Loyalty to Leader Shakes Up Real Estate Firm

There's been turmoil in the ranks -- if not at the top -- of one of Washington's oldest and best-known upscale real estate companies.

The heart of the to-do at W.C. & A.N. Miller has been what's happening with Michael Seay, vice president of sales since 1979, employee since he was 12 and brother-in-law of president and chief executive Edward J. "Ted" Miller Jr.

What's happened is that Seay's job as vice president of sales was eliminated about a month ago and that agents fiercely loyal to him rallied to restore his leadership role, writing letters and e-mails to board members of the family-owned firm and meeting with Miller several times.

There also had been talk among agents of defections to other firms if Seay wasn't restored to a leadership role, a notion that has other real estate firms salivating.

But all that appears to have produced the desired effect: Yesterday, the company and Seay announced that he was returning as president and director of the Realtor group, meaning he will oversee the agents.

Last week, Miller, grandson of one of the firm's two founders, said the whole affair was more complicated than some agents might realize. In an e-mail to the staff on Jan. 6, he said that the 95-year-old firm had "made a strategic business decision to eliminate the position" his brother-in-law held to improve its competitive strength and that it had hoped Seay would assume another position. "Sadly, Michael has declined" but has agreed to stay on as an associate broker, Miller added in the e-mail.

In several recent interviews, Miller said, "We are still talking about how to work this out."

Seay did not return phone calls seeking comment. His lawyer, Mary Qualiana, also declined to comment.

Last week, Miller said he was worried that "rumors" might concern longtime agents and clients but noted that the company had not seen any defections among its more than 200 sales associates, who specialize in high-end homes. "No one has left us yet . . . and I hope that they don't leave," he said. "To be honest, they are the ones who have built this company."

Friday, the family members met for a quarterly board meeting. While they sat upstairs in the Spring Valley headquarters, several dozen agents stood in the parking lot in support of Seay and then took to the elevators for the meeting room.

Two agents were invited to speak at the session, Miller said. Then the board deliberated over the weekend. The announcement of a resolution came yesterday afternoon.

-- Sandra Fleishman