Dallas Real Estate Litigation Attorney
The Dallas real estate litigation attorneys at Roquemore Skierski PLLC represent buyers, sellers, developers, contractors, landlords, tenants, and property-owning businesses across Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties, with a focus on the commercial real estate that drives the Dallas-Fort Worth market. A real estate dispute rarely stays contained. A commercial lease, a development schedule, a financing arrangement, or a partnership inside a property-owning entity can each turn a single disagreement into a threat to the deal, and the pressure from lenders, tenants, and the cost of delay usually forces a decision before the law does.
We litigate these disputes for the business result, not for their own sake, and the same attorneys handle the contract, fraud, fiduciary, and construction claims a real estate fight tends to pull in with it.
What Real Estate Litigation Covers in Dallas
Real estate litigation covers disputes tied to real property and the deals built on it, and in the commercial context that means income-producing property: office buildings, retail centers, industrial sites, multi-family properties, hotels, and mixed-use developments. A dispute can surface at any stage of the property’s life, during acquisition, financing, development, construction, management, or leasing, and the claims change with the stage. What looks like a single broken deal often carries several distinct claims, which is why the analysis starts with the documents rather than the grievance.
The recurring matters we handle include:
- Purchase and sale disputes, including specific performance, earnest money and escrow fights, and breach of representations and warranties
- Commercial lease disputes, from unpaid rent and holdover to build-out, maintenance, and eviction remedies
- Title disputes, boundary and easement conflicts, and disputes over restrictive covenants
- Construction and project-delivery disputes, including change orders, delay claims, and defective work
- Mechanic’s and materialman’s lien claims, including filing, foreclosure, and removal
- Lender and financing disputes, including construction draws, guaranty enforcement, and lien-priority fights
- Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims tied to a real estate transaction under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Chapter 17 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code
- Breach of fiduciary duty in real estate partnerships and joint ventures
How Commercial Real Estate Disputes Arise in Dallas
Commercial real estate disputes in Dallas usually arise where money, time, and control intersect. For developers and investors, the trigger is often a purchase and sale agreement that breaks down over due diligence, a title defect, or a missed closing milestone, and in a market where time-to-market drives value, those disputes reward fast action to preserve the deal or cut the loss.
Leasing conflicts escalate quickly because the property is an operating asset on both sides. A landlord facing unpaid rent, abandonment, or property damage needs possession and payment remedies; a tenant facing a broken build-out obligation or an interruption that cuts revenue needs the lease enforced. When the dispute involves financing, lenders and borrowers fight over draws, collateral, and guaranties, and lien-priority contests pull in mechanic’s lienholders and junior or mezzanine lenders on a compressed timeline. Because Dallas construction and development move on tight schedules, these disputes often surface as a project is underway rather than after it closes, which raises the stakes on early injunctive relief.
How a Dallas Real Estate Litigation Attorney Builds the Case
A real estate case is won or lost before the pleadings, in the early moves that set up everything after. We begin each matter by reading the contracts, the timelines, and the notice and cure provisions immediately, because a missed notice deadline can decide a case that the facts would otherwise win. From there we identify the leverage the documents and the statutes actually provide, preserve the evidence and build a clean factual record, and press for resolution through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration where that serves the client’s business.
Where the property or the deal is at immediate risk, speed is the remedy that matters. We move for temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions under Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 680 through 689 when a party is proceeding with a wrongful foreclosure, breaching a lease in real time, or diverting the funds of a property-owning venture. A larger commercial real estate dispute may fall within the jurisdiction of the Texas Business Court, the specialized court the Legislature created in 2024 for high-value business cases, where the amount in controversy meets that court’s threshold.
Why Dallas Real Estate Clients Choose Roquemore Skierski PLLC
Real estate disputes rarely involve only real estate, and our firm handles the whole of the conflict rather than a slice of it. We bring decades of Texas practice across construction litigation, business litigation, partnership and shareholder disputes, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud, which matters when a real estate dispute is tied to a larger business relationship. We litigate in the district courts of Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties and in the Texas federal courts, for privately held companies and owner-operators across commercial real estate and construction, retail, hospitality, professional services, technology, and manufacturing. Matters inside our practice areas stay with us, and where a case needs expertise we do not hold in house, construction and valuation experts being the common examples, we engage and manage them inside the litigation.
How our team resolves business disputes, from start to finish.
We review the governing documents, build a factual timeline, gather key evidence, confirm deadlines, and align the legal approach with the client's business objectives.
We send a strategic demand letter identifying the dispute, proposing solutions, and setting a deadline. When assets or trade secrets are at risk, we seek immediate court relief to prevent further harm.
We pursue negotiation or mediation where productive, while continuing to preserve evidence and develop the case so leverage remains intact if settlement efforts do not succeed.
If a resolution is not reached, we file suit, use focused motions and discovery to narrow the dispute, present the case at trial, and enforce any favorable judgment.
Roquemore Skierski secured a temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the foreclosure of a client’s commercial property after an alleged default on a $1 million commercial construction loan. The Dallas County suit against the lender and contractor asserted claims for breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence.
Roquemore Skierski represented a real estate developer in litigation over $772,500 owed under the parties' development contracts, asserting claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud. The case settled by private agreement and was dismissed with prejudice.
Adjacent work the team supports.
Frequently Asked Questions About Real Estate Disputes
Real estate litigation is any lawsuit over owning, using, or transferring property. Common examples include title and deed disputes, failed purchases and earnest money disputes, landlord and tenant conflicts, construction and lien claims, and disputes between co-owners. When co-owners cannot agree, any one of them can generally file a partition lawsuit. The court can then divide the property or order it sold and split the proceeds. Special procedures apply to inherited property, known as heirs' property. Roquemore Skierski PLLC handles real estate litigation in Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant counties.
To stop a commercial property foreclosure in Texas, start by checking whether the lender followed the loan documents and the Texas Property Code. A Texas lender generally must give at least 21 days' notice before a foreclosure sale. The deed of trust and loan agreement often add notice-of-default and cure rights. If the lender skipped a required step, accepted payments it now says were not made, or is foreclosing on a disputed debt, Roquemore Skierski PLLC can seek a temporary restraining order (TRO) to halt the commercial real estate foreclosure sale. The firm can also pursue wrongful foreclosure or breach of contract claims. A TRO buys time to negotiate a forbearance agreement or loan modification with the lender.
If you paid for land and the seller never transferred the deed, you can sue for specific performance to force the transfer. The statute of frauds generally requires real estate deals to be in writing. Under the partial performance exception, however, a court may still enforce the deal if you paid, took possession, and made valuable improvements. If you bought a residence under a contract for deed or other executory contract, the Texas Property Code gives you additional protections. You can also record a notice of lis pendens in the property records to warn other buyers about your claim. The Dallas real estate litigation attorneys at Roquemore Skierski PLLC represent buyers and investors in disputes over undelivered deeds and failed land deals.
If there is title fraud or a forged deed on your property, act quickly. A lawsuit to quiet title in Texas can confirm that you own the property and remove the forged deed as a cloud on your title. A forged deed is void under Texas law and transfers nothing, even to a later buyer who did not know about the forgery. Texas also provides an expedited motion for judicial review of certain fraudulent liens and claims filed against property. Anyone who knowingly files a fraudulent lien or claim can owe you the greater of $10,000 or your actual damages, plus attorney's fees. The Dallas real estate litigation attorneys at Roquemore Skierski PLLC handle title fraud, forged deed, and escrow fraud cases.