This article discusses whether a committee can lawfully remove disruptive body corporate member participation without a formal vote of no confidence and what options are available under strata legislation.
Question: A toxic committee member does not assist the committee and seems to be working against them. Can the committee have a vote of no confidence to remove the member from the committee?
Our 31-lot body corporate complex has six committee members. One member is very toxic. The other committee members would like to have a vote of no confidence against the toxic owner at the AGM. How do we do this?
The member does not contribute to any committee duties. Without evidence, they accused the executive committee of not being transparent. They have bad-mouthed committee members to other lot owners and vote against any notices intended to improve safety in the complex, e.g., children and cars in the complex, parking on common property, etc.
The committee feel this owner is only a member to know what is happening, not for the good of the owners. What can we do?
Answer: You can remove a committee member via an ordinary resolution at a general meeting.
Your situation is one I’ve heard before. That doesn’t make it any easier, of course: I say that simply to give you some assurance that you are not alone.
If you feel you have, as a collective of other committee members, exhausted your options to discuss with this member the concerns you have, then you can remove them via an ordinary resolution at a general meeting. You do not need to provide reasons for this, and it goes without saying – though I’ll say it anyway – that you need someone ready to replace them and who can do the job. You can remove and replace them as part of the same motion.
Assuming you go down this path, you also need to consider what the consequences may be: will this person, for example, react negatively? And will that permeate into the rest of the complex? For example, would this person react in a way that might cause further disharmony? I always think these are vital questions to ask.
There is no provision for a vote of ‘no confidence’ under strata legislation. While I know it is a common feature in other fields, such as politics, it is not a feature of strata. Whether it should be is another matter, of course.
This is general information only and not legal advice.
This post appears in Strata News #708.
Chris Irons
Strata Solve
E: chris@stratasolve.com.au
P: 0419 805 898
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