Talia Soglin | Chicago Tribune

National Association of Realtors President Tracy Kasper has resigned, the latest in a string of leadership changes at the embattled Chicago-based trade association.

In a news release, the association said Kasper had “received a threat to disclose a past personal, non-financial matter” unless she “compromised” her role at NAR. The association declined to provide additional details about the threat but said Kasper had refused to comply and reported it to law enforcement.

“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.

Kasper is the broker-owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Silverhawk Realty in the Boise Valley and has served on the NAR board of directors since 2016, according to her biography on the association’s website.

NAR said President-elect Kevin Sears would step into Kasper’s role effective immediately. Sears, of Springfield, Mass., is broker and partner of Sears Real Estate, according to his NAR biography.

Kasper, who became NAR president after former President Kenny Parcell resigned in August after sexual harassment allegations against him were reported in The New York Times, is the latest executive to resign from the organization. NAR, which owns the trademark Realtors, is the nation’s largest trade association and has more than 1.5 million members.

After Parcell’s resignation, CEO Bob Goldberg — who would resign from NAR himself shortly thereafter — told staffers the association would hire outside law firms to evaluate the organization’s policies and investigate complaints of harassment and misconduct.

Staff members at NAR had previously called for the hiring of outside counsel and for executives including Goldberg to be removed from their positions.

Goldberg resigned from the association in November, more than a year before his planned retirement.

Goldberg’s resignation came shortly after a federal jury in Missouri found NAR and several large real estate brokerages had conspired to artificially inflate the commissions of real estate agents. The $1.8 billion verdict, which NAR says it plans to appeal, has the potential to significantly change the business of home buying and selling. A similar case is pending in federal court in Chicago.

The organization said Goldberg’s resignation was planned prior to the verdict and was not related to the harassment allegations against Parcell.

Nykia Wright, former CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times, was appointed interim CEO following Goldberg’s retirement.