Issuing of proxies

Our Board has stated that for a homeowner to get their proxy for our upcoming annual meeting, the homeowner must physically go to the property management company (PMSI) to get their proxy. When an out-of-town homeowner asked about emailing or mailing their proxy, the answer was "no, they would have to come by the PMSI office and sign for their proxy." Is this legal? Also when the annual meeting letter announcement was mailed out, no proxies were included.

Like most HOA's, the majority of the homeowners are apathetic in attending the annual meeting. My HOA has had the same board members for 6 years because a quorum cannot be met.

With 2011 FL Statute 720.306(8)(a), the line "To be valid, a proxy must be dated, must state the date, time, and place of the meeting for which it was given, and must be signed by the authorized person who executed the proxy.", who is the the authorized person who executed the proxy? Is it the homeowner, the board or the management company? If the homeowner cannot attend the annual meeting and cannot pick-up their proxy, can the homeowner submit their own proxy as log as it has the required info.

Any response before November 17 would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Our Board has stated that for a homeowner to get their proxy for our upcoming annual meeting, the homeowner must physically go to the property management company (PMSI) to get their proxy. When an out-of-town homeowner asked about emailing or mailing their proxy, the answer was "no, they would have to come by the PMSI office and sign for their proxy." Is this legal? Also when the annual meeting letter announcement was mailed out, no proxies were included.

WJ
Every member of the Association has the right to vote in person or by proxy. I have never heard of any corporation that would require a person to come into a management office of all places and pick up a proxy and sign for it? Proxies are always sent in the Annual meeting package or any members’ meeting. I think your management company either does not know what they are doing or someone is playing games. And, yes I think it is not legal to refuse mailing a proxy to a member. Do challenge it.

WJ,

You need to recall that a proxy is: A person authorized to act for another; an agent or substitute. A proxy form is just a letter informing the corporation that this individual is their specific representative.

A simple letter should meet the requirements of FL law.

Here is an example of the wording that could be used:

I, ______________________________, homeowner of lot _____, and residing at
________________________________________________________________________________

do hereby authorize _________________________________________ to act as my proxy and cast a vote for me in my absence during the [name of Association] Annual Homeowners Meeting on [date] to be held at [location] at [time]

___________________________ ___________
SIGNATURE OF ABSENTEE HOMEOWNER DATE

Tim

I wonder if this is not a BALLOT that needs to be picked up at the office. You'd think the management company would make it VERY easy to give a proxie.

Still, even this is highly irregular.

The Board does not want a quorum to vote on any issues or elect a new board. Only 2 of the 5 positions are currently filled. The board entered into a 10 year contract on their own initiative that had been petitioned against for 4 years. Evidently there were some shady things happening if the board is trying to block a quorum by not distributing proxies.