Will you be able to buy Trump Tower at auction? Not anytime soon
New York state could start seizing Donald Trump's properties if he doesn't post a bond by Monday to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment, but it may be well over a year before Trump Tower and other prized real estate holdings are on the chopping block.
Seizing the former U.S president's sprawling real estate empire, which includes Trump Tower in Manhattan, a 370-acre estate in Westchester and his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, would not entail sheriff's deputies storming the lobby of Trump's buildings or chiseling the real estate mogul's name off of facades.
The process is more similar to a bank foreclosure, legal experts said. «Seizing' a property is a poor way to describe it, because it gives the impression that someone goes and grabs it,» said Alan Sash, a New York lawyer who specializes in asset forfeiture. «It's not like that at all. It's slow and methodical.» Trump, a Republican set to face Democrat Joe Biden in the November election, was found liable in February for overstating his net worth and the value of his real estate properties to dupe investors and lenders.
James, a Democrat who brought the fraud case, has said her office is prepared to immediately seize Trump's assets if he fails to meet the Monday deadline. Seizing and selling the property at auction would likely take well over a year given the complex ownership structures and debt arrangements of his properties, as well as his ample legal resources, experts said.
Trump has denied
