Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Condo Smarts: What do you do when an elected strata president leaves?

Dear Tony: We have run into a problem with our strata council executive. At our annual meeting, we elected the president and the treasurer so the owners would have input into the positions.
2012-Tony-Gioventu.jpg
Tony Gioventu is the executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of B.C.

Dear Tony: We have run into a problem with our strata council executive. At our annual meeting, we elected the president and the treasurer so the owners would have input into the positions.

Our president has just sold his strata lot and now we have no president and there is a dispute in our strata over how the position is replaced.

Owners insist that we must call a special general meeting to elect a new president, while the remaining council members declare it is their right to appoint someone to fill the vacancy.

If you could explain the process, that might help us resolve the dispute and move on quickly.

Tara M., Burnaby

The number of council members, council eligibility, how you elect executive council members, the terms of office of council members and what happens if there is a vacancy are all matters addressed through your bylaws.

The Schedule of Standard Bylaws of the Strata Property Act establishes the number of council members — minimum of three, maximum of seven — who are elected at the annual general meeting for a one-year term that terminates at the end of the next annual general meeting.

The executive positions of president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary are determined by the new strata council at a council meeting, by majority vote.

Any council member can be elected to an executive position and elected to more than one position, other than the president or vice-president.

If there is a vacancy, the remaining council members by majority vote can fill that position from any person eligible to be elected or appointed to council.

If all the council members have resigned, 25 per cent of the owners can agree to give notice of a special general meeting to elect a new council.

Bottom line: Unless your bylaws have been amended, the owners at a general meeting elect council members, while the council members at a following council meeting elect executive positions.

Don’t be misled by the term executive officer or executive position. Other than chairing meetings and additional ballot-casting power in the event of a majority-vote tie, the president and vice-president have no special powers or authority.

They vote on resolutions in the same manner as any other strata-council member. Council members only have authority if council has voted to delegate authority to a single council member, and that decision is recorded in the minutes.

If your bylaws have been amended, which is more common in large communities, it is possible to elect the president or other executive positions, if they are identified in the bylaws; however, there are pitfalls to this model.

While it might give the owners greater input into who becomes your president, how do you replace the president if they cease to be eligible to act as a council member, if they are in violation of a bylaw — owing strata fees or special levies — or are unable to act or no longer an owner due to a sale, or end up acting like a tyrant and place the corporation in jeopardy?

It might require a special general meeting, which can be a significant cost and disruption to the strata corporation.

If your strata corporation is considering a bylaw to permit owner election of executive positions, the bylaws should also address a contingency plan for when those positions become vacant.

In Tara’s strata corporation, they had added a bylaw that required the president to be elected at the annual general meeting, but no procedure was contemplated to fill the position of the president. They might now be required to hold a special general meeting for the election.

Tony Gioventu is executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association.