Mauricio Umansky has found himself in more legal hot water pertaining to his real estate dealings.
As the 53-year-old cast member of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills continues to face legal challenges regarding a $32 million Malibu mansion that he purportedly bought dishonestly in an attempt to turn a profit, a different lawsuit claims that his business, UMRO Realty Corp, also known as The Agency, willfully permitted nightmare tenants to occupy a $55,000-per-month mansion in Pacific Palisades.
According to an October 26 report from Radar Online, Stephen McPherson filed the lawsuit in an L.A. Superior Court in May 2021, naming Mauricio’s firm and two agents, and accusing the company of moving a married couple with a renter’s history of “contractual fraud” into his $12 million home with a six-month lease.
“At the end of the Lease term (i.e., April 17, 2021) the Tenants refused to vacate the Premises and return possession thereof to the Plaintiffs and to file an unlawful detainer action to regain possession of the Premises from the Tenants,” the suit stated. “Plaintiffs have been forced to incur additional legal fees as a result.”
According to the lawsuit, the tenants caused $1 million in damages to the property, its furniture, the designer clothes and paintings inside, and the garden. They even broke into an off-limits wine cellar, which resulted in $100,000 worth of vintage bottles going missing.
The lawsuit stated that the couple had participated in “extreme, outrageous, and wrongful conduct” while using the premises. They allegedly went through a storage closet, ruined expensive designer clothing, and removed artwork and furniture from the walls.
Apart from going through all of the pricey stuff in the property, the pair allegedly stole several items and handed the husband of the cleaner two couches.
The homeowner asserts that they should have known that the pair could cause problems because six prior claims had been filed against them, even though Mauricio’s company did not cause the damage. The business was also a party to a 2015 decision that resulted in a $131,000 settlement.
“They introduced the Tenants to the Plaintiffs in the Lease Transaction despite the risk of harm evidenced by the (the couples) extensive history of fraud and unlawful detainer; – they brought a shell corporation, represented by a convicted felon to the Plaintiffs as a prospective tenant in the Lease Transaction and they failed to inform the Plaintiffs of those facts,” the lawsuit stated.
In response to the $1 million lawsuit, UMRO denied the homeowner’s claims and filed a cross-complaint against the couple and a shell company used to rent the home.
“Each of the Cross-Defendants were responsible in whole or in part for the injuries, if any suffered by plaintiffs in this case,” the lawsuit stated.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 13 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.