Residents in sectional title schemes will often not realise how important it is to attend their Annual General Meeting (AGM) and will think of many reasons not to do so.
Attendance at the AGM is important to all, says Bauer. This will give everyone an opportunity to read through the minutes and reports of the scheme and ask questions or get explanations from the parties involved.This is according to Michael Bauer, general manager of the property management company, IHFM, who says the main reasons why owners in a sectional title complex should attend their AGM, are to maintain a semblance of control over the financial situation and ensure they better their knowledge of the complex’s operations.
Owners of units in sectional title schemes need to realise that if they do not attend the AGM of their scheme, they cannot really complain if they do not agree with decisions that have been made, he says.
It is also important to check that all the trustees are doing their jobs properly; one cannot assume that things are always done when they should be done.
“This is, after all, a business, one in which millions of rands are sometimes managed in asset value, and it must be treated with the same seriousness you would treat a business of that scale,” says Bauer.
“Attending the AGM is important because it gives the owner an idea of the personalities of the group involved in managing the body corporate.”
By attending the meeting, he says you will get an idea of the way the building is run and the decisions that need to be made, as well as be able to participate. The group dynamics, for example, if there is a minority lobbying constantly for their own interests, will be shown up at meetings like this and you, as an owner, can go against those decisions you feel are not in the interests of the scheme.
“Lastly, the income of the scheme will be discussed at the AGM and it is important that the owners know and vote on what will happen with funds over the next financial year, in other words, whether any large projects will be tackled.”
If you are not at this meeting, he says you cannot say after the fact that you didn’t want a new gate or the exterior walls painted, and so forth.
Attendance at the AGM is important to all, says Bauer. This will give everyone an opportunity to read through the minutes and reports of the scheme and ask questions or get explanations from the parties involved.
“Again, one cannot complain if you are not going to take a vested interest in the scheme in which you live, and you cannot hand the responsibility over to the management of the scheme completely.”
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