Lisa Vanderpump's Husband Plans to Countersue Over PUMP Lawsuit: 'This Aggressive Behavior by The Landlord Will Not Be Tolerated'
Aug. 3 2023, Published 8:09 p.m. ET
Lisa Vanderpump's husband Ken Todd is fighting back after being accused of failing to pay rent and transfer the liquor license for the now-closed West Hollywood restaurant PUMP, telling RadarOnline.com he plans to countersue for damages.
"When we took over the place known as Pump 10 years ago, it was an empty car park. There were no trees. We installed beautiful olive trees, and they belong to us. We did not take the trees; they are still there. We did not rip the chandeliers out like the landlord is claiming. We lovingly took the antiques out, which are now in our possession as they are also ours. You don’t normally find antique chandeliers hanging in a car park. The liquor license we have traded under for the last 10 years also belongs to us. We are happy to sell it to them at the fair market value," Todd said in a statement.
"As a result of the landlord’s actions, we will be filing a cross-complaint seeking compensatory and punitive damages for their conduct."
Todd further told RadarOnline.com that "the landlord showed no forgiveness during the entire term of Covid, which is highly unusual. As for the back rent of one-and-a-half months, the accountants on both sides agreed and signed off. The landlord needs to return our rent deposit, as the property is in much better shape now than when we found it."
Concluding his message, Vanderpump's entrepreneur husband warned, "This aggressive behavior by the landlord will not be tolerated."
As RadarOnline.com reported, 8948 Santa Monica Partners — who owns the property where the former WeHo hotspot was located — sued PUMP LLC and Todd for breach of contract and promissory fraud and conversion earlier this week, accusing them of failing to pay rent and other charges totaling $250k and not turning over the Liquor License, which they said was required as part of the lease.
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In the docs, the property owner demanded $750k in damages for the alleged breach of contract and an additional $200k over the liquor license and taxing fixtures.
“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.
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PUMP officially closed its doors for good last month. We were told that Lisa and Ken decided not to commit to another 10-year lease after the landlords demanded a massive spike in yearly rent — and Todd had an emotional meeting to let his staff know about the difficult decision.
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