Outside General Counsel for Real Estate Investors in Miami

Outside general counsel for real estate investors is ongoing legal help for your properties, leases, entities, and disputes. You don’t need a full-time lawyer on your payroll to get it. KEW Legal provides this service from offices in Coral Gables and Sunny Isles Beach, for owners across Miami-Dade and South Florida.

Most investors look into this service in the middle of a problem. A tenant has stopped paying rent. A contractor is stalling a project. A co-owner has stopped returning calls. This page explains what outside general counsel covers and how the work moves forward.

What Outside General Counsel Means for a Real Estate Investor

Outside general counsel is a lawyer or firm that handles a business’s legal matters as needed, instead of working as a staff lawyer. For a real estate investor, it means one legal contact who follows your buildings, the entities that own them, the leases, and the disputes already in motion.

This matters because investor files are often scattered. Each property may sit in its own LLC, with separate leases, vendor contracts, and a co-owner or lender in the background. A lawyer who sees the whole set of documents can spot a conflict before it grows.

The arrangement can be ongoing or tied to one matter. The scope is set in writing at the start, so you know what is covered.

Who This Service Is For

Outside general counsel fits owners who need steady legal help across more than one property, document, or dispute. It is a good fit for:

• Individual investors who own one or more commercial buildings, retail or office space, or other nonresidential property in Miami-Dade.
• Owners who hold property through an LLC or partnership and need advice at both the entity level and the property level.
• Co-owners and family members who share ownership and want one legal point of contact.
• Owners who live outside Florida and need a Florida lawyer to act for them.

Commercial space follows its own rules. Fla. Stat. § 83.001 says Part I of Chapter 83 applies to nonresidential tenancies.

What the Engagement Covers

The engagement covers legal work tied to commercial property and the business that owns it. Typical matters include:

• Commercial lease drafting, review, and negotiation, including renewals, amendments, and assignments.
• Commercial eviction for tenants who fail to pay rent, breach the lease, or stay after the term ends.
• Review of purchase and sale contracts and the entity documents tied to the deal.
• Vendor and contractor contract review, plus disputes over construction, maintenance, and service work.
• Disputes between partners or co-owners over management, distributions, and property decisions.
• Business succession planning for entities that hold property, including how ownership passes to heirs or partners.

Florida law limits how a commercial landlord takes back space. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.05, a landlord recovers possession only through a court action, after surrender, or after abandonment. For nonpayment, Fla. Stat. § 83.20 allows removal of a tenant who holds over after a rent default, once 3 days’ written notice requiring payment or possession has been served.

How the Engagement Works

The work starts with a consultation, moves to document review, and then to a written plan before any action is taken. Here is what to expect:

1. Consultation. Describe the property, the entity that holds it, the people involved, and the problem in front of you. The first consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation to continue.
2. Document review. Bring the lease, the operating or partnership agreement, the vendor contract, any notices sent or received, and the emails that matter to the issue.
3. Written options. You receive a written explanation of the options, the steps each one requires, and the firm’s recommendation. The scope is confirmed in writing before work begins.
4. Action. This may include demand letters, negotiation, formal notices, or a court filing. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.21, the landlord, or the landlord’s attorney or agent, applying to remove a tenant must file a complaint stating the facts that authorize the removal and describing the premises, in the proper court of the county where the premises are located. You get updates at each step.

Timelines depend on the facts, including court schedules, the other side’s response, and whether the matter is contested.

Serving Owners Who Live Outside Florida

Owners who live outside Florida can manage a Florida matter by phone, email, and video calls. The firm handles commercial evictions for owners who live abroad.

Remote owners should know that possession cannot be taken on their own. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.05, possession comes through the court process, surrender, or abandonment.

Documents may need a notary. An online notary physically in Florida can perform an online notarization for a principal located outside Florida. When an online notary performs an online notarization for a principal who is not located in Florida, the notary must confirm, verbally or through the principal’s written consent, that the principal desires the notarial act to be performed by a Florida notary public and under the general law of this state, as stated in Fla. Stat. § 117.265.

The owner stays the decision-maker. The firm confirms significant decisions with the owner before acting, and it identifies document requirements early so signing does not hold up the matter.

Why Clients Work With KEW Legal

KEW Legal is a Florida business law firm with offices in Coral Gables and Sunny Isles Beach. It focuses on business and commercial real estate matters for owners in Miami-Dade and South Florida.

• Practice focus: leases, commercial evictions, contracts, partnership disputes, and the entities that hold property.
• Lawyers: Kristina E. Wilson is the responsible lawyer for this page. Natalie Martinez is also one of the firm’s lawyers.
• Whole picture: The firm reviews the owner, the entity, the property, and the other party together. A dispute is not read one document at a time.
• Clear process: Each matter starts with the documents and facts in front of the firm, and each step follows from them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk With KEW Legal About Your Property

If a tenant has stopped paying, a contractor is stalling your project, or a co-owner has gone quiet, you don’t have to sort it out alone. Call 305-990-2300 or send us a message through our contact page to schedule your first consultation.