Sectional title trustee question

Might be no trustees or complete lack of interest.

OP and his partner could be keen to step up and make a change for the better.
 
Well the reason we both wanted to be trustees is because right now the chairperson is totally unchecked and no one else seems very interested as most are just renters.Right now we have the chairperson with the only 2 trustees been people who rent from her.That seems hypocritical to me If the chairperson gets a vote and her renters get votes how is that any different from my situation.

In the past 2 years our levies have gone up by over 50 percent and are at least 50 odd percent more than the norm of other sectional titles in similar price ranges within the area. We put eskom price increases to shame.
 
I have only read part of the thread, so apologies if I am repeating anything.

My wife owns the unit we stay in, but I have served as Trustee in tandem with her. But, only one vote counts, we can't both vote (as mentioned, one vote per unit). I was even Chairman for awhile, I never wish THAT on my worst enemy, it was certainly an experience.

As was already stated, tenants/renters can also be trustees, but the majority needs to be owners (whether they live on the property or not doesn't matter, as long as the title/mortgage is in their name). That being said, the Trustees can co-opt someone without making them a Trustee (what happened to me, basically), so you don't have a vote, but still can attend meetings and have your say etc. When I was Chairman, I still only had one vote as 'owner', but then the Chairman also has a tiebreaker vote that he/she can use if required.

But, yes, I would also suggest checking with CSOS and your managing agents here.

B
 
tawdry said:
Well the reason we both wanted to be trustees is because right now the chairperson is totally unchecked and no one else seems very interested as most are just renters.Right now we have the chairperson with the only 2 trustees been people who rent from her.That seems hypocritical to me If the chairperson gets a vote and her renters get votes how is that any different from my situation.

In the past 2 years our levies have gone up by over 50 percent and are at least 50 odd percent more than the norm of other sectional titles in similar price ranges within the area. We put eskom price increases to shame.
Click to expand...
technically this only affects trustee decisions daily stuff -the big complex votes the chairperson has 3 votes anyway ( I assume she owns 3 properties in the complex)

again as i mentioned you can nominate your GF and you her but the votes to have you as trustees stil come from the rest of the owners (and your buddy the chairperson who has 3 votes.
 
Lupus said:
I know the BC is all the owners, they ultimately decide how the place is run, the trustees are just their elected representations. The OP is going against the BC as the chairperson was elected by the trustees who were elected by the BC. Therefore the chairperson is a representative of the BC. If they want to argue it, they could call a meeting or read their Sectiontal title rules.
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Why is it against the BC? The rest of the BC has just as much say and they are a lot more. OP might as well put both of them up for election and see what the real BC (not the chairperson) thinks. Maybe they are just as gatvol about the state of affairs.

Bismuth said:
I have only read part of the thread, so apologies if I am repeating anything.

My wife owns the unit we stay in, but I have served as Trustee in tandem with her. But, only one vote counts, we can't both vote (as mentioned, one vote per unit). I was even Chairman for awhile, I never wish THAT on my worst enemy, it was certainly an experience.

As was already stated, tenants/renters can also be trustees, but the majority needs to be owners (whether they live on the property or not doesn't matter, as long as the title/mortgage is in their name). That being said, the Trustees can co-opt someone without making them a Trustee (what happened to me, basically), so you don't have a vote, but still can attend meetings and have your say etc. When I was Chairman, I still only had one vote as 'owner', but then the Chairman also has a tiebreaker vote that he/she can use if required.

But, yes, I would also suggest checking with CSOS and your managing agents here.

B
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One vote per unit only in electing trustees. Thereafter it's one vote per trustee unless different rules were approved or lodged.
 
tawdry said:
Well the reason we both wanted to be trustees is because right now the chairperson is totally unchecked and no one else seems very interested as most are just renters.Right now we have the chairperson with the only 2 trustees been people who rent from her.That seems hypocritical to me If the chairperson gets a vote and her renters get votes how is that any different from my situation.

