National Association of Realtors president steps down alleging blackmail threat

WASHINGTON — The president of the embattled National Association of Realtors, Tracy Kasper, announced on Monday she would step down, alleging blackmail, according to a statement from the association.

Kasper — who has led the nation's largest professional trade organization, with 1.5 million members, since August when she took over for the former president who resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment — informed the association's leadership team that she recently received a threat to disclose a past personal, nonfinancial matter unless she compromised her position at National Association of Realtors, the statement said.

Kasper refused to do so and instead reported the threat to law enforcement and decided it was best for the organization that she step down, according to the association.

"As president and a long-time member of NAR, I always have put the interests of NAR first," Kasper said in a statement. "As a result of the recent threat and given the significance of this moment for myself, my family and the organization, it is again time for me to put the interests of NAR first. So, it is with a mix of gratitude and a heavy heart that I submit my resignation as your president effective immediately."

President-elect Kevin Sears, who is also a broker and partner at Sears Real Estate in Springfield, Mass, will step into the role of president immediately.

National Association of Realtors faced several seismic shocks over the past year even as soaring mortgage rates dragged sales of homes to their lowest levels in years as homebuyers faced the least affordable market in decades.

In August then-president Kenny Parcell, a Utah man, resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, first published by The New York Times, outlining complaints from current and former employees of the association that included improper touching and sending lewd photos and texts. In the Times article, Parcell denied the accusations. At the time, CNN reached out to Parcell for comment regarding the allegations and did not hear back.

Kasper, who had been president-elect, stepped in at that point promising to address member and staff concerns.

Kasper took over the role acknowledging the "concern, anger and disappointment" among association staff and members in a statement adding, "Our commitment to our staff and our members is unwavering, and we will continue to enhance the way we foster a welcoming, safe and respectful workplace."

In November the chief executive of National Association of Realtors, Bob Goldberg also stepped down, replaced by Nykia Wright.

Goldberg's departure came only two days after the association and two brokerages were found liable for $1.8 billion in damages for conspiring to keep agent commissions artificially high by a federal jury in Missouri in an antitrust case.

The ramifications of that verdict and several similar cases that have been filed in its wake have shaken many agents as it raises concerns about how they earn their commission fees and challenged the leadership at the association as some firms and organizations have departed.

Following the upheaval of the past year at the association, an agent-led organization calling for changes has emerged called the NAR Accountability Project.

In a statement, the founder of the project Jason Haber, an agent with Compass in New York City, said that while the group strongly believed it was time for a change in leadership at the association, the circumstances surrounding Ms. Kasper's resignation are of great concern.

"No one should be the victim of threats, intimidation or harassment," Haber said. "If that happened to Ms. Kasper, that person should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law."

Related topics