Real Estate & Construction

Real Estate Disputes

Deposits, failed transfers, boundary and possession claims — assessed on the documents first, settled where that serves you, litigated where it does not.

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Tell us the situation and we will tell you what we think you should do — and what it will cost.

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Buyers whose seller will not, or cannot, transfer
Parties in deposit and earnest-money disputes
Neighbours in boundary, encroachment and access disputes
Owners dealing with occupiers who will not leave

Deposit recovery, and claims to compel the transfer where the contract binds

Rescission and damages where the deal cannot be saved

Boundary and encroachment disputes, with survey coordination

Possession and eviction proceedings

Servitude, right-of-way and access claims

Disputes with a condominium juristic person or a housing estate

Review the documents and assess the realistic outcomes
Secure the evidence — surveys, records and correspondence
Assert the position in a formal demand
Negotiate where settlement serves the client
File and run proceedings where it does not
Enforce the judgment or the settlement

Documents to prepare

The contract, reservation or lease in dispute
Title deeds and any survey results
Payment records and receipts
Correspondence and messages around the dispute
Photographs of the property, boundary or occupation

Where the agreement binds, the court can order the transfer itself — specific performance — or award rescission with the deposit back and damages. Which to pursue depends on whether you still want the property and whether the seller can still deliver it; we assess both before filing.

As a starting point, earnest money is forfeited if the payer caused the failure and returned — with liability on top — if the receiver did; the contract can vary this. The real dispute is usually over whose breach it was, which is why the correspondence around the collapse matters as much as the contract.

An official re-survey. Boundary cases are won and lost on the surveyed line, not on memory or old fences, so we put the Land Office survey in place before any demand goes out — the letter is stronger when the measurement already backs it.

Limitation periods differ sharply by the type of claim, and possession-based rights can strengthen against you while you wait. The safe rule in property disputes is that time is evidence: the sooner the position is asserted in writing, the better every later option looks.

Most property disputes settle once the documents make the likely outcome clear to both sides — and a settlement recorded properly is enforceable. Where court is needed, the case is run with our Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice, by the same team that assessed it.

Lawyers for this matter

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