Christine Dyken had just returned home after picking up her grandson from school, and she was stressed.
Dyken — who lives in a quiet corner of North Las Vegas with her daughter, Doreen, and 7-year-old Christopher — needed to move, and the process was overwhelming and expensive.
Doreen was getting divorced, and they’d been looking for a home they could move into quickly — but one that wouldn’t break the bank. The 74-year-old Dyken had moved in with her daughter to help care for Christopher but also because she couldn’t afford rising rents on her own.
Dyken’s income from disability payments, Social Security, her late husband’s pension and tax-preparation work doesn’t go far in a region where housing costs have soared in recent years, echoing conditions in California.
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“We’re really living paycheck to paycheck,” Dyken said last month, standing alongside Doreen, who works at a casino.
Home sale prices in Clark County have jumped by 50% since 2016, to about $414,000, according to an average of the middle-third of values collected by Zillow. The news for renters is no better. Zillow computed the expected price of a lease on a single-family residence, and it has jumped almost 70% over the same period, to about $1,750 a month.
As President Biden and Donald Trump prepare to face off once again in November, the hope of owning a home is all but dead — or at least on life support — for many middle-class voters in Nevada and Arizona, battleground states. The culprits are low supply, high interest rates and population growth — driven significantly by new arrivals from California.
Biden’s focus on the subject during a campaign swing last month is a reflection of how profound the crisis is for voters, political observers say.
“I think he realizes the magnitude of the situation,” Steve Sisolak, a Democrat who was Nevada’s governor from 2019 to 2023, said of Biden. “He’s not out there to chase polls, but when you do poll people, affordability of housing is a major issue. If you’re not in the housing market right now, it’s going to be difficult to ever get into the housing market.”
Dyken said she plans “to hold her nose and vote for Biden,” in part because Trump’s behavior during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol was so “insulting.” But Doreen, who asked that her last name not be used, said she likely won’t vote. There’s too much going on in her life, and voting never felt like much use, she said.
In the northern Nevada town of Fallon, loan officer Shannon Faught said she’s “leaning toward voting for Trump.” Low interest rates when he was president, at the outset of the pandemic, allowed her to buy several homes, which she uses as rental properties.
Politics don’t weigh on her heavily, she said, but she’d like to see the country run more like a business and thinks Republicans are better positioned to do that.
“I don’t think about the election a ton except for the fact that it’s maybe having an effect on interest rates,” she said, though she recognizes that those rates are set by the Federal Reserve, which is ostensibly insulated from politics. “I think about interest rates. Who knows if they’re being timed with the election?”
The fed funds rate — a benchmark set by the independent Federal Reserve — is about 5.3%, a 22-year high. Inflation has dropped to about 2.5% from 7%.
In Arizona, which Biden won by just 10,000 votes in 2020, home prices and rents have skyrocketed as well, as the unemployment rate remains lower than the national average, at 3.7%.
The jump in prices, driven partially by an influx of Californians, has boosted anxiety.
A study from the Common Sense Institute Arizona found a housing shortfall of approximately 67,000 units as of early 2024.
Daniel Scarpinato, who was chief of staff to former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, said he thinks the border will be the dominant issue among Arizona voters, but issues of affordability and the direction of the economy won’t be far behind. Arizona’s 11 electoral votes and Nevada’s six will be pivotal in a contest where very few states are up for grabs.
A debate has roiled Arizona over proposed reforms to zoning laws. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs recently vetoed bipartisan legislation intended to boost housing that would have removed local control over some planning and zoning regulations.
A recent poll found that 53% of a representative sample of roughly 3,000 U.S. homeowners and renters said housing affordability would affect how they vote in the 2024 election. The same survey, funded by Redfin, found that about 65% of respondents said housing affordability made them feel negative about the economy overall.
“There’s a general sense that this was once an affordable place to live,” Scarpinato said, pointing to increases in rent and homelessness as byproducts of the malaise.
