Quorums and Entitlements to vote

Q. What is a quorum?

A. The first thing to understand in determining a quorum is that the quorum must be present for all motions that are to be considered by the owners corporation. In addition a quorum for a unanimous decision is different than for all other types of decisions.

There are two ways that a quorum is decided.

The first is where at least one quarter of the number of persons are entitled to vote on the motion or election who are present either personally or by duly appointed proxy.

The second is where at least one quarter of the aggregate unit entitlement is represented by the persons who are present and entitled to vote on the motion or the election, either personally or by duly appointed proxy.

Also to consider is that where there is more than one owner in the strata scheme the minimum number of lot owners (eligible to vote) must be at least 2.

Q. Who is �Entitled to vote�?

A. There are a range of persons who are entitled to vote on motions including:

• An individual owner
• Joint owners (but there are special conditions for them)
• A company nominee where the lot is owned by a company
• A person with a priority vote (a mortgagee of a lot where they are registered on the strata roll or a covenant chargee registered on the strata roll)

Q. Are there any restrictions on being �entitled to vote?

A. Yes there are. There are generally 2 ways that a vote is restricted and does not count (and is not included for the purposes of quorums).

The first is where the owner has not paid their levy contributions. This disentitles them to vote on all motions except unanimous resolutions.

The second is where the person (or company) is not registered on the strata roll (and has not complied with section 118).

An example:

�

�

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In this situation the aggregate is 200 unit entitlements and � would be 50 unit entitlements.

• �If 3 lot owners attended who were entitled to vote there would be a quorum
• If only 2 lot owners attended it would depend on who they were. If they were lots 1 and 6 (total 20 U/E�s) then there would not be a quorum.
• If the 2 lot owners were lots 5 and 10 (60U/E�s) then there would be a quorum.
• If only lot 10 attended (50U/E�s) there would not be a quorum.

Original owner issues: Where the original owner still holds lots in the scheme that total more than half of the total aggregate of unit entitlements then the votes are reduced accordingly. However, the counting of the original owner in relation to quorums does not change.

Q. What about 2 lot schemes?

A. 2 lot schemes have different quorum requirements (basically both owners must attend the first meeting � see 2 lot schemes).