Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Kandi Burruss had all claims against her dismissed by the landlord suing over alleged unpaid rent owed on her restaurant Blaze, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, on March 16, the landlord, Montego Pacific Inc., informed the court it was no longer pursuing claims against Kandi, 48, individually.
A lawyer for the landlord explained, “The basis for [Montego’s] claims against [Kandi] was that she executed a personal guaranty of a commercial lease in favor of [Montego].”
He added, “After [Montego] filed the complaint, [Kandi’s lawyer] provided documentation showing that [Kandi’s] personal guaranty expired before [Montego] filed its complaint.”
The lawyer ended, “Therefore, because [Kandi’s] liability has expired, her remaining a party defendant in this civil action serves no useful or meaningful purpose, and [Montego] requests that the court enter an order dropping [Kandi] as a party defendant.”
The lawsuit will continue on against Burruss Tucker Restaurant Group, run by Kandi and her husband, Todd Tucker, and Blaze Steakhouse.
Montego filed the initial complaint on March 3.
It claimed the defendants owed rent for Blaze. The suit alleged Kandi and the others sued owed a total of $154,139.17 in past due rent and another $56,495.75 for repairs done to the property.
The suit claimed the defendants breached the contract by failing to pay certain monetary charges when they became “due and by failing to keep the premises in good maintenance and repair, when necessitated landlord incurring costs for maintenance and repair that are tenant’s obligations under the lease.”
The lawsuit read, “As a result of Tenant’s breach of the Lease for failure to pay rent and other monetary charges due, landlord has suffered damages in an amount to be proven at trial, but in no event less than the total sum $154,139.17, exclusive of interest, plus additional rent and other charges that accrue under the Lease at the rate of $12,083.50 per month.”
The landlord also demanded the defendants be on the hook for the legal fees racked up to bring the case. Kandi and Todd opened Blaze in Atlanta in 2020.
They also own another restaurant Old Lady Gang, which opened in 2017, and has led to multiple locations.
Earlier this week, Kandi spoke out about the lawsuit. She claimed her name was added for publicity and the claims against her would be dropped shortly.
“It was just a disagreement between us and the landlord,” she said. “But to let you know, they had to drop my name off so…I think they just put my name on there anyway so that they could get publicity for the lawsuit.”
“The rest is being worked out because it really was a disagreement about some repairs that they made and then who would be responsible for it,” she added. Kandi said, “So, we were just going back and forth about that, basically, and that’s why it turned out into what it turned into. But it looks like we’re gonna come to some agreement … so it’ll be fine.”
In 2024, Kandi announced she would not be returning to Real Housewives of Atlanta after 14 seasons.
