QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTERS

Started by TomW • 5 replies • 1138 views

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TomW (Utah)
Posts: 31

Posted:

Our condiminium complex in Utah consists of 80 units, 11 of which are timeshare units. The 11 timeshare unit votes are controlled by the president of the timeshare association, a sub-association of the main HOA, thus giving one person control of 14% of the vote. Many full unit owners feel that this diminishes the value of their vote and would like to limit the influence that the timeshare owners have in the governence of our HOA.
Our documents state that an owner is defined as "The person or persons owning in fee simple a condominium in the project." Under this description, are timeshare owners considered owners eligible to vote for Board members, and is it legal for one person to control 14% of the total vote?

TomW, Utah

GeraldT4
Posts: 1,022

Posted:

TomW,

The timeshare owners are owners, eligible to vote. It's possible they have formally given the president the ability to vote on their behalf. Look for that authorization.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

That seems bizarre that a guy that has a 2 week timeshare has the same power of vote as a full time resident. He is really a .2% owner, isn't he? (14 days out of 365)

Why isn't it one unit = one vote?

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

My math is wrong - he would not even have 1%.

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TomW on 07/17/2008 7:17 AM
Our condiminium complex in Utah consists of 80 units, 11 of which are timeshare units. The 11 timeshare unit votes are controlled by the president of the timeshare association, a sub-association of the main HOA, thus giving one person control of 14% of the vote. Many full unit owners feel that this diminishes the value of their vote and would like to limit the influence that the timeshare owners have in the governence of our HOA.
Our documents state that an owner is defined as "The person or persons owning in fee simple a condominium in the project." Under this description, are timeshare owners considered owners eligible to vote for Board members, and is it legal for one person to control 14% of the total vote?

TomW, Utah

I believe timeshare assns might have different laws than HOAs. AZ has a different set of statutes specifically for timeshares: "The Timeshare Owners Association & Management Act". Even the Nonprofit Corp Act which applies to all nonprofit corps (HOAs included) excludes timeshares from certain articles or will have different laws for timeshares. I would suggest researching Utah state law.

With regard to your remarks, it appears that the president of the timeshare assn is only getting one vote for each timeshare unit. I don't understand why anyone would be objecting to that. It would be a whole different ballgame if each timeshare owner was getting a vote, which is not the case. The President of the timeshare assn isn't "diminishing" the value of anyone's vote any more than any one of the full time owners would be if he owned more than one unit. Everyone gets one vote per unit owned, right? IMO, the timeshare owners have just as much right to have their voice heard as the full time owners. Would you object to any owner gathering any number of proxies and voting them at his discretion? Consider this the same type situation.

KirkW1 (Texas)
Posts: 1,665

Posted:

Quote:

... Under this description, are timeshare owners considered owners eligible to vote for Board members, and is it legal for one person to control 14% of the total vote?

I believe that yes, the time shares each count as a single unit. And yes, it is legal for one person to hold control of 14 of the vote.

In fact, it is mathematically possible for 7 such people to show up at the meeting. Those concerned about this should go out and collect proxies. When going out explain that 14% of the total votes will be held by a single non-resident individual. And that you want to ensure that they are adequately represented. Further, that should they decide to come to the meeting they can still vote as the proxy can only be exercised in their absence.

I would guess that it would not be tough to collect 10 proxy votes to match the person. This will keep the 14% from being a large enough block to keep the holder of the 11 votes from electing only his choices to the board.

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