The saga of Zuma by Chef Ninja continues to play out at 4866 Cordell Avenue in downtown Bethesda. If back rent is not paid by this Friday, July 5, 2024, the stage will shift to the Maryland District Court in Rockville at 1:30 PM that afternoon. According to a court summons posted at the restaurant, the owners of Zuma have not paid rent to landlord Greendell, LLC from September 2023 through May 2024. Along with late fees, they allegedly now owe Greendell a grand total of $116,202.33.
According to Maryland judicial records, the unpaid rent case remains open as of this morning. The same records state that a separate de novo appeal trial, in a tort case filed by Greendell against the Zuma owners, is currently scheduled for July 18 in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Zuma opened in October 2023. By mid-January 2024, it had already closed. The landlord ordered the property sealed the last week of January, posting a notice declaring that the police would be called if anyone entered the premises. A month later, a court summons was posted at the restaurant, after process servers were unsuccessful in delivering the summons to the Zuma owners in person.
What do you expect from a guy called Chef Ninja. He vanished like a ninja in the night, only leaving behind the unpaid rent notice. A true master of the deadly art of stiffing the landlord.
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