Mortgage Fraud Allegations Against Trump and Letitia James

Mortgages for a person’s main home often qualify for lower interest rates or more favorable terms than mortgages for a second home or an investment rental property.

The charges that Trump tried to skirt the system are the same faced by New York Attorney General – and frequent Trump critic – Letitia James, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution while securing a mortgage for her additional home.

According to nonprofit group ProPublica, Trump signed a mortgage for a “primary home” in Palm Beach, Florida, in 1993. Less than two months later, he filed for another mortgage for a separate residence, which he once again labeled as his “primary home.”

“In reality, Trump, then a New Yorker, does not appear to have ever lived in either home, let alone used them as a principal residence,” the group found. “Instead, the two houses, which are next to his historic Mar-a-Lago estate, were used as investment properties and rented out… exactly the sort of scenario his administration has pointed to as evidence of fraud.”