In a sweeping ruling on Tuesday that hinders former President Donald Trump’s ability to do business in the state of New York, a Democrat judge relied on an appraisal of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home that valued the sprawling 17-acre Florida compound at a small fraction of what it’s worth compared to neighboring Palm Beach properties.
Arthur F. Engoron, a justice of the New York County Supreme Court for civil cases in the 1st Judicial District, used the suspiciously low figure to conclude that Trump’s substantially higher self-reported appraisal was a fraudulent inflation of the property’s value.
Engoron’s ruling is the latest development in a civil case brought by New York Democrat Attorney General Letitia James last year which alleged Trump, his kids, and the Trump Organization “grossly” inflated their assets in financial statements by billions of dollars.
James claimed Mar-a-Lago was worth closer to $75 million, rather than the $739 million Trump disclosed.
Engoron, however, further devalued Mar-a-Lago by using the Palm Beach County Assessor’s appraisal, which nailed the property value between $18 million and $27.6 million from 2011-2021. Because Trump granted an easement to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2002 limiting his ability to use the historic property as anything but a social club, his tax rate was significantly lowered.
Far smaller and less lavish properties in the coveted oceanfront area of Palm Beach, however, regularly sell for much higher than the assessor’s appraisal estimate. Rush Limbaugh’s Palm Beach complex on 2.7 acres — one-sixth the
