Brands have intrinsic value. A men’s golf shirt with the Ralph Lauren or Tiger Woods logo on it sells for a premium over the same shirt with no logo.
Trump worked decades to build and promote the Trump brand. Many of his real estate properties realized higher sales or rental prices because they had the Trump name on the building. How much is the Trump “premium” on the value of a building. It is a subjective assessment. Before he ran for president his brand was probably worth more than it does today since so many liberals hate him today.
The changing value of brands has recently been demonstrated with the collapse of Bud Light.
So Trump essentially stated his brand was worth $2 billion more than some other “authority”. Who is to say he is right or wrong. That’s why when properties sell banks require an independent appraisal of the value of the property, before they issue a loan.
Recently I’ve seen asking prices of houses in my area dropping. Should the DA prosecute for fraud everyone who lists a house and then several weeks or months later drops the price to move the property?
It is not uncommon for developers and individuals to pay more than market price to secure a particular property. The reality is, the market price for a property is the price a willing buyer and seller will agree to on a particular day.
Agree with everything you said, and I said as much in another post. If this is an issue about judgment, there is no smoking gun. However, they’re going to attempt to prove Trump lied about the value, meaning he knew the values were bogus - that is a crime, which is my point.
I seriously doubt Trump lied - he had no reason to lie but given the corruption in the courts, anything can happen.