HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast (NASDAQ:) is being sued in a California court for failing to pay rent on a store, according to a complaint filed by real estate services firm SPG Center LLC, which VinFast said was false.
SPG Center said VinFast had leased the property in a Palo Alto shopping center as of late March 2023, but had stopped making payments since May 2023 through last month, with a total amount owed of nearly $356,000, equivalent to twelve months’ rent, according to the complaint it filed on May 14 in the California Superior Court for the County of Santa Clara.
“The claim that VinFast did not pay rent between May 1, 2023 and April 1, 2024 is incorrect,” VinFast said in a statement to Reuters.
“We have been making monthly rental payments through March 2024. Since April 2024, we have suspended rental payments due to ongoing negotiations with the landlord to change the lease agreement,” VinFast said.
SPG Center said in its complaint that it sent VinFast a notice to pay or quit on April 26, but VinFast did not comply with the notice’s requirements by the May 1 deadline.
The EV maker is facing two separate investigations in the United States over an April crash in California that killed four people in a crash involving a VinFast’s VF8 car; and for the alleged infringement of ArcelorMittal (NYSE:) patents for aluminum used in the VF (NYSE:) 8.
Two law firms also filed a class action lawsuit against VinFast in April on behalf of shareholders who allege misleading statements from the automaker caused them financial harm.
