National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) staff member Donna Gland has announced her retirement following the CEO’s exit, as the fallout continues from a federal jury ruling that NAR and two major real estate companies conspired to inflate buyers’ agent commissions.
Another lawsuit has also been filed against the various real estate groups.
According to Housing Wire, Ms Gland, who has been with the trade group for 38 years, most recently served as NAR’s head of talent development and resources, but will officially leave NAR at the end of the calendar year.
According to a statement from NAR, it was Ms Gland’s “personal decision” to retire and that the association thanked her for her contribution.
Her departure comes on the back of NAR CEO Bob Goldberg, who last week announced he would bring forward his retirement plans in the wake of the legal stoush.
Mr Goldberg had previously announced that he would retire when his contract expired at the end of 2024, but will now serve as an executive consultant during the transition.
“After announcing my decision to retire earlier this year, and as I reflected on my 30 years at NAR, I determined last month that now is the right time for this extraordinary organization to look to the future,” Mr Goldberg said.
Mr Goldberg will be replaced by Nykia Wright on an interim basis.
On top of the high profile departures, another lawsuit has also emerged, with seven homebuyers, led by Mya Batton, suing Compass, Redfin, Douglas Elliman, eXp and three other brokerages over similar accusations — this time focused on homebuyers instead of sellers, according to The Real Deal.
“Defendants’ unlawful, anticompetitive conduct causes America’s home buyers to pay inflated commissions for broker services they misrepresent as free, to pay inflated prices for the homes they purchase, and to receive reduced quality broker services,” the complaint said.
The case is focused on NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, which requires agents to offer buyer’s agents compensation in exchange for listing properties on a realtor-controlled MLS.
The complaint argues that the rule pressures sellers to offer a high commission to prevent buyer’s agents from steering their clients to homes where they could take home a higher cut.
The lawsuit comes on top of two others pending in Illinois and one in Missouri.
