RI Association of REALTORS CEO Announces Retirement

Warwick, RI, October 21, 2014...Susan Arnold, Chief Executive Officer/General Counsel of the Rhode Island Association of REALTORS® (RIAR) and State-Wide Multiple Listing Service (MLS), has announced her retirement, effective at the end of this year. Arnold has led the REALTOR® organization and its subsidiary, State-Wide MLS, since 1997. Prior to her promotion to CEO, she served as the Association’s lobbyist and general counsel.

During her years as CEO, Arnold oversaw all facets of RIAR and MLS including the development and growth of the organization’s official websites, RILiving.com and RILivingCommercial.com. The popular sites are used by thousands of individuals searching for properties for sale, rent or lease each year. In recent years, she also oversaw the development of the Rhode Island Commercial Information Exchange, a data exchange service for commercial real estate professionals. She leaves the Rhode Island Association of REALTORS® as one of the largest professional organizations in the state, with approximately 4,000 members in 750 offices. Rhode Island REALTOR® transactions resulted in more than $6.2 billion in property sales last year.

Arnold served on numerous national committees during her tenure including the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Legal Action Committee, NAR Multiple Listing Issues and Policy Committee and the NAR Association Executives Committee. Regionally she served as a director on the New England REALTORS® Committee, the Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission and RI Grow Smart. She is also the CEO of the REALTOR® Foundation, a non-profit arm of RIAR which helps individuals with housing related needs. Frequently interviewed and quoted on housing issues, she has served as a statewide voice for REALTORS® and their clients.

“Susan is an exceptional leader and will be greatly missed by our entire association,” said Robert Martin, RIAR President. “She has strengthened our organization and all Realtors and their clients are better off thanks to her work here.”
John Silvia, President of State-Wide MLS concurred, saying, “Susan has left an indelible mark. She navigated MLS through the growth of the internet which changed real estate dramatically. Now RILiving.com is one of Rhode Island’s greatest success stories. Her successor will have huge shoes to fill.”

Prior to her employment at the Rhode Island Association of REALTORS® and State-Wide MLS, Arnold was a business manager, closing attorney and South County REALTOR®. A member of the Phi Delta Phi International Legal Honors Fraternity, she is a past recipient of an American Jurisprudence Award. She received undergraduate degrees in English and Education from Tufts University and a law degree from Suffolk University. Arnold resides with her husband Lewis, In South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

About the Rhode Island Association of REALTORS®Advocating for Rhode Island’s property owners since 1948, the Rhode Island Association of REALTORS® provides a facility for professional development, research and exchange of information among its members, the public and government for the purpose of preserving the free enterprise system and the right to own real property.