“The growth for the state from an economic standpoint has been off the charts and fabulous. If you owned a home, your value has probably tripled or quadrupled,” Scarpinato said. “But if you want to move and upsize because of a growing family or something, I think that there are some real stresses on people and just generally a sense that the quality of life is changing.”
In the run-up to his Arizona and Nevada visit last month, Biden called for a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and for funding to build or renovate more than 2 million homes. He called for the creation of a $20-billion competitive grant fund to accelerate housing creation. His administration is also looking for ways to incentivize local municipalities to do away with stringent zoning restrictions.
These proposals would require Congress to enact legislation, unlikely in an election year.
In 2021 and 2022, about 140,000 Californians moved to Arizona. In the same period, about 110,000 Californians moved to Nevada, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau. This influx is part of the reason prices for housing went up in these states, said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin’s chief economist. There are large parts of the country, she said, where residents are doling out more than 30% of their income on rent. Fairweather and other economists say spending more than that on rent and utilities makes residents “cost burdened.” In 2022, 22 million Americans met this standard.
She said Biden’s ideas were encouraging, but building new homes is the only answer to the crisis.
“That’s the only thing that’s really going to matter 10 years from now. I think everything else is too small to really make a difference in a product that’s so large,” Fairweather said. “Despite there being such a strong economy, when you look at [gross domestic product] or unemployment, people still feel like the economy isn’t good for them because of how high housing costs have gotten.”
Trump, whose campaign didn’t respond to requests for comment, offered few specifics about how he’d bring down home prices. He has mused about getting rid of the Fair Housing Act, which protects minorities from discrimination in the purchase or renting of housing. His campaign characterizes these regulations as waging a “full-scale war on the suburbs.”
Biden, meanwhile, has been “working to lower housing costs, help first-time home buyers achieve their dream of owning a home and lower rents, while Donald Trump spent his time in office gutting affordable housing programs and letting Wall Street firms jack up housing costs on hardworking families,” said the president’s senior campaign spokesperson, Sarafina Chitika.
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, said it was a relief that Biden spoke so directly about the housing crisis when he visited Nevada. The anger over rising prices has made his own reelection contest more competitive, Horsford said, and has become the animating issue in conversations with constituents.
“The person who’s feeling the stress and the anxiety isn’t at fault. It is incumbent upon those of us who are in office to explain our position and what we’re doing to make it better,” he said in an interview at the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, which he once ran. “I encouraged the White House to center the issue of housing and lowering the cost of housing — not to just talk about inflation as this broad general term. That’s not how average Americans talk about it.”
He described how in his Clark County district, large corporations have swept in, buying up hundreds of rental homes at a time. Many of the companies are based out of state, he said, and have turned around and quickly raised prices, done little to invest in upkeep and evicted residents at higher rates.
He has introduced legislation to empower the federal government to better track home purchases and look for market manipulation among institutional investors.
In the Culinary Academy’s dining room, Horsford chatted with Ameeluz Cauton, who works at the Bellagio hotel, about the strain of finding stable housing. Caulton, 35, has worked at hotels and casinos for more than 15 years and at one point owned a home with a boyfriend. They broke up, and she struggled to find a roommate. Then the house next door became occupied with “sketchy people,” she said. For a while, she felt “trapped,” because selling the home wouldn’t give her enough to rent or buy something new, since prices had jumped so significantly.
Eventually, she resolved to just sell and move in with her sister, a temporary solution that’s working fine, she said. Her union, the politically powerful and Democratic-aligned UNITE HERE Culinary Workers Union Local 226, has a down-payment assistance program for first-time home buyers or those who haven’t owned in three years.
Many of her colleagues have felt a similar crunch, and it will certainly be on their mind this election season, Cauton said.
“They’re gonna vote for whoever is going to help them keep their jobs stable,” she said. “I don’t think they’re going to stick with a specific party. It’s just whoever is in line of what we need and what’s going to help us for our future. They could interpret both parties in a different way. But it’s whoever is for the workers.”
