More money, more problems! Lisa Vanderpump’s husband, Ken Todd, has been slapped with a lawsuit over the closure of their PUMP restaurant.
Radar Online reports that the property owner of Lisa Vanderpump and Ken Todd‘s now-closed West Hollywood restaurant, PUMP, has sued the British restauranteur for nearly a million dollars in damages.
According to court documents, “the company 8948 Santa Monica Partners sued PUMP LLC and Todd for breach of contract and promissory fraud and conversion.”
In the lawsuit 8948 Santa Monica Partners claims to be the owner of the West Hollywood property where PUMP was located. They explain that the defendants, Lisa and Ken Todd, leased the property in 2013 to create the third establishment in their West Hollywood bar and restaurant empire.
Initally, they agreed to pay $32,500 per month in rent. By 2020, the rent increased to around $42,500.
8948 also alleged that, per the lease agreement, Todd and Pump LLC agreed to transfer and convey the Liquor License to 8949 after the lease ended.
However, 8948 claims that Ken Todd lied and never had any intent of following the terms of the lease after it was terminated.
The lawsuit also notes that PUMP continued to occupy the property until July 13, 2023, “at which date Pump surrendered possession of the premises.”
Ken Todd, via Todd and Pump LLC, is also accused of failing to pay rent and other charges totaling $250k. 8948 also alleges that Ken Todd failed to turn over the Liquor License to them after ending the lease.
Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges: “PUMP has removed from the Premises fixtures and property attached to the Premises (“Fixtures”) including without limitation a customized security gate (“Gate”).”
Per The Blast, 8948 has already secured a new tenant for the property but needs the liquor license in order to allow the restaurant to operate as a full-service bar and restaurant.
“Defendants’ and each of their failure and refusal to reassign, transfer and convey the Liquor License to 8948 will cause 8948 to suffer a loss of approximately $56,500 of base rent and other charges for each month that Defendants fail and refuse to reassign, transfer and convey the Liquor License to 8948. In addition, 8948 will suffer a loss of the value of the Liquor License itself with a current estimated fair market value of $150,000,” the lawsuit read.
The property owner of the Santa Monica Ave property demands “$750k in damages for the alleged breach of contract and another $200k for refusing to turn over the liquor license and taxing fixtures.”
“We are aggressively pursuing damages, and he will be held fully liable. Nothing this guy won’t do, including skipping out on rent, attempting to unlawfully remove mature trees on the property, stealing our liquor license and patio gates, and ripping chandeliers out of our ceilings. Half of their employees opted to stay with our new tenant for good reason,” the property owner tells Radar Online.
On Thursday, May 4, Lisa Vanderpump announced that PUMP would close its doors for good in July. The WeHo hotspot opened its doors in 2014 to rave reviews.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Lisa said:
“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that the lease at Pump Restaurant is expiring, and we will be closing its doors on July 5th, after ten years of beautiful evenings under our olive trees.”
As for why PUMP is closing, Lisa blames that on an increase in rent.
“While we have loved our time operating Pump, to take on another 10-year lease with a huge increase in rent by the landlords is not something we are ready to commit to. After successfully running 37+ establishments for many years, this type of rent is untenable.”
The closure of PUMP has been filmed for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules, which is currently in production.
Vanderpump Rules is set to return to Bravo in 2024.
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