ONLY BOARD CAN BE ASSIGNED PROXIES???

CRAZINESS! HYPOTHETICAL... Say A Special Meeting was called by The members. The Board, (Fearing their removal), directed the management company to mail a "RE- Notice" of meeting packet to the membership just days before the meeting. In that packet, they included a "FUNNEL" proxy; (The assignment of which, had ONLY the pre printed names of Directors, 'pick one', listed -and no spot for any one else). An SASE was included along with instructions for those who couldn't attend to mail this proxy to the Management CO."OR LOSE YOUR VOTE"! In the notice, a new policy was declared that; "This Proxy supercedes any previous proxies"...

A)Is this type of proxy Fair, Legal? (is this the kind that got proxies outlawed to some extent in FL,AZ etc.?)

B)What about the "Supercedes" argument and 'Sign this or LOSE YOUR VOTE...'intimidation? -
(Hypothetical situation is in Colorado or Krakow Poland,... you pick.)

I want your Impressions and Experience, ( Getting legal counsel is a given).

Can you forward the proxy language from your ByLaws? That could help.

Very dirty! Stuff like this is why people hate HOA's. I'd contact a lawyer instantly if my board sent out a letter like that.

Also, I'd check your state laws. I know in WA there is a required 14 day notice for meetings of the community.

First, your bylaws should say that proxies ARE allowed.

Second, it should be clearly spelled out HOW the proxy form is to be completed and WHO gets the proxy formand WHAT the proxy form is for (to establish a quorum? to cast a vote?)

Apparently, this proxy form is a kind of generic "permission slip" for the board to cast the vote as they see fit.

Instead, consider mail ballots, with members simply marking the ballot and returning their vote in an envelope.

Not a problem. Plenty of folks.

How I would love to see proxies outlawed in Virginia. IN our HOA, any member can hold up to 5 proxies. They may be undirected or directed proxies. Board members can hold as many proxies as they wish. Typically, this is a recipe for fraud and I've seen it happen. There's nothing to prevent anyone from collecting proxies door to door and acquiring just the signature on the proxy. Then once the proxy is acquired, guess what happens to proxy next before it gets mailed in as if the owner actually mailed it in. You guessed it, ...

Proxies should be banned.

I have fought this issue twice now. Our by-laws clearly state that a proxy can be provided to ANY member of the corporation. But more importantly if the association is a corporation it must follow corporate law. Most corporate laws, which would trump the by-laws, indicate that a proxy can be assigned to anyone. We had similar problem where the prior boards wanted the proxies to be sent to either the mgmt company or given to a board member.

Gerry,

Who says corporate law trumps the bylaws? And, more importantly, where is corporate law written? The only things that trump the bylaws are state law, the CCRs and the Articles of Inc -- in that order.

If your bylaws explicitly state a proxy can be given to any members of the assn, then the board has no right to only allow the proxy to be given to a board member or mgmt co rep.

To all,
What a post...................................This week is National Sun Shine week..........it really is. Transparency is the "Keyword". An editorial in a local paper zeroed in on "Letting the Sun Shine In on all "Stripes of Government."

How can we not agree? This idiocy of assigning Proxies only to Board members can be changed, where is our indignation? For HOA's of all stripes, the only reason to have a Proxy is to meet quorum, and that also can be circumvented by lowering the numbers to reach quorum.
I also like the idea of a sealed vote, however, from reading so many posts on this site and after 30 some years of association living I am hesitant to put faith in honesty prevailing.

And of course, that conclusion, is not rational, it is a product of our experiences. We just seem to have a way of ignoring all these transgressions when in comes to association living. IMHO

"Clunk", I just fell off my Soapbox.