Real Estate Litigation & Title Insurance Defense

Obtained summary judgment dismissing lien priority action filed against a real estate developer and noteholder.

Obtained summary judgment dismissing title claim against real estate developer.

Obtained summary judgment in Eastern District of Virginia in favor of commercial landlord against former tenant alleging landlord failed to mitigate damages.

Represented numerous property owners in title disputes in Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

Obtained complete defense judgment in favor of client in real estate litigation involving home owner’s association easement dispute in Fairfax County Circuit Court. Successfully defended on appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Obtained significant monetary judgment, and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief for our title insurer client in defalcation lawsuit in Virginia Beach Circuit Court.

Successfully represented a land owner of multi-million dollar property adjacent to a public transit station in declaratory judgment and breach of contract arbitration involving ground lease disputes.

Miles & Stockbridge trial lawyers Anthony F. Cavanaugh and Matthew M. May recently obtained complete trial victories for the developer, manager and operator of a 300-acre resort campground property with more than 2,000 individual parcels along the Chesapeake Bay. Sasha E. Hodge-Wren also was an integral part of the litigation team and assisted with trial preparation on these matters. Miles & Stockbridge’s clients own and manage the property on Maryland’s Eastern Shore known as the Indian Acres Club of Chesapeake Bay. Between December 5 and 13, 2019, Cavanaugh and May tried five cases asserting ten causes of action brought by members of the club and purported owners or purchasers of individual properties within the club’s property. The claims related to the parties’ rights and obligations under the club’s restrictive covenants and its governing documents. Cavanaugh and May obtained judgments in favor of the clients in all ten causes of action. The recent judgments will help clarify and guide the interpretation and application of the restrictive covenants and governing documents that control both land use and conduct within the large resort property.

Defend and prosecute actions involving title disputes with respect to real property located in Washington D.C. and Maryland including issues relating to ownership, lien validity and priority, including cases involving forged deeds, challenges to foreclosure proceedings, easements, improper lis pendens filings, as well as suits to correct deeds and other land records.

Successfully obtained summary judgment in the District of Columbia in favor of lender against the holder of a foreign judgment which claimed that its foreign judgment had priority over the lender’s deed of trust, which would have effectively nullified the lender’s interest in the real property at issue.  The case involved the issue of whether or not the lender was a bona fide purchaser for value or had actual or constructive knowledge of the foreign judgment prior to the loan transaction at issue.  The Court ultimately held that the lender was a bona fide purchaser for value and held no such knowledge of the foreign judgment which would have defeated its bona fide purchaser status.

Successfully defended a lender in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court and on appeal against multiple challenges to the validity of the lender’s right to foreclose on real property. The case involved the issue of whether the lender could properly foreclose under a deed of trust which it had acquired by way of assignment from an originating lender. Challenges to the validity of the assignment were raised by way of exceptions to the foreclosure sale filed by a subsequent lender and a straw purchaser of the property--likely involved in a foreclosure rescue scheme. The Circuit Court rejected those challenges and entered a final order of ratification. A subsequent declaratory judgment action brought by the losing parties in their attempt to raise the same challenges to the lender’s right to foreclose was later dismissed based upon principles of res judicata. The judgments entered in both the foreclosure action and the declaratory judgment action were affirmed by the Court of Special Appeals.

Successfully defended a property owner in a dispute in Queen Anne’s County Circuit Court against multiple neighbors claiming easement rights over client’s property to access beach area on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay.  The case raised the novel issue of whether the neighbors had an implied easement based on a Subdivision Plat recorded in 1952, which the Court ultimately rejected.  The Court also rejected alternative claims made by the neighbors that they held prescriptive easements based upon their prior alleged use of the property at issue.

Successfully represented the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), as a substantial participant on the litigation team, in an enormous dispute before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which arose out of the default terminations by WMATA of the contractor under contracts for the construction of two subway stations and adjoining tunnels in the heart of Washington, D.C., including significant involvement in successfully defending against a motion for summary judgment relating to suretyship law. See Mergentime Corp. v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Auth., 775 F. Supp. 14 (D.D.C. 1991). Judge George H. Revercomb presided over the trial, which he characterized as the most complex civil trial in his 23 years on the bench. He eventually rendered his decision in a 251-page opinion, affirming the terminations and awarding over $16 million in damages to WMATA. See Mergentime Corp. v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Auth., No. 89-1055, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11123 (D.D.C. July 30, 1993).

Represented a commercial real estate developer at both trial and on appeal in federal court in a complex dispute involving an early termination provision of a commercial lease.