Proxy Voting at AGM

[BrianC]

I have had my proxy vote disallowed at the recent AGM, which I was unable to attend in person.

I first sent to the Administrator and the President details of how I wished my vote to be cast on each item on the Agenda.

I was advised that “remote voting” was not allowed and had to nominate someone who was attending the meeting to vote on my behalf

So I sent my instructions to another owner in the Community to act as my proxy to vote on my behalf on each of the Agenda items.

I was advised by the Administrator that this person could not act as my proxy and that, if I nominated him as my proxy, my vote would be cast according to his wishes and not mine. In other words, I had no independent vote.

I have asked for an explanation and for the Administrator to quote the reference in Spanish law which supports his assertion.

Can anyone tell me what the true position is, please.

 

 

[Mark Stücklin]

Brian,

Read these two articles by Raymundo Larraín on Communities of Owners and challenging assembly resolutions. They might help you get a better understanding of the problem:

Community of Owners in Spain: Challenging Assembly Resolutions

Community of Owners, or Comunidad de Propietarios

As far as I know you are allowed to delegate your vote, but I’ll try and check that with an authority.

[Mark Stücklin]

Brian,

Raymundo confirms you can delegate your vote, he writes:

Yes, you can delegate your vote. Not only do I say that in my articles but as President of my Community of Owners I confirm this is done frequently in practice.

Art.15.1 of Spain’s Horizontal Property Act (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal) allows a proxy vote; however you must be up-to-date with all your Community fees before or on the same day the General Assembly (AGM or EGM) is held to be allowed to cast a vote.

The following clauses are taken from a translation of Spain’s Horizontal Property Act, which you can read in full here.

Section 15

1. Unit owners may attend meetings of the general assembly in person or by
legal or voluntary representation, for which a written proxy signed by the unit owner is sufficient accreditation.

Where a unit belongs jointly to different owners, these shall designate one
representative to attend and vote on their behalf.

Where a unit is held in usufruct, the unit owner or landlord shall be entitled to attend and vote, but, unless otherwise stated, shall be presumed to be represented by the tenant or usufructuary. However, express representation shall be required for resolutions referred to in the First rule of section 17 concerning work for extraordinary repairs or improvements.

2. Unit owners who at the time the meeting is called to order are not up-to-date
with payments of outstanding community assessments and have not judicially
challenged them or consigned the amount thereof in court or with the notary public shall be allowed to take part in the debates but not to vote. The minutes of the meeting shall record the names of the unit owners deprived of their voting rights, and neither the person nor the respective assessment quota shall be used to compute the quorums for majority votes prescribed in this Act.

Here is a template of a proxy vote for AGMs or EGMs:

REPRESENTACION

Yo, [name and surname], propietario del piso/local [property details] de la comunidad de propietarios [name of Community of Owners], mediante el presente escrito y conforme previene el art. 15.1 de la Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, autorizo a D. [name and surname] para que asista y vote, en mi representación, en la Junta General Ordinaria/Extraordinaria [AGM or EGM] de Propietarios que se celebrará en [day, time and venue where AGM or else EGM is being held]. La cuota de participación que tiene asignada la propiedad que ostento es de [quota percentage on commonhold].

Fdo.: [signed, and then add passport number or else NIE number below signature]

[Author]

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