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politics and politicians Title: Trump Baja venture leaves buyers high and dry Deposits totaling $32.2 million are lost in the collapse of the celebrity developer's hotel-condo project. SAN DIEGO — Stephen and Linda Drake cast aside concerns about owning property in Mexico because they believed in Donald Trump. The Southern California couple made a $250,000 down payment on a 19th-floor oceanfront condo in Trump Ocean Resort Baja in 2006 before the first construction crew arrived. But admiration for the celebrity developer and star of "The Apprentice" has now turned into anger and disbelief as Trump's luxury hotel-condo plan collapsed, leaving little more than a hole in the ground and investors out of their deposits, which totaled $32.2 million. "I can't even stand to see Trump's face on TV," said Linda Drake, a psychologist whose husband is a commercial airline pilot and financial advisor. Investors were told last month that their money was spent and that they wouldn't get a penny back. A single mother in suburban Los Angeles lost $200,000 and won't be able to send her sons to private universities. A Los Angeles-area businessman lost a deposit of more than $1 million on four Trump units, including two penthouses. The project's collapse comes at a delicate time for Trump, whose casino company, Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection last month. He also is embroiled in a lawsuit to avoid paying debt on the struggling Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago. Trump and his children heavily promoted the northern tip of Mexico's Baja California coast. He sold 188 units for $122 million the first day they went on a sale at a lavish event in a downtown San Diego hotel in December 2006. "I went out and saw this site, and I was blown away by it," Ivanka Trump said in June 2007. "From the minute I saw it, it was a deal I had to do." The location was a contrast to more-expensive Mexican coastal markets such as Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos and Cancun, she said. The Trumps remained buoyant even as the U.S. housing market began to crumble. Ivanka Trump assured buyers in an October 2007 newsletter that all Trump projects were immune to a slowdown. "In characteristic Trump fashion, Trump Ocean Resort Baja will be the best of the best, and consequently always in demand," she wrote. All that remains of Trump Baja is a highway billboard with a large photo of Donald Trump that advertises condos for sale. It hovers over a closed sales center and showroom, a paved parking lot, a big hole that cuts a wide swath, drainage pipes and construction equipment.
Poster Comment: This is how The Donald does bidnez. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 29. An old story. And plenty of info is available and angry investors to dish some dirt on Teh Donald. Tellingly, there is no mention of this in the libmedia and on media outlets on the Right like Fox News or Rush Limbaugh. You can bet all these old stories, Trump's adulteries, his bait-and-switch name-brand con games, will be front page news once his monstrous ego has succeeded in wrecking the GOP enough to ensure the election of Hitlery. It turns out the GOP base is just as stupid as the GOP establishment. What I can't understand is why Trump's opponents aren't willing to run attack ads with these investors who got screwed in this (and other) Trump schemes. They have every incentive to expose him on these scandals but haven't done so yet. And none of them have comparable skeletons in their own closet.
#3. To: TooConservative (#1) This is called "taking a risk to make a lot of money". These buyers could have waited until the condo was built. Of course, then they would have paid a lot more. But they chose to gamble to get it at a lower price. They lost. Now they want their money back?
#5. To: misterwhite (#3) Now they want their money back? They got their money back.
Trump was not the developer, as the 2009 AP article in the Los Angeles Times falsely claimed, and as the Times subsequently admitted. Trump left the project a year before the article was written. The actual developer, Irongate Developers, settled with the buyers for $7.25 million to resolve their liability.
#19. To: Roscoe (#5) They got their money back. No,they got a PORTION of their money back. They didn't get a dime from Trump for all the time he charged the corporation for him,his lawyers,bodyguards,use of his jet to fly to personal appearances,his appearance fees,etc,etc,etc. rump was not the developer, as the 2009 AP article in the Los Angeles Times falsely claimed,... No,but he rented his "Tradmark" (his name) to the project so potential buyers would think he was the developer,and never once denied it. Either he knew before signing the contract that it was illegal for Americans to own coastal property in Mexico,or he is a dumbass that hired incompetent lawyers. Which is it,stupid or crooked? Or maybe a combination of the two?
#21. To: sneakypete (#19) (Edited) They didn't get a dime from Trump You're so emotional. In fact, they got a settlement from Trump in 2013, not that facts matter compared to your intense feelings.
Have you heard of this thing they call Google?
#25. To: Roscoe (#21) You're so emotional. In fact, they got a settlement from Trump in 2013, www.latimes.com/business/...wsuit-20131127-story.html Donald Trump has settled a lawsuit with more than 100 would-be condo buyers who lost millions of dollars when a Trump-branded luxury condominium project in Baja California failed. Bart Ring and Daniel King, attorneys who represented the buyers, declined to discuss details of the settlement because of a confidentiality agreement. Un,huh. A "dime on the dollar" deal that didn't cost him a dime because he was using their money. Uh,huh. How much did they get? What was the percentage of their money was returned to them? More than 100 would-be condo buyers filed suit in 2009 against Trump and his developer partners in the project. Last year, the developers agreed to pay $7.25 million to resolve their liability in the case. Trump told The Times that the developers were to blame, saying he merely licensed his name to the 525-unit oceanfront project and was not involved in building it. Iz not my fault! I know nutting! NUTTING,I TELL YOU!
#29. To: sneakypete (#25) Un,huh. A "dime on the dollar" deal that didn't cost him a dime because he was using their money. Uh,huh. How much did they get? What was the percentage of their money was returned to them? Oscar. That isn't the way it works. You don't make a statement claiming it to be a fact. Then ask for the details. If you don't know the details you can't make statements of fact about it. I know it's over your head Oscar.
Replies to Comment # 29. You don't make a statement claiming it to be a fact. Really? YOU seem to be convinced "they got their money back",so please regale us all with the details. Did they get ALL of their money back,or only 5 percent after legal fees? Somewhere in-between? Do tell,all-knowing one.
#35. To: A K A Stone (#29) You don't make a statement claiming it to be a fact. Then ask for the details. He does. Lots.
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