#26194
Lady Penelope
Strataguru

    How many apartments are in your building now? Is it 13?

    Have you seen a copy of the document that states that the owner of the combined apartment has 3 votes? If this was true it would be highly unusual. Maybe he is confused and has it wrong?

    Voting at OC Meetings is found in SSMA Schedule 1 Section 14.

    In summary: There is generally one vote per Lot (i.e. one vote per apartment). The owner who has combined three Lots into one Lot will usually only have one vote. This is what is called a simple majority vote.

    However, there is another type of vote. This vote is called a Poll vote. The Poll vote is based on unit entitlements. A Poll vote can be requested before any vote is taken at a general meeting. The owner of the combined Lot will have a greater voting power based on their unit entitlement. The unit entitlement is outlined in the strata plan.

    From Strataman is this explanation of a Poll vote: “Each vote ‘for’ and each vote ‘against’ is then counted, using the calculated values, and the voting ‘group’ having the greatest value wins”.

    NB:The greater the entitlement the larger the strata fees.

    You say that you have the same vote as an owner of a 2 BRM apartment….. Are your strata fees for your 3 BRM apartment the same as the 2 BRM apartment? If they are not the same and your fees are higher then you have a greater unit entitlement and therefore a greater voting power than a 2 BRM apartment when a Poll vote is called for. However, when a Poll vote is not requested you will both have one vote each.

    The Poll voting power of the owner of the combined apartment plus his 5 friendly owners  will depend on the total of their combined unit entitlements. Whether this is a majority can be ascertained in a simple mathematical exercise by adding together the unit entitlements from the strata plan for these 6 apartments.

    Without a Poll vote the owner of the combined apartments and his 5 friends will  usually total 6 votes.

    Tricky to explain …. I hope I haven’t confused you.