National Association of Realtors President Tracy Kasper resigned recently after being blackmailed over an unspecified personal matter, the association said.
According to an NAR release, Ms. Kasper said “she recently received a threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter unless she compromised her position at NAR. She refused to do so and instead reported the threat to law enforcement.”
The Chicago-based real estate trade association did not say in its Monday release what compromising actions Ms. Kasper was told to take, nor did it say which law enforcement agency Ms. Kasper brought the matter to.
“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,” Ms. Kasper said in a statement.
In her place, NAR President-elect Kevin Sears will step in.
The move comes just two months after the resignation of former CEO Bob Goldberg. Mr. Goldberg left the organization early, days after a federal court found that the association and several large national brokerages artificially inflated the commissions due to the Realtors, according to The Associated Press.
Nykia Wright took over as interim CEO on Nov. 20.
The NAR is continuing to appeal the federal court’s findings and its order that NAR and other defendants pay almost $1.8 billion in damages, the group told AP.
Ms. Kasper, who had held the office previously in 2016, resumed the position in August 2023, following allegations of sexual harassment made against former NAR President Kenny Parcell who has denied the claims, according to The New York Times.
A realty agent-led group, the NAR Accountability Project has called for changes to the trade association’s leadership. The group decried the threats made against Ms. Kasper.
“No one should be the victim of threats, intimidation or harassment. If that happened to Ms. Kasper, that person should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law,” NAR Accountability Project founder Jason Haber told CNN.
The association says it represents “more than 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.”
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