Definition : Meeting of co-owners - Minutes

  A co-owner (formerly president) wants to modify the minutes of the meeting of co-owners that took place two years in the screen. At our last meeting of co-owners, this minutes were adopted last year by all the co-owners present and represented at the time. Currently, three out of six co-owners are new, so were not present at this last meeting of co-owners. In the circumstances, I find it difficult to see how a vote can be credible. This same co-owner always wants to change or remove sentences from the minutes according to his personal opinion and whichdoes not correspond to reality. Question: Can we amend a minutes that were adopted 2 years ago?

December 27, 2021- The Meeting of co-owners is a major event in the life of a co-ownership. A meeting at least once a year, it is decisive since it allows the making of major decisions that impact the lives and finances of the co-owners. The board of directors' mission is to take care of the convening and holding of the meeting of co-owners but also of the execution of the decisions it votes. Decisions taken have to appear clear and careful planning is required. It is also important to understand the rules that apply to it.  

Our declaration of co-ownership provides that the gardens are common portions for restricted use, like the balconies. One of the co-owners, having the exclusive use of a garden, has taken the initiative over the years to make improvements (e.g.: addition of flowerbeds, removal of certain parts of the turf, addition of cedars or other elements, etc.), and this without the prior authorization of the syndicate. However, the board of directors at the time did not object to such work. Questions: Can the new board of directors ask him to restore the premises? Does the concept of vested right acquired by tolerance exist in co-ownership?

The meeting of the co-owners was registered with the permission of the co-owners. Questions: As a co-owner, do I have the right to get a copy of the registration? Could the syndicate refuse me that? If so, why?

  Irregularities noted at a meeting of co-owners do not make the decisions taken non-existent, but voidable. Consequently, the co-owner who intends to invoke the irregularity of a decision must initiate a legal proceeding, in accordance with article 1103 of the Civil Code of Quebec. Wishing to promote the stability of the decisions taken by the assembly, the legislature allows such a remedy to be brought only in certain circumstances. Thus, any co-owner may ask the court to annul or, exceptionally, modify a decision of the meeting of co-owners if it is partial, if it was taken with the intention of harming the co-owners or in disregard of their rights, or if an error occurred in the calculation of votes.  

The minutes of the meeting are a document of paramount importance to ensure the execution of the decisions of the meeting. Therefore, the decisions taken by co-owners in a general meeting must be recorded and entered in the minutes. This document is essential for a co-ownership because it ensures the written preservation of the deliberations or consultation of the general meeting, as well as the result of each vote so that any co-owner and director can refer to it in due course. It also allows to ascertain that the general meeting was conducted in accordance with the rules. Given its importance, this document must respect a certain formalism.

The declaration of co-ownership generally contains the terms and conditions concerning the conduct of the meeting of co-owners by defining rules of procedure and the role of the meeting officers. Key figures of the assembly of co-owners, they ensure the smooth running of it. Their appointment is therefore necessary for the holding of any meeting of co-owners. These are generally elected at the start of the meeting, in a separate vote taken by an absolute majority of the votes of the co-owners present or represented (50% of the votes plus one). This is an obligation that cannot be waived, because any decisions taken before their election has no legal value.

It is possible to make a decision without having a meeting. Article 354 of the Civil Code of Québec recognizes the value of a written resolution: "Resolutions in writing signed by all the persons qualified to vote at a meeting are as valid as if passed at a meeting of the board of directors, at a general meeting or at a meeting of any other organ”. Co-owners and directors may make a decision by the means of a resolution in writing, without any general meeting of the board of directors or meeting of co-owners being held as such. This mechanism is provided by law, when it is not essential for a meeting or a general meeting to be convened, since the salient points of the subject to be discussed have already been dealt with, to everyone’s satisfaction. This is to avoid cumbersome formalism, although written resolutions should be used with caution and parsimony.

The law provides that the syndicate must keep a register available to the co-owners. Article 342 of the Civil Code of Quebec specifies that the board of directors shall keep the list of members, as well as the books and registers necessary for the proper functioning of the legal person.  This register represents the memory of the building for those who administer it. It constitutes the history of the experience of the condominium from its conception, and this by specifying its maintenance and the work undertaken, while listing the contractors and suppliers who intervened. In this sense, it is invaluable. The syndicate must preserve for organizational and management purposes, or for legal protection and evidence purposes, all documents and information relating to the operation of the co-ownership. That is why "preservation", "access" and "archives" are the hallmarks of this register.

Co-owners must be called at least once a year to a meeting known as an annual meeting. This assembly, like all other types of assembly, must bring together all the co-owners. With the notice calling the meeting, the board of directors notifies all the co-owners of the list of points to be studied and decisions to be voted on at the meeting of co-owners. This document is the agenda of the assembly. The summons has to respect a procedural frame, otherwise the assembly of the co-owners could be irregular. That is why it is up to the one who takes the initaive to summon her to respect rules   Who calls the meeting? In theory, the Board of Directors (the Board) convenes the general meeting of co-owners. But in some cases, one or more co-owners can on his own initiative convene it:

January 27th, 2016.  Among the various obligations imposed upon each and every Syndicate of co-ownership, there is a particular one worthy of note. It is the obligation to keep the list of the Syndicate’s co-owners and the books and registers necessary for the proper functioning of the Syndicate. This is easily understandable, since the Syndicate, as a moral person distinct from its members, has its own “corporate life” which must be properly documented. The Code also tells us that these documents are the Syndicate’s property and that the co-owners have access to them (Article 342 of the Quebec Civil Code).

  Our last annual general meeting of the co-owners was opened and held by our directors. The trouble is that we do not know how to conduct an assembly. Question: Is a President of the meeting required? Do non-directors have to make notes? And who draws up the minutes?