Monday, January 4, 2016

HOW FORMER MAYOR PROFETA BEAT DONALD TRUMP

While Donald Trump remains the top Republican candidate for president, it's interesting to note there is at least one Maplewood resident who knows how to beat him.

In court, that is.

Former Maplewood Mayor Fred Profeta, an appeals attorney by trade, racked up his second legal victory over Trump just a few months ago.

Representing New York lawyer John Bostany, who was a tenant in The Trump Building at 40 Wall Street, Profeta successfully appealed a court ruling that had ordered Bostany to pay some $2 million in attorneys fees to Trump related to a landlord-tenant dispute dating back to 2008.

Trump and the Trump Building
In the original case, Bostany had withheld rent for his Penthouse office at 40 Wall Street, claiming his roof leaked and had not been repaired. Trump took Bostany to court and sued for $400,000 in back rent.

While Trump won that case, he was forced to pay $45,000 to cover losses from the leaky roof, Profeta said.

Trump also sued for attorneys fees and won that request. He claimed later that he had paid $2 million to his attorney. That's when Bostany called Profeta.

Profeta handled the appeal and got the attorney fees award overturned in April 2015. That was the second time he prevailed against Trump in the case. 

Back in 2010, Trump had sought to be separated from the original leaky roof case, claiming that since he did not own the building he was not liable. (Trump's name is just licensed for use on the building, as it is in many properties labeled "Trump," according to Profeta).

Bostany reached out to Profeta in that case as well, which was appealed and the original ruling overturned in Bostany's favor. Trump was found to be liable for the water damage.

"One of the things you keep hearing about Trump is that he will hire great people," Profeta said about what the case showed him. "But my experience is that some of the people he hires are far from great."

He later added, "he's a cheapskate. He didn't fix the building and he would rather litigate it than fix the roof. That's the way he operates. There are people in the business world who don't want to do business with him. Hopefully we never have to see how world leaders react to him."

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Great to hear, Fred. Another revealiing anecdote about how he really operates. We are all disgusted with the "bigoted buffoon" (David Brooks's opinion). One of the things that gets me is his pitch that he's a successful businessman experienced with complex deals. What people don't know is that real estate is really a succession of independent deals.
He's never run a truly complex company requiring building complex, interdependent divisions with highly qualified managers and executives, many of whom should be groomed to move up to succeed the CEO. Who ever heard of his successor management? What first-class executive would WANT to work for him? Yet he claims he will be able to staff and manage a complex bureaucracy like the government? He's clueless beyond his beloved "art of the deal." Where he negotiates in the take-no-prisoners fashion like he did with Fred's client. And he would represent the US in the world???