The new strata legislation has slammed proxy farming! (schedule 1, 26 (7). The new regulation regarding proxies are not so much complex but emotive. Why? Under the new rules there is a limit to the number of proxies a person can hold. If the strata plan has less than 20 lots each owner can only hold proxy. i.e; 1 owner + 1 proxy = 2 votes maximum, or if there are more than 21 lots; 1 owner + no more than 5% of the total number of lots. Further to this, if you are not an owner you can only hold proxies as your vote, i.e; 20 lots or less, you only get 1 proxy = 1 vote.

Harsh, sort of… The positive to this legislation change is that an owner cannot gather proxies and then make often all the decisions at a meeting. Previous meetings I held, where a person had a large number of votes/ proxies, I would let everyone know that individual holds all the power at the beginning after adding up and collecting the proxies. It makes life far easier when each vote is cast and everyone (whether they liked it or not) knew where they stood with the meeting outcome. The negative aspect to this new rule is that owners who without realising suddenly have all these proxies, can only use one or two and the others are left to the side. What a waste of time for the persons who bothered to complete and send their proxy. The emotive is when the individual who has many proxies doesn’t select a certain individual’s proxy and this is reflected in the minutes. Awkward!

Now to the future, hopefully there is a new app, website or similar that owners can log into and check prior to issuing a proxy who is financial, attending the meeting and already has a proxy nominated to them. Nice, simple and clear.

To read other interesting blogs regarding Strata Management head to Strata Revolution’s website. 

Michelle Russell – Managing Director

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