Donald Trump Could Lose His Bank Accounts

Former President Donald Trump could lose his banks and properties if he's unable to pay the $454 million judgment in his civil fraud case or obtain a bond while he appeals the order.

Trump has until Monday to find either the cash or an underwriter to back a bond before New York Attorney General Letitia James begins collecting on the judgment. If Trump doesn't take any action and James begins to seize his assets, they could include not just his real estate but also his bank accounts.

"There's a lot that you can do here in New York," Jocelyn Nager, a lawyer focused on debt collection and commercial litigation, told USA Today on Thursday. "It's not just limited to real estate."

"She could freeze accounts, encumber his real property in New York, and significantly impede Trump's ability to access his New York-based assets," attorney Chris Mattei told NBC News on Wednesday. Mattei notably represented the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting victims in their defamation suit against Alex Jones.

Nager said the process of freezing Trump's bank accounts could move "very quick." James would simply have to send a subpoena to the former president's bank, if she knows where it is, or ask a marshal for an immediate levy on the bank.

"It's very fast," she said. "It's a question of how fast that document can be served on the bank."

And James' authority to freeze Trump's accounts extends outside of the state, according to Mitchell Epner, a longtime New York litigator focused on commercial and white-collar issues.

"If there are bank accounts in New York, those can be frozen essentially immediately if she already knows where they are, and the turnover of the funds in a bank account would be measured in days or weeks," Epner told USA Today.

James has already signaled that she's prepared to begin seizing Trump's properties around New York, including his office tower at 40 Wall Street, which is near James' office in downtown Manhattan.

Last month, the attorney general told ABC News, "We are prepared to make sure that the judgment is paid to New Yorkers, and yes, I look at 40 Wall Street each and every day."

It is unclear whether Trump will be able to meet the March 25 deadline, but his attorneys have asked an appeals court to delay the posting of the bond until Trump's appeal of the $454 million judgment is settled. A Monday court filing revealed that Trump has been unable to obtain a bond despite approaching 30 underwriters.

His attorneys argued that its near impossible for him to find an insurance company because they are looking for cash and not property, where most of Trump's wealth is. Although Trump could mortgage or sell off his real estate to find some cash, the former president has raged against the idea, saying he could lose those assets "forever" and that he'd be putting his properties up at a "Fire Sale price."