Trump Soho buyers sue, citing inflated sales figures

Donald Trump, Alex Sapir and Trump Soho

A group of 15 buyers at Trump Soho are suing the project’s developers and sales team for what they claim were falsely inflated sales figures during the year-and-a-half marketing campaign before the building’s offering plan was declared effective, the New York Times reported. The complaint, filed in Federal District Court yesterday, alleges that representatives of the project told them that units in the building were “30, 40, 50, 60 percent or more sold” both in sales pitches and in statements to the press, spurring them to sign contracts when they otherwise wouldn’t have. In fact, as The Real Deal first reported, just 15 percent of the building — or 62 of its 391 units — was sold as of May. Named in the suit are the developers, Bayrock/Sapir Organization LLC — a joint venture of the Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organization — as well as Alex Sapir, Donald Trump and his children, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and members of the sales and marketing team. The buyers, who purchased a total of six units at the building and are being represented by William Geller of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C., want their contracts rescinded and their deposits returned, in addition to damages and fees. Jay Neveloff of law firm Kramer Levin, who represents the developers, said there are actually more than 100 contracts signed for around 25 percent of the building, but the company reported only the minimum 15 percent to the attorney general’s office in May because “it seemed to us the most prudent and conservative way to go.” [NYT]