Co-owner living abroad, how do I vote at the general meeting without being there?

Being notified and informed on the other side of the world

The notice is sent at least 21 days before the meeting, by registered letter or, since the ALUR law, electronically when the co-owner has given the managing agent their express consent. For an owner abroad that consent changes everything, the notice, the agenda, the quotes and the voting form arrive the same day, and time limits run without waiting for international post. Consent is given by a simple letter or in the managing agent's online portal, and withdrawn just as freely.

The minutes are notified to co-owners who voted against or were absent in the same forms, and that notification opens the period for challenging a decision before the court.

Three ways to vote without being in the room

Article 17-1 A of the 1965 law provides that co-owners may take part in the general meeting in person, by video conference or by any other electronic means of communication allowing their identification. The decree of 27 June 2019 specifies that the meeting decides on the technical means and media, which must at least carry the voice and allow continuous and simultaneous retransmission of the proceedings, and that the co-owner who wishes to take part remotely informs the managing agent by any means no later than 3 clear days before the meeting. Until the meeting has voted those means, video conference is not a right, it has to be put on the agenda once.

The same article opens postal voting, before the meeting is held, on a form conforming to the model set by the order of 2 July 2020 and attached to the notice. The form must reach the managing agent no later than 3 clear days before the meeting, by post or electronically. One limit to know, if the resolution is amended during the session, the postal voter who had voted in favour is counted as absent for that resolution.

Then there is the proxy, the oldest and most flexible. Article 22 allows representation by a proxy holder of one's choice, co-owner or not, the managing agent, their spouse and their employees being excluded. A proxy holder may not receive more than 3 voting proxies, unless the total of their own votes and those of their principals does not exceed 10 % of the association's votes. A blank proxy handed to the managing agent is distributed in the room, better to name someone and write down your voting instructions.

Challenging, paying, selling your lot from abroad

The co-owner who voted against or was absent has 2 months from the notification of the minutes to challenge a decision, by summoning the association before the court, a lawyer handling it remotely. Service charge calls are paid by direct debit from an account in the SEPA area or by international transfer, and the managing agent's online portal, compulsory for professional agents, gives access to the accounts, contracts and minutes.

Selling a co-ownership lot from abroad adds a file to gather, co-ownership regulations and description of division, minutes of the last three meetings, maintenance log, summary sheet, amount of charges and works voted, and the pre-dated statement that the managing agent draws up or that the seller has prepared from the portal documents. BRIVEO prepares it for the seller and reads the minutes to pick out the works voted, so that the buyer and the notaire have everything before the preliminary contract.