By Geoff Earle, Deputy U.S. Political Editor and Daniel Bates In New York For Dailymail.Com
12:17 25 Mar 2024, updated 14:29 25 Mar 2024
- The trial has been put off until at least mid-April because of the recent delivery of tens of thousands of pages of records from a previous federal investigation
- Monday is deadline for him to pay massive fraud judgment pending his appeal
- Trump howled that the award put his real estate ‘babies’ at risk
Donald Trump began a pivotal day in his legal saga with an attack on the judge and prosecution in his New York fraud trial as the Stormy Daniels ‘hush’ money case faced a key hearing while his real estate empire was under threat.
He attacked ‘crooked’ politicians, claimed all the cases against him were ‘rigged,’ blasted a New York judge’s massive $454 million court judgment puts his property ‘babies’ at risk, and claimed the entire country was ‘CORRUPT.’
‘This is a witch hunt. This is a hoax. Thank you,’ Trump said in unusually brief remarks inside Manhattan criminal court.
That came after Trump left his Trump Tower apartment – one of many assets under threat amid DA Letitia James’ threats to seize property – and failed to raise his fist, a defiant gesture he sometimes makes when heads to court.
The former president once again claimed his prosecution in multiple jurisdictions was ‘coordinated’ by the White House, even as local authorities in New York prepared to slap liens on valuable properties following DA Letitia James’ threat to ‘seize’ properties if Trump failed to make good on a $454 million judgment against him.
After boiling over online, Trump visited court Monday morning for the start of his criminal trial where he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records over $130,000 payments to the porn star.
‘These are Rigged cases, all coordinated by the White House and DOJ for purposes of Election Interference. THE NUMBER ENGORON SET IS FRAUDULENT. It should be ZERO, I DID NOTHING WRONG! The D.A. Case, that I am going to today, should be dismissed. No crime. Our Country is CORRUPT!’ Trump wrote in one angry post on his Truth Social network.
‘Crooked Pols!!! There should be no FINE. Did nothing wrong!’ Trump fumed in another, where he used language indicated just how personal were the real estate assets under threat of being seized pending his appeal of Judge Arthur Engoron’s judgment.
‘Why should I be forced to sell my “babies” because a CORRUPT NEW YORK JUDGE & A.G. SET A FAKE AND RIDICULOUS NUMBER. “TAKE HIS CASH SO THAT HE CAN’T USE IT TO DEFEAT HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, CROOKED JOE BIDEN.” ELECTION INTERFERENCE, ALL HEADED UP BY THE WHITE HOUSE – THIS INCLUDES FANI AND THE CORRUPT MANHATTAN D.A. BRAGG ADMITTED THERE WAS NO CRIME, WAS MORTIFIED BY WHAT MARK POMERANCE DID – AND HE SHOULD BE. WITCH HUNT!’ he wrote.
His posts continued even as he was en route and parked outside Manhattan criminal court, hitting many of the same themes in his repeat postings.
‘People must continue to speak of, and remember, that the Engoron number of $450,000,000 for doing absolutely NOTHING WRONG is a big part of the crime being perpetrated against me by Crooked Joe Biden and his political Hacks and Thugs. Engoron’s fraudulent valuation of Mar-a-Lago for $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount, is another piece of the Election Interference HOAX. It’s all a giant and totally illegal Witch Hunt against Biden’s Political Opponent!’ Trump wrote.
‘Crooked Pols!!! There should be no FINE. Did nothing wrong! Why should I be forced to sell my “babies” because a CORRUPT NEW YORK JUDGE & A.G. SET A FAKE AND RIDICULOUS NUMBER. “TAKE HIS CASH SO THAT HE CAN’T USE IT TO DEFEAT HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, CROOKED JOE BIDEN.” ELECTION INTERFERENCE, ALL HEADED UP BY THE WHITE HOUSE – THIS INCLUDES FANI AND THE CORRUPT MANHATTAN D.A. BRAGG ADMITTED THERE WAS NO CRIME, WAS MORTIFIED BY WHAT MARK POMERANTZ DID – AND HE SHOULD BE. WITCH HUNT!’
