Why Seizing Trump's Assets, Like Trump Tower, Won't Be Quick Or Easy

Forbes

On Monday, Donald Trump’s lawyers revealed in a legal filing that Trump had failed to secure the $464 million appeals bond he needs to avoid paying the half-billion-dollar penalty as he appeals the New York civil fraud judgment against him. Securing the bond was a “practical impossibility,” they wrote, adding that about 30 different bond companies turned down the former commander-in-chief's request, in part because very few will consider “a bond of anything approaching that magnitude” and the rest will not accept “hard assets such as real estate as collateral.”   Trump is now asking the five-judge appeals court panel to pause enforcement of the civil judgment or to lower the bond amount to $100 million while the appeals court hears his case.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhyatt/2024/03/21/why-seizing-trumps-assets-wont-be-quick-or-easy/?sh=70b476f3639c  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes Daily Briefing for Friday, March 22nd.

00:05 Today on Forbes,

00:07 Why seizing Trump's assets, like Trump Tower, won't be quick or easy.

00:14 On Monday, Donald Trump's lawyers revealed in a legal filing that Trump had failed to

00:18 secure the $464 million appeals bond he needs to avoid paying the half-billion-dollar penalty

00:26 as he appeals the New York civil fraud judgment against him.

00:29 His lawyers said that about 30 different bond companies turned down the former president's

00:33 request.

00:35 Trump is now asking the five-judge appeals court panel to pause enforcement of the civil

00:39 judgment or to lower the bond amount to $100 million while the appeals court hears his

00:45 case.

00:46 Trump is running out of time.

00:48 New York Attorney General Letitia James has said that her office plans to collect from

00:52 him this Monday, March 25th.

00:55 Unless Trump is able to obtain an appeals bond before then, New York prosecutors and

01:00 law enforcement could initiate a wide-ranging action to freeze and then seize Trump's assets.

01:07 Forbes estimates that Trump has about $400 million of cash in liquid securities, but

01:11 some of that money is already encumbered—that is, not available.

01:15 Earlier this month, Trump obtained a $91.6 million appeals bond for the civil judgment

01:21 against him in which he was found liable for defaming and sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll.

01:26 MSNBC reported that in order to obtain that bond, Trump posted a Charles Schwab brokerage

01:31 account as collateral.

01:33 Those same funds cannot be used to collateralize a second bond.

01:37 Trump's attorneys say their client needs collateral of $557 million to post the $464

01:44 million bond.

01:46 Forbes spoke to a few lawyers with experience in these matters to find out what could happen

01:50 next.

01:51 Kevin O'Brien, a white-collar trial lawyer in New York and a former assistant U.S. attorney

01:56 to the Department of Justice, says, "I think he is in trouble.

02:01 He doesn't have the cash to pay for this.

02:03 That's why he's in the pickle he's in."

02:05 Mark Zauderer, a trial and appellate lawyer in New York, says that if Trump fails to get

02:10 his bond or get a favorable ruling from the appellate judges, then the Attorney General's

02:14 office will move swiftly to take control of Trump's bank and brokerage accounts, as

02:19 well as his various buildings and real estate holding companies.

02:23 He says, "You do everything.

02:25 You go after everything at once.

02:27 Some assets will take longer than others."

02:31 Spectators can expect a long and drawn-out series of legal filings and appeals over a

02:36 period of weeks, months, and possibly even years.

02:39 O'Brien explains that the Attorney General is "not going to take a stake and drive

02:44 a sign through the front yard that says, 'This building has been seized.'

02:47 It's a legal process.

02:49 It's not like she's going to be selling these properties next week."

02:53 To initiate the process of seizing property, the New York Attorney General's office can

02:57 put liens on Trump's assets and then give execution orders to county sheriff's offices

03:02 to sell any Trump-owned properties in their counties through an auction.

03:07 Trump has stakes in 13 New York properties that are collectively worth about $700 million

03:11 after debt.

03:12 Ten of those assets are in New York County, which encompasses Manhattan.

03:17 Two properties are in Westchester County, a golf course and a mansion, and another golf

03:21 course is in Dutchess County.

03:24 Under liquidation proceedings, Trump's other creditors, which all lent Trump money against

03:28 his New York buildings, will also demand what they're owed, potentially complicating the

03:33 process.

03:34 Then there's tax authorities owed money by Trump who will want their share.

03:39 For these reasons, James may start by liquidating buildings that are unencumbered or even wait

03:44 to sell some or all of the properties.

03:46 Paul Golden, a New York lawyer specializing in real estate and commercial litigation,

03:51 says, "One theory is that the Attorney General will not actually sell any of Trump's real

03:56 property until the appellate process was complete.

03:59 There would likely be complicated litigation if the Attorney General sells real property

04:03 at a public auction now for well under the market value, only to later discover that

04:08 the end result was that Trump was not liable at all."

04:12 There are other mechanisms for the Attorney General's office to squeeze money out of

04:16 Trump's buildings, like taking payments from tenants that lease space from Trump.

04:21 Extracting cash flow from Trump's properties would further imperil Trump's ability to service

04:25 his massive debt pile.

04:27 Over the next five years, he has $780 million in mortgages coming due.

04:34 For full coverage, check out John Hyatt's piece on Forbes.com.

04:39 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:41 Thanks for tuning in.

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