{"slug":"trump-pre-presidency-stiffing-contractors-vendors","title":"Decades of Stiffing Contractors: Trump's Documented Pattern of Refusing to Pay","date":"1980-01-01","lastUpdated":"2016-06-09","description":"Over four decades, Donald Trump and his companies accumulated a documented pattern of refusing to pay contractors, vendors, and service providers after work was completed. USA Today and other outlets documented hundreds of liens, lawsuits, and complaints from small businesses, tradespeople, and professionals who said they had performed work for Trump entities and were never paid — or were paid a fraction of what they were owed. Trump's standard defense was that the work had been substandard, a claim contractors disputed.","summary":"USA Today's 2016 investigation found that Trump and his companies had been sued more than 3,500 times in U.S. federal and state courts over the previous three decades, with a significant portion related to nonpayment claims by contractors, vendors, and employees. Among those who reported not being paid: drapery installers, piano players, porters, waiters, dishwashers, real estate brokers, plumbers, and hundreds of hourly workers. Trump's standard response was to challenge the quality of work — often leaving small contractors to choose between expensive litigation or accepting partial payment.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/","title":"Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn't pay his bills","publisher":"USA Today"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-trump-a-pattern-of-not-paying/2016/06/10/fbd5a8a4-2d57-11e6-9b37-42985f6a265c_story.html","title":"For Trump, a pattern of not paying","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/us/politics/donald-trump-contractors.html","title":"Unpaid Bills a Signature of Trump's Ventures","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-s-three-decade-pattern-not-paying-workers-n589181","title":"Trump's Three-Decade Pattern of Not Paying Workers","publisher":"NBC News"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["contractors","fraud","pre-presidency","workers","nonpayment","business"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1980-01-01","title":"Pattern begins with Atlantic City casino construction","summary":"Contractors on Trump's Atlantic City casino projects begin reporting nonpayment. The pattern continues across subsequent projects. Mechanics liens are filed against Trump properties in New Jersey and New York."},{"date":"1990-01-01","title":"Atlantic City casino bankruptcies leave contractors unpaid","summary":"As Trump's Atlantic City casinos enter bankruptcy proceedings in the early 1990s, contractors and vendors holding unpaid invoices become unsecured creditors with little prospect of recovery. Many receive cents on the dollar or nothing."},{"date":"2016-06-09","title":"USA Today investigation published","summary":"USA Today publishes an investigation documenting more than 200 mechanics liens, hundreds of lawsuits, and thousands of complaints from contractors, tradespeople, and employees who said Trump companies had not paid them. Trump denies wrongdoing."}],"location":{"name":"New York, NY / Atlantic City, NJ / Florida","lat":40.7128,"lng":-74.006},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Hundreds of small contractors, tradespeople, hourly workers, and vendors who performed work for Trump enterprises and were not paid or underpaid","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Owner and operator of Trump Organization entities that engaged in systematic nonpayment","institution":"Trump Organization"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2016-06-09","summary":"Published with USA Today investigation."}]}}