Real Estate Attorneys in New York City

We are a boutique law firm focused on real estate transactions and real-property litigation in New York City and the surrounding counties. When you call us at 212-233-1233 during business hours, you are connected directly to the lead attorney, Albert Goodwin. Never to an associate or to an assistant. When you hire our firm, Albert Goodwin handles your matter directly, with associates in supporting roles.

Real estate is the largest investment most New Yorkers will make, and the smallest mistake — an unreviewed contract, a missed lien deadline, a defective notice of pendency, an unenforceable lease — can be expensive for decades. Our firm closes residential and commercial transactions, litigates real-property disputes, and counsels owners, lenders, landlords, tenants, and co-owners through the issues that come up in between.

Our Practice Areas

Residential Real Estate

We represent buyers and sellers of houses, condominiums, and cooperatives in New York City and the surrounding suburbs. Our residential closing practice covers contract negotiation, board package preparation, title review, mortgage commitment review, walk-through, and recording of the deed or proprietary lease transfer.

Commercial Real Estate

Our commercial real estate practice handles office building, retail, industrial, and mixed-use acquisitions and sales; commercial lease negotiations for landlords and tenants; joint venture and partnership formation for real estate investors; zoning and land use issues; and 1031 like-kind exchanges.

Real Estate Closings

A real estate closing attorney manages the entire process from contract execution through deed recording. Most lenders will not fund without attorney representation on both sides. We attend closings throughout New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County.

Landlord-Tenant Representation

We represent landlords in lease drafting, eviction proceedings, rent-stabilized and rent-controlled tenancies, holdover proceedings, and lease enforcement. We also represent commercial tenants in lease disputes, including commercial lease disputes in NYC.

Partition Actions

When co-owners of real property — usually inherited from a parent or held by an ex-spouse, an ex-partner, or a former business partner — cannot agree on what to do with the property, a partition action forces either a physical division or a sale. New York's Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act adds appraisal and buyout rights for family-owned property.

Lis Pendens / Notice of Pendency

A lis pendens — in New York, a "notice of pendency" under CPLR Article 65 — is recorded against real property to put buyers and lenders on notice of pending litigation that affects title or possession. We file notices of pendency to protect contract rights and move to cancel improperly filed notices that are clouding a client's title.

Mechanic's Liens

Contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers who go unpaid on a construction project can file a mechanic's lien under Lien Law Article 2. Owners faced with an overstated, defective, or stale lien can move to discharge it. We handle the filing, enforcement, foreclosure, and bonding of mechanic's liens on both sides.

Foreclosure Defense

When a homeowner misses mortgage payments and the lender files a foreclosure complaint, the homeowner has several options — loan reinstatement, modification, forbearance, refinance, short sale, deed in lieu, or bankruptcy. We evaluate each option and represent homeowners in the foreclosure litigation that follows.

Easements, Boundary Lines, and Neighbor Disputes

We handle easement creation, interpretation, and termination; adverse possession claims under RPAPL Article 5; boundary disputes requiring a surveyor's reconciliation; and the full range of neighbor disputes — nuisance, trees and roots, fences, lateral support, water and drainage, and construction-related access disputes under RPAPL Section 881.

Why Choose Us as Your Real Estate Attorneys

Direct Attorney Representation

When you hire our firm, Attorney Albert Goodwin personally handles your matter. You will not be passed off to an unfamiliar associate or paralegal. Real estate matters move quickly — contracts have deadlines, mortgage commitments have expiration dates, liens have filing windows — and you need someone who knows the file and is reachable when something has to happen today.

Transactional and Litigation Experience

Many real estate firms either close deals or litigate disputes, but not both. We do both, which means our transactional clients get drafting that anticipates the disputes we have actually litigated, and our litigation clients get counsel that understands what a clean closing looks like and what defects show up later as the basis for a lawsuit.

Knowledge of New York Real Estate Law

We track updates to the Real Property Law, the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, the Lien Law, the Multiple Dwelling Law, the General Obligations Law, and the rent-stabilization framework. New York real estate practice is distinctive — co-ops with proprietary leases instead of fee title, rent regulation overlaying many residential buildings, Section 881 licenses for construction access, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act — and our work is grounded in that body of law.

Discreet, Strategic Representation

Many of our clients are investors, business owners, family-property co-owners, and lenders for whom the privacy of the transaction matters. We handle every matter with the discretion that the business and the personal relationships involved require, and we coordinate parallel matters (tax, estate, business-entity) where they exist.

We invite you to schedule a confidential consultation. We serve Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau County, Suffolk County and Westchester County. You can contact us by phone at 212-233-1233 or by email at email@goodwinrealestatelaw.com to discuss your real estate matter in confidence.