Question: A proxy was presented at our AGM with all fields filled in correctly except the signature, which used a shortened first name instead of the full name. Is that signature legally valid?
A proxy was presented at our last AGM. The owner and tenant are related, with the same surname and similar first names, for example, owner “Robin” and tenant “Robyn”. The proxy was correctly filled in on all details except for the signature. Instead of “Robin Surname,” the signature simply said “Rob.”
Several votes ended in a tie, or were very close. Should the committee question the form, partly because there have previously been claims of dishonest behaviour by this tenant. We have no comparison signature from the owner, so we cannot prove or disprove the handwriting. I understand that proxies must be signed in full. Our strata managing agent says it’s questionable but not worth arguing over, since it could result in an invalid AGM.
I believe this is important. It should be questioned and validated, and accepted only if genuine; otherwise, every motion that was tied or lost by 1 should be recounted. What are the actual legal requirements for proxy signatures? Is half a name sufficient?
Answer: There is no legal requirement that a proxy signature spell out the full name.
There is no requirement that a signature spell out the signatory’s name.
Clause 26(1) of Schedule 1 to the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 provides that a person is a “duly appointed proxy” if they are “appointed as a proxy by an instrument in the form approved by the Secretary and the form is signed by the person appointing the proxy or executed in any other manner permitted by the regulations.”
The owner is identified by name and lot in the body of the form. You’ve said that part was completed correctly. The signature does a different job: it authenticates the document. A signature at law is simply a mark made by a person with the intention of adopting the document as their own. Initials, a shortened name, a monogram, an illegible squiggle, all have long been accepted. Most people’s ordinary signatures bear little resemblance to their printed name, and no bank, solicitor or land titles office would blink at any of them. “Rob” is a signature.
On the relationship: an owner may appoint whoever they like. Schedule 1 expressly contemplates a tenant holding a proxy (clause 21(1)), and there is no bar on appointing a relative. The only real restrictions are the numerical limits in clause 26(7), one proxy in a scheme of 20 lots or fewer, otherwise 5% of lots, and the specific bars on original owners, strata managing agents, building managers and on-site residential property managers in defined circumstances.
If your actual concern is whether the owner gave the proxy at all, don’t argue about handwriting. Ask them. Write to the owner directly at the address on the strata roll, not through the tenant, and ask them to confirm in writing. If they confirm it, the matter is closed. If they say they gave no such proxy, that is an entirely different and far more serious problem, and worth immediate advice.
This is general information about NSW strata law and not legal advice.
This post appears in Strata News #807.
Tim Sara
Sara Strata
E: tim@sarastrata.com.au
P: 04 8500 7960
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