Lisa Vanderpump’s husband, Ken Todd, has been hit with a nearly $1 million lawsuit for allegedly breaching his rental contract with the landlords of the couple’s now-shuttered West Hollywood restaurant Pump.
The company called 8948 Santa Monica Partners claims that Pump – of which Todd is the guarantor – has “failed and refused and continues to fail and refuse to keep and perform” their lease conditions, according to documents obtained by Pvnew.
They are suing for $950,000 in damages after claiming Pump owes them roughly $250,000 in unpaid rent, $150,000 in absconding the liquor license and $50,000 of stolen fixtures.
The company has demanded $750,000 in damages for the alleged breach of contract and an additional $200,000 for allegedly not transferring over the liquor license — with an “estimated fair market value of $150,000” — and other fixtures.
“We are aggressively pursuing damages and he will be held fully liable,” one of the owners tells Pvnew in a statement.
According to the documents, Pump was supposed to turn the liquor license over to the next renter, but they have allegedly refused to do so after “surrendering” the property on July 13, 2023.
A new restaurant has since taken over the grounds, but Todd, 77, has allegedly kept the liquor license and thus stalled the opening of the new eatery — costing the landlords “approximately $56,500 of base rent and other charges for each month.”
The property owners claim that Todd’s “promissory fraud” was “willful, malicious and made in bad
faith with reckless disregard for the wrongful and tortious nature” when he entered into his 2013 lease contract.
In return, Todd told Pvnew exclusively in a statement, “When we took over the place known as Pump 10 years ago, it was an empty car park.”
He claimed that when they took over, they “installed beautiful olive trees,” which, therefore, “belong to us.”
However, he claimed that they “did not take the trees; they are still there.” They also allegedly “did not rip the chandeliers out like the landlord is claiming.”
Instead, he claimed they “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,” he stated before continuing that “the liquor license we have traded under for the last 10 years also belongs to us.” Nonetheless, they “are happy to sell it to them at the fair market value.”
Todd further slammed the landlord, stating that he “showed no forgiveness during the entire term of Covid, which is highly unusual.”
Addressing the claims of unpaid rent, he alleged that “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,” he continued. “This aggressive behavior by the landlord will not be tolerated.”
Vanderpump, 62, announced in May that after 10 years of business, they’d be closing the doors of Pump.
“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that the lease at Pump Restaurant is expiring,” Vanderpump told E! News.
At the time, Vanderpump claimed the rent had reached an “untenable” amount of money, but the same landlords denied that that was the case.
“We did not raise the rent and in fact have been nothing but supportive as they tried to catch up on lease obligations including forgiving some rent during Covid,” the landlord told Pvnew at the time.
