Condo Association Management Blog

Similar situation happened in my complex, where a vote was passed to change management company... Board member then went door to door and got 6 people to sign a letter ( of course under duress) to state they "didn't realize what they had originally signed"...consequently overturning the original vote...and the board had no complints against this action. Unethical...YOU BET! But since the board has the legal funds available, it does make it very difficut to fight these unjustices, and when you do you are demonized and always blamed for giving the entire complex an unpleasant atmosphere

Question - How do I post a question on this forum? I've subscribed and clicked on the "HELP" link but my questions never shows up. 
Answer to post - Check to see if your By Laws can be changed from requiring a quorum of voters present to majority of voters present. 

Review your bylaws and your state condominium act. Between these two documents you'll find your answer.

Unless you can prove these proxies were given "under duress" they are valid proxies. Unless the bylaws state all proxies are to go to the board, then any member has a right to gather as many proxies as he can. 
Since proxies count toward the quorum, when an assn has difficulty meeting the quorum requirements, allowing proxies is a good thing. Howeverm, proxies are ripe for fraud and that is why some states (AZ in particular) have prohibited proxies. Instead AZ low now requires mail-in ballots which also count toward a quorum. You may want to change your bylaws to prohibit proxies and require mail-in ballots instead.

Interesting. At our last vote, the President called the absentee residents and ASKED for their proxies, assuring them she would "vote in their best interest and in the best interest of the HOA" she received some 35 proxies and voted the way she wanted thereby assuring the "right people" were voted on the board.

What do you do when the manager would not allow proxies, as we had a special election and the annual election, and due to not having anymore annual election ballots, I used the special election ballot and crossed out, special, and wrote down annual on the ballot of 13 proxies. He would not allow the votes, but would not return the ballots back to me. I was an officer.

We got proxies and voted the worse president we ever had off the board and put a very honest doctor in his place. Do you believe the new president of our board was so corrupt that he threw the doctor off the board and put his corrupt, voted-off by a landslide friend back on the board and now that friend is again the president. Instead of the new members throwing him off and putting the decent honest doctor back, they are allowing this man who has ruined 3 seniors' condos and doesn't want to repair them do this again to others in our community. This HOA president has authorized uninsured contractors to change important items in our condos and when many problems arose because of the the shoddy work done by the contractor, the HOA president didn't even blink as he authorized others to repair the contractors work. I have seen this with my own eyes but the decent people on the board want to think they are smarter than those who have lived through it so let them enjoy being cheated by the HOA president and the mgm. company because they will be. The new members are working hard to save the condo owners money but whatever they do will not be good enough unless they are run by an honest management company and we do not have one. The HOA president doesn't even get an email sent to him at home or work because he doesn't want his wife or work to know how horribly he has treated condo neighbors of his. I guess I can't be surprised...look at Madoff but yet, to mess up 3 senior citizen's homes is pretty bad.

At our last board meeting there was one unit owner who had three proxies, we only have 14 units. Our declarations and by laws don't limit the number of proxies one can hold. • At the annual meeting the majority of the members felt that any one unit owner could hold a number of proxies. If a proxy holder has not been given clear instruction on how to vote on a particular issue then the vote for that proxy should not be taken. The reason for this is that if one unit owner does hold more than one proxy then the votes could go in favor of that particular unit owner and may or may not necessarily be the way the absent owner would vote. While the declarations require that a proxy be given to an officer of the association in writing, it does not say when. We decided to allow written or emailed proxies presented at the beginning of association meetings but encourage that proxies be given to an officer prior to the meeting.

hilly, 
IMO, when the member's do nothing and let the errant board member continue to screw up the ass, then the members get exactly what they deserve. Too many HOA members are too apathetic to care about anything and what you describe as hapopening in your assn is exactly what happens. 
Until the members revolt and elect people who they know will do a good job, you will continue to have these problems. A recall is definitely in order!!

The candidate did nothing wrong. Nothing illegal either. 
Grown up adults dont have to sign anything. 
The other candidates could do the same thing.

Unless there were children involved, there was no duress. Offering an adult a ballot to sign is not duress.  
 
The adult has a choice -- vote for whom she desires or don't vote all.at

We too. had a big problem with proxies - there's only 7 of us so every vote is important. In our case 2 owners were trying to vote in a very questionable management company - now why - a company only 5 months in business, a higher fee, and less service v.s. a company with great consumer reviews, 16 years in our neighborhood and the perfect match of services for our HOA - seemed more desirable by these 2 remains a mystery - except that they both want control of all the HOA funds and brought in the questionable company unannounced to our meeting. One of the 2 also went door to door with an already filled out ballot saying they must sign for this company - badgering an owner who is deathly sick with cancer IS duress. The majority eventually decided all owners need to be present to vote since this is a huge issue for our HOA. It is truly sad to have greed and lack of concern for your neighbor so close to home.

Sue, 
This person who badgered a sick person into giving him his proxy needs to be told he cannot do this and that any proxies he hands in will not be honored unless the member is contacted to verify that it is a legal proxy. If your bylaws state voting may be conducted by proxy the BOD cannot decide that proxies will not be used. That would be a violation of the gov. docs.

