Kotler has been with Douglas Elliman for more than 30 years and will return to sales work with his brothers and sons of the Kotler team in New York City after a turbulent period of Western operations.
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Douglas Elliman, Inc. According to an internal memo from Michael Liebowitz, CEO of Douglas Elliman Western Region Stephen Kotler handled lawsuits from disgruntled employees for several months, according to a Steve in the Douglas Elliman Western Region. Phen Kotler is , resigned from his executive role at a brokerage. I’ve reviewed it.
Stephen H. Kotler | Douglas Elliman
Kotler will remain with Douglas Elliman and join the Kotler team in New York City. This includes Max, Kotler’s son, and his brother Michael.
“We are deeply grateful for Stephen’s leadership and the lasting impact he has had at Douglas Elliman,” writes Liebowitz.
Representatives for Douglas Elliman could not be reached for comment.
In October, Kotler and Douglas Elliman’s California brokerage became recipients of two lawsuits. One is from Christina Carrillo’s former executive manager of the Newport Beach office, and the other is from Bill Grasska, former president of Portfolio Escrow. Portfolio Escrow is Douglas Elliman, an escrow company that was acquired in 2020.
Christie Carrillo | Luxury
Carrillo’s lawsuit claims that credits are not reported to close to inflate a committee of certain agents, and calls Altman Brothers for being treated prioritized, and clients from the active list of other agents called it poaching. Carrillo further accused Kotler of sexual harassment and retaliation. Elliman said she had never received a sexual harassment complaint from Carrillo while she was with the company. The lawsuit continues to move through courts. A request to change Elliman and Kotler’s recent venue from LA County to Orange County Court was denied Tuesday, and the defendant must respond to Carrillo’s complaints by February 24th.
Grasska’s lawsuit filed a similar complaint over a change in the closing statement, with Douglas Elliman executives inflated the closing statement to Portfolio Escrow’s manager “inflated the closing statement to allow Altman to win more committees.” He claimed he asked. Starbroker Jason Oppenheim, anonymous, was also involved in a lawsuit allegedly engaging in Graska’s “illegal kickback” scheme, Inman discovered in December. Elliman also hit a glaska in his countersuit. He claimed he had engaged in his own kickbacks, charged personal fees on the company’s credit card and violated non-competition with Elliman by creating an exchange of 1031 known as Siena Financial.
Bill Glaska | Riviera Financial Partners
The lawsuits between Graska and Douglas Elliman were settled at the end of December. The terms of the settlement have not been made public.
In a note on Kotler’s move, Liebowitz also announced the new leadership for the region. Bill Begart is intervening as the Western Regional COO. Paul Hernandez will be appointed president of brokerages in California and Nevada, Katherine Lee will be president of a Texas brokerage and Joshua Sasrob will be president of a Colorado brokerage. Liebowitz said the new leader will report directly to him and make decisions about recruitment, retention and marketing that are unique to their region.
“This transition marks an exciting opportunity to promote our vision of creating a future entrepreneurial, agent-centric brokerage,” the memo continues. “Our new structure will speed up localized decision making, support targeted growth in the luxury market and enhance recruitment and retention initiatives.”
Michael S. Leebowitz | Douglas Eliman
Liebowitz’s note reiterated the sentiment she expressed when she first appeared on Inman Connect New York in January. A kind of hybrid intermediary model.
Kotler’s move from Douglas Elliman’s executive space is the latest in the company’s string of high-profile shakeups. Liebowitz was at the helm after longtime CEO and chairman Howard Lorber suddenly retired in October. This announcement was followed by the firing of former brokerage president and CEO Scott Durkin, which was revealed in the SEC application.
Longtime agent and $1 million restructurer Tracy Tutor also left the company with her team for a compass in January.
This all happened amidst the backdrop of the intensification of top luxury brokers Tall and Oren Alexander, who partnered with Douglas Elliman between around 2012-2022. The brother was arrested in December on sex trafficking charges and will remain in federal custody until an unplanned trial. Douglas Elliman reportedly worked with federal agents to provide documents relating to the brothers related to the brothers, according to a December report from Bloomberg.
Kotler joined Douglas Elliman as an agent in New York City more than 30 years ago. He first started his management team in New York, eventually being asked to lead new developments in California, and most recently spent most of his time as CEO of the Western Region of Texas, before securities in 2019. The company has been launched.
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