hoa proxy

Started by EllenP3 • 6 replies • 1572 views

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EllenP3 (New Mexico)
Posts: 3

Posted:

We have received proxies for the next annual meeting. They do not have a place for a signature nor a date. Our management company says that they are legal because they are to be sent back in a sealed envelope with the name of the resident (not necessarily a signature) and a date.

There is also the name of one person running for the board on the proxy. There is no place to check off a box if you want to vote for him, so unless someone is savy enough to cross ouyt his name, they are automatically voting for this person. There is a line below his name, but no instructions as to what to do there. I am assuming it is to write in the name of somone else, but there are no instructions to indicate that.

I can find nothing in new Mexico law to tell me if this is a vaild proxy in Neew Mexico. I thought all proxies had to be sighned and dated.

The only HOA laweyer I can find in the state represents ourt management co9mpany, and I have some real
I would appreciate any thoughs.

The only HOA lawyer I can find is the one who represents our HOA and he gave us some info a while back that I think leaves us open to liable. Can't think who else toi call to check on what is a valid HOA proxy in new Mexico.

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

I'm not an attorney but I would agree with you that this is an invalid proxy. That and $10.00 will get you a cup of coffee. I would complain not to the MC but to the Board for as much as they might want to pass the buck, they are responsible for anything sent out in the Association's name. Unless they are planning to staple every envelope to each proxy to prove it was "valid" I don't see any reason to do it unless they are planning to cheat. It would be so much easier just to hold up a handful of unsigned papers and declare them to be valid proxies. I would get your neighbors involved in protesting these proxies.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

EbonyJ (Tennessee)
Posts: 62

Posted:

I agree with both of you. We had a special election and any proxies that were not signed or dated were thrown out because it was determined that the proxies were not valid due to those missing items

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,046

Posted:

Ellen,

NM Corporate law 53-8-15. Voting. specifies that the proxy is only valid for 11 months from the date of it's execution.

If there is no date on the proxy form, then you can not prove when it was executed.
If there is no signature on the proxy from, you typically can not prove that the member issued the proxy.

I think your Management Company messed up and is now trying not to have to resend the proxy forms. All that said, the reality of it is, if no-one challenges the results of the vote, no-one will care. However, if challenged, there could be issues for the Association.

FredS7 (Arizona)
Posts: 927

Posted:

Are you describing a proxy or a mailed ballot?

EllenP3 (New Mexico)
Posts: 3

Posted:

It was mailed with the understanding that it was a proxy, but now that I am questioning the validity, they are calling it a ballot/proxy. The paper itself says Proxy and contains the phrase "In order to be elidgible to vote (or assign your vote by proxy) you must be a homeowner in good standing.

I enterpret this as a proxy.

FredS7 (Arizona)
Posts: 927

Posted:

> In order to be elidgible to vote (or assign your vote by proxy) you must be a homeowner in good standing.

Clearly someone has been very sloppy. However. One way to interpret this is the following. The paper is an "absentee ballot". Having it returned in an envelope signed by the voter is sensible.

[A BETTER idea is to have an inner envelope and an outer envelope. The voter puts the ballot in the inner envelope, encloses it in the outer envelope, seals it, and signs. The election counters verify that the ballot is good, remove the inner from the outer envelope, and then open and count the valid ballots together. This preserves secret balloting.]

The way I interpret this- if an owner wanted to assign his vote (to be voted at the meeting) by proxy he would need a different document, or would need to write something on the ballot making his intentions clear.

Overall- very, very, careless. At LEAST it should be indicated WHAT it is, ballot or proxy.

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