Questions / Answers - Syndicat of condominiums

Due to covid, the board of directors of our building has held the meeting of co-owners on a ZOOM platform for the past two years. Despite this trouble shooting option, the result was unsatisfactory overall. Today, the co-owners are preparing a petition for the board of directors to return for the next annual meeting scheduled for the end of two months, in the usual format, a face-to-face meeting. Questions: How many signatures are required to respond to our request? What is the deadline we have to meet to transmit this petition to the directors of our syndicate ?

  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?

Question: In a recently held general assembly, the chairman handed out post-it notes and asked the owners to write their unit number along with 5 members of their choice to the board of directors. ( CA comprises 5 members). This is the first time I've seen anything like this happen. Usually, the owners will vote only for those candidates they consider suitable to hold a position on the board, whether they may be one or whatever number up to 5. But not necessarily 5 in this case. is the chairman's action acceptable? If not, can we ask for a new vote be taken by secret ballot.

Question: The board of directors wishes to vote on a by-law to limit the number of swimmers at the pool and to prohibit the presence of dogs in the building. Could we implement it immediately? It goes without saying that this by-law will be voted on at our next annual meeting of co-owners.

Question: Article 1088 of the Civil Code of Quebec provides that any co-owner may request the board of directors to include any other matter on the agenda within 5 days of receipt of the notice of meeting of the co-owners. Are these 5 days working days or just 5 consecutive days? If I receive the convocation on Friday, is the 5th day Tuesday or Thursday (because Saturday and Sunday do not count). Answer: The calculation of the time limits for convening the meeting of co-owners or a request for addition to the agenda is not the subject of any specific provision in the Civil Code of Quebec. The declaration may include statements on how the time limits are calculated.  

Question: According to article 352 of the Civil Code of Quebec, the co-owners, if they represent 10% of the votes, may require the directors or the secretary to convene an annual or special general meeting, stating in a written notice the business to be transacted at the meeting. If the directors or the secretary fail to act within 21 days after receiving the notice, any of the co-owners who signed it may convene the meeting. However, our declaration of co-ownership indicates that to request such a convocation, it is necessary to obtain 20% of the votes. Does our declaration of co-ownership take precedence over the provisions of the Civil Code of Quebec?

Question: Some co-owners of our syndicate want to put a resolution to a vote at our next annual meeting. What are the steps to follow? Do we have to send the text of our draft resolution to the board members in advance, or can we do that during the meeting? Is there a particular legal procedure to follow? At the time of the meeting, if certain corrections need to be made to the text of the resolution, can this be done during the meeting, or should another meeting be called to present and vote on the new text of the resolution?

Question: The syndicate's board of directors made the decision to cut down a tree at the entrance of the property. It was a very old apple tree. It was unpleasant for many people to know that we were constantly walking in the debris of cheekbones that fell on the ground, on the sidewalk or in the parking lot. Finally these apples ended up making a fermentation (very unpleasant smell). Now a co-owner is reproaching for not having voted on this decision at the meeting of co-owners. Is he right?

Question: Can a meeting of co-owners take a regular decision despite the abstention of many co-owners present? How should these absentees be dealt with (a vote for or against)?  And what about non-voting on a decision of the members of the board of directors? Answer: Abstaining is a matter of concern in any democracy. Co-ownership is no exception to this reality. This question concerns both directors and co-owners: what about the scope of an abstention during a vote? However, the consequences are different, depending on whether it is the meeting of the co-owners or of the board of directors. In a meeting of co-owners, abstentionist co-owners are counted with the votes against, while for a meeting of the board of directors, non-voting directors are not taken into account (they have not "expressed themselves").  

For the respect and tranquility of all the occupants of our building, we wish to ban dogs. Question: Are we entitled to do so?   Answer: There is no legislation in Quebec that formally prevents a syndicate of co-owners from including in the declaration of co-ownership a clause prohibiting the possession of a dog in the building. It is one thing to prohibit such an animal inside the private portion of a co-ownership. But it is still necessary that this prohibition is consistent with the destination of the immovable.