This article discusses “Can my tenant be my proxy” by explaining the rules around appointing a tenant as a valid proxy and their participation rights at Queensland body corporate general meetings.
Question: If I appoint my tenant as proxy using the correct form, can they speak and vote at a general meeting?
I am trying to understand participation and representation rules for body corporate general meetings in Queensland.
1. Tenant as proxy
If a lot owner appoints a tenant as proxy using a completed BCCM Form 6, and lodges that form with the body corporate before the meeting starts, does that tenant have the right to both speak and vote at the general meeting on the owner’s behalf? If the body corporate tries to deny these rights, what provisions of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 or regulates this?
2. Lot owner participation
What does a lot owner need to do to make sure they can attend, speak and vote at a body corporate general meeting? Is anything required beyond being a lot owner, such as advance notice, identification or specific paperwork?
Answer: There is no express right for someone to speak at a general meeting.
We’ll get to your two specific questions in a moment. First, a general note on proxies. Whether it’s strata or anything else, a proxy is essentially someone who acts for or on behalf of another entity. You can, for example, hear about certain countries or regimes acting as ‘proxies’ for another.
There are many reasons to appoint a proxy, and there are many pros and cons to that. Here’s a fun fact: a body corporate can actually resolve to prohibit proxies completely.
When it comes to proxy use, there are stringent rules and qualifiers about the use of the proxy. For a proxy to be validly used and counted, it must comply with those rules.
To your queries:
This Part of the Standard Module (equivalent provisions of other Standard Modules) regulates proxy use: Queensland Standard Module – Proxies. We won’t go into every provision now, as it is quite detailed. Suffice to say, so long as you and your proxy holder are complying with these provisions, then your proxy is entitled to act on your behalf. The fact that they are a tenant is completely irrelevant (we sense from your query that their tenancy might be an issue for others). We’d probably need to know a bit more about what happened (e.g., the reasons given for denying your proxy) to comment further. Ultimately, if you believe you have correctly provided a proxy, and its use has been denied, your path to dispute that is through the Commissioner’s Office.
See above in relation to proxies. A lot owner can also utilise a Power of Attorney or a corporate nominee (if the owner is a corporation) to have someone act as their representative. The rules around those differ from those for proxies. Again, it’s difficult to comment without knowing a little more of what happened or is happening.
A note on meeting participation: there is no express right for someone to speak at a general meeting. Meetings are for voting. We frequently get asked about the concept of general business. While it might be very helpful and conducive to good community relations, general business has no force or impact. We are strong believers that the best participation in a general meeting is done before the meeting, through lobbying, persuasion, and discussion, not during the meeting.
Of course, we also know of plenty of people who strongly disagree on this point.
This is general information only and not legal advice.
Chris Irons Strata Solve E: chris@stratasolve.com.au P: 0419 805 898
This post appears in Strata News #773.
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