Real Estate and Construction Litigation

We represent clients across the industry in all aspects of real estate and construction litigation, mediation, arbitration, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

Ballard Spahr is a recognized leader in real estate and construction—on the litigation and transactional sides—giving us the ability to handle the full range of client needs. Real estate developers, public and private owners, contractors, and lenders trust us with their disputes because we approach litigation as a vehicle to achieve their business objectives—not as its own objective.

Because our firm handles all aspects of real estate and construction issues—from zoning and land use to environmental concerns, financing, and development—we understand all aspects of a project and bring that knowledge to bear in litigation avoidance strategies or in the event of a dispute. Our national footprint, regional market knowledge, and collaborative approach allows us to identify and deploy the right resources to each engagement, regardless of geography.

Our attorneys partner with clients to provide business-oriented, practical solutions to real estate- and construction-related disputes. We are on the cutting edge of issues that affect real estate and construction litigation, including:

Loan/financing litigation and workouts
Receiverships and foreclosures
Commercial landlord/tenant disputes
Contract disputes (development agreements, sales/acquisition agreements, intra-ownership disputes, specialty agreements)
Land use and environmental issues (zoning, easements, and adverse possession)
Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities Act claims, including the defense of discrimination and accessibility complaints
Title disputes
Condominium, hospitality, and resort/timeshare litigation
Partnership/member disputes
Federal, state, and local bidding and procurement, including protests
Construction disputes
- Differing site conditions and changed conditions
- Deficient design and construction disputes
- Construction delay and disruption disputes
- Change order disputes
- Structural failures
- Defense and prosecution of actions necessitating lis pendens actions

Real Estate Litigation

We represent clients covering the spectrum of the real estate and construction industry—developers, owners, lenders, commercial landlords and tenants, REITs, private equity and venture capital groups, builders, contractors, management companies, housing authorities, and design professionals. This gives us the ability to see different sides of an issue and serves us well in dispute resolution or litigation. Our work also spans industries, including infrastructure, higher education, retail, industrial, residential and mixed-use, hospitality, corporate, and cultural.

Our real estate and construction litigators work side-by-side with our real estate transactional lawyers and the client to game plan dispute avoidance strategies before a deal is finalized. When a dispute arises, we work with the client to develop strategies to contain and resolve the dispute before it ripens into litigation.

Sometimes litigation is necessary, and when it is, our real estate and construction litigators efficiently, aggressively, and proactively represent our clients’ interests in trials, arbitrations, and other administrative hearings—and we do so to win. We believe that our success in obtaining favorable pre-trial resolutions results from our reputation as litigators who are not afraid to take cases to trial and who are formidable adversaries in the courtroom. Throughout the dispute cycle, we remain laser-focused on our clients’ business objectives, and use litigation as an instrument to advance and support those objectives. Our real estate litigators pride themselves on being a part of our clients’ business team.

Our bankruptcy attorneys bolster our work, handling matters throughout the United States and its territories for numerous landlords. They are known for their command of issues of importance to landlords in general, and REITs in particular. The team has an unparalleled knowledge of bankruptcy and workout issues arising in large-scale retail tenant bankruptcies.

Construction Litigation

Our construction attorneys cover the lifecycle of construction projects, from inception to implementation, from dispute avoidance strategies to litigation. We represent owners, lenders, contractors, manufacturers, and design professionals in all aspects of construction disputes, including litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

Our attorneys are active in the courts, local hearing, zoning, planning, and review boards, as well as other venues throughout the country. Our construction litigators support Ballard Spahr’s real estate development, real estate finance, energy finance, project finance, and environmental practices by evaluating and addressing potential issues at the forefront of project development.

Our construction litigators defend against claims alleging failure to design and construct projects in compliance with handicapped accessibility laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Act (FHA). In fact, we have defended some of the largest FHA cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and advocacy groups. We also work with clients on developing specific language and certifications for construction contracts, new procedures for third-party consulting on complicated accessibility requirements, and a process for evaluating compliance and corrective work for completed projects.

We are familiar with implementation of advanced technology design and construction methodologies and help clients incorporate them into their construction processes. Ballard Spahr also counsels construction clients on project-specific record-management systems and implements advanced document management methods in our litigation practice to control the costs of discovery and trial preparation.

Experience

Loan/Financing Litigation and Workouts

For several years, we have represented Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. (and a number of its subsidiaries) in a series of class action lawsuits pending in federal and state courts in Pennsylvania. The lawsuits allege that Fidelity's agents overcharged for title insurance sold in connection with home refinancings. Of the nine cases we originally handled, four remain – two in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Schwartz v. Lawyers Title Insurance Company and Coleman v. Commonwealth Land Title) and two in the Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (Patterson v. Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. and Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. of New York and DeCooman v. Lawyers Title Insurance Company). Both sets of cases are in the midst of class certification proceedings.

