Condo Related Lawsuits 'Snowball' in Miami

Posted by: Mike Lydon

5 November 2007 - 9:00am

Miami's condo market, rife with speculative buyers, is seeing an increase in lawsuits as developers and buyers alike try to maintain solvency.

"Brooklyn housekeeper Rita Dobrer was swept up in South Florida's real estate frenzy, using $600,000 from a jury award as deposits on six condominiums in two Miami projects in 2005.

Dobrer said she never had the intention, let alone the financial ability, to buy the six condos -- which cost about $3 million. Rather, she claimed she was enticed by the developer's verbal guarantees that she could reap $600,000 in profits by selling the units without ever taking ownership.

Dobrer's hopes for a windfall, though, have cratered in the ailing residential real estate market. Unable to flip the units, Dobrer joined 35 other Russian immigrants in New York, New Jersey and Florida who on Friday sued Miami developer The Related Group for the return of the deposits on units in Miami's 50 Biscayne and Bal Harbour's Harbour House.

The allegation the condos were pitched as investment opportunities marks the latest twist in a mushrooming problem: buyers seeking to get out of contracts. Buyers have pounced on changes in units sizes, interior improvements, condo budgets and completion dates as reasons for escaping contracts."

Full Story: Condo-buyer lawsuits mount

Source: The Miami Herald, November 3, 2007