Texas Real Estate Attorney
Real estate disputes can cost you thousands. Get an advocate who understands both sides of the transaction and won’t stop until it’s made right.
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Buying, selling, or dividing real estate is one of the biggest financial decisions most people make and when a broker, seller, inspector, or lender doesn’t hold up their end, the cost can run into the thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you’ve been misled about a property’s condition, cut out of a contract you relied on, or wronged in a foreclosure or land dispute, you deserve a straight answer about your options.
Tony Malley is a Houston and Beaumont real estate attorney and a state-licensed real estate broker, giving him a rare, dual-sided view of both the legal claim and the underlying transaction. He represents buyers, sellers, and co-owners across Texas in real estate negligence, fraud, and property disputes.
What to do When You Have A Real Estate Dispute
- Call Malley Law early. Real estate disputes can turn on contract drafts, disclosure forms, inspection reports, and communications between buyer, seller, and broker. If you’re wondering how to bring a claim over an undisclosed defect, a broken contract, or a broker’s mistake, start by protecting the paperwork before it disappears.
- Preserve every document. Keep your purchase contract, any prior drafts or amendments, the Seller’s Disclosure form, listing and buyer’s representation agreements, inspection reports, appraisals, and any emails or texts with the seller, agent, or broker. Do not assume the other side’s records will tell the full story.
- Get every explanation in writing. If the seller’s story about a defect keeps changing, the broker starts dodging simple questions, or a contract term suddenly looks different than what you signed, document it. A real estate attorney can help identify what records should exist and what’s conveniently missing.
- Do not sign anything. A seller or broker facing a dispute may show up fast with a proposed repair credit, a revised contract, or a release. Signing early can limit or waive your right to full compensation before you’ve had a chance to understand the real scope of the problem.
- Do not let them soften it. Buyers are often told it was just a minor oversight or something they should have caught themselves. Sometimes it’s a real failure to disclose, a broker’s breach of fiduciary duty, or outright misrepresentation. Let us help before the other side controls the story.
No FeeUnless We Win
Statewide Representation
$100+ MillionRecovered*
Understand Your Rights With Real Estate Fraud, Negligence, and Liability
Real estate negligence occurs when a seller, broker, agent, inspector, or other professional involved in a property transaction fails to meet the duty of care the law requires, and that failure costs you money. Texas law requires sellers to disclose known property defects, requires brokers and agents to act in good faith and avoid conflicts of interest, and holds licensed inspectors to a professional standard when they evaluate a home before closing.
When any of these parties cut corners (hiding a known defect, altering a contract without your knowledge, missing an obvious structural or termite problem, or putting their own interests ahead of yours) you may be entitled to compensation for the resulting damages. Because Tony Malley is both a trial attorney and a licensed Texas real estate broker, he can evaluate these cases from the inside: he knows what a seller, agent, or inspector was supposed to catch, and can show a court exactly where they fell short.
Types of Real Estate Cases We Handle
Breach of Contract
When a signed deal isn’t the deal you actually get.
Contracts get changed without notice, counteroffers get accepted behind a buyer’s back, and terms get altered mid-transaction more often than most people expect. When one party alters a contract, hides a conflict of interest, or breaks an agreed term, you have the right to enforce what you signed. We build these cases as if they’re headed to trial, even when most get resolved through negotiation or mediation first.
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
When the professional you trusted put their interests ahead of yours.
Real estate agents and brokers have access to information most buyers and sellers don’t — which is exactly why the law requires them to act in good faith on your behalf. When an agent hides a conflict of interest, fails to disclose what they know, or commits outright fraud, that’s a breach of the trust the relationship was built on. We help clients hold that professional accountable and recover what the breach cost them.
Buyers' & Brokers' Mistakes
When an honest deal turns into someone else’s costly mistake.
Even experienced buyers and brokers make errors during a transaction, but a minor mistake should stay minor. When a buyer or broker refuses to make it right, alters terms without your knowledge, or lets a conflict of interest go unaddressed, it can cost you real money on a transaction that may already run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. We step in to make sure you aren’t the one absorbing someone else’s error.
Failure to Disclose
When a seller stays quiet about what they already know.
