Kyle Richards' Husband Mauricio Says He 'Wouldn't Change A Thing' After Lawsuit
Oct. 13 2019, Updated 11:58 p.m. ET
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards' husband Mauricio Umansky has broken his silence after being slapped with a lawsuit.
The real estate agent told the website Inman in a new interview about the bitter battle involving a Malibu house, "If I had to do it again in hindsight, I would do it the same way I did it last time. I wouldn't change a thing."
According to court docs obtained by The Blast last month, in 2016, Mauricio was selling a luxurious home in Malibu owned by Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the son of the President of Equatorial Guinea. But after a criminal investigation, the United States government had seized the property.
As a part of a settlement, Mangue agreed to sell the beachfront property and give more than $10 million from the sale to a charity benefiting the people of his home country.
Mauricio put the house on the market for $32 million, but in the new suit, potential buyer Sam Hakim has alleged Mauricio, 49, chose the price knowing, "full well it was far below the property's true market value."
Hakim has contended in legal papers that Mauricio did that so he could secretly buy the home himself and sell it at a profit at a later date.
Mauricio eventually flipped the property and sold it for almost $70 million, the court papers indicate.
Hakim has claimed he tried to make a $40 million offer on the house but Mauricio told him "not to put it in writing."
Hakim is charging Mauricio with "shocking misconduct" and "egregious breaches of duty and other despicable conduct" which cost him the profits that he would have received for the winning bid on the estate.
The man is suing for the $35 million he believes he would have received in profit.
Mauricio, whose real estate firm is called The Agency, has told the Inman website about the legal drama, "There are two sides to every story. Mine has yet to be told. It'll be told soon. It's not affecting our daily business, it's not affecting our operations."
Inman also obtained a statement from Mauricio, via The Agency, which said, "One day my side will be told and I am very confident we will be vindicated."
Kyle's husband also said, "It is not affecting anybody at The Agency. I don't know one agent who has left The Agency over that lawsuit."
Mauricio opined on his business, saying he doesn't keep employees if they aren't producing.
"We switch out non-producing agents for producing agents. So if you didn't perform, you didn't have a chance to be at The Agency," he said.
Mauricio added in the interview that his feud with real estate titan brother-in-law Rick Hilton, husband of Kyle's sister Kathy, has ended.
"Rick and I good. We've made up, we're family," he said.
"We were definitely in a fight for a while. And it was real. But the families have made up and it was fantastic. We've been good for solidly over a year. At the end of the day, time heals everything. Eventually when you put family together for different events — Christmas, Thanksgiving, a birthday party — time eventually heals it. And I think that's what happened with us. And thank God," Mauricio said.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
The RHOBH spouse has been in legal hot water before the current case.
Mauricio denied all wrongdoing in a previous real estate lawsuit and eventually, he reached an agreement that dismissed it.
Kyle and Mauricio are known for their lavish lifestyle and she's expected to be the queen of the Bravo reality show after Lisa Vanderpump quit.
"It's Kyle's show now," former co-star Camille Grammer recently said of RHOBH.