Trump’s comment about Pomerantz was a reference to the former prosecutor who quit the Stormy Daniels case and wrote a book, People vs. Donald Trump, about it.
Trump walked into the courtroom scowling and pursing his lips, wearing his trademark dark blue suit and a bright red tie.
The former President sat at a table with his lawyers and briefly looked back towards the press.
There were 10 court security officers and seven Secret Service agents present in the courtroom, which was packed with more than 60 journalists.
Trump faces a crunch hearing Monday in his hush money case with his lawyers demanding that it be delayed for months.
Judge Juan Merchan will have to decide if the last minute document dump from federal prosecutors should delay the case in the state court in New York.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office claims that such delays are a ‘red herring’ and part of a ‘strategic delay’.
The hearing is expected to last at least a day.
Trump has denied a 34-count indictment related to him falsifying business recorded in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The payment was made just days before the 2016 election and prosecutors claim it amounted to an illegal campaign contribution.
The trial was supposed to begin on March 25th but was delayed until at least mid-April after the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan released more than 200,000 pages of evidence from its inquiry into Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer.
But the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which is bringing the hush money case, says that just 270 pages of the material is relevant and that the case should go ahead next month.
Trump and his lawyers have also torn into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case, for trying to bury information that would damage Cohen’s credibility.
Should the trial go ahead it will be the first of four criminal cases that Trump faces.
He is accused of election interference at a court in Washington, D.C. over his election overturn effort but the case is on hold pending a Supreme Court ruling on whether he has immunity.
Trump faces a trial in Florida for mishandling classified documents but it is mired in delays and a tentative date for the trial this summer appears unlikely.
He is also accused of election interference in Georgia, however there is no date yet set and prosecutors have been ensnared in allegations of improper behaviour.
Trump has said that he does not have the money to pay the $454 million despite claiming to be worth billions of dollars.
The New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, has already taken steps that could be a prelude to seizing Seven Springs, Trump’s golf course and private estate just north of Manhattan.
Trump could receive a massive boost when his social media company Truth Social floats on the stock market which could net him $3.5 billion.
But the windfall would be on paper only for at least six months due to laws which forbid him from selling too soon.
New York Judge Juan M. Merchan has summoned both sides to court Monday to explain what happened, so he can evaluate whether to fault or penalize anyone and decide on the next steps.
Trump is charged with falsifying business records. Manhattan prosecutors say he did it as part of an effort to protect his 2016 campaign by burying what Trump says were false stories of extramarital sex.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and says the prosecution is politically driven bunk. The prosecutor overseeing the case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, is a Democrat.
The case centers on allegations that Trump falsely logged $130,000 in payments as legal fees in his company’s books ‘to disguise his and others´ criminal conduct,’ as Bragg’s deputies put it in a court document.
Rather, they say, Cohen was just recouping money he’d paid porn actor Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf, so she wouldn’t publicize her claim of a sexual encounter with him years earlier.
Trump’s lawyers say the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses, not cover-up checks.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges, including campaign finance violations related to the Daniels payoff.
He said Trump directed him to arrange it, and federal prosecutors indicated they believed him, but they never charged Trump with any crime related to the matter.
Cohen is now a key witness in Manhattan prosecutors’ case against Trump.
Trump´s lawyers have said Bragg’s office, in June, gave them a smidgen of materials from the federal investigation into Cohen.
Then they got over 100,000 pages more after subpoenaing federal prosecutors themselves in January.
The defense argues that prosecutors should have pursued all the records but instead stuck their heads in the sand, hoping to keep information from Trump.
The material hasn´t been made public.
But Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing that some of it is ‘exculpatory and favorable to the defense,’ adding that there’s information that would have aided their own investigation and consequential legal filings earlier in the case.
Bragg’s deputies have insisted they ‘engaged in good-faith and diligent efforts to obtain relevant information’ from the federal probe.
They argued in court filings that Trump’s lawyers should have spoken up earlier if they believed those efforts were lacking.
Prosecutors maintain that, in any event, the vast majority of what ultimately came is irrelevant, duplicative or backs up existing evidence about Cohen’s well-known federal conviction.
