Just as real estate has been a foundation of Florida's economy since the turn of the century, it has been a centerpiece of Carlton Fields' litigation practice for more than 100 years. From writing Florida's oil and gas laws on the heels of the land boom of the 1920's and then representing many of Florida's largest landowners in litigation thereafter, to handling some of today's most complex class actions in real estate, Carlton Fields has long been on the forefront of Florida real property litigation.
The Real Property Litigation attorneys at Carlton Fields have litigated virtually every conceivable type of real property issue, and regularly represent title companies, developers, lenders, buyers, sellers, property management companies, receivers, surveyors, real estate brokers and agents, appraisers and owners in all forms of real estate litigation. These include, for example, quiet title actions, breach of contract claims, lender liability and complex foreclosures, specific performance actions, landlord tenant disputes, eminent domain actions, land use issues, mineral rights disputes, homestead disputes, challenges to the priority and enforceability of liens, boundary and easement disputes, adverse possession claims, access cases, equitable subrogation claims, fraud and forgery claims, and disputes under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, the Florida Uniform Land Sales Practices Law, the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, RICO, and the Florida Brokerage Relationship Disclosure Act.
Our firm also regularly represents title insurance companies on coverage questions, disputes between different title insurance companies, actions against title agents and their insurers, and title agent defalcations.
As with all litigation at Carlton Fields, our goal is to protect our clients' interests and achieve a favorable outcome in a cost-effective manner. Thus, while we actively encourage arbitration and mediation when appropriate, our reputation as having actually litigated so many real property cases to verdict and on appeal adds credibility to the prospect of taking our cases "all the way" and assists clients in settlement as well as implementing an aggressive litigation strategy.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Gulf Island Resort, L.P., v.Yale Mortgage Corp., 2001 Fla. App.LEXIS 1793 (Fla. 2d DCA 2001) Obtained a summary judgment overcoming a challenge to the enforceability of a mortgage on grounds of fraud and a lack of authority of a general partner; sustained the ruling on appeal.
- Washington Enterprises, Inc. v. Best Resources, Inc., 773 So. 2d 550 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000) Obtained a summary judgment declaring the holder of a mortgage to be equitably subrogated to a prior lien, thereby overcoming a challenge to the mortgage as being void on grounds of usury, fraud, and lack of witnesses to the deed; sustained the ruling on appeal.
- State of Florida, Dot. of Insur. v. Keys Title and Abstract Co., Inc., 741 So 2d 599 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999) Filed an amicus brief on behalf of a leading title insurance underwriter successfully opposing a constitutional challenge by a title agent to Florida's statutory scheme of authorizing the Florida Department of Insurance to obtain financial information from licensed title agents but not attorney title agents.
- Morales v. Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund, Inc., 983 F. Supp. 1418 (S.D. Fla. 1997) Obtained a dismissal of a putative class action lawsuit against a leading title insurance underwriter under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act in which the plaintiff challenged all title insurance policies issued in Florida as allegedly involving illegal splits of premiums between underwriters and agents.
- Krehling v. Baron, 900 F.Supp. 1578 (M.D. Fla. 1995) Obtained a dismissal of a lawsuit against a title insurance underwriter in which a title agent allegedly participated in a fraudulent scheme of issuing clean title policies with knowledge of unrecorded mortgages.
- Moreno v. Macaluso, 817 F. Supp. 945 (M.D. Fla. 1993) Obtained a summary judgment in favor of a national title insurance underwriter on coverage issues under a title policy.
- Bialowas v. Title and Trust Co. of Florida, 581. So. 2d 1317 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991) Obtained a summary judgment for a Florida title insurance underwriter where a title agent allegedly participated in a fraudulent scheme involving inflated appraisals of property; sustained the ruling on appeal.
- Calig v. Muller, 542 So. 2d 992 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989) Obtained a defense judgment following a bench trial in which a prior owner of property challenged a deed to a third party as a forgery; sustained the ruling on appeal.
