Realtors Group’s new president abruptly resigns

The president of the embattled National Association of Realtors has resigned just four months into her term. Tracy Kasper is the second president to abruptly resign from NAR — an organization that has seen its power and influence diminish in recent months after losing a major antitrust case and amid accusations that leaders had ignored allegations of sexual harassment.

NAR announced the surprising departure of Ms. Kasper on Monday in a short press release this implied that Mrs Kasper had received a blackmail threat. She “recently received a threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter unless she jeopardized her position,” and she reported the matter to police, the press release said.

The organization provided no details and declined to comment further; Ms. Kasper did not immediately respond to a new request for comment.

NAR is the largest professional organization in the United States and has wielded enormous power over the American housing industry for more than a century. The organization has more than $1 billion in assets, operates the largest political fundraising organization in the country and holds the trademark for the word “Realtor.” To gain access to nearly all U.S. housing listings and call themselves real estate agents, its 1.5 million members each pay hundreds of dollars in annual dues.

In August, The New York Times exposed widespread allegations of sexual harassment by then-president Kenny Parcell, as well as the organization’s practice of providing payouts and non-disclosure agreements to women who reported sexual misconduct.

Mr. Parcell resigned two days after the investigation was published, and Ms. Kasper, 55, already elected president, stepped into the role earlier than planned. She’s an old real estate agent from Boise, Idaho.

During her short tenure, Ms. Kasper attempted to guide the organization through several crises, including a landmark jury verdict in federal court in Missouri. The jury found that NAR and several major real estate agents conspired to enforce a NAR policy that required home sellers to pay commissions to the agent representing the buyer. Three plaintiffs, representing half a million home sellers, alleged they were paid excessive fees as a result of the policy.

NAR and the brokers were ordered to pay nearly $1.8 billion in damages. The verdict allows the court to issue treble damages, meaning it could amount to more than $5 billion. NAR is attractive.

Within hours of that ruling, plaintiffs’ lawyers filed a new class action lawsuit in the US District Court in Missouri, this time seeking damages of up to $200 billion.

After the verdict, the organization’s longtime CEO announced that he would retire more than a year early. The longtime human resources director, who faced widespread calls for her resignation, also announced she is retiring.

More than a dozen other lawsuits have piled up since then, and many members fear the legal troubles could bankrupt the organization and disrupt the process of buying and selling a home in the United States.

Internal issues, including allegations of sexual harassment and power struggles, have been a distraction, members have complained. In November, Mr. Parcell, who has denied the allegations against him, wrote an open letter that NAR staff interpreted as a plan to derail their national convention. Ms. Kasper personally sent her former ally a sharp warning, and after the convention, NAR’s 69-member executive committee adopted a new policy: a lifetime ban from all NAR events for any elected officer who resigns or is removed from office.

Ms Kasper, who helped lead that policy, is now bound by it.

In a statement, Ms. Kasper said: “As a result of the recent threat and given the significance of this moment for myself, my family and the organization, it is once 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 tender my resignation as your President with immediate effect.”

Kevin Sears, who served as NAR’s first vice president before assuming the role of vice president in August when Mr. Parcell resigned, will now take over as president.