Trump's Wealth Built on Stiffing Scores of Contractors, Businesses and Employees

It would appear that Mr. Trump has a bad habit of not paying for things:

“At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments and other government filings reviewed by the USA Today Network, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work,” the newspaper wrote Friday. “Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.”

I wonder if elected, if Mr. Trump would suddenly reverse his business practices? He would no doubt be under the control of his cabinet and congress -- wanton spending and failure to pay back contractors and foreign countries wouldn't fly.

Could he do it? Would Trump pull the same sound on a global level? And if Mr. Trump did, would you -- the American people be upset or even care? Do you think the world would care or react?

The article continues:

USA Today sums up Donald Trump as an businessman who repeatedly doesn't pay his bills and relentlessly fights paying in court. It wrote, “The actions in total paint a portrait of Trump’s sprawling organization frequently failing to pay small businesses and individuals, then sometimes tying them up in court and other negotiations for years. In some cases, the Trump teams financially overpower and outlast much smaller opponents, draining their resources. Some just give up the fight, or settle for less; some have ended up in bankruptcy or out of business altogether.”

You can be sure Americans will be hearing a lot more about Trump’s real record in business in coming months, as it is a telling counterpoint to his “make America great” meme. He didn’t make the lives of these tradesmen and businesses great, he made them miserable, and in many cases these solo operators and family-owned businesses did not survive after losing thousands to billionaire Trump.

Article

So, what say you? Is Trump a savvy leader, or a thief? Is Trump's past business actions going to be playing a bigger role down the line in this election?

Take out your Magic 8 Ball folks -- what does it say?

Another poster in the construction industry explained why this happens in construction and what that means.

Now rather than claim that there's x amount of lawsuits show us ruling against trump and show us who was actually managerialy responsible for making the choices involved.

a reply to: onequestion

It would appear he likes to bog them down in court, forcing small businesses to drop cases. These small time companies and individuals cannot afford to say tied up in court:

“The actions in total paint a portrait of Trump’s sprawling organization frequently failing to pay small businesses and individuals, then sometimes tying them up in court and other negotiations for years. In some cases, the Trump teams financially overpower and outlast much smaller opponents, draining their resources. Some just give up the fight, or settle for less; some have ended up in bankruptcy or out of business altogether.”

Link

Does that sound like the action of a honorable man we want to represent the USA abroad? Endless lawsuits ARE the American way tho...

a reply to: DanteGaland

Having had a lot of experience with this subcontracting I can tell you this is a regular occurrence and I am 200% positive Trump had nothing to do with it.

It really comes down to choice made by the GC or PM.

When the legal team gets their hands on it they have no reason to involve Trump personally as he's probably rarely if ever on the ground for most of these projects.

Do you know anything about how any of these businesses are run or are you just grasping at straws trying to prove Trump is a bad guy?

Do you know anything about construction?

What is the excuse for not paying hourly employees?

Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast.

Donald Deadbeat Vs Crooked Hillary

We are so screwed

a reply to: Grimpachi

The excuse I guess is that this is all to common because there are disputes on how much was to be paid or when it was to be paid ect.
He also said in the past that he doesn't pay for 'terrible jobs' or something of the sort.
So maybe his plan is to bring back the jobs and then not pay people for them.

a reply to: Sremmos80

The only thing is ...

If Mr. Trump doesn't deem them "acceptable" then he's not going to pay for these new jobs he wants to create?

What I mean is .. he won't follow through on tax credits/breaks/incentives if he's not satisfied? What are his standards? Are they impossibly high? Are they arbitrary?

I can tell you that in Alaska the "play hard ball" with the oil companies doesn't always go well. They can (and will) slow production and make money elsewhere if its more profitable. Forcing private companies to bend to your will as a politician doesn't often work well.

Just sayin' ...

I'm a drywall contractor and that's something I don't take lightly. I don't get a vote but the system that allows this to happen exists here too.
Only the most scumbag goof would do that to people. On some jobs you wait 90 days to get paid and then you have to pay all your employees so if you get stiffed it's really really bad.
Like I said before 2016 "Giant douche vs Turd sandwich "!!

I wonder if Trump is paying all the people that make lameass excuses for him screwing the small businesses that have no alternative but to take the loss.

Character counts....