They acknowledged in a court filing that there was some relevant new material, including 172 pages of notes recording Cohen´s meetings with the office of former special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russia´s 2016 election interference.
Prosecutors argued that their adversaries have enough time to work with the relevant material before a mid-April trial date and are just raising a ‘red herring.’
Trump’s lawyers also have sought to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court rules on his claims of presidential immunity in his election interference case in Washington. The high court is set to hear arguments April 25.
On Friday, he claimed to have $500 million in cash hours before shareholders voted through a merger of his media company that put his paper stock at the venture at $3.3 billion.
New York DA Letitia James has said if Trump hasn’t made good on a $454 million court judgement against him by then from his New York fraud trial, she will begin seizing properties – hitting that Trump’s prized Art Deco skyscraper 40 Wall Street could be in her sights.
She also appears to be eyeing Trump’s Westchester golf club and Seven Springs estate, registering judgments in Westchester County.
The former president was boiling over online at the prospects the state may act against him. He wrote a series of fundraising pitches telling New York to ‘keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower.’
Then he fulminated online about the judge who slapped the stunning $454 more award on him – which increases by more than $100,000 per day as he moves to appeal.
‘Arthur Engoron is a Rogue Judge who was intimidated by the big, nasty, and ugly mouth of Leticia James, considered by many to be the WORST Attorney General in the U.S. She is a Low IQ individual who campaigned for Governor, using my name, and got TROUNCED,’ he posted on his Truth Social site.
‘She and her PUPPET Engoron, who valued Mar-a-Lago at $18,000,000 when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount, have destroyed all business prospects for New York State, that is already dying, or dead. But have no fear —When I become the 47th President, we will MAKE NEW YORK GREAT AGAIN!’
By Charlie Spiering, Senior Political Reporter, Washington, Dc
14:18 29 Feb 2024, updated 22:41 29 Feb 2024
- Interest for the New York fraud fine is rising by over $100,000 a day
- New York Attorney General Letitia James is threatening to seize Donald Trump’s assets to pay the fine
- Trump claimed the civil case was part of a ‘Witch Hunt’ leveled at him since winning the presidency in 2016
A furious Donald Trump defended his ‘greatest properties in the world’ and the success of his real estate company as he lashed out at a New York judge rejecting his bid to post $100 million bond in the fraud case.
The former president also defended his company, which he argued was only under attack because of his political success as a Republican.
A New York appeals court shut down his bid to pay a bond of only $100 million after his lawyers warned he may have to sell his assets to cover the full amount.
The 77-year-old does have a financial lifeline if a merger between his Truth Social network and Digital World Acquisition Corporation goes through.
But he only has 17 days to to either pay the fine in full or get the cash together to pay the bond.
‘I did nothing wrong, except build a successful and very liquid company, owning some of the Greatest Properties in the World, and defeat Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Democrats in the 2016 Presidential Election, an Election which a Republican was not expected to win,’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump had only 30 days from the date of the ruling – February 16 – in which he either has to pay the entire amount or post bond.
Trump’s lawyers said Thursday the former president would post a bond of $100 million, arguing that Trump’s company could not secure the full amount to pay the ‘exorbitant and punitive amount’ leveled by the judge.
New York Attorney General Letitia James continues taunting Trump after the ruling, posting updates of the rising fee on social media. The fee increases by $111,984 in interest per day.
James has even threatened to seize some of Trump’s buildings in New York City to pay the punishing fine.
‘If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets’, she told ABC News last week.
One potential financial lifeline for the president is his proposed merger between his Truth Social network and the Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a deal that could be worth as much as $4 billion if it closes. The company is expected to vote on the merger with Trump media on March 22.
The former president claimed he was being persecuted because of his political success, pointing out he was ‘dominating’ his Democratic opponent Joe Biden in the polls.
‘This is a Weaponized Attack on Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, unlike anything that has happened in the History of the United States,’ he said, repeating that the entire case was a ‘Political Witch Hunt.’
