Real Estate Disputes
Litigation counsel for the disputes where property, development, and business collide.
Real estate disputes sit at the intersection of everything else we do. The same clients who build projects, sign leases, and develop land are the ones who end up fighting over purchase and sale agreements, options, easements, and commercial leases when a deal goes sideways. Cole Law Partners litigates real estate disputes across Massachusetts for developers, contractors, property owners, commercial landlords and tenants, and businesses whose operations depend on the real estate under them.
COMPREHENSIVE REAL ESTATE DISPUTE SERVICES
This is a litigation practice, not a conveyancing practice. We handle the fights: the deal that fell apart, the option someone is trying to enforce, the tenant who stopped paying, the seller who will not close, the abutter holding a project hostage. Because our real estate work grows out of our construction and commercial litigation practices, we understand both the documents and the economics behind them.
Our core real estate litigation services include:
- Purchase and sale agreement disputes and failed closings
- Specific performance claims, prosecuting and defending
- Options, rights of first refusal, and repurchase rights
- Commercial lease disputes, defaults, and terminations
- Development disputes among owners, investors, and partners
- Easement, access, and boundary disputes
- Lis pendens and emergency relief affecting title
- Deposit and escrow disputes
- Claims involving brokers and misrepresentation
- Chapter 93A claims arising from real estate transactions
The document controls, until it does not. Massachusetts courts enforce real estate agreements as written, but doctrines like the statute of frauds, vagueness, and unenforceability give litigants real tools when a document was drafted carelessly. Our attorneys recently won partial summary judgment voiding a $350,000 option-to-repurchase agreement as impermissibly vague, defeating a specific performance claim over several acres of the client’s property, a result reported by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. We read real estate documents the way a judge will, and we build cases accordingly.
Speed protects property rights. Real estate litigation is unforgiving of delay. A lis pendens filed early changes the leverage in the entire case; an injunction can stop a closing or preserve access; a missed notice under a lease can forfeit rights. We move fast because the remedies reward the party that does.
Landlord and tenant, commercial only. We represent commercial landlords and commercial tenants in lease disputes: defaults, terminations, holdovers, operating and CAM disputes, and negotiated exits. We do not handle residential landlord-tenant matters, which keeps us free of the conflicts and volume practice that dilute focus.
WHO WE SERVE
We represent both plaintiffs and defendants across Massachusetts in disputes tied to commercial and high stakes residential property.
Clients
Property owners, landlords, tenants, developers, investors, property managers, contractors, and business owners.
Industries
Real estate development, construction, professional services, retail, hospitality, and closely held businesses that rely on income producing property.
Geography
Boston, Greater Boston, MetroWest, Worcester County, the North Shore, the South Shore, Southeastern Massachusetts, and Cape Cod.
THE CLP APPROACH
Cole Law Partners applies a litigation first approach to real estate disputes, with an emphasis on speed, clarity, and outcomes.
Record driven strategy
Real estate cases are decided by documents. We focus early on the lease, the purchase and sale agreement, notices, communications, payment history, title documents, and the facts that will control a judge’s view of the dispute.
Remedy and forum selection
The right strategy depends on what the client needs. Some matters require immediate court action to protect possession or prevent further harm. Others call for targeted discovery and motion practice that narrows the case and drives a business resolution.
Litigation ready, business focused
We prepare each matter as if it will be tried, while building opportunities for early resolution when the leverage and record support it. We keep the strategy aligned with business priorities, including timing, cost control, and risk tolerance.
Property or lease dispute putting your project or business at risk?
Speak with our Massachusetts real estate litigation team today.