- Kyle Richards filed a lawsuit against her sister, Kim Richards, in January 2025, seeking to evict her from a two-bedroom Encino condo she owned.
- A default judgment was entered in March 2025 after Kim failed to respond to the lawsuit, but she had already moved out before she could be served.
- The legal action followed Kim’s 2024 substance abuse relapse, during which she was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold.
Even by Real Housewives of Beverly Hills standards, this one stings. Kyle Richards, 57, reportedly filed a lawsuit against her older sister, Kim Richards, 61, in January 2025, seeking to evict her from a two-bedroom Encino, California, property she owned, and court documents obtained by TMZ are only now making the full story public.
The backdrop to the lawsuit is as painful as it sounds. Kim made headlines in 2024 when she was reportedly placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold following a substance abuse relapse. It was the kind of family crisis that plays out quietly for most people — except that the Richards sisters have spent over a decade letting the world watch.
Kyle claimed that Kim had been living in the Encino home for years, and alleged she first asked the Witch Mountain star to leave in late 2024 following a dispute. The eviction lawsuit was the legal follow-through.
What happened next was almost anticlimactic. Kim never responded to the initial suit, and a default judgment was ultimately entered in March 2025, requiring Kim to surrender possession of the property. No courtroom showdown. No tearful confessional. Just silence.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office was eventually dispatched to serve Kim with the judgment, but by then, she was already gone. Court documents from June 2025 show that when deputies arrived, Kim had allegedly moved out of her sister’s place before she could be served.
The origins of the standoff trace back to the fall of 2024, when things between the sisters deteriorated rapidly. LAPD officers were called to the home after neighbors requested that Kim be removed from the property, citing concerns about her past behavior. Kyle echoed those concerns when reached by police. Police told Kyle it was a civil matter and that she had to file an eviction action to remove her sister. And so she did.
It was a gut-wrenching decision for a woman who has always worn her emotions on her sleeve — and on camera. Sources close to the family told People that Kim was in “a really bad place,” with her “reliance on alcohol” being “an ongoing source of conflict” for the entire Richards-Hilton clan. One insider said, “The family [is] very private about details, but from the little they’ve said, it’s clear they’ve reached another breaking point with her.”
The “tough love” approach appeared to be a coordinated family effort. The family reportedly resorted to turning their backs on Kim in a last-ditch effort to make her see that she needs help, with Kyle reportedly struggling to balance helping and enabling her sister.
Publicly, Kyle kept things measured — and quietly emotional. “You know, we are a family, [so] when something’s going on with one of us, we all sort of stick together and circle around each other and try to be there and lift each other up,” she told Page Six.
“So that’s what I’ve been trying to do,” Kyle continued. “Of course, you never want to show the most difficult parts of your life, but I don’t have that luxury.”
Sister Kathy Hilton, 67, was equally careful with her words. “Kim and I have never had issues or anything,” Kathy told Us Weekly in October 2024. “She is going through a tough time, and she’s doing better now.”
At the RHOBH Season 14 reunion in April 2025, Kathy told host Andy Cohen, “She’s spending time [in Florida]. She’s doing better.” Kyle added that Kim was “doing better than the last time” she was in the news.
As of BravoCon 2025, it seems the sisters have found their footing again. Kyle opened up about where they stand, saying Kim has been thriving since relocating from California to Florida. “She has the most beautiful grandchildren I’ve ever seen; they’re unbelievable, and I’m really close with them, and I love them so much,” Kyle said. “I just went to Kim’s granddaughter’s little Halloween thing at school, and it was so fun to go and see, and have that relationship with them is nice.”
Neither Kyle nor Kim has publicly addressed the lawsuit. Reps for both sisters did not respond to requests for comment.
Kim’s last public appearance on RHOBH was a 2023 episode. During her final season as a full-time housewife, she told Kyle, “I do believe — I’m going to get emotional — life is just too short to fight. It just is not worth it. I want you guys to fix it somehow. [Life] can be so short.”
Clearly, some things are easier said than lived.
