TrumpOceanBaja

Angry Investors Take On Trump

Investors in the Donald-Trump-branded Baja Mexico project have sued Trump now that the project has folded. I'd been expecting this since November when we wrote about the troubles for the Trump Ocean Resort Baja Mexico and received comments from burned investors. The project was not being built by Trump but he lent his name to the project and condo buyers say they invested based on the value of that name. Those who bought into the project have lost all their invested money, a reported total of $32 million on units that ranged in price from the mid $300,000s to over $2 million. No one seems to be sure exactly where the money went. CBS News has an interview with Ivanka Trump who says she is sorry for those people that lost money but that she and her father are "in the same boat" in terms of being taken in by the developers. Ivanka is named in the lawsuit along with her father and her brother, Donald Trump Jr. as well as the project's developers, Irongate Development, its partner company Punta Bandera Investors USA, and its real estate brokers S&P Destination Properties.

This isn't the first time Trump's selling of his well-recognized name has gotten him in trouble. Last June, condo buyers filed a lawsuit against the developers of the Trump Towers complex in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. for using the Trump name to attract buyers. That project is also not being developed by Trump and per the terms of the agreement Trump's name can only be used temporarily and could be changed once the buildings are completed. Based on this information and a fear that the condos will be worth less without the Trump brand, buyers sought cancel sales contracts worth over $100 million and to have around $20 million in deposits returned. Donald Trump was not named in the suit.

Trump has put his name on everything from vodka to office furniture but lawsuits like these as well as the troubles that have befallen his Trump-branded Atlantic City casino empire are eroding that name's prestige.

Gallery: Trump Projects