Lisa Vanderpump’s Husband Ken Sued For $950k Over Now-Closed PUMP Restaurant
Aug. 3 2023, Published 11:10 a.m. ET
Lisa Vanderpump’s husband Ken Todd was hit with a lawsuit by the property owner of the couple’s now-closed West Hollywood restaurant PUMP demanding nearly a million dollars in damages, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the company 8948 Santa Monica Partners sued PUMP LLC and Todd for breach of contract and promissory fraud and conversion.
In the suit, 8948 said it was the owner of the premise where PUMP was located. The company said the defendants leased the property for their bar and restaurant in 2013. They agreed to pay $32,500 per month in rent. The rent increased to around $42,500 in 2020.
8948 said the lease agreement said that Todd and Pump LLC would transfer and convey the Liquor License to 8949 after the lease terminated.
The company claimed Todd’s statements were false because they believe he never intended to follow the terms of the lease after it expired.
The suit said Pump occupied the property until July 13, 2023, “at which date Pump surrendered possession of the premises.”
In the suit, 8948 accused Pump of failing to pay rent and other charges totaling $250k. Further, it said Pump had failed to turn over the Liquor License to 8948, which was required as part of the lease.
Further, the suit, first reported by The Blast, alleged, “PUMP has removed from the Premises fixtures and property attached to the Premises (“Fixtures”) including without limitation a customized security gate (“Gate”).”
The company said it has entered into a new lease with a new tenant for the premises but needs the liquor license immediately — to allow the new tenant to operate a bar and full-service 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 suit read.
The property owner has demanded $750k in damages for the alleged breach of contract and another $200k for refusing to turn over the liquor license and taxing fixtures.
The owner of the property tells RadarOnline.com, “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."
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Back in May, Lisa announced the restaurant was closing after 10 years.
"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 10 years of beautiful evenings under our olive trees," she said.
"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," she said. "After successfully running 37+ establishments for many years, this type of rent is untenable."
