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Harris Real Estate Daily
By Tim & Julie Harris · December 19, 2025
🥳 Happy Friday, {{first_name|agents}}! This week I sat down with Dan Lesniak — longtime friend, eXp Realty partner, and co-leader (with his wife, Keri Shull) of one of the most successful real estate teams in the history of the industry.
What started as an interview quickly turned into something else entirely.
This was not a “tips and tricks” conversation.
This was not motivational fluff.
This was a reckoning.
We talked about Zillow, RICO accusations, tech corruption, undisclosed incentives, and the ethical collapse of parts of the real estate coaching and brokerage world.
Some people are going to be uncomfortable reading this.
Good.
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🤫 Let’s Start With the Part Everyone’s Whispering About: Zillow and RICO
A growing number of lawsuits have accused Zillow of conduct that goes far beyond “aggressive business practices.” In several cases, plaintiffs have invoked RICO — the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
That’s not a casual accusation.
What is RICO?
RICO was passed in 1970 to dismantle organized crime — Mafia families, cartels, criminal enterprises that hid behind layers of “legitimate” businesses.
The genius (and danger) of RICO is this:
You don’t have to pull the trigger to be guilty.
You just have to be part of the enterprise.
RICO is used when plaintiffs allege:
A coordinated enterprise
A pattern of behavior (not a one-off)
Multiple parties acting in concert
Systemic financial harm
Historically, RICO cases targeted:
Organized crime families
Corrupt labor unions
Financial fraud rings
Coordinated market manipulation
So when RICO enters the real estate conversation, that alone should make every agent stop scrolling.
⚖️ Why Zillow Being Named Matters (Even Before Any Verdict)
To be clear: allegations are not guilt. Courts will decide outcomes.
But here’s what matters right now:
RICO is not about one bad decision.
It’s about systems.
The allegations raise questions about:
Steering consumers toward affiliated services
Penalizing agents who don’t comply
Controlling lead flow and visibility
Structuring incentives that may conflict with fiduciary duty
Dan said something that cut through the noise:
“If a system only works when agents sacrifice margin, independence, or ethics — the system is the problem.”
That’s the heart of this issue.
🗣️ The Part No One Wants to Say Out Loud: Follow the Money
Most agents assume corruption looks like a brown envelope full of cash.
That’s outdated thinking.
Today’s influence is financialized, quiet, and perfectly legal.
How influence actually works now
Coaches, brokers, and “industry leaders” may receive:
Equity stakes in tech companies
“Advisor” or “strategic partner” titles
Warrants or performance-based vesting
Revenue tied to adoption, not agent profitability
No disclosure required.
No commission statement.
No obvious conflict on paper.
Yet those same voices aggressively promote:
Specific lead platforms
Proprietary mortgage funnels
“Required” tech stacks
Systems agents are told they must use to survive
Ask yourself this:
If your coach profits when you adopt a tool — regardless of whether you make money — whose interest is being served?
That’s not conspiracy.
That’s basic incentives.
🔄 Brokers, Tech, and the Feedback Loop No One Explains
Dan and I also talked about the broker-tech feedback loop.
Some brokerages receive:
Revenue share
Marketing payments
Data access agreements
Preferential pricing
Bundled services tied to agent adoption
This creates a quiet but dangerous shift:
Agents stop being clients.
They become distribution channels.
When that happens:
Agent profitability becomes secondary
Volume is rewarded over margin
“Just do more deals” becomes the answer to everything
Dan put it bluntly:
“A transaction where the agent loses money isn’t a business. It’s exploitation.”
🏰 “Building a Mansion on Land You Don’t Own”
This was one of the most powerful metaphors of the interview.
Too many agents are building massive businesses on:
Someone else’s platform
Someone else’s audience
Someone else’s algorithm
Someone else’s rules
That’s fine… until it isn’t.
Platforms change.
Algorithms change.
Terms change.
Lead flow dries up.
And suddenly agents realize they never owned the land — just the mortgage.
Dan and Keri didn’t build one of the most successful teams in history by outsourcing their identity. They built relationships, trust, brand, and repeat business.
That’s not old-school.
That’s durable.
🪞 The Moral Failure in Coaching (This Is the Hard Part)
Here’s where things get uncomfortable.
There are coaches and leaders in this industry who:
Tell agents to chase units over net
Normalize losing money on deals
Promote tech without understanding ROI
Shame agents for questioning the system
Let’s say this clearly:
If an agent follows your advice exactly and loses money, you failed them.
There is no motivational spin that fixes that.
Dan asked the question every leader should answer honestly:
“If agents trust you, and your advice costs them money, are you leading — or exploiting?”
That’s the moral line.
🧠 Why This Isn’t Anti-Tech (Read This Twice)
This is not an anti-technology argument.
Technology is a tool.
Tools are neutral.
What’s dangerous is:
Undisclosed incentives
Misaligned economics
Leaders who profit when agents struggle
Systems that reward dependency over mastery
Agents don’t need fewer tools.
They need truth about the tools.
🛠️ What Agents Must Do — Starting Now
Dan didn’t mince words, and neither will I.
If you’re an agent, here’s your responsibility to yourself and your family:
1. Own your business
Not your brokerage’s.
Not a platform’s.
Yours.
2. Diversify lead sources
Any single point of failure is a risk.
3. Obsess over net profit
Units don’t pay bills.
Profit does.
4. Question incentives
Always ask: Who benefits if I do this?
5. Build something no algorithm can take
Your brand.
Your reputation.
Your relationships.
🧭 Why This Moment Matters
RICO didn’t go after organized crime because it was loud.
It went after it because it was organized.
Whether these cases succeed or fail, the message is clear:
The era of blind trust is over.
Agents are waking up.
Questions are being asked.
And sunlight is doing what it always does.
🖋️ Final Word
Real estate agents are not inventory.
They are not data points.
They are not interchangeable.
They are professionals with fiduciary obligations — and they deserve leaders who honor that.
If this newsletter made you uncomfortable, good.
If it made you angry, even better.
If it made you think — that’s the point.
Share this with an agent who needs it.
Because the future of this industry belongs to those who own their business, their ethics, and their courage.
— Harris Real Estate Daily
Data-driven insight. Zero hype. Zero fear. Maximum truth.
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