This article discusses when a committee member resigns before a meeting quorum is met and how the remaining members can proceed.
Question: We are under the standard module. Our committee has three voting members. After the committee meeting agenda was issued, but before the meeting was held, one of the voting members resigned. No one else is willing to be on the committee. What do we do?
Answer: The committee meeting could go ahead. Provided the other two attended, there would still be a quorum, and the meeting could proceed.
For the standard and accommodation modules, when a committee member resigns, the remaining committee members have 30 days to appoint an eligible person to fill the vacancy. After that, an EGM should be held to appoint a new member.
In your circumstances, the committee could have a committee meeting notice issued, a member could resign, a VOC could be held to appoint a new member, and the meeting could be held with that new person in place.
As you had three members, it’s also possible that the committee meeting could go ahead. Provided the other two attended, there would still be a quorum, and the meeting could proceed. Perhaps a replacement committee member could be appointed at the meeting.
More generally, if a committee is a member short due to one member resigning, the advice is that the committee should carry on but look to hold off on any major decisions until a full committee is appointed. This is not always possible, but the business of the body corporate needs to go on, and at some stage, decisions have to be made. The timelines for calling meetings and making appointments don’t always fit into this structure, so you have to fall back to the reliable standard of making reasonable decisions and move ahead as best you can.
Things get a little more difficult if no one wants to be on the committee. You are supposed to have three members in the standard and accommodation modules. If three can’t be appointed, you are supposed to consider engaging a body corporate manager under a part 5 agreement – one where the manager fills the roles of the committee. However, these can be expensive, and people don’t usually want to hand over control of their scheme.
In reality, many schemes soldier on with one or two committee members, even if this doesn’t align with the legislation. We find that doing things this way is not a problem until it is, and then the problem can become outsized. Schemes may run smoothly for years with only one or two members, but it can be hard to turn the ship around when there is an issue. As such, if a committee can’t fill the vacancies, it is probably worth contacting all owners and advising them of the risks of not having a valid committee. Someone will usually sign up, even if only to fill the technical requirement while not contributing much else.
This post appears in Strata News #674.
William Marquand Tower Body Corporate E: willmarquand@towerbodycorporate.com.au P: 07 5609 4924