He warned the unjust ruling would only motivate more businesses to leave the state of New York, which would lead to it’s ‘destruction’ as businesses would leave by the ‘thousands.’
‘We will continue to appeal until Justice prevails!’ Trump concluded.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump could be at risk of losing some of his prized properties if he can’t pay his staggering New York civil fraud penalty. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million — and the amount is going up $87,502 each day until he pays.
New York Attorney General Letitia James told ABC News on Tuesday that she will seek to seize some of the former president’s assets if he’s unable to cover the bill from Judge Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling.
Engoron concluded that Trump lied for years about his wealth as he built the real estate empire that vaulted him to stardom and the White House. Trump denies wrongdoing and has vowed to appeal.
“If he does not have funds to pay off the judgment, then we will seek judgment enforcement mechanisms in court, and we will ask the judge to seize his assets,” James, a Democrat, said in an interview with ABC reporter Aaron Katersky.
Trump’s ability to pay his mounting legal debts is increasingly murky after back-to-back courtroom losses. In January, a jury ordered him to pay $83.3 million for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll.
Trump claimed last year that he has about $400 million in cash — reserves that would get eaten up by his court penalties. The rest of his net worth, which he says is several billion dollars, is tied up in golf courses, skyscrapers and other properties, along with investments and other holdings.
But don’t expect James to try to grab the keys to Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago immediately. Trump’s promised appeal is likely to halt collection of his penalty while the process plays out.
Here’s a look at where things stand in the wake of Trump’s costly verdict.
COULD THE STATE REALLY SEIZE TRUMP’S ASSETS?
Yes. If Trump isn’t able to pay, the state “could levy and sell his assets, lien his real property, and garnish anyone who owes him money,” Syracuse University Law Professor Gregory Germain said.
Seizing assets is a common legal tactic when a defendant can’t access enough cash to pay a civil penalty. In a famous example, O.J. Simpson’s Heisman Trophy was seized and sold at auction in 1999 to cover part of a $33.5 million wrongful death judgment against him.
Trump could avoid losing assets to seizure if he has enough cash — or can free up enough cash — to pay his penalty and mounting interest.
How much he has isn’t clear because most information about Trump’s finances comes from Trump himself via his government disclosures and the annual financial statements that Engoron has deemed fraudulent.
Trump reported having about $294 million in cash or cash equivalents on his most recent annual financial statement for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021.
After that, according to state lawyers, he added about $186.8 million from selling the lease on his Washington hotel in May 2022 and the rights to manage a New York City golf course in June 2023. Part of Trump’s penalty requires that he give those proceeds to the state, plus interest.
Engoron’s decision last week spared Trump’s real estate empire from what the Republican front-runner deemed the “corporate death penalty,” reversing a prior ruling and opting to leave his company in business, albeit with severe restrictions including oversight from a court-appointed monitor.
James didn’t specify to ABC which of Trump’s assets the state might want to seize, though she noted that her office is right across the street from a Trump-owned office building in Lower Manhattan that was the subject of some of the fraud allegations in her lawsuit.
“We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers,” James told ABC. “And yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day.”
HOW WILL AN APPEAL AFFECT TRUMP’S PENALTY?
With Trump promising to appeal, it’s unlikely he’ll have to pay the penalty — or face the prospect of having some of his assets seized — for a while. If he wins, he might not have to pay anything.
Under state law, Trump will receive an automatic stay if he puts up money, assets or an appeal bond covering the amount he owes. A stay is a legal mechanism halting enforcement of a court decision while the appeals process plays out.
“Even if we choose to appeal this – which we will – we have to post the bond, which is the full amount and some, and we will be prepared to do that,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba told Fox News on Monday.
Trump’s lawyers can also ask the appeals court to grant a stay without obtaining a bond or with a bond for a lower amount.
In his Georgia election interference criminal case, Trump paid $20,000 — or 10% — for a $200,000 release bond. After losing at a first trial involving Carroll last year, Trump put $5.55 million in escrow to cover the cost of the judgment while he appeals. He has said he would appeal the $83.3 million January verdict but has yet to do so.
