Our Condomium Trust documents say "Trustees shall meet annually…[and] may elect the Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and any other officers they deem expedient." The document does not say what constitutes a voting majority for these offices. This is a small condo community of 3 owners. Unit 1 with 50% interest, Unit 2 37%, Unit 3 13%. Unit 1 owner has acted as all 3 officers prior to Unit 2 and Unit 3 owners puchasing their condos. Unit 2 + Unit 3 both want the officer position to rotate, this time to the owner of Unit 3. Unit 1 refuses to allow this saying "I have 50% interest". There is no official document that has been filed listing Unit 1 owner as an officer, Unit 1 has just assumed those duties prior to us coming here. Given that Unit 1 has 50% ownership, and the other two unit owners have a combined 50% ownership, we seem to be at a stalemate unless, for example, the law would interpret voting as 1 owner = 1 vote -- which would mean 2 votes against Unit 1's 1 vote. Any thoughts on how to break this stalemate other than resorting to legal fees?
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The Editor, Mark Bernardin, is an attorney living in MA. Please send your suggestions or comments to: TheEditor@malawforum.com
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Disputes in small condominium developments
I understand your desire to avoid attorney fees. One way to limit the expenses involved with solving this type of dispute (assuming the owners cannot, on their own, resolve the issue) is to hire a mediator. You should check your documents, because federal home mortgage regulations actually require an arbitration clause in the condominium documents of condos with fewer than five units. Frequently, when the party who is being stubborn hears that an arbitrator may become involved, he/she becomes more willing to negotiate. You can talk an experienced Massachusetts real estate attorney about serving as your mediator or arbitrator. Good luck.