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Corporate Law |
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Our firm has extensive experience in resolving title and ownership disputes regarding real property. We have handled boundary disputes and easement issues, including defending property owners when an adjacent owner claims an easement to use a portion of our client’s property. We have represented clients in quiet title actions, when two parties claim a right to own property and one has sued to have the court determine the property’s rightful owner. We also have represented clients in slander of title actions, helping to support the recorded claim or to have it removed as necessary. Finally, we advise clients and help resolve disputes regarding title defects, such as recorded and unrecorded interests that affect our client’s ownership or use of the property. Many real estate projects are developed through partnerships, limited liability companies or joint ventures and disputes sometimes arise among the principals. We have handled many such disputes and every effort is made to resolve these messy business disputes or divorces through consensus. As a last resort, court assistance may be sought in partitioning the property, dissolving the development entity, appointing a receiver, or seeking other relief. Perhaps the most common real estate dispute involves claims between a Buyer and a Seller. The firm has handled numerous disputes of this type on a wide range of issues, such as:
Most real estate loans are generally secured and we have significant expertise in handling foreclosures. Clients should be aware of the dramatic changes which have recently taken place in Colorado’s foreclosure statute. The firm’s lead real estate partner, Jim Benjamin, was involved in drafting the new statute, and has written the only article on the new statute in Colorado. Most real estate projects are financed with traditional loans. In cases where the project is not developed and sold as planned, the development entity may find itself in conflict with the lender. In the early 1990s, Partner Al Cohen obtained the largest jury verdict in Colorado history on behalf of a local land developer against Mellon Bank. Changes in the law since then, and particularly the credit statute of frauds, C.R.S. § 38-10-124, make such cases far more difficult to bring. Nevertheless, the firm continues to assist its real estate clients in navigating problems with lenders when problems arise. Eminent Domain/Inverse Condemnation The firm’s lawyers have considerable expertise representing landowners in condemnation matters. This includes traditional condemnation actions where the government takes property for a public purpose, and where the sole issue in the case is the value of the taking. Where the government does not take the property, but where a regulatory regime severely impairs its value, there may be a so-called inverse condemnation action against the government. Two of the firm’s partners, Al Cohen and Jim Bain, have considerable experience in navigating these difficult constitutional waters.
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