“If he can’t post a bond or meet the appellate division’s bonding requirements, then I would expect him to file bankruptcy to take advantage of the automatic stay on collection,” Germain said. “But that’s a couple of chess moves away, so we will just have to see what happens.”
Trump’s vow to appeal all but assures the legal fight over his business practices will persist into the thick of the presidential primary season as he tries to clinch the Republican nomination in his quest to retake the White House.
The appeal is also likely to overlap with his criminal trial next month in his New York hush-money case, the first of his four criminal cases to go to trial.
Trump’s 30-day window to appeal won’t start until the clerk at Engoron’s courthouse files paperwork making the verdict official. Engoron sent the paperwork to the clerk’s office Thursday, but it has yet to be filed. The judge rejected a request from Trump’s lawyer Clifford Robert asking for the enforcement of the penalty to be delayed 30 days “given the magnitude” of the judgment. Engoron, replying to the lawyer by email, said: “You have failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay. I am confident that the Appellate Division will protect your appellate rights.”
DOES TRUMP REALLY OWE $87,502 A DAY IN INTEREST?
With each passing day, Trump owes an additional $87,502 in interest on his civil fraud penalty. By Thursday, that’ll be an extra $525,000 since the decision was issued on Feb. 16. The interest will continue to accrue even while he appeals. Barring court intervention or an earlier resolution, his bill will soar to a half-billion dollars by August 2025.
Trump’s underlying penalty is $355 million, the equivalent of what the judge said were “ill-gotten gains” from savings on lower loan interest and windfall profits from development deals he wouldn’t have been able to make if he’d been honest about his wealth.
Under state law, he is being charged interest on that amount at an annual rate of 9%.
As of Wednesday, Trump owed just over $99 million in interest, bringing his total to just under $454 million — that’s $453,981,779 to be exact, according to the Associated Press’ calculations. Trump’s interest will keep accruing until Trump pays. Trump owes the money individually and as the owner of corporate entities that were named as defendants in James’ lawsuit.
Engoron said the interest Trump owes on about half of the total penalty amount — pertaining to loan savings — can be calculated from the start of James’ investigation in March 2019. Interest on the remaining amount — which pertains to the sale of Trump’s Washington hotel and Bronx golf course rights — can be calculated starting in May 2022 or June 2023.
In all, Engoron ordered Trump and his co-defendants to pay $363.9 million in penalties, or about $464.3 million with interest — the total bill increases by $89,729 per day, according to AP’s calculations.
Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Jr., must each pay about $4.7 million, including interest, to the state for their shares of the Washington hotel sales. Weisselberg was ordered to pay $1 million — for half of the $2 million severance he’s receiving — plus about $100,000 in interest.
Until they pay, Weisselberg is on the hook for another $247 per day, while Trump’s sons each owe an extra $990 per day, according to AP’s calculations.
___
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- Trump was ordered to pay more than $350 million and barred from doing business in New York for 3 years
- The court found Trump dramatically inflated the values of multiple properties including his Trump Tower penthouse and Mar-a-Lago estate
Donald Trump has long touted his vast real estate empire, but the future of the embattled former president’s property holdings remains unclear after the former president was ordered to pay more than $350 million in the blockbuster civil fraud trial and banned from doing business in New York for three years.
Judge Arthur Engoron issued the order on Friday. Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr. are also banned from serving in top roles at New York company for two years and ordered to pay $4 million each.
It’s unclear what exactly the ruling means for the former president’s finances and properties. Much of his wealth is tied up in real estate. Trump has to come up with the money or secure a bond within 30 days.
In the end, Trump could have to sell property or other assets to cover his legal penalties.
The former president’s lawyer Alina Habba has vowed to appeal the decision calling it ‘a manifest injustice – plain and simple.’
The ruling follows an explosive three-month court case in which Trump was accused of massively inflating the value of his properties including his Trump Tower penthouse and Mar-a-Lago estate to obtain favorable bank loan terms.
