A Palm Beach County judge has ordered the developer of the long-delayed Mandarin Oriental residences in downtown Boca Raton to return roughly $2 million to a condo buyer, delivering the project’s first reported courtroom loss and a potential playbook for other frustrated purchasers.
Douglas and Debra Jacobs put down a $2 million deposit in 2022, expecting to close on their unit by the contract’s Dec. 31, 2025 completion deadline. When that date came and went without a closing, they sued. The judge’s ruling opens the door for similarly situated buyers to try to claw back their escrowed deposits.
As reported by The Real Deal, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge James Sherman sided with the Jacobses, found them entitled to repayment, and said purchasers can seek payment directly from the title companies that are holding escrow deposits. The developer’s attorney, Robert Sweetable, told the outlet he plans to ask for a rehearing, pointing to a conflicting ruling in another case involving the project.
Not every buyer took their fight all the way to a courtroom decision. According to The Coastal Star, Nilesh and Liliana Undavia opted for arbitration, eventually reaching a settlement that will pay them $2.1 million plus interest. A lis pendens will stay on their unit until that money is actually paid out. Several other disputes have been resolved confidentially, while others are still active.
Developer’s Bankruptcy And Auction
Penn-Florida affiliates tied to the Mandarin project filed for Chapter 11 on the hotel portion in December 2025. Since then, the bankruptcy docket has filled up with motions, monthly operating reports and repeated efforts to set or continue a sale hearing. Court records posted on the bankruptcy portal show filings to extend deadlines and delay the auction, the kind of procedural maneuvering that can directly affect when, or if, buyers and other creditors see repayment.
Earlier coverage traced the planning for a potential auction in May and documented buyers’ lawsuits tied to unit delays and deposits. For those details, see Inforuptcy, The Real Deal and Boca Raton couple sues.
Legal Takeaway
Florida law requires many pre‑closing condominium deposits to be held in escrow and spells out when those funds must go back to buyers. Per the Florida Senate, Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes directs that escrow accounts be maintained by banks, title companies or attorneys, and it allows purchasers to seek refunds when developers default on completion deadlines.
Judge Sherman’s ruling adds a sharp edge to those protections. If developers cannot satisfy judgments or settlements, title companies that control the escrow accounts could find themselves pulled into repayment fights as buyers press to get their deposits back.
What’s Next For Buyers
The developer’s lawyer has said he will seek a rehearing, and other buyers are likely to brandish the Jacobs judgment as leverage in ongoing settlement talks or in fresh filings. The path to any payout is not straightforward, though. Active bankruptcy proceedings and a possible auction mean that bankruptcy priorities and competing creditor claims could reshuffle who gets paid, and when.
For now, the Jacobses hold the clearest legal win against the Mandarin project. Whether that early victory sets off a broader wave of repayments or simply nudges more disputes into private settlements will depend on how the bankruptcy case, the title companies and the developer react in the coming weeks. The next clues will be buried, as usual, in the court dockets and bankruptcy filings.
