Answer FAQ's

Q The condominium in which I live is having its first general meeting in three years. Are there any special criteria as a co-owner that i should know about regarding general meetings?

Owen, 25 years old Working Expat from Thailand

A Yes there are many – but where to start. I’ll try to touch on the major points. Firstly your Juristic Person Manager is in breach of the Law by not holding the first general meeting with six months of Juristic registration of the building and electing an executive committee. All subsequent annual general meetings must be held within one hundred and twenty days following the fiscal year end. Owners must be notified no less than seven days of the time, date and venue the meeting together with an agenda and important documents relating to the meeting, such as the balance sheet. The minimum requirements in the agenda are an annual report, approval of the balance sheet of the previous year and approval of the accounts auditor for the current year. There are other items that can only be decided at a general meeting; the appointment of committee members, the purchasing or selling or change of use of common property, adjustments to common fees, the appointment of a Juristic Person Manager and his or her responsibilities and more. All other matters can be decided at committee level and should be otherwise you will have everyone with personal agendas arguing their cases which can be very time consuming. To open a meeting twenty five percent of the votes of the building are required which is called a ‘quorum’. Apart from Sections 37,48 and 49 of the Condominium Act all topics debated require more than half of the votes registered at the meeting in order to be approved or not.

Paul Rogers - Managing Director Optima Management Services Ltd