Real Property Litigation

Carmen’s experience in real estate litigation includes the representation of developers, property owners, franchisees landlords, buyers and sellers of real estate as well as other interested parties. He and his colleagues have represented these real estate interests in a wide variety of cases:

• Representing substantial landowners in a breach of contract claim against a real estate developer who exercised bad faith in purposely slow walking a development into residential subdivisions. The developer failed to secure financing, forcing substantial price increases by the time the project could proceed.
• Defense of a franchisee in a commercial eviction case as a franchisor as tenant sought to take over a profitable restaurant operated by its franchisee. The sub-tenant had colluded with the landlord to amend the lease unfavorably.
• Defense of a commercial landlord against allegations of fraud in the manner the building common areas were charged to a retail tenant.
• In a federal court bench trial, Carmen established that his clients, the owners of a die casting company, were entitled to damages from prior landowners for substantial PCB contamination on the property that abutted the Milwaukee River in Wisconsin.
• Faced with a mortgage foreclosure case that had dragged on for more than 12 years because the homeowner had alleged fraud by the bank in its lending practices, a frustrated bank asked Carmen to appear as lead counsel. In less than three months, Carmen prevailed at trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
• A contested arbitration ended as Carmen prevailed for a real estate broker winning the sales commission due the broker, proving she procured her client’s commercial property lease in Silicon Valley.
• Representation of a minority-owned church whose attempt to sell its land to a buyer was blocked by a village’s refusal to grant a zoning variance.