(I think I’ve figured out how the Judge based in the assessor assessment of Trump’s property)
Judge at Trump civil fraud trial implores media to stop saying he valued Mar-a-Lago at $18M
The Manhattan judge deciding Donald Trump’s fate at his civil fraud trial Monday stood by the $18 million valuation of the former president’s sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate — despite real estate experts blasting the estimate as “utterly delusional.”
Justice Arthur Engoron again rejected Trump’s claims that Mar-a-Lago is worth $1 billion in favor of the much lower valuation issued by local Florida officials.
However, Engoron implored the media to stop reporting that he’d been the one to value the golf club and resort at $18 million — thelow end of a determination made by the Palm Beach assessor that has left many real estate industry insiders perplexed.
One prominent Palm Beach real estate broker labeled the valuation “utterly delusional” to The Post.
“Please, press, stop saying that I valued it at $18 million,” Engoron pleaded, as the trial kicked off in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million lawsuit against the former president, the Trump Organization and sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
The judge interjected the comment as Trump lawyer Alina Habba had been repeating during her opening remarks that the Palm Beach estate would sell for roughly $1 billion — a figure that Engoron rejected last week in a bombshell ruling.
In his decision, Engoron — who is deciding the trial rather than a jury — cited a local Palm Beach County official saying the country club had beenassessed at a range of between $18 million and $27 million between 2011 and 2021.
(Definition of Assessment. An assessment can mean two different things. A home assessment means the value of the home as determined by the local assessor for the purpose of determining property taxes. Home assessments are not the same as appraisals, which are instead conducted by private, licensed appraisers. Home assessments are used only to calculate property tax amounts, while appraisals determine the market value of your home. In reality Real Estate agents say Real Estate is really valued on that what the market will pay==. not really the valuation by an appraiser. It happens all the time real estate is sold at higher or lower prices. So the judge is using an assessment and not a valuation)
In the same decision, Engoron rejected Trump’s expert’s valuation that the Florida estate was worth $1.5 billion, finding the expert’s opinion “unexplained and unsubstantiated ‘dream[s.]'”
Industry experts were left scratching their heads at the Palm Beach assessor’s seemingly low estimation, claiming that the resort would list closer to $300 million.
Engoron’s ruling found Trump liable for fraud — the key claim in James’ suit — for exaggerating the worth of his assets. (How is this fraud, no one was defrauded, and people exaggerate all the time.)
He sided with the AG, finding that Trump had fraudulently inflated his net worth — including with his claim that his Trump Tower triplex was 30,000 square feet when it was actually closer to 11,000….
https://nypost.com/2023/10/02/judge-implores-media-to-stop-saying-he-valued-mar-a-lago-at-18m/