Trump, Mar-A-Lago, and Why Decision Was Flawed

9.28.2023 | TheWriterTX

[TheWriterTX]

The recent decision in NY concerning the alleged "fraud case" against President Trump is highly flawed on its face. Here are some important talking points to use when you encounter the uninformed.

When it comes to property, there are multiple levels of valuation. I'm going to use an actual property and current records to show how they vary substantially depending on the situation.

*Market Value

The market value is what a property will sell for on the open market. Your listing agent will determine the value of your home based on comparable sales in the area. Upgrades, renovations, enhancements, location, access, schools, crime, can all figure into the equation. We've all seen small homes in a tight market sell for a lot more than asking price. Conversely, we've seen articles about homes that had their prices cut by millions. This valuation is "perceived value."

Let's presume a condominium with 200 units has an average market value of $355K per unit. By that estimate, the building is worth $71,000,000.

*Appraised Value For Insurance

When it comes to insurance, the carrier is only looking at the physical assets; pool, clubhouse, fitness center, buildings, monuments, gates, boiler and machinery, etc. Sometimes, it will cover the grounds as well, but not usually. They are calculating the cost to rebuild to pre-loss condition. Some businesses will only ensure some assets and reduce their insurance by self-funding in the event of a loss.

This property is currently valued at $61M for insurance purposes. A big difference.

For a property like Mara Lago, the valuation difference would be huge because of all the land attached to it. The value is in the land (the golf course) more so than the structures.

*Appraisal for Property Tax Purposes

If you check out the value of your home or similar homes in your area, and then check out your appraised value in the county Appraisal District, you will see that they do not match.

Further, land use designates the value for tax purposes. Agricultural use, common areas for homeowners associations, churches, businesses, etc. have a different "land" tax rate (separate from the improvements tax rate). Since Mara Lago has lots of land restricted for a specific use, it would not have the same valuation as a vacant lot available for residential development. Further, developers often take advantage of tax breaks to restore historic lands. Most municipalities see it as a win-win. An otherwise dormant or underperforming property now generates taxes for them.

In the case of our 200 unit building, the average valuation is $242,000 per unit, for a total of $48.4M. Again, a big difference.

*The Glaring Omission

What this moron judge never once took into consideration is that the value of Mara Lago was not just the land and structures, but the business attached to it. Club membership, rentals, special events, and more are all a perpetual revenue stream and the bulk of the perceived value. This can only be determined by looking at the books of the business prior to sale and not the loan submission forms. Someone looked at those books and green-lighted it.

How much a business generates does not determine how much it pays in property taxes. A 2K sq. ft. business will pay the same property taxes whether they earn $10K a year or a million.

So when you encounter TDS, please share this with them. They will automatically reject it of course because Orange Man Bad, but normal people will be able to easily see that this is yet another railroad job by an out-of-control DA and Judge.

[TheWriterTX]

The thing everyone is missing is that when Trump took out the loan, it was to buy the property AND the business.

Doesn’t matter what the property is worth. The business that came with it substantially increased its perceived and market value.

[qaz123]

where is the alleged “victim” of said fraud?

Precisely.....I read an article earlier that no one filed a complaint. Any and all loans and debts were paid off.

At the end of the day, two entities tell you what a property/anything is worth....a buyer or an appraisal.

And, have any Republican’s weighed in on this travesty? Has the omniscient Ted Cruz or Lindsey Graham said anything about this? Or does Graham just like riding Pres Trump’s coattails when he visits SC so he can try to win the people over?

[Coronal]

He could have had a trial, or at least a shot at one, but his lawyer failed to file the required motion for it.

[qaz123]

It’s been my observation for quite a few decades that most judges consider themselves to be some sort of omnipotent entity passing down wisdom

Because they’ve been allowed to by the people and by the legislatures.

Perhaps some of the more “legal minded” on here can share their opinions, but I was under the impression that ‘judicial immunity’ isn’t an actual law, it’s something the judges gave to themselves and it’s never been challenged.

[Lou Foxwell]

No victim is needed. I have a friend found guilty, fined hundreds of thousands and spent a year in prison for securities fraud. The crime? He used existing law and policy to create a win win for every investor. The victim? According to the prosecutor it was the government, harmed by its procedures used to benefit investors rather than bureaucrats.

[Bayard]

Failed to file a required motion for trial?

Really? Not a NY lawyer what’s the source on that?

[coalminersson]

In any fraud to obtain a loan the lender or bank is the “victim.” If they loan money and can’t recoup the value if the loan defaults, then they have exposure to risk. Loan fraud is usually a felony.

In most states if an appraisal is falsified or if the buyers provides false financial info the appraiser and/or the borrower could go to prison.

It seems in this case the judges and AG in NY have said during their campaigns they will get Trump and preliminary info from Fla indicates the judge is way off base with that extreme lo ball value however derived and whatever the source.

[qaz123]

I just read an article about this....one takeaway, IMHO, if by some miracle he wins in 2024, he won’t have a choice but to go after these people. By the time things settle down after his inauguration, he won’t be able to let these sleeping dogs lie.

[coalminersson]

Buyers can provide info about the property to the appraiser. In the case of fraud the appraiser could even be bribed or incompetent. I am not saying that happened, I am answering your question about how it might be possible.

Until the last 10 years in some states the buyer or his/her agent could select an appraiser. Since the big crash, I believe the fed requires the lender to select the appraiser.

