In a heated legal dispute that could have widespread implications for tenant-landlord relations, the Trump Burger Kemah LLC has locked horns with its landlord Archie Patterson of 409 Bradford LLC. At the core of this conflict is the landlord's recent lawsuit against Trump Burger Kemah and its owners. According to KHOU, Patterson accused Trump Burger Kemah of breaching their lease agreement and claimed they owe him upwards of $39,164 in unpaid expenses including beverage-tax payments and payroll. This lawsuit came in the wake of allegations that Patterson had unlawfully ousted his tenant.
On the other end, Trump Burger Kemah is not sitting quietly by. The burger joint, themed after former President Donald Trump, brought a lawsuit in Harris County against Patterson and his businesses for essentially hijacking their Kemah restaurant location. Allegedly on June 7, following no-trespass orders that weren't backed by proof, Patterson and his cohorts were accused of removing Trump Burger Kemah's personnel and continuing the restaurant operation under the new moniker “MAGA Burger USA.” A spokesperson for Patterson rebuffed the accusations, stating there is no hostile takeover but merely a "lease enforcement action," as noted by Houston Public Media.
The lawsuit from Trump Burger Kemah also details a situation involving a lease addendum presented to them that was less than four months into their current five-year lease agreement. This contested addendum, according to statements in the lawsuit, was never agreed upon nor seen by co-owner Tony White before its presentation on April 16. Surprisingly, unbeknownst to the staff, Patterson was accused of later rerouting the restaurant's credit card transactions directly into his business accounts.
Moreover, the lawsuit brought by Trump Burger Kemah includes allegations of Patterson not transferring the restaurant's liquor license, despite a payment of $20,000 made for the purchase by co-owner Roland Beainy, as stated in court documents. As the legal dispute advances, Trump Burger Kemah is demanding monetary damages and coverage of attorney's fees, doubling down on their claim that Patterson's businesses improperly took control over the establishment and rerouted their finances. This controversy spans beyond the restaurant in Kemah; Trump Burger has three other locations in Texas, including Houston, Bellville, and Flatonia.
