Attending General Meetings of an Owners Corporation
It all begins with an idea.
The issue of who can and cannot attend a general meeting is usually not a matter for much consideration or concern of an Owners Corporation. However, when controversial issues arise or owners do not agree with how the Owners Corporation is being run, then this issue becomes very important. As a result below are some general guidelines and pointers to ensure that your attendance and vote is recognised at a general meeting of an Owners Corporation:
Any person who is registered as an owner on title is entitled to attend a general meeting of an Owners Corporation.
If there is more than one owner registered on title, then it is preferred (possibly even ideal) that the person attending has a proxy from the other owner to attend the meeting. That being said there is technically no requirement in Victoria for one owner of a jointly owned property to obtain a proxy from their co-owner to enable them to attend and vote at a general meeting of an Owners Corporation.
As a company is not a person, it cannot attend a meeting itself. However, a director of the company may attend the meeting without need of a proxy from the company. That being said where the company has more than one director, it is preferred if a proxy is provided from the company with at least two directors signing the proxy.
A proxy does form used to attend and vote at a meeting does not need to be perfectly completed - it needs to be sufficiently completed to enable the chairperson to identify:
who is giving the proxy and for which lot / property; and
who is receiving the proxy.
The above advice should not be considered as formal legal advice to any particular set of circumstances and is only intended as a guide. If you have any questions about the use of proxies or attending meetings of Owners Corporations in Victoria, we encourage to reach out so that your particular issue may be considered.