- Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter will have to pay $5.45M to former members
- Under their membership agreement the 65 members opted to not resign contracts when Trump’s company took over from Ritz Carlton
- Members were supposed to be refunded their deposits once new members came on board and should have been allowed to use the facilities till then
- However, once Trump’s company took over officially the members that did not resign were barred from the property and not refunded
- In the settlement they’ll get back 71 per cent of their deposits after attorney fees
The president’s Jupiter, Florida golf club settled a class action suit by members who said they were wrongfully denied deposit refunds after Trump’s company took over from Ritz Carlton.
The class-action lawsuit alleged Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter violated contract terms that 65 members had signed with the previous owner.
The terms essentially allowed the members to chose not to re-sign contracts after Trump’s company took over, but could continue playing golf while the club searched for replacements.
President Donald Trump’s company will have to pay up about $5.45M to former members of his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter (in a file photo from Jupiter, Florida course)
Once the replacements were found, the members were supposed to get their deposits returned and they would stop paying dues.
Under the Ritz Carlton, members paid between $35,000 and $210,000 each for refundable club deposits to join.
However, once Trump’s company took over in 2012, the members that did not resign were barred from the facilities.
The golf club has agreed to pay $5.45 million to settle the lawsuit brought by the former members.
The settlement follows a federal court ruling against the club in February of 2017.
That decision declared the golf club essentially revoked the memberships by disallowing those waiting to resign their’s to utilize the facility.
The golf club and course was previously owned by Ritz Carlton, however Trump took is over in 2012 and soon after a dispute with members who did not resign arose
The Trump Organization is required to pay 94 per cent of the total judgement ordered by a federal judge, and, after deducting expenses and attorneys fees, members will get 71 per cent of their refunds.
‘We proved the case at trial and then achieved a settlement in excess of the total loss to the class,’ Brad Edwards, a lawyer for the former members told the Sun Sentinel.
After Trump was elected president he said he would turn over operations to his gold clubs and other businesses to his sons Eric and Donald Jr. and a business executive.