Committee / management company problems

[Eneukman]

At the condo where I live, co-owners voted, for some unknown reason, to restrict the size of the committee to 3 at the last AGM. It has since been suggested that this may not, in fact, have been how co-owners actually voted. As a co-owner, can I insist on inspecting personally the relevant voting slips (along with voting slips for the election to the committee)? If this is permitted and the management company refuse what steps can I take to force them to allow me access. The JPM is the boss of the management company and is, in my opinion, totally useless so it would be pointless complaining to him.

Before the committee was registered with the Land Office, one of the elected committee members resigned (he chose to resign rather than face an EGM called by co-owners to have him deselected). The management company apparently said that as the committee had not been registered (it still hasn't some 8 months after the AGM) that the candidate with the next highest number of votes could be appointed instead. Was this legal? (The management company was about to face a vote of no confidence from the committee when a letter apparently (conveniently) dated that very day was received from a co-owner complaining that an EGM should have been called to elect a replacement committee member rather than appointing the candidate with the next highest number of votes.

If a committee member wishes to resign, does this have to be submitted in writing or can it be submitted by email. Also does the resignation have to be accepted by the other committee members to be effective or can it be submitted my email? Also can a resignation submitted by email but not accepted by the other committee members be withdrawn subsequently?

Thanks,

Alan

[WorkingTourist]

Your community should have its own rules about how board members are elected and what to do incase they resign.

I would think that changing these regulations requires a majority vote.

The minutes from the last AGM should state how many participated, from that you should be able to determine, if there were enough to do a majority vote. If there were, would these people not have noticed, if the voting outcome was different than how they voted? Or was it done via anonymous votes (without any prior debate, to indicate what the consensus was)?

I doubt there is any paper trail for you to audit, but you can just go around your building and ask people how they voted.

As for resignation, since board members are normally working without a salary or contract, it’s highly unlikely there are any restrictions on their ability to step down as board member.

Picking the person with the second most votes sounds like a fairly pragmatic way to find a new board member. Ideally they would have made this person the designated replacement at the last AGM, but lacking that, I think you would have to be a bit of a stickler to challenge their decision and demand an EGM to find a new board member.

Demanding an EGM would normally also require more than just a single co-owner’s vote.

[huawei]

Ask for the rules and regulations booklet of your condo. There must be one. It will probably state in there the numbers as per the condo act. The limiting to 3 would need a majority. If they control the proxies feasible. As above ask for the minutes, they should be distributed anyway and would need to be approved at the next agm.

[Delight]

1 ) Votes have to be counted by independent adjudicators

Once the outcome of the vote is declared it cannot be changed and a co owners has no right to inspect.. If a co –owner cries ‘foul’ during the meeting (when all can hear and see). Then some action can be taken if there is sufficient justification.

The land office can over ride a general meeting resolution if they can demonstrate that the law was broken

2) Committee members can resign for many reasons.

Officially they need to advise the JPM. E mail is good enough. That person will organise a general meeting but only if there were just 3 members before the resignation

3) The House Rules within the Condo Rules and Regs typically can be changed by a majority vote of the committee. .

All the rest can only be changed with min. 50% co owner vote at a general meeting.

4) Outcomes from general meeting have to be registered at the land office –within 30 days from the meeting date.

To my knowledge condos cannot weaken rules which are enshrined in the Condo Act –otherwise what is the point.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Delight

[KittenKong]

1 ) Votes have to be counted by independent adjudicators

Once the outcome of the vote is declared it cannot be changed and a co owners has no right to inspect.

Can you show me where that is written in law?

In our building AGMs there are no "independent adjudicators" that I know of, and I see no reason why the results (and ballot papers) from an election should not be kept for years and be available to whoever wants to see them. Nor do I remember seeing anything in the condo act about that.

The land office can over ride a general meeting resolution if they can demonstrate that the law was broken

2) Committee members can resign for many reasons.

Officially they need to advise the JPM. E mail is good enough. That person will organise a general meeting but only if there were just 3 members before the resignation

Again, can show where that is written in law? In my building the regulations stipulate resignations "by letter". And as far as I know a resignation has to be accepted before it is valid. And prior to that it can be retracted.

3) The House Rules within the Condo Rules and Regs typically can be changed by a majority vote of the committee. .

All the rest can only be changed with min. 50% co owner vote at a general meeting.

I dont think that's right at all. According to the regs themselves, changing the regs in my building requires an outright majority of the total vote, even at the second meeting.

The committee has zero authority to change the buildings regs itself, though it can propose amendments at an AGM/EGM.

The whole point of having regs is that only an outright majority of co--owners can vote to change them. Anything less would be insane and pointless.

4) Outcomes from general meeting have to be registered at the land office –within 30 days from the meeting date.

Indeed, but when this doesnt happen it seems that the Land Office can only impose a (very small) fine, and send a warning letter. It seems that they have no authority to actually force registration to occur.

[Delight]

I reply to Kitten Kong

The Land Office police the condo Act.

They tend to be a law to themselves.

My post is based on real life dealings with the land office.

Admittedly this is the one local to me.They may vary. They will not put things into writing . Just do it their way!

House rules typically can be changed by the committee. This has just occurred at the condo where I live. Just the House rules

[huawei]

Point 1. We brought our lawyer to a meeting. The votes were counted in real time at the meeting.

Point 2. If someone wants to resign. Usually a letter stating the reasons why.

Point 3. Majority vote of all owners required.

The land department are more of an administrative body with no real powers. They prefer internal disputes to be just that internal and to be solved internally. They can be helpful however.

All condos seem to be run differently based on the composition of the committee and who the management company is beholden to.

It can be a can of worms.

[dotpoom]

Ahhh....the beautiful.....2A.

[Jimlove]

Ah yes, buying property in Thailand ...

[Eneukman]

Thanks for the comments. There was no independent adjudicator at the AGM nor, indeed, at any such meeting in the past. There have been all sorts of allegations about various irregularities though I have no idea whether any of these are based on hard facts.

Personally, I don't have a problem with the candidate with the next highest number of votes replacing the candidate who resigned. I suspect that nothing will be resolved until the next AGM in a few months.

Alan

[nithisa78]

The Condo Commandos , they're everywhere.