By the Paddocks Club team

Below are examples of two questions on the Paddocks Club discussion forum, to show you what is available to our Community members!

Are HOA members limited in the amount of proxies they may hold in general meetings?

Member’s question:

Good day Paddocks,

In order to reach quorum at our Home Owners’ Association AGM, many owners who do not want to attend the meeting choose to to give their proxy to the chairperson. This can sometimes result in him holding up to 12 proxies. One member of the HOA states that the chairperson is limited to 2 proxies, however, our HOA’s Constitution is silent on the matter of proxies for general meetings, and does not impose any limitations.

So my question is: Are there any restrictions?

Graham’s answer:

Dear member,

In the situation you describe there is no maximum number of proxies a member of the HOA may hold at its meetings.

The confusion may arise because in sectional title law no person can hold more than two proxies from owners in a scheme, but this does not apply to HOAs. In your case, the terms of the HOA’s constitution and the common law apply, and neither of these contain such a restriction.

Regards
Graham

Can an owner in default with their levies have their access to the scheme made inconvenient by forcing them to sign in at the gate?

Member’s question:

Hi Graham,

In a scenario where an owner fails to pay levies to the HOA, does the board have the right to deactivate access tags, thereby requiring the resident to manually sign in at reception? To be clear, access is not being denied, but is being made a little inconvenient.

The constitution does not speak to this.

Graham’s answer:

Dear member,

No, this will be considered spoliation, i.e. ‘taking the law into your own hands’.

The board can charge interest on outstanding levies, and this is a form of penalty. However, it must take legal action to recover outstanding levies. It may not take any extra-legal steps to ‘persuade’ a defaulter to pay.

My article in this month’s Paddocks Press deals with the underlying issue in some detail and unpacks a recent case that illustrates the issues.

Kind regards
Graham

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Article reference: Paddocks Press: Volume 17, Issue 9.

Graham Paddock is available to answer questions on the Paddocks Club discussion forum for Community members. Get all your questions answered by joining Paddocks Club.

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

Back to Paddocks Press – September 2022 Edition.