and therefore require legal representation by those who understand the intricacies within residential real estate. Some of these additional disputes include:

• Homeowner’s Association (HOA) disputes;
• Defects in title;
• Challenges over property lines;
• Seller’s disclosures in regards to the condition of the premises;
• Issues with financing disclosures;
• Claimed violations of restrictive covenants
• Nuisance assertions and claims;
• Foreclosure or alleged wrongful foreclosure;
• Real property division among remaining heirs in instances where homeowners died without a will or intestate;
• Condo association disputes;
• Real property division in a divorce.

Partition cases, or lawsuits where one co-owner of property requests the court divide a property between two or more owners are also among the types of real estate disputes we handle. These partition actions are frequently filed after a death or during a divorce, but property co-owners can bring about this action without any specific initiating event. In view of the fact that properties may not be able to be equally divided, the solution is often either the purchase or sale of one person’s interest or the complete sale of said property, with an equal division of any proceeds.

Broker commissions are another area within real estate law where disputes arise where a broker places a lien for commissions earned on a commercial real estate deal to force payment when either sellers or buyers make an attempt to evade warranted payment to the broker. Frequently broker commission claims stem from realtors and brokers involved in exclusive listing agreements who clash over the timing of when a sale occurred and if it was within the time limitation of the exclusive listing agreement therefore triggering a commission.

The state of Illinois has extensive broker commission caselaw that the attorneys at Loftus & Eisenberg have participated not only in litigating complicated disputes but have also aided in creating, giving them the expertise needed to resolve complicated issues.

Our Chicago-based business litigation attorneys have widespread experience in both commercial and residential real estate litigation representing individuals, businesses, and organizations, aiding in the understanding of contracts, rights and duties. We pride ourselves on protecting and advocating for those involved in real estate deals gone wrong to right the wrong and recover undue losses.