Mauricio Umansky’s colleague says there’s more to the Rick Hilton story

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Mauricio Umansky

Mauricio Umansky owns one of the most successful real estate brokerage firms in the country, but he began his career in the business working for his brother-in-law, Rick Hilton.

More than a decade ago, family drama unfolded on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and in headlines when Umansky left Hilton’s firm, Hilton & Hyland, to start his own brokerage firm, The Agency.

But during the February 1, 2023 episode of the podcast “Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef”.a real estate agent who works for Umansky’s firm and co-stars with him on the Netflix reality show Buying Beverly Hills said he doesn’t try to compete with his brother-in-law — and never has.

“To be honest, I don’t feel like Mo is competitive with anyone,” said Buying Beverly Hills star Allie Lutz. “He knows where he stands. I think we are very different. We really are a different brokerage firm than Hilton & Hyland. … It’s not because we say oh we’re better than, it’s just that we’re different. We are really different. … They are not comparable.”

Lutz noted that all families have drama, and she teased that there’s more people don’t know about the situation.

“Listen, they’re a family and how, of course you know, I mean, is there family drama with every family?” she said of the Hiltons and Umanskys. “Yes, somehow there will always be drama. … I mean, I guess I know why, but people are so interested in this relationship. But I don’t think you should overlook why Mo is where he is.”

“There’s a lot more backstory than most people [know]’ Lutz adds. “You know, listen, you think you know people, but the truth is we don’t know them, right? As if we know what people are willing to share and show, but a lot happens behind closed doors. So it’s like their family stuff and I don’t think there’s any hatred towards each other. I think like I said we’re two different brokerage firms and we can both be successful in this space, you know?

Mauricio Umansky didn’t mention Hilton & Hyland when discussing his career path on the first episode of Buying Beverly Hills

GettyKathy Hilton and Rick Hilton.

After losing his job in the apparel industry, Umansky got his start in real estate more than 20 years ago, working for Hilton’s company. He left Hilton’s company to found The Agency, but when explaining his career at Buying Beverly Hills, he forgot to mention he’d ever worked for Hilton’s.

During an appearance on November 30, 2022 on “See What Happens Live” Umansky explained why he skipped part of his backstory after his wife, Kyle Richards, and her sister, Kathy Hilton, fell out during an explosive cast journey for RHOBH.

“The reality is, I didn’t feel like it needed to be mentioned,” Umansky said, keeping his story with Rick Hilton out of his story. “There’s a lot of drama going on between you, Kathy and Kyle right now. There’s enough going on.”

“I just didn’t need to rehash it again,” Umansky added. “I didn’t have to bring it into something new. It was really just me and us and not anyone else, so it was just something I didn’t want to mention.”

Another ‘Buying Beverly Hills’ star said she was contacted by Hilton & Hyland and other companies

Melissa Platt, another The Agency employee, also spoke on Yontef’s podcast and revealed that she “constantly” gets calls to join other companies.

“I actually started out at Hilton & Highland,” she said. “And again it’s a valued brokerage business, it’s great. It was just that The Agency was more my vibe. But people move. A lot of people get calls, they get poached, they get offers, you know, there’s some brokerages that pay agents to switch.

“We’ve all had offers,” Allie Lutz added. “We’re recruited all the time, you know, that’s part of the business.”

CONTINUE READING: Mauricio Umansky will tell celebrity stories in his book