Key Takeaways

• Real estate law varies sharply by state. Pennsylvania and Maryland commonly use title-company closings, while New York and New Jersey are attorney-review states where a lawyer is expected on both sides of a residential sale.
• Most costly real estate problems — title defects, undisclosed conditions, financing contingencies, and boundary or easement disputes — are preventable when the contract is reviewed before it is signed.
• The firm handles both the transaction (contracts, closings, leases) and the dispute (litigation over deposits, defects, specific performance, and quiet title) across all four states.
• Deadlines matter. Attorney-review windows, inspection contingencies, and mortgage commitment dates can be measured in days, and missing one can cost you the property or your deposit.

Residential Real Estate

Buying or selling a home should not be a leap of faith. We review and negotiate the agreement of sale, explain your contingencies for inspection, financing, and appraisal, coordinate the title search and title insurance, resolve liens and judgments that surface on title, and represent you at the closing table. In New Jersey we handle the three-day attorney-review period; in New York we prepare and negotiate the contract of sale and manage the closing; and in Pennsylvania and Maryland we work alongside your title company to protect your interests through settlement.

Commercial Real Estate

For investors, business owners, and developers we handle purchase and sale agreements, commercial leases and subleases, letters of intent, due-diligence review, zoning and land-use questions, easements, and financing documents. We help structure acquisitions to manage liability and tax exposure, and we work to keep transactions moving toward a clean, on-time closing.

Landlord and Tenant Matters

We represent both landlords and tenants in lease drafting and review, security-deposit disputes, lease enforcement, and eviction and ejectment proceedings. Each state imposes its own notice requirements and tenant protections — getting the process right the first time avoids dismissed cases and wasted months.

Real Estate Disputes and Litigation

When a transaction breaks down or a neighbor crosses a line, we litigate. Common matters include breach of an agreement of sale, fights over the return of a deposit, claims for specific performance to force a sale to close, undisclosed defects and seller-disclosure claims, boundary and encroachment disputes, easement and right-of-way conflicts, quiet-title actions, and construction and contractor disputes.

What Our Firm Does

• Review and negotiate agreements of sale, leases, and financing documents before you commit.
• Order and interpret title searches, clear liens and title defects, and coordinate title insurance.
• Represent buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, and investors at closing and settlement.
• Advise on zoning, land use, easements, and development approvals.
• Pursue or defend real estate litigation, including deposit, disclosure, boundary, and specific-performance claims.

Who We Help

• First-time and repeat home buyers and sellers who want a lawyer reviewing the deal.
• Landlords and tenants dealing with leases, deposits, or evictions.
• Real estate investors and developers acquiring, financing, or repositioning property.
• Business owners buying, selling, or leasing commercial space.
• Property owners in a dispute with a buyer, seller, neighbor, contractor, or co-owner.

Why Choose Siddons Law Firm

A litigator-first firm. Above all, we are litigators. We prepare every matter — even a routine transaction, filing, or estate plan — with the forethought that it could one day be challenged in a courtroom, because any legal matter conceivably can be. That discipline means the work we do for you is built to withstand scrutiny from the start. It is what we mean by experience guided by intelligence.

We combine transactional experience with real courtroom capability, so the lawyer who reviews your contract is the same firm that can enforce it if the other side does not perform. We practice across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland, we communicate in plain language, and we focus on protecting your money, your deadlines, and your leverage at every step.

Property Tax Assessment Appeals

If your property is over-assessed, you are overpaying property taxes every single year until the assessment is corrected. A property tax assessment appeal challenges the value your county has placed on your home, commercial building, or land, and when it succeeds it lowers your tax bill going forward — often for years. Our firm has successfully argued well over 1,000 property assessment appeals, and that volume of hearings has given us a practical command of how assessors, county boards, and the courts actually decide these cases.

How a Property Assessment Appeal Works

An appeal compares your property’s assessed value to its true market value, adjusted by the county’s common level ratio (CLR). In Pennsylvania the process usually starts with a filing to the county Board of Assessment Appeals, proceeds to a hearing where evidence of value — a recent appraisal, comparable sales, income data for commercial property — is presented, and can be appealed further to the Court of Common Pleas if the board’s decision is wrong. Every county sets its own annual filing deadline (commonly August 1 or September 1), and missing it typically forecloses relief for that tax year, so timing matters.

When It Makes Sense to Appeal

Appeals are most productive when a property’s assessed value implies a market value higher than what the property would actually sell for — after a declining market, a change in the property’s condition or income, an over-assessment following new construction, or a countywide reassessment that swept your parcel up with it. We evaluate the numbers first and tell you candidly whether an appeal is worth pursuing before you spend anything.

Residential and Commercial Appeals

We handle both. Residential appeals turn on comparable sales and the CLR. Commercial, industrial, and multi-unit appeals are more complex — value is frequently driven by income and expense data, capitalization rates, and highest-and-best-use analysis — and the tax dollars at stake are far larger, which is where deep appeal experience pays for itself. We also represent property owners defending against school-district and taxing-authority “reverse” appeals that seek to raise an assessment.

Four-State Coverage

Assessment systems differ across the region — Pennsylvania’s county-based CLR system, New Jersey’s municipal assessments and County Board of Taxation appeals, New York’s grievance-day and Article 7 / SCAR process, and Maryland’s three-year SDAT cycle with appeals to the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board. We guide owners through the right process in PA, NJ, NY, and MD.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a real estate attorney to buy or sell a home?

In New York and New Jersey an attorney is customary on residential transactions, and New Jersey builds in a formal attorney-review period. In Pennsylvania and Maryland closings often run through a title company, but having your own attorney review the agreement of sale and title still protects you from problems that a title company is not there to catch.

What is title insurance and do I really need it?

Title insurance protects you and your lender against defects in the property’s ownership history — undisclosed liens, forged deeds, boundary errors, or missing heirs. Lenders require it, and an owner’s policy is a one-time cost that protects your equity for as long as you own the property.

The seller did not disclose a problem with the house. What can I do?

Each state requires sellers to complete a property-disclosure statement, and a seller who conceals a known material defect can be liable. The right remedy depends on the facts, your contract, and your inspection records, which is why it is important to speak with a lawyer promptly.

Can I get my deposit back if the deal falls through?

It depends on which contingency failed and whether the proper notice was given within the contract deadlines. If your financing, inspection, or appraisal contingency was exercised correctly, you are generally entitled to your deposit, and we can pursue it if it is being withheld.

What is specific performance?

Because every parcel of real estate is considered unique, a court can order a party to actually complete the sale rather than simply pay damages. Specific performance is a powerful remedy for a buyer or seller when the other side tries to walk away from a signed agreement.

Start Your Real Estate Matter

From a first contract review to a closing table or a courtroom, the Siddons Law Firm is ready to help. Call (610) 255-7500 to speak with our team about your real estate matter in PA, NJ, NY, or MD.

Can appealing my property assessment really lower my taxes?

Yes. If the county’s assessment implies a market value higher than your property’s true value, a successful appeal reduces the assessed value and the tax bill that flows from it, generally for future years until the next reassessment. Our firm has won well over 1,000 of these appeals, so we can assess quickly whether yours is worth filing.

When is the deadline to file a property tax appeal?

Deadlines are set locally and are strict — many Pennsylvania counties cut off annual appeals on August 1 or September 1, and the other states run on their own calendars. Because a missed deadline usually means waiting a full year, it is best to have your assessment reviewed well before the county’s cutoff.