We are defending a real estate investment firm in a series of federal and state court suits including three putative class actions and eight individual actions filed by groups of lot owners. The plaintiffs (purchasers of resort development lots funded in part by equity invested by the real estate investment firm) asserted RICO, Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, and unfair or deceptive practices violations, as well as related common law claims arising from supposedly false and misleading marketing, sales, and financing practices. The real estate investment firm is alleged not only to have financed the developments, but to have controlled their operations and finances, directing an alleged scheme to defraud lot purchasers. We obtained dismissal of the firm in the two putative class actions, one of which has since settled, without any contribution by the firm. The second is currently on appeal by the plaintiffs. We also obtained dismissal of three of the individual actions. We are defending the remaining suits, and there have been no cases decided thus far adverse to the client.
We represented one of the largest public housing authorities in a lengthy state-court litigation related to the termination of a large national developer which had failed to properly plan the development and financing of a large housing community and sued the authority for the termination. The case was settled in mediation while dispositive motions were pending.
After a three-week trial, we won a $193M judgment against the developer of a major master planned resort and golf course community resulting from a loan default, and pierced the corporate veil of the developer's related entities, exposing all of those related entities (and the guarantor) to full liability for the entire indebtedness.
We represented a major real estate developer at trial in a lender liability action based on the lender's failure to fully fund the loan, causing failure of two multimillion-dollar mixed-use developments.
We represent CitiMortgage, Inc., a subsidiary of CitiGroup, Inc. CitiMortgage originates and services residential mortgages throughout the United States and manages most of CitiGroup's $170 billion mortgage portfolio. In addition, it offers refinancing and investment products. Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals, affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the borrower's claims brought under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act and Maryland Secondary Mortgage Loan Law. The court found that a lender has no statutory or common-law duty to provide copies of loan documents to the borrower after the loan has been paid off and the mortgage released.
We won summary judgment in favor of an insured lender in a lien priority dispute with holder of a mechanic's lien. Appellate court affirmed, holding that lender's lien was a valid and perfected interest in the property despite the lack of a property description in the recorded mortgage.
On behalf of commercial mortgage-backed security trusts holding first mortgages, we have on multiple occasions successfully sued borrowers to recover lease termination fees paid by tenants of collateral property, but misappropriated by borrowers.
We represented a large real estate development/management company in a litigation arising from the failure to close on the sale of commercial property in New York City; the case involved issues of financing, letters of credit and legal malpractice.

Receiverships and Foreclosures

In a case of national significance, we obtained preliminary and permanent injunctions preventing the mezzanine lender from foreclosing on a major luxury resort in derogation of the rights of the senior lender.

Commercial Landlord/Tenant Disputes

We won a $1,350,000 judgment following trial for the plaintiff/landlord in a commercial lease dispute with the tenant.

Contract Disputes

We represent Johnstown Regional Energy, a processor of landfill gas, in issues and disputes with landfill owners involving the processing and collection of gas, protocols for landfill management, and other issues with landfills.

Land Use

Representing PECO Energy Company in condemnation for a major new substation in Philadelphia’s University City.
Represented a major auto-auction company in relocation and reimbursement claims for the taking of the entrance of its facility by UDOT in Salt Lake City.
We repeatedly represented owners and developers of fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy projects in assessing the risks associated with planned and ongoing projects and developed and implemented strategies that successfully reduced and mitigated those risks.
We represented an industrial company and its principal shareholder in lawsuits arising from the PCB contamination of the company's property; one case involved the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the other was against a major utility.

Fair Housing and Americans with Disabilities Act Claims, including the defense of housing discrimination and accessibility complaints

We defended a national property management company in a high-profile federal discrimination lawsuit brought against federal agencies, city police, and the owner and management company of a residential property disrupted with gang activities. The case was about to go to trial, but was settled in negotiations and settlement conferences with a Magistrate Judge.

Title Disputes

In In re Condemnation by City of Philadelphia, we obtained a nine-figure award for two family trusts and an estate that owned a 144-acre parcel adjacent to the Philadelphia airport. At trial, the City claimed the property was only worth $30 million. In a grueling six-day trial, we prevailed on all of our legal arguments and proposed factual findings, receiving a $140 million award from the Board of View.
We won an appeal on behalf of an insured homeowner in a dispute over a judgment lien that was recorded against the seller after the sales contract was executed but before all contingencies had been satisfied. That judgment creditor sought to enforce the lien against the buyer after title to the property had been transferred.
We represent a large national title insurance company in several class actions alleging that consumers were overcharged for title insurance in violation of RICO and state consumer protection statutes. We previously obtained a ground-breaking class decertification decision in a similar case, which spurred federal courts in the Third Circuit to decertify three other title insurance overcharge class actions.

Condominium, Hospitality and Resort/Timeshare Litigation

We represented a condominium developer in an important case of first impression in Pennsylvania affirming the developer's right to continue to control unallocated parking spaces after control of the association's executive board has passed to the unit owners.
We represented a national real estate investment concern in litigation and arbitration regarding contractual contributions for the renovation of a major New York City hotel.

Deficient Design and Construction Disputes

We represented Gloucester County Utility Authority in litigation with a design-build contractor for a wastewater sludge incinerator.

Construction Delay and Disruption Disputes

We represented the developer of an urban high-rise condominium complex in litigation with the general contractor over construction defects, delays, and design-build deficiencies. The case was settled early in discovery.

Contractor Disputes

We represented an owner of a petroleum refinery in New Jersey and its general contractor in construction lien litigation related to upgrades and enhancements to the refinery after a subcontractor declared bankruptcy. The matter resulted in a favorable clarification of the New Jersey Construction Lien Law regarding limitations on an owner's liability to lien claimants in multi-tier construction contracts and was subsequently settled.

Bankruptcy Matters

We represented a publicly traded REIT as the largest landlord creditor in bankruptcy filed by national grocery chain.

People

View All People in this Practice

Share

Experience

People

Insights, News, and Events

Abran Vigil Returns to Ballard Spahr as Partner

Accomplished Litigator Abran Vigil Rejoins Ballard Spahr in Las Vegas

Innovative Zoning Strategies: Addressing Affordable Housing Shortages

Pennsylvania: It’s Time to Appeal Your Real Estate Taxes

Resources

Foreclosure and Receivership Process Booklet

Distressed Hotels, Resorts, and Hospitality Assets Brochure

Commercial Landlord Litigation Brochure

Distressed Real Estate Course Catalog

Contacts

Related Areas