PRACTICE AREAS / REAL ESTATE & TRANSACTIONS
Real estate transactions and the disputes that follow.
The firm represents buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, and lenders across the full range of commercial and residential real estate work — and litigates the disputes that arise when transactions go wrong.
What we handle
Commercial leases — landlord and tenant
A commercial lease is one of the longest-term and most expensive contracts a small business will ever sign. The terms negotiated at the front end dictate what the relationship looks like for years: rent escalations, renewal options, assignment, build-out responsibility, default cure periods, personal guarantees. The firm represents both landlords and tenants.
Business formation and corporate governance
Corporation, LLC, and partnership formation. Operating agreements, shareholder agreements, and buy-sell provisions that hold up when they are tested — death, disability, retirement, voluntary departure, termination, or divorce. Annual maintenance, meeting minutes, and equity transactions.
Purchase and sale agreements
Commercial and investment property purchases and sales, residential transactions where significant issues are present (disclosure disputes, title problems, complex financing), 1031 exchanges, seller financing, and multi-property transactions. The firm handles the agreement, the due diligence, and the closing.
Seller disclosure disputes
Pennsylvania's Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law requires sellers to disclose known material defects in a written form delivered before the agreement of sale is signed. Disputes over what was known, what was disclosed, and what was concealed are among the most common post-closing real estate matters. The firm represents both buyers and sellers — with depth on water intrusion, unpermitted work, easement and boundary issues, and prior remediation history.
Due diligence and title
Title review and resolution of title defects, survey and easement analysis, zoning and land use review, environmental review coordination, and review of permits and certificates of occupancy. Buyer-side due diligence done before closing is almost always cheaper than the alternatives.
Easements and boundary disputes
Prescriptive easements, easements by implication and necessity, boundary line disputes, fence and driveway encroachments, shared facilities, and the assortment of issues that arise when neighbors disagree about what the deed actually says.
Construction and faulty workmanship
Claims by owners against contractors and subcontractors for defective work, claims by contractors for non-payment, mechanic's lien defense and prosecution, and the related warranty and indemnification issues. The firm has handled both residential and commercial construction matters.
Buying and selling businesses
Asset and equity transactions, letters of intent, due diligence packages, indemnification negotiation, escrows and holdbacks, non-compete agreements, and the closing mechanics. Small business sales are heavily real estate–adjacent — the lease, the property, and the business often need to transfer together.
A note on suit limitation. Real estate matters frequently involve compressed deadlines — Pennsylvania's two-year statute of limitations on tort claims, the policy-imposed suit limitation periods in insurance claims, the six-month notice requirement against political subdivisions, and the strict requirements of the Mechanic's Lien Law.
The longer a potential matter sits, the more options disappear. Early consultation is almost always worth the time.