Current:Home > NewsTrump says Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.8 billion. Not long ago, his own company thought that was over $1.7 billion too high. -Infinite Profit Zone
Trump says Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.8 billion. Not long ago, his own company thought that was over $1.7 billion too high.
View
Date:2025-04-16 22:52:04
After a New York judge ruled on Tuesday that Donald Trump and his company had for years used fraudulent methods to value his properties, Trump zeroed in on the ruling's section about his home: Mar-a-Lago.
"This highly partisan Democrat 'Judge' (All the Clubs, etc.) just ruled that Mar-a-Lago was WORTH just 18 Million Dollars when, in fact, it may be worth 100 times that amount," Trump wrote. In fact, the judge had cited Palm Beach County Property Appraiser valuations putting the property at between $18 million and $28 million, depending on the year, from 2011 to 2021.
Trump might think Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.8 billion, but in 2020, his own company said the Palm Beach appraiser was right. That year, the county valued Mar-a-Lago at $27 million.
"The Petitioner agrees with the determination of the property appraiser or tax collector," a real estate broker representing Mar-a-Lago acknowledged on a form filed with the local Value Adjustment Board, and obtained by CBS News.
The broker, Michael Corbiciero, had at first filed to challenge the valuation — attesting under penalty of perjury that the filing was on the owner's behalf as the property's authorized agent — before withdrawing the petition and checking a box saying the property had been accurately appraised.
Corbiciero could not be reached for comment. Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties are at the center of a $250 million civil lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. On Tuesday, ahead of a scheduled Oct. 2 trial, the judge presiding over the case found as fact that Trump and the company are liable for fraud, for overvaluing the properties by hundreds of millions of dollars — and misrepresenting Trump's worth by billions — while pursuing bank loans. The upcoming trial will now focus on other allegations in the lawsuit related to falsification of business records, issuing false financial statements, insurance fraud and conspiracy.
Corbiciero's original petition challenging the valuation does not indicate if he believed the club was valued too high or too low, but nearly all contested valuations are property owners who say the county is overvaluing, according to Becky Haltermon Robinson, a spokesperson for the Palm Beach Appraiser.
That's because local property taxes are higher for properties that are worth more. Mar-a-Lago's valuation is reflective of a property that is not a residence (even though Trump uses it as one).
"Mar-a-Lago is deed restricted as a private club. The deed itself is restricted, it can't be used for any other purpose, as such our office values it as we value the other private clubs in Palm Beach County," Haltermon Robinson said.
Deed restrictions can hurt a property's value, said Eli Beracha, the director of Florida International University's Hollo School of Real Estate.
"Clearly, when you have restrictions on a property, it'll only decrease, not increase the value of the property," Beracha said. "Every time you limit basically what the property can be, the chances are that it decreases the value."
The method the county appraiser uses for a property like Mar-a-Lago is called the income approach, which reflects the club's finances.
"For the income approach, what we normally do is we request financial statements from individual businesses, and request income and expenses, so that we can kind of figure out what income we could use to capitalize the value," Haltermon Robinson said.
The year that Mar-a-Lago agreed with the appraiser about its $27 million valuation, Trump and the company listed it as worth $490 million on financial documents given to banks, according to the New York Attorney General.
It's not unusual to tell a bank that a property is worth more than its appraisal by the government, but the difference is rarely so vast, said Beracha.
"Usually when you speak to two well-informed parties, you do not see gaps like this in valuation," Beracha said. "If we're both experts, if we both know what we're doing, we're going to value that usually within a 10, 15, maybe 20% differential of each other, but not by thousands of percentages."
Still, Beracha said, "When I teach real estate, we never look at county appraisals as reliable guidance for what the property's worth. We always do a market analysis."
Beracha said there are a couple factors that appraisers don't consider that lead them to undervalue a property like Mar-a-Lago, which Trump purchased in 1985.
"The more unique the property is and the longer it is owned by the current owner, the higher the likelihood that the gap between what it's actually worth and what the county says it's worth is large," Beracha said.
Trump says the gap is extraordinary. The New York attorney general and the judge disagree.
The headline of this story has been updated.
- In:
- Donald Trump
- Mar-a-Lago
Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy issues and information security for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]
veryGood! (1775)
Related
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Poisoned cheesecake used as a weapon in an attempted murder a first for NY investigators
- Upstate NY district attorney ‘so sorry’ for cursing at officer who tried to ticket her for speeding
- California Community Organizer Wins Prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize
- Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
- CDC says it’s identified 1st documented cases of HIV transmitted through cosmetic needles
- Former sheriff’s deputy convicted of misdemeanor in shooting death of Christian Glass
- Affluent Americans are driving US economy and likely delaying need for Fed rate cuts
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Candace Parker announces her retirement from WNBA after 16 seasons
Ranking
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- This all-female village is changing women's lives with fresh starts across the nation
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Biting Remarks
- Mike Tyson explains why he's given up sex and marijuana before Jake Paul bout on July 20
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- AIGM puts AI into Crypto security
- Save 70% on Alo Yoga, 50% on First Aid Beauty, 40% on Sleep Number Mattresses & More Deals
- 3 Louisiana officers wounded by gunfire in standoff with shooting suspect, police say
Recommendation
The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
Scott McLaughlin wins at Barber after week of questions around Team Penske controversy
Russia attacks Ukrainian energy sector as Kyiv launches drones at southern Russia
Mannequin falls onto track during IndyCar Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
2 dead, 1 hurt after 350,000-pound load detaches from 18-wheeler and pins vehicle in Texas
Sophia Bush makes red carpet debut with girlfriend Ashlyn Harris: See the photos
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas competes for first time since 2016