[ez]

Statute of limitations New York State
Fraud 6 years CPLR213(8)

[eyeamok]

In issuing a Formal Appraisal on the property the Judge committed a FELONY and should be prosecuted by the State.

Unauthorized Practice of a Profession: NY ED Law 6512

You need not be a surgeon performing procedures nor an account engaged in financial services. Whether you are a dentist, masseuse, physician, lawyer, financial advisor, architect, or even a hairdresser, if you practice and engage in a profession requiring a license without that license, then you are subject to arrest and prosecution for Unauthorized Practice, New York Education Law 6512. In fact, not only will you find yourself before a judge and in need of legal representation from a criminal defense lawyer, know that this offense is a felony. Whether facing an indictment in New York City, the Hudson Valley counties of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, or elsewhere in the state, a failure to protect yourself will have dire and permanent consequences.

https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/03/re-appraiser-3-21.pdf

[Coronal]

Read the procedural background portion of the ruling. It makes no mention of any motion for jury trial filed with the court. That would have been noted in that section of the ruling if it had been filed.

[TheWriterTX]

When Trump purchased the property in 1985, it was a 126 room residence.

Current listing for just 2.3 acres of land in Palm Beach goes for $200,000,000. Converting the home to a business and designating it as a golf course is what dropped the tax valuation.

The Palm Beach Country Club (just down the road) is appraised for tax purposes at $17 million.

Should Trump sell and void the restrictions on the land, he will easily make $1B. Right now, Mara Lago is earning beaucoup bucks in memberships, events, rentals, etc. Unless the creepy DA has access to internal financial reports, they cannot state that Mara Lago is only worth “X.”

There is a business attached to that land. The value of the business is missing from the equation.

This judge is a clown!

[brookwood]

I got a valuation for a property from a licensed appraiser for 800k in November 2021 in settlement of a legal dispute. The tax assessor in the town gave it a valuation of 1.499 million in January of 2023. Unfortunately this seems to mean I will be joining Tump in jail - but the tax assessor will be free to go.

[Dan Zachary]

“That $500 million figure, absurd at the time that the Trump Organization proposed it, suddenly became somewhat reasonable. Real estate experts outside of Palm Beach guessed that the place was worth more than $200 million. Brokers on the island thought it could be worth far more, with the most aggressive estimate coming in at $725 million.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2022/08/09/how-much-has-trump-made-from-mar-a-lago-his-palm-beach-estate-under-siege/?sh=32ac83b55bed

[TheWriterTX]

They are hitting him up for over-valuing his Seven Springs estate, too.

Let’s dig into the numbers.

Seven Springs has between 230 and 250 acres of land. In 2012, he got an appraisal of $30 million for a portion of it (roughly 20 lots worth) that he was going to donate as an easement. The lot size is not specified, but it broke out to $700K per lot.

If we presume 200 sellable acres, sold in half-acre lots, that’s 400 lots for a value of $280M, not too far from what was listed on the financial report.

The more I dig into this CF, the angrier I get.

[xzins]

My last hoyse increased 33% in value in the mere 2 years we owned it. So we sold. Taxes hadn’t gone up a dime. And the assessment when purchased was only half the price we paid for. Great suburb, great schools, roads, businesses, police, fire, etc.
We wouldn’t part with my son’s 67 mustang for less than 40k, but bought it for 1.7k.
Would they put us in prison for calling it a 40k asset?
I saw a pic of a palm beach 2 wooded acres on the beach with elevation going for 150 mil. Totally undeveloped and same part of florida as maralago.
This is fraudulent lawfare against Pres Trump and my concern with scotus for not assuming their power and stopping this persecution under color of law is evidence feeding my suspicion that they are part of the cabal.

[Bratch]

New York Judge Rules Without Trial, Jury or Verdict, That President Trump Must Dissolve All Business Interests in State

September 26, 2023 | Sundance | 250 Comments

This is John Galt level government targeting.  A New York State judge has arbitrarily ruled, no trial – no jury, that President Trump overvalued his real estate holdings in New York, which means he paid too much in taxes, in order to secure financing and loans. [Ruling PDF HERE]

All the banks and lenders did their own due diligence on the financing.  All operational loans and business loans were paid back.  There were no defaults or banking interests adversely impacted. There are no victims of what the State calls “fraud,” yet the judge is ruling the Trump organization must dissolve all business interests in the state and exit within 10 days.

New York Attorney General Latisha James campaigned for office with promises to target the Trump Organization and Donald Trump himself.  This is malicious lawfare in the extreme.

NEW YORK – […] As part of his ruling, the judge canceled the business certificates of all of the defendants, which include the Trump Organization itself and numerous LLCs connected to the company, as well as the business certificates of any entity “controlled or beneficially owned by” Trump, his adult sons, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and company executive Jeffrey McConney.

Engoron ordered that within 10 days of the ruling, Trump and the other defendants must provide names of potential independent receivers “to manage the dissolution of the canceled LLCs.” (read more)

President Trump responded via his Truth Social account.

[Source Link]

[Ex-Con777]

>The problem was the judge was a partisan hack who could give a rats ass about the truth, its all about hurting Trump.<

It’s also about the timing. Something was needed to keep the news of Biden having Chinese money wired to an account using his Delaware address off the front page. Where have we seen this smokescreen used before?

EC

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]

“In issuing a Formal Appraisal on the property the Judge committed a FELONY and should be prosecuted by the State.

Unauthorized Practice of a Profession: NY ED Law 6512”

Thank you very much for that information!