Question: We’d like to terminate our body corporate manager, however, there are issues with the vote count from the AGM. How do we resolve this?
At our AGM, a motion was submitted to terminate the services of our body corporate management company.
The outcome was two YES, two NO and one abstain. After the AGM, four of the five unit holders wish to terminate the management company’s services. Are we able to do this considering the vote at the AGM?
The issues with the current body corporate manager are due to:
- a misrepresentation of vote counts leading to multiple amendments
- a charge of $100 to issue a copy of our insurance policy to a lot owner generally, and unanswered emails.
How do we resolve this?
Answer: Hold a new meeting to confirm the position of the owners and proceed with the termination.
Votes can’t be changed after the fact. The best thing to do may be to hold a new meeting to confirm the position of the owners and proceed with the termination.
You don’t need to involve your current manager in the meeting. The secretary can issue the meeting notice and provide the minutes. The chair can run the meeting. The meeting itself can be very straightforward – just a motion to confirm the previous minutes – which you can vote no to if they are in dispute – and a motion to terminate the contract of the current body corporate manager.
If you are looking to appoint a new company, they would probably help you organise and run the meeting and provide you with a further motion for their appointment.
You will need to check the termination clauses in your current contract to see if there is any financial penalty for terminating the existing agreement. Probably, the current company would look to be paid any fixed fees remaining on the rest of the contract. There may also be an exit fee for arranging the books and records.
It’s concerning that you have issues with voting counts – five votes aren’t many to count or verify. You may not be able to change it now, but for future votes, it might be worth having owners submit their voting papers in writing so that there is a record. You can do this even if you vote from the floor. Mark the voting paper as you vote and submit it at the end of the meeting for the record.
Charges for the provision of your information will depend on your contract with the body corporate, so that may be legitimate. However, providing information like this will probably take the body corporate about a minute to access the file and send you an email. If you are planning to appoint new managers, read through the small print of the contract and ask questions about this kind of fee. Many owners only look at the headline fees of the base costs and choose the cheapest company on that basis. They end up paying a lot more when all the additionals are considered.
William Marquand
Tower Body Corporate
E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au
P: 07 5609 4924
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