In the past 2 years our levies have gone up by over 50 percent and are at least 50 odd percent more than the norm of other sectional titles in similar price ranges within the area. We put eskom price increases to shame.
Click to expand...
In cases like this, sell your unit, especially in a complex full of renters. You'll never get anything done as you'll need to gather owners to actually do things.
 
tawdry said:
Well the reason we both wanted to be trustees is because right now the chairperson is totally unchecked and no one else seems very interested as most are just renters.Right now we have the chairperson with the only 2 trustees been people who rent from her.That seems hypocritical to me If the chairperson gets a vote and her renters get votes how is that any different from my situation.

In the past 2 years our levies have gone up by over 50 percent and are at least 50 odd percent more than the norm of other sectional titles in similar price ranges within the area. We put eskom price increases to shame.
Click to expand...

Trustees of a body corporate must be majority home owners or their spouses. So your significant other can be nominated but only as long as she is jointly in the minority. It is odd if there are only 3 trustees and only 1 is an owner. The correct route to become a trustee would be to wait for the AGM and be nominated and then voted on by the members. If you truly are unhappy with the way things are being run then you have three options:

1) If there is evidence of negligence or you feel they have acted in excess of the authority granted then request copies of all minutes of any decisions - if you find anything of substance you can then complain to the CSOS. You are entitled to any and all minutes and records.
2) If the AGM is near then attend and be vocal and get nominations for yourself and girlfriend.
3) If you cannot wait for the AGM then collect signatures of a minimum of 25% of the owners in the scheme and attach to a request to call an SGM stating the basis - The trustees are then bound to call a meeting within a set period of time regardless of if you have a valid complaint or not.

EDIT: It's worthwhile noting that you should at the next AGM make a motion to limit the authority of the trustees to a specific cumulative value in excess of the tabled and approved budget unless seeking either an SGM or notifying the body corporate and allowing for objection or voting process etc.
 
Thanks for all the replies Folks we will go ahead and apply and see what happens.
 
Well you see the problem is that we have a chairperson her daughter and her renter as the trustees .the evil trio as we like to call them. Between them they have 9 votes 3 and 6 proxies. The proxies are from people who don't stay in the building but rent their units out and popi privacy laws mean that we are not allowed to even know let alone have contact details for them Heaven only knows what these 3 are saying to them about us.In the building we only have 8 live in owners out of a total of 18 owners so unless we can add more then we can never overcome.
 
tawdry said:
Well you see the problem is that we have a chairperson her daughter and her renter as the trustees .the evil trio as we like to call them. Between them they have 9 votes 3 and 6 proxies. The proxies are from people who don't stay in the building but rent their units out and popi privacy laws mean that we are not allowed to even know let alone have contact details for them Heaven only knows what these 3 are saying to them about us.In the building we only have 8 live in owners out of a total of 18 owners so unless we can add more then we can never overcome.
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Sounds like a bad setup to me and the proxies should have been divided between the other owners or they simply should not have a say. It's bad practice to give so much say to one or a small group of people.

Also Popi is still not in effect so this is a convenient excuse but even within the act I believe you are entitled to the information as an interested party.
 
tawdry said:
Well you see the problem is that we have a chairperson her daughter and her renter as the trustees .the evil trio as we like to call them. Between them they have 9 votes 3 and 6 proxies. The proxies are from people who don't stay in the building but rent their units out and popi privacy laws mean that we are not allowed to even know let alone have contact details for them Heaven only knows what these 3 are saying to them about us.In the building we only have 8 live in owners out of a total of 18 owners so unless we can add more then we can never overcome.
Click to expand...
OK so 18 units
chairperson owns 3
8 people live in the complex and 7 people don't but grant their votes to the chairperson
you 8 still have more then enough votes - except for you what are your 7 neighbours doing?
and umm no popi crap they need to have the actual signed (or emailed evidence) that they were granted the proxy rights
 
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