Leslie, 
 
There are several different types of proxies. A general proxy allows the proxy holder to vote however he chooses - this is the type most HOAs use. A directed proxy tells the proxy holder how to vote. If your bylaws or CCRs state all proxies must be given to a board member that's how it MUST be done, the members cannot change this procedure unless the bylaws or CCRs are changed. Frankly, I don't believe it should be that way, and I'm not certain that this isn't a violation of the law. Any person who wants to appoint a proxy should have the right to choose who the proxy holder will be. Many errant boards have used this procedure as a means of stacking the board with people of their choice.

Mary, 
 
This person was told not to bother the sick owner by several owners. Some people are just trouble makers and don't care - sadly 2 of our owners fit that profile and want power but can't quite get around the 'adult' owners. The whole vote was thrown out over this - what he didn't know was the sick owner had quick claimed the Condo over to his Sister and she was out of town and was disgusted over this vote - so the vote wasn't valid. I did know this and respected their privacy, though it is public record. Being so small has its problems too. Our By-Laws state proxies are fine and we've agreed a signed letter written by the owner is counted. This is the 1st time an owner was so blatantly manipulative. Our By-Laws state we need 5 of 7 owners to agree. We have 4 that are responsible -2 troublemakers and 1 very apathetic owner that never shows up or votes - so we are in a constant state of stalemate. Only 2 of us actually address the troublemakers.The last meeting ended in the 2 yelling and name calling - argghh. I'm waiting on our Wa Reserve report to help back up sane ways to manage so we can get some needed maintenance done.

Yes, it is sad when people take advantage of the sick or elderly.  
I also agree that smaller assn's create problems too. I once lived in a 49 member assn of single family homes. I was treasurer for 3 years and my husband was pres. for one year (not at the same time). I can imagine the problems with only 7 members. 
If I were you, I would try to get a proxy from the apathetic h/o so you can meet the voting requirements. With 7 members I would have thought 4 would be the majority not 5. Perhaps this is something that should be changed. 
Good luck!

I like Mike's answer. A proxy is a proxy- and as an owner in this type of property, it is up to YOU to know what it is and how it works. 

Former Manager, 
 
That's easy to say, but people come in all flavors and the elderly, especially, are very easily hoodwinked!

I am witnessing proxy abuse that borders on Fair Housing violations. A bully board targets residents-- whose primary language is not English--and tells them they must sign the (general) proxy in order to live in the building. The bullies then "win" elections over and over again, refusing to step down amid extreme malfeasance. Any suggestions?

Kick the bums out of office. Get a group together and call a recall election. Check to see if you have state laws addressing this or if a procedure is outlined in your CCRs. If yu can't get a recall together then make certain these board members do NOT get re-elected. You can go door-to-door and collect proxies too, but tell the non-English speaking members the truth about these board members.  
 
Is there someone in the community who can assist those who don't speak English? 
 
Please let us know what state you're in.

The board that tells non-e 
English speaking people that they must sign is engaging in fraud. If they are doing that they must also be using their position for personal gain. Get out or get rid of them.

I agree with BB above. You are in a bad position. Your Board is ripping you off. You must do something about it.

You all refer to these ballots as proxies. They were not proxy ballots. We can only carry proxies in at the Annual Meeting. 
 
Duress or No Duress. Taking a ballot to a residents house asking for support and signature. Collecting the ballot (no proxy) and mailing them in all together to the property management company. 
 
Example would be like the state Governor coming to your house with a ballot and asking for your vote then sending it in for you. 
 
many states like California, Florida prohibit this and actually have election laws for HOA and CONDO Associations.

To Mike, from the May 16th POST: 
 
"it's not illegal" comment for a Board member to collect proxies before an annual meeting. It is unethical at the very least, since if she/he holds 65+ proxies....and creates the majority....there is no opportunity for anyone to step up at the annual meeting, much less have their candidacy known. Our President goes door to door,2 months in advance of our annual meeting, telling each person she solicits, "no one is interested in running"....which" is a lie....so, "can I have your PROXY"? She has pulled this nonsense for 3 years+. She favors those who give her their proxy, and those who don't, are ignored when reporting issues to the management company. Remember, the management company acts "solely at the discretion of the Board President", or risk losing their cash cow. Now, Mike, do you still believe that this is appropriate or legal? You must be one of those who pulls the same nonsense and sits on a Board for years,playing "musical chairs", and manipulating everything while making it impossible for others to run. IT'S DESPICABLE! SHE CAN NOT BE THAT LIKED, HER CAR WAS VANDALIZED (WITH PAINT POURED)FROM FENDER TO FENDER, I WAS TOLD. DURING HER "REIGN", OUR ASSOCIATION HAS HAD 2 ARSON FIRES OF OUR CLUB HOUSE. I oppose violence like this, it's just as loathesome.....and cowardly, like our President and her "puppet Board".

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A "proxy" is not a ballot. And a ballot is not a proxy. If someone is collecting ballots this is not legal in California at least. Proxies are legal if the bylaws authorize them; however check your bylaws and the corporations code for requirements of proxies. They must contain some very specific language to be considered genuine and to be accepted as such. Likewise, in California it is not permissible for candidates to collect vote by mail ballots, or for anyone to go door to door during the time of voting and to "electioneer". See the California Election Code and then read 1363.03 of the Civil Code. Then collect money to hire a lawyer who is not afraid to take on your HOA; and oh yes, you better have a LOT of money!