Posted on 10/03/2023 10:43:33 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
The purported value of Ivanka Trump’s Park Avenue penthouse came under scrutiny this week during testimony at trial in the New York attorney general’s $250 million civil fraud case against the former president.
Donald Bender, a former accountant for Donald Trump at the accounting firm Mazars USA, testified in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday that he saw errors between the value listed for the posh pad on financial documents and its potential sale price.
Bender explained from the witness stand that, while he wasn’t in charge of auditing the company financials, he “from time to time” would tell Trump Organization officials that there were discrepancies on company financial documents, according to a CNN report.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
READ THE ARTICLE.
Its a difference between a then existing FMV and an option in a lease. In a stranger to stranger lease, an option is a guess of of the market value at the end of the lease [1-5 years from now], coupled with a guaranteed rent through the lease, leading to a lower option price. If its your kid, and you want to give them a deal [since you own it and its your kid!!!!], you put whatever you want as the option price.
Having bought/sold/financed tons of properties, I have NEVER, EVER seen a bank or anyone based their loan decisions on an option to purchase in a lease.
So despite every dime + interest was paid, no ‘victim’, and every bank performs their own diligence including appraisals, this is their crime. You gave your daughter a deal in an option, assuming the market performed as guessed that is. For that the dems look to deny America their choice in president. But millions from China & Russia paid to a crack-head son...that’s cool.
Lol
I get calls almost weekly from scam artists wanting to buy my property. I always tell them I am willing to sell it... And then I put out a number about 8 times higher than even a high bidder would pay.
They thank me and hang up.
Man: How much for this hockey stick?
Dorothy: $1100.
Blanche: Dorothy!
Dorothy: This isn’t an ordinary hockey stick. Bobby Hull used this. This is a piece of history.
Blanche: It’s a piece of junk. And the price tag says four dollars.
Dorothy: Four fifty.
https://tvquot.es/the-golden-girls/quote/6w66i4s/
I am an accountant. Although I may know a thing or two about valuations of property, I could never be qualified as a witness when it comes to valuations. There are qualifications that must be met and my accounting degree is not one of them.
This is stupid. Option prices on real estate lease contracts are lower because they are the price at the time the contract was written. Ten years later, for example, the price is much higher if prices have gone up.
I bought a house on a lease option and a friend of mine did as well, and that is what happened.
The price is frozen in the contract just in case home prices go down, this is acts as insurance to the seller.
Correct. Comps in our neighborhood were say $200,000.00. The Insurance company said current replace value is $275,000.00. Cost of building a new structure at the time was about 110.00/ square foot. Buying an existing structure was $85.00/ sq foot. We insured it at the $275,000 valuation other wise rebuilding would have been economically tough. Some areas around Augusta have family farms etc.. Land prices here have gone sky high. As long as the farms remain in agricultural use they are valued at that rate or some of the people could not afford to keep their farms. If you looked at development value on 150 acres of road front development prime land the evaluation is off the charts.
It doesn’t matter. There was no fraud.
Bank didn’t complain or sue him, they got paid back on time.
This is corrupt law fare.
There can be several reasons to justify different values for different purposes.
Marcus and Millschlap, they call me EVERY SINGLE DAY asking to purchase an apt building my Mom and aunt own..its a total scam they call from different phone numbers and a few days ago my aunt called them they wanted a lot of info before even considering an offer forget about it
That's because the value is fixed. It never fluctuates. It never gets reappraised.
I would expect the defense to provide those legitimate reasons.
I don’t trust her politics, I don’t want her or her husband anywhere near our government decision making bodies.
There is nothing falsified on those statements. Everyone who reads your posts knows you have zero experience ZERO.
Since you are so smart what is your valuation of those buildings? Be careful, because if you are wrong, based on your own assessment, you will be labeled a liar. Come on now, let’s have your valuation
I did remember a thing or two about fraud from my business law class:
To determine whether fraudulent misrepresentation occurred, the court will look for six factors:
1. A representation was made
2. The representation was false
3. That when made, the defendant knew that the representation was false or that the defendant made the statement recklessly without knowledge of its truth
4. That the fraudulent misrepresentation was made with the intention that the plaintiff rely on it
5. That the plaintiff did rely on the fraudulent misrepresentation
6. That the plaintiff suffered harm as a result of the fraudulent misrepresentation
I assume the legal logic will be that the first 4 are true and therefore 4 our of 6 factors is the majority and therefor Trump is guilty.
Regarding 4, if the plaintiff is the state of NY, how did the state rely on the representations made to 3rd parties and how did it suffer harm?
Determining damages without showing harm may be impossible in a normal setting.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fraudulent_misrepresentation
As I understand the facts, following your 6 points:
1. Yes - representation was made.
2. You only know if false if you attempt to sell at the stated valuation and can’t meet or exceed that price. The properties weren’t put up for sale, so value is subjective. Therefore, no guilt can be assumed, and it isn’t proven. This test fails.
3. See #2 - can you prove Trump knew the value stated was false? If not, then this test fails.
4. The paperwork for the lenders specifically said DO NOT RELY ON OUR REPRESENTATIONS - DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE. So, no, the intent was clearly not that the recipient rely on the valuation presented. This test fails.
5. The plaintiff is the State of New York. They were not a party to the transaction. The bank (or lender) is not alleging any misrepresentation or loss due to any misrepresentation by Trump. This test fails.
6. The plaintiff suffered no harm. And, even if you wanted to include the bank (or lender) under the Plaintiff heading, they also suffered no harm and no loss. This test fails.
Seems like a pretty clear-cut case for dismissal.
Sorry, that reply was pure reflex.
Here is one example. I can ask an appraiser to appraise real property based on its highest and best use or based on it current use. If my rental property is a home in a popular location where I can do an Air-BNB that could be its highest and best use and the value would be set as a function of the potential rental income. If I owned a penthouse in NY, it is conceivable I could generate significant rental income especially if it had Trump's name on it.
If however, if I wanted to sell it as a home, then it would not be valued on rental potential but rather based on comparative properties sold in the recent time.
One of the problems with a property like a penthouse is that there would be very few comparatives unlike the average family home. An appraiser would be making large adjustments on similar priced property. It could be reasonable that different appraisers at different times would have large differences of opinion for perfectly valid reasons.
An example is Elon Musk and Twitter. Twitter had one of the best determinations of value known as the stock market. He was willing to pay an amount far greater than the market consensus. To him the value was higher than what most investors believed.
Ouch, didn’t mean to rankle.
I was just pointing out (in a light hearted vein) some of the finer assets that “Scrambler Bob” thought might be a selling point in certain real estate valuations which he remarked about.
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