'Staggering deceit': Bogus Trump property valuations laid bare at fraud trial

On Day 5 of Donald Trump's fraud trial in New York, former Trump Org official Jeffrey McConney was grilled on the stand about the loose methods used to evaluate the worth of Trump's real estate holdings, resulting in grossly inflated numbers. Kristy Greenberg, former federal prosecutor, discusses with Alex Wagner.

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[Aron]

I don't understand this, if I were to go to a bank to get a loan using my house as collateral, wouldn't the bank make their own assessment instead of taking my word for it. Genuine question.

[danieldelewis]

The Bank hires its own appraiser, and reviews all records on any sale of any property before the transaction is made. It's called due diligence.

[craighill]

30, 000 sq feet?!? I paint houses and I did a 9, 800 sq ft house once and that is HUGE! 30, 000 isn't a house, its a warehouse.

[BFGoodwrench]

The fact that she could say Mar-A-Lago is only worth 18 million with a straight face.... holy crap

[esmysyield]

Can we sue politicians and journalist for over valueing their worth?

[bettyyeley]

That is the dumbest thing I ever heard. Wouldn't he have to pay higher property taxes? That woman is nuts!

[vJackaRoo]

That’s why there’s a profession called appraisers. This is ridiculous.

[Darkliqht]

You don't just walk into the bank and tell them your house is worth X amount of money, and the bank says "Oh great! We believe you, here you go!". This is BS. The bank and creditors even said that they valued Trumps Real Estate for X amount, and they're ignoring the statements. Look at the Valuations of every single nearby property and compare them, it doesn't make any sense what so over.

[zlow]

I didn't know commercial properties were worth less than private properties. By that standard, a private home is worth magnitudes more than an apartment complex

[YurtleTheTurtle]

Last year a Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $18.3 million

[edwardrichardson]

He said Mar-a-Lago is worth well over a $Billion. OK, tax it as if its worth that much!!

[lst]

Banks are not in the business of lending money for bogus reasons unless they are dealing with underlying corruption scams. In real estate something is only estimated by the price someone is willing to pay for it. This all based on market values at the time, location, availability and desirability. What the state decides is only for tax proposes, it has nothing to do with Market Value. As in everything sold and bought the value changes daily and so do the buyers and sellers who do use some discretion in wants and needs.

[anthonywinship]

I like how the smaller empty lot nearby is for sale at 22 million but they don’t mention that

[JimKoonz]

Don't the banks do a valuation of a property before granting a loan? Which bank found President Trump lied about the value of a property? Which bank was NOT repaid for a loan?

[freebehindbars]

A mentally unstable judge, a racist DA that’s made her entire goal to get Trump… Neither are real-estate appraisers, or do they have any experience with such.

[FunnyshitCo]

If they want to talk about inflated square footage for businesses, they should go try to buy any property in New York where the square footage isn’t overinflated 😂

[jarrodl]

Joe has never held a real job how did he amass so much money 🤡🤡

[leeporrazzo]

Gee, i thought banks did appraisals not the property owner

[michaelwright]

So, Mar-a-lago a luxury resort complex that sits on 20 acres of beachfront land is only worth $18-$25 million dollars but the little over 2 acre plot of undeveloped land right next to it is worth $150 million dollars?
In the idiotic words of the Geriatric-in-Chief:
"C'mon, man!"

[joanntebo]

So, which assumed value is being used to tax his property or properties? Does answering it as lesser value mean that those near it, which may have been valued on comparables nearby, may be due a refund on their prior tax bills?