- AG Letitia James plans to go after President Trump's cash and assets if he doesn't pay civil fraud debts.
- Trump's bank accounts could be seized and his property sold at a sheriff's auction.
- One of New York State's top judgment enforcement attorneys explains how the process plays out.
Don't expect to see a gold-plated toilet dragged to the curb outside Trump Tower. Nor will padlocks be pounded en masse on the revolving glass doors of 40 Wall Street or Trump Plaza.
The March 25 deadline for Donald Trump to present Attorney General Letitia James with money (currently a $457 million civil fraud judgment owed to the city of New York) has no outward signs of turmoil. There is a high possibility that it will pass without any problems.
But if Trump can't come up with the cash, bail, bankruptcy laws or appeals needed to stop her, James has vowed to begin “enforcement” immediately, a process that will include his This includes the possibility of seizure of bank balances and sheriff's deposits. Sold some real estate in New York City and upstate New York.
And the estimated $3 billion that Truth Social's initial public offering is expected to fetch him in six months may be too late to fend off auctioneers.
Bernard D'Orazio is a veteran Manhattan judgment enforcement attorney who one sheriff's office official calls “the best collections attorney in New York.”
Here's a step-by-step guide that dispels D'Orazio's myths about what could happen next.
Trump doesn't need to do anything
Mr. D'Orazio, lead attorney at Bernard D'Orazio & Associates, said President Trump was under no legal obligation to do anything on March 25.
“He has every legal right not to do anything, and he won't go to jail if he doesn't pay,” D'Orazio said.
“We no longer jail debtors. We only jail them in rare cases when they disobey court orders and are found in contempt of court,” he said.
“But whatever we do, the burden falls on the direct winner: the judgment creditor, the person who wins the case,” he added. “The burden is on them to seek enforcement of the judgment.”
So, is it all up to Letitia James?
It will be up to the attorney general to launch a crackdown, but he will receive significant support from New York City Civil Law and Regulations and the New York City and Westchester County Sheriff's Offices. That's where most of Trump's wealth is located and where D'Orazio expects James to focus his efforts.
“The burden will be on Letitia James to locate Mr. Trump's assets and decide what to seize or auction,” he said.
It's easy.
After five years of investigating and litigating Trump, and regular updates from court-ordered fraud monitors who have been monitoring the Trump Organization's finances for the past 16 months, James is well aware of the value and whereabouts of the Republican front-runner's cash and assets. Orazio said this saves a lot of time.
But even if she decides to target Trump's cash, real estate, or both, it would be the county sheriff who would actually seize Trump's bank balances and auction off his real estate. , he said.
“It's the old-fashioned way,” D'Orazio said. But we're not talking about an old-school Western sheriff with a cowboy hat and a star on his chest, he joked.
“Our legal system is derived from the British system, and enforcement of civil judgments ultimately falls to sheriffs,” he said.
So what happens first?
Mr. D'Orazio predicts that Mr. James will first target cash held by Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization in bank accounts registered in New York.
“There may be a path forward quickly towards freezing liquid assets,” he said.
“That can be done by the Attorney General sending a letter to the bank where the account is located. That still won't get the money into your hands,” he explained. “It's just the first step in the process.”
Once the bank confirms to James that the funds have been frozen, she will direct the city sheriff's office to “confiscate” (or seize) the funds, he said.
“The sheriff sends a legal document called a 'levy' to the bank requesting that the bank turn over the money to the sheriff,” he said.
“The sheriff then takes that money and receives a fee. By law the sheriff is entitled to 5 percent,” he said, and that money goes into the city's general fund.
“It's called the 'pound charge' and he's entitled to it by law,” he said.
Suppose the sheriff collects $100 million in cash from President Trump's bank account. He then transferred $95 million to the attorney general's office, which will be used to pay for President Trump's judgment.
The remaining $5 million will go into the city's coffers, D'Orazio said.
