Four Trump properties under investigation have been placed 'on review' by banks: report

A CBS News report Thursday revealed that four of President Donald Trump's properties have been placed "on review" by the banks that hold the loan and one considers it a "loan of concern."

"Part of the reason is COVID-19, which has taken a toll on many landlords," CBS explained. "Yet the hit to Trump's New York real estate operations is harder than the rest of the industry has experienced, and it comes after years of financial underperformance by the Trump Organization properties in some of the city's swankiest neighborhoods."

Since so many people began working from home, the small Manhattan apartments simply wouldn't work for their families anymore. An exodus began in the city as families began looking for "more space, greenery, a lower infection risk and a school system less vulnerable to Covid-triggered closures," reported the Financial Times in January.

That has put Trump and other property owners and landlords in a tough spot. With Trump, however, the properties "missed lenders' earnings expectations," reported CBS MoneyWatch. It was the fifth year in a row that four of Trump's properties, including Fifth Avenue Trump Tower, didn't hit financial goals.

"As of January, three of the four Manhattan buildings had been flagged by mortgage-payment processors because of their worsening financial shape," the report revealed. "That compares to one in four commercial loans industrywide that have been put on similar watch lists."

At the same time, CBS News explained that Wells Fargo and other banks "told investors who have funded Trump's loans that an income slump due in part to the 'COVID-19 global pandemic' means the buildings might not generate enough cash to cover their mortgage payments.

PNC Bank, which services commercial mortgages, said "the loan is being monitored."

Trump has been struggling with his hospitality businesses as well. The COVID crisis hasn't been good to hotels, resorts or any kind of recreation as Americans fear being around crowds. Trump's Washington, D.C. hotel has been a ghost town, in part because of the pandemic, but also because Trump is no longer in office. His fans, friends, followers and foreign allies haven't been coming to Washington.

Trump Tower also lost Tiffany & Co., which rented a large space on the ground floor of the Fifth Avenue building while they renovated their flagship store. While Trump was getting $7 million in rent annually, that comes to an end soon as they move back into their building.

After the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, those still willing to do business with Trump began pulling away.

"In the span of four days, President Trump's family business has lost its online store, the buzz from Mr. Trump's promotional tweets about its luxury resorts and bragging rights as host to one of the world's most prestigious golf tournaments. The mob attack on Congress last week by Mr. Trump's supporters has spurred a reckoning for the Trump Organization by businesses and institutions, at a scale far greater than his previous polarizing actions," The New York Times reported the week after the attack.

Read the full report at CBS News.