Lessinger’s resignation comes less than a year after she became president. This also comes after RE/MAX has struggled with its performance in recent quarters.
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RE/MAX President Amy Lessinger announced she will step down this month, less than a year after taking the job.
amy lessinger
Lessinger announced his resignation Wednesday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing does not give a reason for Lessinger’s resignation, only that she notified the company of her resignation on January 3, effective January 17. The filing also states that RE/MAX is searching for a new president.
RE/MAX said in a brief statement to Inman on Wednesday afternoon that it had accepted Lessinger’s resignation. The statement added that Eric Carlson, CEO of parent company RE/MAX Holdings, “will assume responsibility until a successor is named.” The statement did not say why Mr. Lessinger resigned or what he would do next.
News of the SEC filing was first reported by Real Estate News.
Mr. Lessinger became RE/MAX’s president in February 2024, following the retirement of Nick Bailey, who served as president and CEO. Although she did not hold the title of CEO, Lessinger reported directly to Carlson.
Prior to becoming president of the franchisor, Mr. Lessinger had held positions at the company since 2020, including vice president and senior vice president. According to her LinkedIn page, she began her career as a RE/MAX agent in 1996.
Lessinger led the company during a period of significant difficulty. In 2024, the real estate industry faced widespread disruption thanks to antitrust litigation over agent commissions. RE/MAX settled its role in the commission lawsuit in September 2023, before Mr. Lessinger took office. But she still took the reins when NAR announced its own settlement and subsequently forced various rule changes in the industry.
In an April 2024 interview with Inman, Lessinger defended the RE/MAX antitrust settlement, calling it a “great decision.”
Additionally, RE/MAX faced its own pressures unrelated to antitrust litigation. At the time of Mr. Bailey’s departure, RE/MAX had experienced six consecutive quarters of declining revenue. Under Lessinger’s leadership, the company was unable to reverse this trend in 2024, with sales declining for nine consecutive quarters as of last October.
Recent earnings reports also revealed that the brand continues to lose distributors in the United States.
In the same interview in which he defended the RE/MAX antitrust settlement, Lessinger said that “stabilizing and increasing the number of U.S. distributors” would be one of his “top priorities” as president.
The departure of Mr. Lessinger and Mr. Bailey is not the only recent leadership change at RE/MAX. In June 2024, the company announced that its chief operating officer, Serene Smith, had resigned.
Carlson is a relative newcomer to RE/MAX, joining the company in November 2023 after serving as president and CEO of Dish Network.
Update: This article has been updated since publication with additional context and a statement from the company about Lessinger and RE/MAX.
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