Property management bullying

ElaineBerry

Hi,
Can anyone advise me?
I attended a residents committee AGM a few days ago, and sitting with the directors was the proprietor of our management company. This person dominated the whole meeting and was quite aggressive and intimidating for the whole meeting. And at one stage nearly came to blows with a resident.he also held a proxy to vote, is this allowed?

I felt he is bullying our directors into decisions.

Should this person be allowed to attend our meetings as he is emoloyed by us and NOT a director or a resident?

Thanks
Elaine

Little CuChulainn

Don't bother asking here. I think you've already made a cardinal sin by mixing up the term management agent and management company. Even though they call themselves management companies, they are technically called management agents. There's a number of regular posters that clearly do a lot of work for management agents and you won't get a balanced answer. They'll even defend blatantly illegal acts. Just search for previous threads to see.

The answer to your question is a complex one and depends on the individual complex and how it was set up and who has ownership of units. Usually, there is one vote per apartment owner and these votes can be used to elect directors and hire and fire management agents. The management agent should not be controlling meetings and it might be worth electing stronger directors to replace the current ones if they can't put the agent in his place.

It's worth talking to neighbours and finding their views. If there is enough of you with concerns, and votes, then you should consider consulting a solicitor as to what you can do. It may be possible to call an EGM and replace the directors and management agent.

nuac

Mod
Legal advice not allowed on this forum
Will leave it open for now for discussion of general issues around management companies

nuac

double post

ElaineBerry

Thank you for your reply, appreciated!

ElaineBerry wrote: »

Hi,
Can anyone advise me?
I attended a residents committee AGM a few days ago, and sitting with the directors was the proprietor of our management company. This person dominated the whole meeting and was quite aggressive and intimidating for the whole meeting. And at one stage nearly came to blows with a resident.he also held a proxy to vote, is this allowed?

I felt he is bullying our directors into decisions.

Should this person be allowed to attend our meetings as he is emoloyed by us and NOT a director or a resident?

Thanks
Elaine

GM228

ElaineBerry wrote: »

Hi,
Can anyone advise me?
I attended a residents committee AGM a few days ago, and sitting with the directors was the proprietor of our management company. This person dominated the whole meeting and was quite aggressive and intimidating for the whole meeting. And at one stage nearly came to blows with a resident.he also held a proxy to vote, is this allowed?

I felt he is bullying our directors into decisions.

Should this person be allowed to attend our meetings as he is emoloyed by us and NOT a director or a resident?

Thanks
Elaine

In terms of an AGM for any business someone who is entitled to be at the AGM can appoint him the proxy status, then yes he is entitled to be there and have a vote if that power was allowed for by the appointer, but he and the appointer can't attend at the same time.

But that's under company law, I'm not sure if the same would apply to a residents committee but I assume it would.

Paulw

Yes, a management agent can vote in proxy for residents, if they assign their proxy.

It is common for the management agent to attend the management company AGM.

If you don't like the management agent, then you can propose at an AGM, or EGM for the agent to be replaced. The management company directors can replace the management agent, depending on the contract in place. Some contracts specify what is required to replace the agent (timeframe, etc).

Bottom line, you have the right, as a management company to replace an agent you are not happy with. But, this requires a vote and the approval of the directors. Your management company directors are the ones with the power. If you are not happy with them, you are also free to have them replaced and have yourself proposed as a director in their place.