Texas law requires sellers to complete a Seller’s Disclosure of Property Condition form and report known defects before closing. When structural damage, termites, mold, faulty wiring, or another serious issue gets buried instead of disclosed, buyers can be left facing thousands of dollars in repairs they never agreed to take on. We help buyers hold sellers and brokers accountable when silence was the strategy.
Foreclosure Litigation
When paperwork errors turn a foreclosure into a legal fight.
Foreclosure actions often sit for years before a mistake in the filing surfaces and by that point real rights are at stake. Whether you’re a homeowner challenging a foreclosure sale or a successful bidder facing a claim from the previous owner, these disputes move through the county Clerk’s office and the courts, and timing matters. We walk clients through every step of the process.
Inspector Error or Negligence
When co-owned property needs to become individually owned property.
Jointly owned land doesn’t always stay jointly wanted and when co-owners can’t agree on how to divide it, Texas law provides a clear path forward. We help clients pursue voluntary partitions, judicial partitions, and partitions by sale, and can compel a partition even when another owner objects or can’t be located.
Misrepresentation of Property
When what you were told doesn’t match what you actually bought.
A seller or broker can be just as liable for actively misrepresenting a property as for staying silent about it. False statements about a property’s condition, size, systems, or value, on appliances, plumbing, HVAC, fencing, garages, and more, can leave a buyer facing costly repairs they were never warned about. We help clients recover the cost of that misrepresentation.
Seller/Broker Errors
When a seller’s oversight becomes your legal problem.
Even ordinary issues, a leaky roof, minor structural damage, faulty wiring, can turn into expensive disputes when a seller or broker fails to catch or disclose them. As a licensed Texas real estate broker as well as a trial attorney, Tony Malley can pinpoint exactly where that oversight crossed the line from honest mistake to actionable negligence.
Land Partitions
When co-owned property needs to become individually owned property.
Jointly owned land doesn’t always stay jointly wanted and when co-owners can’t agree on how to divide it, Texas law provides a clear path forward. We help clients pursue voluntary partitions, judicial partitions, and partitions by sale, and can compel a partition even when another owner objects or can’t be located.
What You Need to Know About Real Estate Disputes
- What counts as failure to disclose?
Texas law requires sellers to complete a Seller’s Disclosure of Property Condition form and to report known defects before a sale closes. Common failure-to-disclose disputes involve structural damage, termite or other insect infestation, mold, lead-based paint, hazardous materials, plumbing leaks, roof damage, faulty wiring, and malfunctioning appliances or systems. If a seller or agent knew about a problem like this and stayed silent, you may have a claim. - What is breach of fiduciary duty in a real estate transaction?
Real estate agents and brokers have access to information the average buyer doesn’t, which is why the law requires them to act in good faith on their client’s behalf. A breach of fiduciary duty can include a conflict of interest, fraud, embezzlement, failing to act in good faith, or failing to disclose information the client was entitled to know. - What if my home inspector missed something serious?
Inspectors are expected to identify, or at least flag the risk of, major issues with a home’s structure, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, gas lines, septic system, and similar systems. Termite damage is a particularly common source of inspector-negligence claims, since it’s often invisible to an untrained eye but can seriously compromise a home’s structural integrity if missed. - What is a land partition, and when would I need one?
A land partition is the legal process of dividing property owned jointly by two or more people into individual ownership. Partitions can be voluntary — where co-owners agree and simply exchange deeds — or judicial, where a court steps in because the owners can’t agree. If the property can be fairly divided, the court can order a partition “in kind.” If it can’t (a single house, for example), the court can order a “partition by sale,” with the proceeds divided among the owners. - Can I force a partition if the other owner doesn’t want to sell or divide?
Generally, yes. Under Texas Property Code § 23.001 and Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 756–771, a joint owner has an established right to compel a partition of jointly owned real property, even over another co-owner’s objection. If the owners can’t be located, Texas law also provides a process, including a due-diligence affidavit and, if necessary, a court-appointed attorney ad litem, for moving the case forward. - What went wrong in my foreclosure, and can it still be challenged?
Foreclosure disputes often surface at the point of the foreclosure sale itself, when paperwork errors, procedural mistakes, or inaccurate filings come to light. Whether you’re a homeowner challenging a foreclosure sale or a successful bidder facing a claim afterward, these disputes are handled through the county Clerk’s office and the courts, and timing matters; the sooner you raise the issue, the more options are typically available.
Real Estate News and Case Overviews
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