Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
A long-standing rivalry between Keller Williams and eXp Realty is trickling down to the Sunshine State.
Three Keller Williams franchisees in the Orlando, Florida, area have filed suit against prominent eXp team leader Veronica Figueroa, alleging infractions connected to agent recruitment efforts, according to an April 6 complaint.
Keller Williams Advantage 2 Realty in Waterford, Keller Williams Advantage Realty in Oviedo and Keller Williams Advantage III Realty in Lake Nona name as defendants Figueroa and Joseph Firmin, the director of growth and agent success at Figueroa’s The Fig Team at eXp Realty, according to the complaint.
“Figueroa intentionally instructed Firmin to recruit agents from the Plaintiffs and/or refused to stop Firmin from doing so, which inured to the benefit of Figueroa by such agents joining and earning money for her team,” the complaint says.
“The foregoing interference by Figueroa with the contractual relationship between Firmin and Plaintiffs was and is unjustifiable.”
The suit accuses Figueroa of tortious interference and alleges that she caused the plaintiffs more than $50,000 in damages. Figueroa is well-known across the real estate industry, has been a frequent speaker at Inman Connect events, and has been recognized as an Inman Influencer.
The complaint accuses Firmin of breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets, including “[i]mproperly disclosing Plaintiff’s confidential financial data, payment data, broker split details, and payment information to third parties without Plaintiff’s consent or authorization.” The suit alleges he caused the plaintiffs more than $80,000 in damages.
“Firmin has damaged Plaintiffs by engaging and seeking to engage agents at their respective offices, in that Plaintiffs will not receive revenue associated with the sales of such agents that have affiliated with TFG [The Figueroa Group] and/or eXp (the real estate brokerage with which TFG and Figueroa are associated) because of Firmin’s actions,” the complaint says.
Firmin and Figueroa did not respond to requests for comment. The complaint is signed by Ray Lopez, the KW franchisees’ managing member.
According to the complaint, Firmin worked for KW Advantage 2 Realty (Waterford) and KW Advantage Realty (Oviedo) as a team leader and signed a confidentiality and non-solicitation agreement with KW Advantage 2 Realty (Waterford) in November 2021. That agreement, which was included as an exhibit in the suit, prohibited Firmin from recruiting away any KW agents for a period of two years after leaving KW Advantage 2 Realty.
About a year after working for the two KW offices, Firmin was relieved of his duties regarding KW Advantage 2 Realty but continued working for KW Advantage Realty, according to the complaint.
“At all times, Firmin understood and acknowledged that he was still governed by the Agreement,” the complaint states.
KW Advantage Realty terminated Firmin on January 20, 2025, and he subsequently went to work for Figueroa. The complaint alleges that Firmin has since recruited agents away from the three KW franchisees, allegedly in violation of the aforementioned agreement.
“After gaining employment with TFG, and on the direction of Figueroa, Firmin has repeatedly engaged and sought to engage real estate agents at Waterford, Oviedo and Lake Nona,” the complaint says.
“Firmin has and continues to do so directly and by indirect means by, for example, having agents of such offices on his personal podcast, and communicating to Plaintiffs’ agents that he ‘misses them,’ which is an obvious attempt to initiate a recruiting conversation.”
“The foregoing has caused multiple agents to leave their engagements with one or more of the Plaintiffs’ offices,” the complaint adds.
The suit asks the court, the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in and for Orange County, Florida, for damages from both Firmin and Figueroa as well as for an injunction barring Firmin from recruiting away the KW franchisees’ agents for two years after Jan. 20.
“Plaintiffs have suffered irreparable harm in that Firmin’s conduct is ongoing and continuing, and Plaintiffs are unable to calculate an exact amount of damages for future agents that may terminate their engagement with Plaintiffs’ offices as a result of Firmin’s actions,” the complaint says.
“Further, other real estate brokerages are able to determine that agents have left Plaintiffs’ offices and affiliated with TFG and/or eXp, which in turn damages the market share and goodwill of Plaintiffs.”
A battle for talent has simmered for years at KW and eXp and originates with the companies’ founders, Gary Keller and Glenn Sanford, respectively. Sanford once led a top-producing team at Keller Williams, but Keller reportedly snubbed Sanford by not including him in an elite company group. Sanford went on to found eXp, and their relationship has remained combative as they’ve sparred over their business models, market share, agent and executive recruiting, profit share programs and tech quality.
Read the complaint (re-load page if document is not visible):
