KEY POINTS
- Donald Trump should have pledged real estate to the courts if he were “truly unable” to secure a bond, the New York attorney general’s office said.
- Instead, Trump claimed it was “impossible” for him to get a bond using his properties, but did not provide any hard evidence for this, the AG’s office said.
Donald Trump should have pledged real estate he owns as collateral against a $464 million business fraud judgment if he were “truly unable” to secure an appeal bond for that amount, the New York attorney general’s office said in a court filing Wednesday.
Trump also failed to provide evidence supporting his claim this week that it was “impossible” to obtain an appeal bond by using the properties as collateral, a lawyer for AG Letitia James wrote.
“Defendants supply no documentary evidence that demonstrates precisely what real property they offered” to potential insurers," wrote Dennis Fan, senior solicitor general in the AG’s office, in the filing to Manhattan appeals court judges.
Nor did they report “on what terms that property was offered, or precisely why” bond insurers “were unwilling to accept the assets.”
If he has equity why couldn’t he mortgage it?
Frankly, if I were a mortgage lender, I might be a little hesitant to lend to a guy who is in trouble because he was defrauding real estate lenders.
I didn’t claim he had equity. I did nothing other than challenge the claim that he’s pleading poverty.
The speculation is that due to him fraudulently over-valuing his properties (as just proven in court) to borrow more than they are worth against them, he likely has negative equity on those properties. Can’t borrow against equity if you’re underwater on all your mortgages.