Take a family in Jamaica, Queens, that inherits a two-family house from their father and finally decides to sell it, only to have the title company come back with a lien nobody in the family ever heard of. Or a buyer in Bay Ridge who closes on a brownstone, moves in, and six months later gets a letter from a long-lost cousin of the previous owner claiming a piece of the deed was never properly signed off. Or a small landlord in Long Island City who discovers, mid-refinance, that an old contractor recorded a mechanic’s lien against the property years ago and it was never cleared. None of these people did anything wrong. They just got caught in a defect somewhere back in the chain of title, and now a closing, a sale, or a loan is stuck until somebody sorts it out.
Why Title Disputes Happen So Often Here
Queens, Brooklyn, and New York City have some of the oldest, most heavily subdivided, and most frequently transferred real estate in the country, and that history is exactly what creates problems. A deed from the 1970s with a typo in the legal description. An estate that was never formally probated before the property changed hands. A divorce where one spouse’s name should have been removed from the deed and never was. An old mortgage that was paid off decades ago but was never officially discharged in the public record. Any one of these can surface a title dispute at the worst possible moment, usually right when a sale, refinance, or transfer is supposed to close. At Warren S. Dank, Esq., P.C., we have seen title disputes trace back to paperwork filed before some of our clients were even born.
What Real Estate Litigation Over Title Usually Involves
Real estate litigation in this area covers more ground than most people expect. It is not just missing paperwork; it is often competing claims of ownership that have to get sorted out in court, whether that means:
- Quiet title actions, where a court is asked to formally settle who actually owns a property
- Boundary and easement disputes between neighboring owners in Queens or Brooklyn
- Undischarged liens, judgments, or old mortgages clouding a chain of title
- Fraudulent or forged deed transfers, which unfortunately still show up across New York City
- Heirship and estate disputes where multiple family members believe they hold an interest in the same property
- Adverse possession claims, where a neighbor or occupant argues they gained rights to land through long, open use
Anyone can search a property’s recorded history through the city’s own ACRIS records system, but reading a title report and untangling what it actually means for ownership are two very different things. That is usually where real estate litigation becomes necessary rather than optional.
Getting a Title Dispute Resolved Before It Sinks a Deal
The costliest mistake in real estate litigation involving title is waiting too long to bring in a lawyer, whether that is a seller who assumes the buyer’s title company will “just figure it out,” or a buyer who walks away from a deal rather than fighting for what they are owed. Warren S. Dank, Esq., P.C. represents buyers, sellers, heirs, and property owners across Queens, Brooklyn, and the rest of New York City in title disputes and the real estate litigation that follows when a deal cannot close cleanly. If a lien, a deed, or an old claim is standing between you and your closing table, contact our office to find out where things actually stand and what it will take to move forward.