I Need Some Clarification About Bankruptcy And Donald Trump.....

[global1]

Is there a distinction between declaring bankruptcy with respect to one of his properties versus declaring bankruptcy for his company in general?

I'm asking because it is always flipped up to him that he declared bankruptcy three times. My understanding is that he in fact did - but only for a hotel/a particular property his company owns (like the one in Atlantic City) that was losing money. This was his way of getting out of that problem and is a perfectly acceptable way of dealing with that situation.

The candidates that pile on Trump - make it sound like his company/corporation declared bankruptcy in general - when it was only one property that he declared bankruptcy.

If that is so - why isn't he defending himself - when they make those accusations? Or am I missing something here?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I'm guessing that each of these properties was held by a separate corporation.

Trump probably owns multiple corporations, and not just one single big one. That way the financial failure of one business doesn't affect the others.

[hamsterjill]

2. I would agree.

So when Trump says, "I didn't declare bankruptcy", he doesn't explain that it was his "corporation" that did.

His eager followers don't seem to care about this fact, of course, but bankruptcy is certainly NOT something to be proud of in a business sense.

It has surprised me that his opponents haven't made more out of this issue.

[Sanity Claws]

5. That's it

A property (i.e. a street address for a building) cannot be a bankruptcy filer. It must a legal entity, such as a person or a corporation.

[dem in texas]

3. 4 of his Corportations filed

The corporations filed for bankruptcy. The individual stockholders of the corp. are not held responsible. The only effect to him is it would hurt his borrowing power for future business deals.

[SamKnause]

4. He has declared corporate bankruptcy

4 times.

I do not know the legal details.

[hack89]

6. All of his bankruptcies were specific to over-leveraged casino properties

where he used bankruptcy as a business tool to restructure debt and reduce risk. They were also specific to Trump Entertainment Resorts, which is one of many companies under his holding company The Trump Organization.

I think he doesn't defend himself because he doesn't care. The public perception of him is that he is rich and successful.

[ryan_cats]

7. All you need to know

All you need to know is that when he does it, it's good for America and when we do it, why do we hate America?

[TreasonousBastard]

8. Well...

a "strategic" bankruptcy happens when something like a huge judgment hits you and you try to either get out of the judgment or arrange payments. This wasn't Trump. Bankruptcy can be complicated, but it can be just one business entity. Trump owed enough money that in a just world he would have been shut down completely, but the way it worked was he went through one business at a time and let them die or worked out a deal.

Trump basically just went broke in a number of his businesses because he was lousy at running them. Trump Air went down because he thought the people who just wanted get to DC for a meeting would be impressed by gold faucets in the toilets. They weren't.

And a few more...

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/12/business/company-news-trump-s-plaza-hotel-bankruptcy-plan-approved.html

A Federal bankruptcy judge yesterday approved a prepackaged bankruptcy plan for Donald J. Trump's Plaza Hotel, giving a 49 percent stake in the luxury hotel to Citibank and five other lenders. Under the plan, Mr. Trump will still be employed as chief executive but he will not be paid and will not have a role in day-to-day operations, said Matthew Feldman, a lawyer representing the Trump Organization.

The hotel was unable to meet its debt service payments and filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 2. Lawyers said Mr. Trump would continue to work on marketing plans for the Fifth Avenue hotel, which overlooks Central Park in midtown Manhattan. The lenders, which include the Industrial Bank of Japan, will take control of the hotel in exchange for giving more favorable terms to Mr. Trump on more than $550 million in debt on the hotel. The plan was approved by United States Bankruptcy Judge Prudence Abram.

Trump bought the Plaza for too much money and then threw millions into it turning it into Versailles. It was really garish and vulgar when he got through with it, and could never make back the expenses, even at NYC hotel rates.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/09/news/companies/trump-bankruptcy/index.html

Trump Plaza Associates, the company that runs the Trump Taj Mahal, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Tuesday.
The Taj Mahal will close on Nov. 13 or shortly thereafter, according to a company spokesman. Another casino owned by the company, the Trump Plaza, is expected to shut down after Sept. 16, costing 1,046 employees their jobs.
Donald Trump himself sued a unit of Trump Plaza Associates in early August, claiming that its casinos were no longer good enough to bear his name.
Donald Trump actually built the casinos and once owned them. But he said his only current relationship was the licensing of his name. He said that they have since fallen into disrepair.

Here, I seem to remember that he's, once again, full of shit. He overpaid for the Resorts casinos and didn't have the cash to maintain them, what with the carpets wearing thin and doors not working... He lost them in an earlier action (may have been a previous bankruptcy filing), and they finally went belly up when all of AC went down.

His income and wealth is primarily from licensing deals and the Apprentice. It looks like he's never owned a significant property or business that turned a profit. Some of his properties are profitable, but only the ones he doesn't have a controlling interest in.