After a New York judge ruled last month that former President Donald Trump inflated the value of his Mar-a-Lago property, some real estate professionals raised questions about the order.
“From 2011-2021, the Palm Beach County Assessor appraised the market value of Mar-a-Lago at between $18 million and $27.6 million,” Judge Arthur Engoron wrote in his ruling.
He then wrote that Mar-a-Lago, located in Palm Beach, was valued by President Trump between $426.5 million and $612 million, which the judge wrote was an “overvaluation of at least 2,300 percent, compared to the assessor’s appraisal.”
In the ruling, Judge Engoron said the former president was liable for fraud. That was a central claim made in New York Attorney General Letitia James’s lawsuit against President Trump, The Trump Organization, and members of his family.
Dina Goldentayer, executive director of sales at Douglas Elliman in South Florida, said the tax assessor’s valuation usually isn’t considered when trying to value a piece of property.
“He wouldn’t make a very good realtor,” Ms. Goldentayer said of the New York judge. “It’s so widely known that it’s not an accurate determination of market value.”
She noted that Mar-a-Lago is a “trophy asset” and “in a completely different league of its own.” She said that if she were to come up with a value for Mar-a-Lago, she would hire independent appraisers and take a mixed average of the valuations and wouldn’t use the tax appraiser’s valuation.
“If there is a ranking as to what would have the lowest valuation, it’s the tax assessor’s office, followed by Zillow, and then the realtor’s valuation is the highest,” Ms. Goldentayer said.
“If that property were on the market today, I would list it at around $300 million, minimum,“ the broker said. ”He also has the separate golf course minutes away.”
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The former president and his attorneys were critical of Judge Engoron’s ruling. In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, President Trump called accusations that he committed fraud “ridiculous and untrue” and blasted Judge Engoron as a “DERANGED” judge doing the bidding of Ms. James, a Democrat.
“This is Democrat Political Lawfare, and a Witch Hunt at a level never seen before,” the former president wrote. “If they can do this to me, they can do this to YOU!”
Ms. James sued President Trump in September 2022, accusing him, three of his adult children, and The Trump Organization of lying for a decade about asset values and his net worth to defraud banks and insurers into providing better terms. The judge said Ms. James submitted “conclusive evidence” that President Trump had overstated his net worth by between $812 million and $2.2 billion.
“Even in the world of high finance, this court cannot endorse a proposition that finds a misstatement of at least $812 million dollars to be ‘immaterial,’” Judge Ergoron wrote.
The judge’s ruling comes three months after a state appeals court said some of Ms. James’s claims were too old because statutes of limitations had expired in either July 2014 or February 2016.
Judge Engoron rejected President Trump’s argument that the decision essentially gutted Ms. James’s lawsuit, which Ms. James has said reflected a series of “continuing wrongs” that she could prove at trial. The appeals court dismissed one defendant, President Trump’s daughter Ivanka, from the case.
The former president also faces a slew of other litigation. He has pleaded not guilty to charges in four indictments accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 election, of mishandling classified materials, and of covering up hush money payments in 2016.
He also faces a January civil trial over damages he owes E. Jean Carroll after being found liable in a case alleging that he sexually abused and defamed her. He has denied wrongdoing.
