Trump-owned golf course ordered to pay $5.7m to members

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President Trump's Jupiter, Florida, golf course violated membership contracts
Trump purchased the club at below-market value with the understanding he'd honor $41million in refundable membership deposits
Instead, he told 65 members on the resignation lists that they'd still have to pay dues, but would no longer have access to the club

Published: 11:49 EST, 4 February 2017 | Updated: 16:29 EST, 4 February 2017

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A Florida golf course owned by President Donald Trump must pay $5.7million for refusing to refund deposits to 65 members who wanted to resign from the club.

District Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter violated contracts 65 members had signed with the previous owner, Ritz-Carlton.

The average payment will be about $87,000 if the ruling is upheld.

Attorney Brad Edwards, who represented the members, said that when the trial ended last August, 'I never felt more confident what the right decision would be'.

President Donald Trump must pay $5.7million for refusing to refund deposits to 65 members who wanted to resign from Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida

US District Judge Kenneth Marra ruled that the club violated contracts that members had signed with Ritz-Carlton and were assumed by Trump as part of his purchase deal

'So (the ruling) wasn't a surprise, but it was worth the wait', Edwards said.

Members complained in a trial in August that Trump had swindled them out of millions.

One member on the list, Richard Slawson, testified that he was denied access to the club but still billed $6,000 for dues.

'I couldn’t believe that we were charged that when we were not allowed to use the club', Slawson, a Florida lawyer, told The New York Times.

The Trump Organization vowed to appeal saying in a statement that 'We respectfully disagree with the Court's decision'.

'At the time Trump purchased the Club, it was suffering financially, making it unlikely that these members would ever get back their deposits', said a Trump Organization spokesperson.

The real estate mogul purchased the club from Ritz-Carlton for $5million in November 2012. He got the below-market rate with the understanding that he would honor up to $41million in refundable membership deposits

Trump purchased the property for $5million - below market value - in November 2012 with the understanding that he would honor up to $41million in refundable membership deposits, The Huffington Post reports.

The contracts members signed with Ritz-Carlton state that if the company sold the club the new owner would be responsible for any refundable deposits that were due.

Shortly after Trump bought the club, he told members on the resignation lists that if they didn't rescind their notice they would no longer be allowed club access starting January 1, 2013.

'We are committed to seeing Trump National Golf Club Jupiter on the list of the best clubs in the world, and if you choose to remain on the resignation list, you’re out', Trump wrote to members in December 2013.

He added that they would still be expected to pay $8,000 to $20,000 a year for dues and an $1,800 annual fee for food and beverages until they reached the top of the resignation list.

The members said that by cutting off their access to the club, Trump owed them their deposits within 30 days, citing a clause in their Ritz-Carlton contracts.

When the Trump Organization refused, the members sued.

During testimony, Trump's son Eric, who ran the club, conceded that paying dues without having access to the club 'would violate a fundamental principle of life'.

Trump, then on the presidential campaign trail, testified by video.