During the trial, the former president railed against the judge and prosecutor arguing his financial statements were perfect, he is innocent and was being targeted by political opponents.
Here’s a breakdown of the properties that Trump is accused of inflating the values of:
Trump Tower and the penthouse apartment which Trump claimed was three times its actual size
Located on Fifth Avenue, Trump Tower is perhaps the most recognizable property carrying the former president’s name and is headquarters of the Trump Organization.
Prosecutors said Trump inflated the value of his Manhattan penthouse in Trump Tower by about $200 million when he tripled the estimate of the square footage from 11,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet.
Trump had valued the apartment at $327 million, which James called ‘absurd.’
The former president claimed it was an ‘honest mistake’ and was immediately corrected.
Trump Park Avenue which Trump valued based on the units’ market value but were rent stabilized and worth far less at $84.5 million
The Trump Organization received a valuation for Trump Park Avenue, a 32-story condo building with 120 apartments and eight penthouses, in 2020 at $84.5 million.
On a 2020 statement of Trump’s financial condition he listed the property being worth $135.8 million.
James’ team found that in 2011 and 2012, Trump ‘ignored legal restrictions’ listed 12 rent-stabilized units in the building by what they would be worth if they could be rented out at market value. Trump claimed the units were worth $50 million, over 65 times the $750,000 those units were appraised at in 2010.
Trump’s Seven Springs estate which he valued at $291, nearly ten times what it was appraised for only a few years prior
In 1995 Trump purchased his 213-acre estate in Westchester County, New York for $7.5 million.
Two decades later in 2006 it was found to be worth $30 million, but Trump’s statements of financial condition from 2011 to 2021 found the property to be worth $261 million and $291 million.
40 Wall Street which Trump listed at $300 million more than what it was found to be worth at $530 million
The Trump building at 40 Wall Street, where Trump owns the ground lease was valued at $220 million in 2012. The Trump Organization listed the property’s value at $530 million in 2013.
Trump did not factor in escalating rent expenses for his Niketown valuation in the mid-$400 million range
Trump owns two ground leases for a space that adjoins Trump Tower that for many years he rented to Nike. In 2020 and 2021 Trump reported the value of the property was in the mid-$400 million range, while James’ office found the property to be worth $225-$250 million range, arguing that Trump had not factored in ‘escalating scheduled rent expenses.’
Trump valued Mar-a-Lago at nearly 10 times what it was worth at $739 million
James argued Trump’s glamorous Florida golf resort where he currently lives was valued at $739 million under the ‘false premise’ that it was unrestricted property and could be developed for residential use.
Her office pointed out that Trump donated the residential development rights of the property and sharply restricted making any changes.
The court found Trump inflated the value of Mar-a-Lago as much as 2,300 percent, ruling its valued between $18 million and $27.6 million based on the Palm Beach County tax appraiser’s estimates.
During the case Trump claimed Mar-a-Lago was really worth up to $1.5 billion.
Trump International Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas which Trump told tax authorities was worth far less than what his financial statement showed at $108 million
Trump owns a 50 percent stake in a hotel condominium tower together with businessman Phillip Ruffin. In 2015 the Trump Organization submitted a $24,950,000 valuation to contest taxes they owed to Nevada, but the same year his statement showed the property to be worth $108 million.
Turnberry golf course which Trump valued on a fixed asset scheme at $127 million even though it has been operating at a loss
In 2017, Trump’s golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, was valued at nearly $127million. But James insists it has operated as a loss since then, and says it was ‘false and misleading’ of Trump to use a valuation of the course based on a fixed asset scheme.
Trump Lawyer Alina Habba slammed the devastating ruling and has vowed to appeal.
‘This verdict is a manifest injustice – plain and simple,’ Alina blasted the decision in a statement provided to DailyMail.com. ‘It is the culmination of a multi-year, politically fueled witch hunt that was designed to “take down Donald Trump,” before Letitia james ever stepped foot into the Attorney General’s office.’
Habba goes on that countless hours of testimony ‘proved that there was no wrongdoing, no crime, and no victim.’