The head of the nation’s most powerful real estate lobby stepped down Monday after a failed blackmail attempt against her, the organization said.
National Association of Realtors President Tracy Kasper told the trade group’s Leadership Team that she received a threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter unless she compromised her position at NAR.
The association said she refused to do so and instead reported the threat to law enforcement. Kasper felt that, in the circumstances, it was best for the organization that she step down.
“The Leadership Team is deeply concerned about any attempt to undermine its governance and, as a result, is taking steps to protect the integrity of the organization,” the group said in a statement
“As president and a long-time member of NAR, I always have put the interests of NAR first. 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,” Kasper said in a statement. “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 will step into the role of NAR President, effective immediately.
“NAR’s work to strengthen the organization continues uninterrupted, and NAR remains focused on leading our industry forward and ensuring transparent and competitive marketplaces for American home buyers and sellers,” the group said.
Kasper is from from Nampa, Idaho, where she is broker-owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Silverhawk Realty.
The National Association of Realtors is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
The leadership change comes as the National Association of Realtors faces its biggest challenge in years.
In October 2023, a jury found the National Association of Realtors and some residential brokerages liable to pay $1.78 billion in damages for conspiring to artificially inflate commissions for home sales.
The verdict threatens to change decades-old practices that have allowed real estate agents to boost commissions as home prices and mortgage rates rise. Opponents say the practice hurts consumers by making housing transactions more expensive. The National Association of Realtors has appealed the verdict, but that process could take years.
