Condominium Voting
 

I appreciate this is quite a legal question but some of you on here may have had experience.

Our condominium (operated by a Condominium Company) has recently called meetings to which we have not been able to attend.

Items have been agreed and put In place based on the votes of the people present.

Is there a legal requirement for the condo company to also seek agreement (maybe by email) from absent owners before implementation.

In the minutes all they say is the motion was passed (obviously by those present) and I am now staring down the barrel of a 1200 Euro payment for works on top of the existing monthly charge without being consulted!

Re: Condominium Voting
 

Your condominium complex probably has a set of CC&R's which set out a quorum for meetings to take place,
If the meeting reaches its stated quorum (ie, there needs to be a minimum of condo owners at the meeting) then it can go ahead and make decisions.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

Thanks for that, it is what I thought but still galling that some owners are being denied a vote.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

If you are sent notification of the meeting (as you should have been) then you should notify them that you cannot attend (send apologies) and give Power of Attorney to someone to attend in your absence,

Re: Condominium Voting
 

Yes that is an option but my problem with that is you are giving authority to someone to vote on your behalf about issues unbeknown to you.

How they vote on your behalf may not be the way you would have voted.

I appreciate it is a difficult situation with little or no perfect remedy.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

Given the poor use of email in Portugal, it would be surprising if a condiminium company went down that route - I have almost given up expecting a reply, or even an acknowledgement, of email contact with Portuguese entities. It could also be seen as offering a potential advantage to those who have access to that facility...... there is always more than one side to a situation.

However, ithe rules of the condiminium will be clear - and they must abide by the legal requirements for such an organization. These rules will refer to constitutional law and can be rather rigid, so may well preclude the controlling company from offering any other method of voting. They were mainly designed to protect residents, who would be assumed to be available for a meeting, rather than absent owners - and it would also be galling for those who had attended and voted at a meeting, to find any decisions overturned by others who had not made or heard any argument at that meeting....

So, it's annoying when it goes against you, but it is what it is...

Re: Condominium Voting
 

Whilst I accept your argument there are also share voting laws in Portugal with regard to condos.

As our apartment is a bigger area than most thus incurring bigger charges but also should benefit from an increased vote share which could have overturned the decisions made in our absence.

As I said up thread basically you can't please all of the people all of the time but it would be nice to be part of a decision that sees you parting with 1200 Euros which may be "small beer" to some but isn't to us.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

I have to agree - don't you have a neighbour who could help?

know it's not a perfect answer, but at least you would get more of an input than none......

Re: Condominium Voting
 

I agree. Maybe the person with the proxy vote could phone/text the OP from the meeting to get their instructions re voting?

It would also be a lot easier if a meeting agenda was available prior to the meeting, but it doesn't sound like this happens.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

That's interesting. For what it's worth, here, the agenda must be submitted not less than 8 working days prior, annotated so that absentees can vote in advance.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

How it should be :thumbup: Owners can't always attend meetings, they should have the opportunity to vote on issues that directly impact them.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

I am just wondering if the OP should check again the Articles of Association (their equivalent) as to the terms under which meetings and decisions must be held and implemented - and check that all the rules have been followed as prescribed.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

Good idea, definitely something I'd do.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

Than you for that suggestion, I will follow up with the Condo Company and ask said question.

Re: Condominium Voting
 

That makes a lot of sense.