Houston real estate investor and reality TV figure Washington Ho is involved in a legal dispute with Christy Huckaby, the former CEO of his brokerage, White House Global Properties. Huckaby, who was hired in January 2024 to lead the firm, filed a lawsuit last September. She alleges that Ho, current CEO Angelica Smart, and the company made false promises regarding her compensation, failed to pay her agreed salary, withheld commissions, and harmed her professional reputation.
According to court documents cited by the Houston Business Journal, Huckaby claims she was promised $10,000 per month for six months but received only $21,500 in total. She also says Ho and Smart withheld $170,000 in sales commissions. Additionally, Huckaby alleges she lost out on a commission of nearly $276,000 from a $4.6 million listing for former Houston Rockets player Steve Francis after Ho and Smart took over the deal.
Huckaby’s lawsuit includes accusations beyond financial matters. She alleges defamation by Ho and Smart, inappropriate sexual comments made toward her, and an unfulfilled promise of a role on a reality TV spinoff related to Ho’s HBO Max show “House of Ho.”
Ho and Smart have responded with a countersuit denying Huckaby’s claims. They accuse her of breach of fiduciary duty and allege that she harmed the brokerage by taking 20 agents with her upon departure—including her own 13-person team known as The Closers—and by shutting down the company’s website. Their filing also claims Huckaby attempted to blackmail them for $500,000 using what they described as damaging personal material.
The conflict has affected other staff at White House Global Properties. Nicole Lopez, who served briefly as COO before leaving two months into her tenure, followed Huckaby out of the company after being released from a noncompete agreement. Lopez has since joined Corcoran Genesis and previously stated she left due to what she called a “very chaotic environment.”
Neither Huckaby nor her attorney provided comment when contacted by media outlets. Ho declined to comment as well.
White House Global Properties was launched by Ho and Smart in late 2023 following Ho’s departure from eXp Realty over disagreements about its commission structure. The firm was promoted as offering fair commissions with an investment focus but now faces ongoing litigation among its founding leadership less than a year after opening.
A jury trial motion is scheduled for October with both parties seeking damages.
Earlier this year White House Global Properties expanded operations into Austin and announced plans to hire between 30 and 50 agents over several years. While focusing on luxury listings in Austin’s competitive market (https://therealdeal.com/austin/2024/04/22/washington-hos-firm-expands-to-austin-amid-hot-luxury-market/), the brokerage also intends to serve residential properties across all price points as well as commercial, industrial, and development sectors.
