I live in New Jersey. We had an election and the Property Management Company, who we are trying to get out, ran the whole thing. He would not let us vote in person there were 40 people there and he said it was a secret ballot. He took a bunch and put them on the side. He recounted them and he had this paralegal there who did not know half the questions we asked. One was where are our minutes, she said because there was no quorum we don't need them. Needless to say I won by one vote it was more than that his ballot was so confusing that half the people voted wrong. I was on both sides of the ballot for secretary and treasure, he said that can't be. May I add that the board only consists of President, Secretary and Treasurer? He ran the whole show and he is the Property Management Company. The only reason why he was nervous is he wants the secretary to remain another 5 years. She is also working for him in another business he has. We do not get audited reports each year. He has his own contractors come in who are not bonded. The secretary gives him the checks to distribute. Then we see all the workers hanging around his condo (he lives here and runs his business here) I have a funny feeling since no one contacted me he is going to somehow get me the newly elected person off the board. There will be a revolution. Help Posted @ Friday, October 21, 2011 8:01 AM by Phyllis

We recently had our annual election. Two people were up for re election. To our surprise we had another person up on the ballot. It was my understanding that if you have two people up for re-election, you vote for two people, one to fill each position. Well two board members got proxies and used them to vote (2 votes for the third person and everyone else).  Everyone else voted for two different people for each position. I ask for a re vote. I was told no, this is aloud. This has never been the practice before. Please help. They are cheating and they need to be stopped.

Our condo association annual meeting ended last night. I do not think it was even adjourned since there was no official call to order. Elections were held but no quorum was met. Officers said they will visit other unit owners to solicit the necessary votes. Those running for office were represented on the ballot only by names and addresses. No information about them was given. The budget was discussed but no vote of approval or disapproval was taken. Is this a legal or valid election/meeting? Is the budget approved de facto? What should happen next?

The Board of Directors has nine seats of which two are vacant. The remaining seven directors are split into two groups. Three directors containing the officers, and four directors. As per the association bylaws a special meeting may be called by the president (or in his absence the VP) or majority of the board members. Likewise Florida Statutes 718.112(2)(d)9 states BOD vacancies may be filled by a majority of the remaining directors, even if the remaining directors constitute less than a quorum, or by the sole remaining director. The problem is the group of three directors will lose power if the four are allowed to hold a meeting. In order to make sure that a meeting does not take place they refuse to appear at a meeting, preventing a quorum and thus the election of new BOD members. The Association's atty has stated that to hold the meeting a majority constituting a quorum is five which is based upon nine seats and is not reduced by the empty seats. Please any advice is appreciated as the association is unable to conduct any business until a new election in January.

At an annual HOA meeting the board gets a proxy to vote for a candidate running for a board position, if the board has 20 proxys can they split them by selecting two favorite candidates out of four?

I'm a condo owner of 1 unit of a 36 unit condo complex. All units are the same size and receive the same percentage of vote rights. In the Bylaws it states that the affairs of the association shale be managed by a board of directors consisting of no less than (3) persons. It states that nomination for election to the board of directors shall be made from the floor of the annual meeting and any unit owner can be on the board or vote for someone to be on the board.

Later in the Bylaws it describes the Officers of the association consisting of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, and a Treasurer. It states that the officers shall be elected annually by the board of directors.

I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between being on the board of directors and being an officer. Let’s say that someone wants to run for president. Can this person be voted in by the condo owners, or do they have to be voted in by the board of directors? Currently the positions of President, Vice-President, and Treasurer have been held by the same persons for over 10 years. Lately anything that happens around our condo complex is decided by these three individuals.

We are coming up on our annual meeting and the majority of owners would like to at least change out the current president and vice-president. I'm trying to figure out the correct way to do this. Thanks for any help that can be provided.

At the next annual meeting one board member is up for reelection. This year for the first time, the property management company has put all five board members' names on the proxy. We see nothing in the bylaws allowing this and it has not be done previously. The reasoning is that he is still part of the board and the lawyer (hired by the management company) said it was OK. It seems as a sure-fire way to rig an election Secondly, our management company representative has said that she has received proxies with her name written in but she is not accepting those. She did not say what she will do to remedy that situation. Comments? Ideas?