Real Estate

A real estate transaction represents a major investment of time, money, and effort to see a deal through to its conclusion. Whether buying, selling, investing or developing, real estate deals often present substantial risk along with a variety of circumstances that can occur at any time to derail the process.

The San Mateo real estate lawyers at Shjeflo, Riley & Cruz LLP provide sound professional advice and skilled legal services on behalf of buyers and sellers and other parties to real estate transactions and real estate litigation disputes. Our law firm represents San Francisco buyers and sellers of real property, realtors, architects, contractors, and others. We work to promote our clients’ interests and to protect their legal rights.

Real estate transactions

A well-drafted document can prevent problems before they start. And if a dispute does arise, we want to ensure that our clients are not disadvantaged in any way by a poorly worded document that contains vague and ambiguous language or waives important legal rights. We assist our clients in negotiating, drafting or reviewing contracts for the purchase or sale of real property or commercial lease agreements. In addition, we have extensive experience helping clients with short-sale acquisitions. Our goal in every residential real estate transaction is to ensure that our clients’ rights are fully protected and their objectives are met.

Real estate litigation

When disputes do arise, legal intervention may be necessary to resolve them. Whether a resolution can be brought about by a negotiated settlement or mediation, or if a full trial to judgment is required, we are there every step of the way, protecting our clients’ interests and advocating vigorously on their behalf.

Our Bay Area real estate lawyers represent clients in a variety of real estate disputes, including:

• Breach of contract
• Disputes over the sale of real property
• Injury claims
• Toxic torts
• Landlord-tenant disputes
• Construction disputes
• Construction defect litigation

Common subjects for real estate litigation

Real estate disputes can arise for a variety of reasons, including homeowner association disagreements and issues related to zoning laws. A common subject of litigation is the failure to disclose defects prior to sale. Disputes commonly arise when a seller intentionally or unintentionally fails to inform a buyer about defects in the property that is changing hands. For example, new owners often seek compensation after discovering mold that developed as a result of a leaky roof or a broken pipe.

Another common area of real estate litigation involves property line disputes. For example, a buyer believes he or she is purchasing more property than the seller actually owns because a neighbor has acquired ownership of a portion of the property by making continuous use of it (e.g., repeated use of a driveway that encroaches on the purchased property). Property line issues also arise in large sales of land such as farmland or land for commercial development. In some cases, adjusting the sales price can resolve conflicts over easements and property lines. However, other cases may require different remedies.

Construction litigation

Construction defects are conditions of a construction project that violate building codes or other regulations, depart from manufacturers’ recommendations or installation requirements, or fail to meet industry standards, causing damage to the property or building. They can affect any part of a property — a building’s foundation or roof, or improvements such as driveways, landscaping, retaining walls, and swimming pools. These defects can cause serious damage to property. They may also require expensive repairs to prevent further damage or make the construction conform to building codes. Our San Mateo real estate lawyers have extensive experience assisting clients in obtaining the financial recovery they need to remedy these defects.

In addition to construction defect litigation, our attorneys represent building owners, subdivision developers, general contractors, subcontractors, and bonding companies in construction law claims involving contract, performance and construction disputes.