Legal action by committee on behalf of co-owners

[rayongchelsea]

Hello

I thought I read in the condominium act that if 10 or more co- owners petition the committee to instigate a court action that the committee were duty bound to Pursue that action, if warranted.

I can't find that section in the condominium act, was I mistaken ? Is there something pertaining to this is the condominium act. ?

Thank you

[smutcakes]

There is nothing in the Act which states that.

The only reference to some kind of petition is if Co-owners want to call an EGM, by not less than 20% signing a letter and submitting it to the Committee, they are required to call an EGM. Section 42/2 (3).

[KittenKong]

Yes, the 20% (by voting rights) rule to call an EGM is the only one I know of. And as far as I know it's the JPM who calls it.

At the EGM any co-owner can propose that the legal action in question is taken, which would be followed by a discussion and a vote. And for an EGM a simple majority of those present should be enough to carry the vote. Once the vote is taken the committee should abide by the EGM's decision and act on it.

Of course if the 10 people can convince a majority of the committee beforehand then an EGM would not be necessary. Given the cost and tediousness of holding an EGM this would be the best way of doing it.

[briley]

Recall something in the act that says the owners must let the JP take all legal action on the owners behalf. Of course that does depend upon whether the owners want to take action against the JP.............

[smutcakes]

Recall something in the act that says the owners must let the JP take all legal action on the owners behalf. Of course that does depend upon whether the owners want to take action against the JP.............

The JPM is obliged to carry out the resolutions of the Committee, if that means filing a case against themselves, which occurs normally when a developer has put their representative in the position of JPM, and the Committee want to sue the developer then they are duty bound to do it.

[ripley]

Section 42/2 In the case of necessity, the following persons shall have the right to summon an Extraordinary General Meeting whenever required..........

Joint owners of not less than twenty percents (20%) of the total votes of the joint owners signing to make a letter requesting the Meeting to be convened for submission to the Board. In this case, the Board shall arrange to have the Meeting convened within fifteen days from the date of receiving such request. Should the Board fail to have the Meeting convened within such prescribed time, The joint owners of the aforementioned number shall have the right to arrange to have such Extraordinary General Meeting convened by themselves by appointing a person from them to be their representative in issuing letters of summoning to attend the Meeting. (Samui for sale - Thai Condo Law)

I think Kitten Kong has it about right. The Juristic Person Manager is responsible to for discharging all matters to do with Law and so must also be notified.

It may be important to note that an EGM cannot force a lawsuit that is not proved to be actionable.. In my opinion the EGM can insist that the JPM get advice from a lawyer approved by the Owners, and if actionable then must take action. It only makes sense that a motion be passed regarding timely reporting of progress from the JPM.

Now - (referring to my own Topics on the subject) - the problem is how to compel a reluctant or indifferent JPM to comply! But, an EGM is a ;pretty weighty statement from the Owners that they "mean business".

I think this Section applies to an Owner generated EGM as well:
Section 42/3 On summoning to the General Meeting, written letters indicating the place, date, tie and Meeting agendas and the matters to be presented to the Meeting together with reasonable details shall be made and forwarded to the joint owners at least seven days prior to the Meeting date.

As there is no need to provide anything but seating arrangements (take-out pizza & other refreshments not required!) an EGM should not be expensive at all.

[KittenKong]

As there is no need to provide anything but seating arrangements (take-out pizza & other refreshments not required!) an EGM should not be expensive at all.

As far as I know you still need to send out registered letters containing the agenda and proxy forms, and in a building with many units that can add up. Seating isnt so cheap either, and big buildings may need a sound system and a translator/MC.

Free pizza would certainly increase the attendance rate though!

[ripley]

Our Condo admin. used to send out Invitations to the AGM via Registered Mail for years. In the last 5 yrs. invitations have been popped into Owner mailboxes. Some at least were e-mailed. I began to believe that, in these modern times, this had become acceptable/legal procedure. This year we received no invitations or supplemental info - simply an informal note a few days before the event stating the date and time of the AGM. Not remotely legal I think. Actionable? I dunno.

[smutcakes]

Our Condo admin. used to send out Invitations to the AGM via Registered Mail for years. In the last 5 yrs. invitations have been popped into Owner mailboxes. Some at least were e-mailed. I began to believe that, in these modern times, this had become acceptable/legal procedure. This year we received no invitations or supplemental info - simply an informal note a few days before the event stating the date and time of the AGM. Not remotely legal I think. Actionable? I dunno.

Like a lot of these things there is only ever a problem if someone wants to make it a problem. Many Condo's dont do it by the book, but as long as no one makes an official complaint, it is not a problem.

People who believe they have been wronged have 30 days to submit a complaint to the LD.

[KittenKong]

Our Condo admin. used to send out Invitations to the AGM via Registered Mail for years. In the last 5 yrs. invitations have been popped into Owner mailboxes. Some at least were e-mailed. I began to believe that, in these modern times, this had become acceptable/legal procedure. This year we received no invitations or supplemental info - simply an informal note a few days before the event stating the date and time of the AGM. Not remotely legal I think. Actionable? I dunno.

As far as I know that is not legal. I think the law says registered mail posted at least 7 days before the event. This is certainly what we do.

Of course in this day and age the option should be available for such information to be sent electronically to those who prefer to receive it that way, if only for money-saving reasons. Printing hundreds of agendas and invitations and sending out hundreds of registered letters is not cheap.

I find it particularly galling to watch our staff prepare many such documents, take them to the post office, pay the registration fee and then receive all the envelopes back a day or two later for our staff to deliver within the building. Insanity is a polite way to describe it.

[Delight]

Slightly off topic -but:

I am aware of one instance where a decision was taken at an AGM to take a Thai co -owner to court inorder to force the Thai to pay his overdue maintenance fees.

The judge not only threw out the case out -but declared that the AGM was illegal --since the principal address, of the Thai in question, was not the condo and the agenda had been sent to the Thai's condo address. This was the only address that they had.

The condo was given the right to appeal.

It was settled out of court.

[KittenKong]

I am aware of one instance where a decision was taken at an AGM to take a Thai co -owner to court inorder to force the Thai to pay his overdue maintenance fees.

The judge not only threw out the case out -but declared that the AGM was illegal --since the principal address, of the Thai in question, was not the condo and the agenda had been sent to the Thai's condo address. This was the only address that they had.

A good example of bizarre Thai law.

[rayongchelsea]

Class action legal proceedings now available: should help

The National Legislative Assembly has passed a bill amending the Civil Procedure Code to allow class action legal proceedings in Thailand. Class action lawsuits were not previously available in Thai proceedings, so this marks a notable development in the country’s court system. The Thai class action legislation contains basic similarities to class actions in jurisdictions such as the United States, albeit with significant differences in both substance and procedure.

The bill has received royal endorsement and will become effective in December 2015 (240 days after publication in the Royal Gazette dated April 8, 2015). The amended provisions provide for the following:

Cases involving a group of persons who have the same interests and rights related to tort, breach of contract, and other laws including environment, consumer protection, labor, securities and stock exchange, and trade competition can petition to be filed as class actions by a plaintiff, which is a class member, together with the complaint.

Can anybody explain a class action. Does it mean if a co- owner brings an individual legal action all the other co- owners will be included automatically in the class action , if the individual states it is on behalf of all co- owners, even without their knowledge ?