But when will the auction be held?
Mr. D'Orazio predicted that Mr. James probably would not completely drain Mr. Trump's corporate bank accounts.
“How is he going to cover his salary?” he said. “I don’t think the attorney general wants to fire all the porters and doormen in the building or shut down all these businesses.
Instead, she must go after some of his real estate assets to achieve a grand judgment total.
James begins by selecting the assets he wants to sell. She told ABC last month that she was already eyeing 40 Wall Street, also known as the “Trump Building.” According to Forbes, President Trump owns a land lease with a net value of about $80 million in the skyscraper, and James literally saw it from the window of her Financial District office a block north. The building can be seen.
The real estate assets Mr. James pursues could be physical assets, such as 40 Wall or Mr. Trump's penthouse apartment in Trump Tower.
It could also be an intangible asset, like his 30% stake in 1290 Avenue of the Americas, a skyscraper one block north of Radio City Music Hall. Forbes estimates his net worth from this stock alone to be $287 million.
See here which Trump properties James could target.
James intended to inform the sheriff's office of his choice. The sheriff's office will then notify Trump that his assets will be sold.
“This is an ancient process of conducting a sale, a live auction in which a third party participates and bids on the property to be sold,” D’Orazio said.
Again, the Sheriff's Office will collect a 5% poundage fee on auction sales.
All told, the sale fee to cover the $500 million judgment could exceed $25 million, a boon to city coffers that would come directly from President Trump's wallet.
Could he sell his Manhattan penthouse?
Mr. D'Orazio said President Trump's Manhattan triplex penthouse (atop Trump Tower, Trump's flagship Fifth Avenue skyscraper) would be a good bet.
Forbes estimates that the penthouse is worth $52 million free of charge.
D'Orazio said the unit was likely a target because “the unit is personally owned by Mr. Trump, has no liens, and is not his primary residence.”
“If it was his primary residence, the attorney general would need to get a court order to sell it,” he said.
“But it's a second home. So the attorney general might try to go after that property pretty quickly. But pretty soon means months.”
For months? Is it almost election day?
A lot needs to happen before the actual sheriff's sale, and we can expect President Trump to try to throw a legal monkey wrench through the process.
“The debtor can delay things,” D'Orazio said.
President Trump has already appealed the ruling to the Manhattan Appellate Court. He is asking the court to either reduce the sentence or postpone its enforcement while the appeal proceeds.
But there are other monkey wrenches President Trump can throw in.
“The Judgment Enforcement Act provides a safety valve,” D'Orazio said.
“You can apply to a judge for a so-called secrecy order, which is intended to prevent unnecessary harassment and abuse by trial creditors,” he said, referring to Mr. James.
State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, the judge in the civil fraud trial, is likely to deny the secrecy order, but President Trump may appeal the denial.
“The Court of Appeals does not hear appeals during the summer,” D'Orazio said. “So unless President Trump somehow gets on board with the June date, which may not be possible, the next time this case will be heard by the Court of Appeals will be in September.”
Auctions also take time.
Even without these litigation delays, D'Orazio said it would still take three to four months to schedule, advertise and hold the auction.
He said the sheriff's office is required to publish auction notices in public newspapers four times before an auction can be held.
Auctions are held only once a month in each of New York City's five boroughs. James can auction multiple properties in his one auction.
President Trump's Manhattan estate will be auctioned in Manhattan. Anyone can participate, but preparation can be difficult given the large amount of media and public attention that will be generated once the information gets out.
Each such sale, if realized, would result in President Trump retaining proceeds in excess of the amount needed to satisfy the judgment.
But as he himself claims, any forced sale of his property will be at a “fire sale price,” whether the sheriff does it or sells it himself to pay the appeal bond. .
“I will be forced to foreclose on my great assets or perhaps sell them at fire sale prices,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social this week. “And if I win the appeal, they will be He will be let go.” “Does that make sense?”
