Legislative Changes - 2024 - Part I

“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence; or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognize it. They say, ‘Huh. It works. It makes sense.'”

- Barack Obama

It's been awhile since I wrote a column, as it has taken some time to finish and publish the book. More on that toward the end of this column, but first, a few notable changes to the Condominium Act that take effect in January 2025.

In 2016 the Legislature amended the section of the Condominium Act that deals with proxies, creating a “directed” proxy. But they did not define what it meant, leading to some confusion. In 2024 they defined it.

In English, i.e. non-legalese, a directed proxy takes discretion away from the proxy holder as to how to vote and allows the owner of the unit to direct the proxy holder how to vote, such as for or against a budget, for or against a proposed amendment, or which owners to vote onto, or remove from, the board of directors.

Proxies, keep in mind, are your voice. Boards of directors can't tell you who to give it to, such as another owner or the board. You get to give your voice to whomever you want. That person doesn't have to be another owner, or even a citizen of the United States, to use an extreme example. That person just has to be eighteen, i.e. any adult.

If it were otherwise, a board of directors could direct owners to give their proxies only to the board, which may have visions and ideas diametrically opposed to yours. It would be like going into a polling place and having the Town Clerk tell you all your votes have to be for a Democrat … or a Republican. And no court has ever ruled such a practice to be legal in a condominium case, at least none I've ever heard about in 25 years of practice.

Now it gets a bit more involved.

To ensure owners can have their voice heard, every association, starting in 2025, has to give the owners not only a directed proxy, but the option of whether to use a directed or undirected proxy. It's easy enough to create. You simply have to have language that notes the owner has the right to simply give their voice to the named person for all votes, and then, if they choose not to do so, the owner can direct the proxy holder how to vote by checking boxes next to the issues to be voted in that follow.

But if you don't create one, anyone can rightly challenge the votes cast at the meeting.

Why did the Legislature create directed proxies? Simply as a way to prevent a domineering person from collecting undirected proxies and controlling the votes in the association.

Now it gets yet a bit more complicated.

Also part of the legislation is language that notes, “In a condominium association of more than 20 units, proxies cast by any person shall not exceed 10 percent of the votes cast,  provided that condominium bylaws that specify less than 10 percent of proxies cast shall apply.” So, if your association has 50 Units, no one person (or entity, such as the board of directors, can have more than 5 proxies, even if they are directed proxies, for fear someone will, as has happened in at least one of my associations, bully people into telling them what to write or check off, and gain control over the association, which may well not be the free will of the owners. (Your bylaws, per the legislation, can have a lower percentage, but not a higher one.)

If your association is less than 20 units, no one can have more than half of the proxies, even if a directed proxy.

More next time, as I'm running into the requested length of the column, but the takeaway is you are required, effective January 15, 2025, to do your owners a favor and list on your proxy each of the votes to be made at the upcoming meeting so the voices of your fellow owners can truly be heard.

Now, about the book, for those who have asked about it. Adventures in a Parallel Place, Tales, Tips and Advice from my Life in the World of Condos, is available on Amazon, as a paperback and an ebook. It's a compilation of a lot of these columns, categorized and expanded a bit. If for no other reason, you should check it out as Terra Merry, of Seacoast Graphic Designs, did a great job on the cover.

It really is a good source for boards of directors for the issues that arise. (If you buy one, make sure the association pays for it. Take it out of the Administrative or Legal line item in the budget.) For those interested, here's the Amazon link.

https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Parallel-Place-Advice-Condos/dp/B0DLV2F7P7/ref=zg_bs_g_173483_d_sccl_25/135-1581554-6579209?psc=1