Tracy Kasper, a REALTOR® from Nampa, Idaho, is a former President of the National Association of REALTORS®.
Courtesy: NAR
The president of the National Association of Realtors on Monday said she was resigning due to a blackmail threat that sought to “compromise” her leadership role.
NAR President Tracy Kasper said she had notified the group’s leadership team “that she recently received a threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter unless she compromised her position at NAR.”
Kasper “refused to do so and instead reported the threat to law enforcement,” NAR said in a statement.
President-elect Kevin Sears will immediately step into the post at the group, which represents more than 1.5 million members working in the residential and commercial real estate industries.
NAR in its statement said, “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.”
Kasper’s predecessor as president, Kenny Parcell, resigned in August, two days after The New York Times published a story detailing claims he had sexually harassed women he worked with.
NAR CEO Bob Goldberg resigned in November, months earlier than planned, after a federal jury found the group and some residential real estate brokers were liable for a conspiracy to artificially inflate brokers’ commissions from home sales. NAR was ordered to pay $1.78 billion in that case.
In a statement Monday, Kasper said, “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.
NAR declined to comment beyond its statement.
– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Diana Olick
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
