Juristic Entity - Rules - Does anyone know the legal answer to these questions.

[Longwood50]

 

 Is there any legal prohibition to videotape a homeowners meeting

 

 With proxies can a board member or their spouse receive a proxy from another homeowner.  I read something about that not being allowed

 Can a homeowner and the spouse of a homeowner be on the board at the same time. 

Do proxies have to be presented at the meeting in order for everyone to be notified? I read that proxies in order to be valid must be presented at the general meeting to allow homeowners to ascertain their existence and verify their authenticity. .

 

Isn't it legally required that financials, including a budget, suggested community fee, audit, and agenda be sent to all the homeowners in advance of the meeting.

With proxies from foreigners is it required that they be witnessed and notarized when they are executed in the foreigners home country rather than in Thailand. 

The vast majority of our owners do not reside in Thailand. 
 


 

[Salerno]

18 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

With proxies can a board member or their spouse receive a proxy from another homeowner.  I read something about that not being allowed

Section 47. Proxy Voting

A joint owner may give a written proxy to the other person in casting the vote on his behalf, however, a proxy shall not be permitted to receive such written proxy to cast the votes in a meeting in excess of three units.

The following persons shall be prohibited to receive a proxy to cast the vote on behalf of a joint owner:

1. Board members and their spouses,

 

18 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

 Can a homeowner and the spouse of a homeowner be on the board at the same time. 

Section 37/1. Eligibility for Appointment

 

In the case where any unit’s ownership holder consist of several joint owners, only one person shall be eligible for an appointment as a member.

 

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In fact, no point it listing them all and then posting the link, might as well give you the link to peruse straight up. You "should" find all the answers in the Condominium Act I would think (at least most of them).

 

A useful library of translated legislation:

https://library.siam-legal.com/?keyword-type=course_length&s=condominium+act

 

For a question not specifically addressed in the Condo Act perhaps someone that has been in a similar situation will add info.

[Longwood50]

38 minutes ago, Salerno said:

Section 47. Proxy Voting

Thank You.  That is what I read also

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Longwood50 said:

Is there any legal prohibition to videotape a homeowners meeting

Probably not, but, because the meeting would be held on private premises, the owner(s, JP) can make their own rules about conduct during the meeting and would be within their rights to not permit recording if they wanted to.

[lkn]

I see no legal issue with videotaping. During COVID-19, the Land Office explicitly allowed General Meetings to be held online. Personally though, I would not like to be videotaped, and if your desire is to videotape, I think it should be the first item on the agenda (to have the participants agree to this).

 

As for notarization of proxies: We’ve had a pretty lax standard for proxies (to make it easier for people abroad to participate via proxy), and it has not caused an issues with the Land Office.

 

I must say though, I do see people “take advantage of this”, i.e. co-owners who just try to collect proxies to get more voting power, i.e. co-owners that activately seek out proxies, rather than the opposite (someone prevented from participating, but wish to vote, seeking out a proxy). So maybe our policy is not ideal, given some of the petty people living in our building.

[Longwood50]

On 1/12/2023 at 8:15 AM, lkn said:

As for notarization of proxies: We’ve had a pretty lax standard for proxies (to make it easier for people abroad to participate via proxy), and it has not caused an issues with the Land Office.

I hear you regarding the difficulty but the Land Office is not ever going to check anything.  The fact that the law requires that the proxies be witnessed and notarized is truly what should govern proxies.  Otherwise, each homeowners association could just say, oh we don't want to open a bank account, or we don't want to do an audit even though both are required.  

[lkn]

2 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

I hear you regarding the difficulty but the Land Office is not ever going to check anything.  The fact that the law requires that the proxies be witnessed and notarized is truly what should govern proxies.  Otherwise, each homeowners association could just say, oh we don't want to open a bank account, or we don't want to do an audit even though both are required.  

The Land Office does check basic compliance. They do not enforce the Thai Condo Act (that is not their job), but they do check the documents submitted regarding General Meetings, the registered committee members, JPM, etc., and as part of this, one of the thing is also the invitation sent out and attendance, so if there are specific requirements for proxies, then I would think they would check it.

 

But actually, there are no requirements put forth in the Thai Condo Act regarding proxies, i.e. it does not state anything about needing notarization or number of witnesses.

 

I have once been told that for this, one should look at the Thai Business Act, but I was unsuccessful in finding the relevant law.

 

And comparing this to not doing an audit: When we accept a proxy from a co-owner by email, there is no question that it is within the co-owner’s right to appoint a proxy, the only thing we don’t do is extra verification of the co-owner’s identity and that their signature has not been falsified. But if we are actually communicating with an imposter, that person is breaking the law, and it will be visible to everyone (via the meeting minutes), who was representing a non-present co-owner, and we do ask for copy of ID for the proxy, and the person need to be physically present at the meeting…

[Longwood50]

4 minutes ago, lkn said:

The Land Office does check basic compliance

This Juristic Entity has never filed for 10 years so as said, the Land Ofice does not check for compliance. 

I read that proxies from foreigners were required to be verified, meaning witnessed and notarized.  However I can not find where I originally read that.  

If you don't have proxies verified by way of witness and notarization how do you establish they are valid signatures.  I could sign someone elses name and claim it was a proxy from another homeowner.  As to ID, I can copy the same ID over and over again, which proves nothing. 

[lkn]

2 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

If you don't have proxies verified by way of witness and notarization how do you establish they are valid signatures […]

How do you verify the withness? Or some notarization service in a foreign country?

 

2 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

I could sign someone elses name and claim it was a proxy from another homeowner

No, we need to receive the proxy from the co-owner. You can’t just show up to our meeting with a proxy from Mr. Anderson in Room 1350. We need the owner of Room 1350 to send us the proxy with your details.