Trump's Wealth Built on Stiffing Scores of Contractors, Businesses and Employees

Things that most of us old farts have known about Trump Inc for the past 20-30 years. His scams, lawsuits, unethical business practices, and outright lies have been the stuff of entertainment for more than a couple of decades.

If nothing else, the guy sure does know how to keep himself in the newspapers.

It's a shame the younger generation doesn't dig out these well-known things about Trump before jumping on his presidential train ride destined towards self-implosion.

Why do Trump supporters ignore all the bad things he has done or said but are quick to point out all the bad things Hillary has done or said? Maybe they've invested so much time and energy into supporting him that they ignore it for fear of admitting they were wrong and that they wasted that energy.

Trump does not represent the average American, he represents the people who have been putting the average American down.

originally posted by: onequestion
Another poster in the construction industry explained why this happens in construction and what that means.

Now rather than claim that there's x amount of lawsuits show us ruling against trump and show us who was actually managerialy responsible for making the choices involved.

I think this is what you are talking about...

I read the USA Today article because the other one simply cited it. Clearly the author of the article (and the author of the OP in this thread) know nothing about construction/development and didn't bother to do any research.

Mechanics liens and claims are par for the course for most very large, mulit-million dollar projects. Just because a claim is made, does not mean that the subcontractor making the claim is correct. The article does not seem to look into the why claims were denied.

Case in point. The project I'm managing now is relatively small ($11,000,000). I received a request for a change order from the roofing subcontractor (through the general contractor) for additional costs associated with labor and material to apply additional coats of applied waterproofing. The long and short of it is the subcontractor didn't anticipate that the wood plank roof would absorb as much of the waterproofing as it did. Although on a personal level I feel for them, and this mistake will eat up some of their profit, there is no way I can justify paying them additional funds for a mistake that they made while putting their bid together. In other words, the wood planks that were installed prior to their work were as shown in the original contract drawings. The problem they have is a mistake that their estimator made while preparing their bid. If we had made changes to the they type of wood that was installed and this change caused them to require additional material, then they would have a valid claim.

In this case, the change order is being denied. At the end of the project they will request a Commissioner's Determination, which will be denied. Then they will file a lien against the project, which the General Contractor's bonding company will deal with. Then, if they think it's worth while, they will attempt to sue.

This is one of many such situations going on regarding one $11,000,000 project. When you have the portfolio that Trump has with (I'm guessing) billions of dollars worth of construction, I would be shocked if there weren't tons and tons of liens and unresolved claims and law suits.

I also have questions about other parts of the article. How many of the delayed payment claims are due to the Trump organizations directly versus the CM firms or GCs that are slow to make payment to subcontractors. Most construction contracts between GCs and subcontractors have "pay when paid" clauses meaning that when a subcontractor completes work, they will get paid when the GC gets paid. I have seen more instances than I can remember when an owner pays the GC, only to receive desperate phone calls months later from a subcontractor informing me that the GC hadn't paid them. The article provides absolutely no information about these types of allegations... at all.

As far as individual workers getting paid, that too has nothing to do with Trumps organizations. As far a construction goes, the developer typically pays only a general contractor (or a CM if they hire a CM... and when a CM is involved the developer my have a single payment to the CM who will pay the GC or the two contracts may be separate). Ultimately, any individual "worker" would never, ever receive a paycheck from the developer. Their paychecks get cut by the contractor that they work for.

In answering whether or not this will be the final nail in the Trump coffin or how it would be spun, I respodned with....

Nope. Because ...There is nothing to spin or explain away. The only person who has "splainin' to do" in my estimation is the author of the article to his bosses because he CLEARLY was writing about things he knows nothing about and lacked to learn about.

a reply to: IkNOwSTuff

Is it a crime to have an opinion?



I find Trump to much. I have a happy life with my partner and find these unreported stories deserving of sharing.

I have many other interests.

Trump just is one of the ones I find the most immediate.

I'd be glad to talk to you all about coffee. I LOVE coffee. That ISNT the topic of this thread though.

Trump, is he good for business? Or BAD? Is he good for America? Or BAD?

My spider senses are tingling too, and It seems like a topic WORTH covering.

I'm a bit miffed by this community for taking such a paranoid role. I've been reading ATS for over a year now, and active on many other forums under other names. I know how forums work.

Please. Can we discuss Mr. Trump and his business practices?