Condo owners

[boone]

I came across something interesting and a bit convoluted this past week that someone may be able to help out with. I have a condo in Playa which I know is held in trust at the bank. Last year I attended the Assembly meeting and had no problem voting on measures that were raised as all I needed to prove I was the person on the trust was my fideicomiso. This year I received notice from my admin that foreigners will not longer be allowed to vote unless they receive power of attorney from the bank holding the trust. Is this common practice or a new law that has gone into effect? Does anyone know how to go about obtaining a letter of power of attorney from the bank in order to vote in Assembly. I cannot imagine the banks are going to be happy with all the owners out there asking for letters. Any thoughts or experiences you have would be appreciated.

Thanks,
boone.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by boone

I came across something interesting and a bit convoluted this past week that someone may be able to help out with. I have a condo in Playa which I know is held in trust at the bank. Last year I attended the Assembly meeting and had no problem voting on measures that were raised as all I needed to prove I was the person on the trust was my fideicomiso. This year I received notice from my admin that foreigners will not longer be allowed to vote unless they receive power of attorney from the bank holding the trust. Is this common practice or a new law that has gone into effect? Does anyone know how to go about obtaining a letter of power of attorney from the bank in order to vote in Assembly. I cannot imagine the banks are going to be happy with all the owners out there asking for letters. Any thoughts or experiences you have would be appreciated.

Thanks,
boone.

I have NEVER heard of such as thing. Me thinks it's a crock. If you can rent, sell and/or improve your condominium without the "consent" of the FIDE why on earth would they need to "approve" your voting status. Call your lawyer and raise a ruckuss. Your administrator should back right off. I know of more than one condo assosciation that is conspiring to negate any of the wishes of its foreign owners and essentially make their lives difficult. It's not nice, but it's true.

PS Can you PM me the name of the condo development. Information is power.

***Edit*** Nevermind Hi there! I know where you are Let me do some asking around about this!!

[mfl's queen]

Michelle, I have just been told this same thing. We would like to give one of our neighbors our Proxy, but in order to do that, we are being told that our Trust Bank must give their permission? We would like to know what to do about this? I would have no idea how to go about this.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by mfl's queen

Michelle, I have just been told this same thing. We would like to give one of our neighbors our Proxy, but in order to do that, we are being told that our Trust Bank must give their permission? We would like to know what to do about this? I would have no idea how to go about this.

Jesus H Christ, what next?!?! I am going to check with my attorney today and see what he says. Again, if you can rent, sell or improve your property without the banks permission, what on earth would you need a power of attorney to vote in your CA. I know of couse, what the "point" of this new development is and I think it stinks!!!!!!!!!!

[mfl's queen]

Originally Posted by Michele

Jesus H Christ, what next?!?! I am going to check with my attorney today and see what he says. Again, if you can rent, sell or improve your property without the banks permission, what on earth would you need a power of attorney to vote in your CA. I know of couse, what the "point" of this new development is and I think it stinks!!!!!!!!!!

Agree. Anything you can find out would be much appreciated.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by mfl's queen

Agree. Anything you can find out would be much appreciated.

I just spoke with Leti who has not heard anything of the sort. She is checking with Scotiabank to see if it is a new regulation stipulated by the bank, municipality or other governing body or if these new "rules" are being dictated by you r associations and the "powers that be". I am checking with our guy in the know at Bancomer. Back soon with more info.

FYI - Yes, if you need a proxy vote, your attorney needs to draw up a POA so YOU can conditionally give "power" to a third individual.

[Solomon]

I have an appointment today to talk to a lawyer about this particular issue, I will let you know what I find out.

[boone]

I cannot thank you all enough. Some strange things have been happening for sure and not just with our little condo group. I'm getting so paranoid that now I'm wondering about a phone call I received last week on my cell first in Spanish and then when I said I couldn't understand what he was saying (I stupidly thought it had something to do with the condo), he proceeded to call me very unnice names.

Anyway, Michele, I will send you the info in a pm including the two attachments the admin sent owners.

Solomon, thanks for doing this and I know we've corresponded about this issue before so I appreciate you taking this to an attorney.

It's difficult trying to handle this from so far away but when I get there in a few weeks I'll work on sorting this out.

MFL's queen - we've chatted a lot in past years but on another venue. glad to see you over here.

Again, thanks everyone! I agree with Michele - there is power in numbers.

Boone

[mfl's queen]

Originally Posted by Michele

I just spoke with Leti who has not heard anything of the sort. She is checking with Scotiabank to see if it is a new regulation stipulated by the bank, municipality or other governing body or if these new "rules" are being dictated by you r associations and the "powers that be". I am checking with our guy in the know at Bancomer. Back soon with more info.

FYI - Yes, if you need a proxy vote, your attorney needs to draw up a POA so YOU can conditionally give "power" to a third individual.

I can understand the Power of Attorney, but do not understand why it needs to go through the bank? Our trust is held by HSBC in Mexico City. I believe it is the Administrator requiring this, not the Bank?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by mfl's queen

I can understand the Power of Attorney, but do not understand why it needs to go through the bank? Our trust is held by HSBC in Mexico City. I believe it is the Administrator requiring this, not the Bank?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Aaargh. You all have me so fired up!! I thought I was going to have a nice relaxing day!! This kind of thing makes me crazy!!!

[boone]

You and me both.

[mfl's queen]

Originally Posted by boone

You and me both.

Me three....although I was having a sh.ty day before all of this.

[Solomon]

According to the lawyer I am using to draw up the regimen de condominio for one of the buildings I am the administrator of, LEGALLY the owner of the condominium is the bank which issued the fidecomiso. That means that they LEGALLY are responsible for the vote, but they have the responsibility to give you power of attorney to vote. They may charge you for this, there will be a notary involved.

No laws have changed, there is nothing new here, the reason the building administrator is now requiring this is to retain control of his buildings. Recently, at the board meeting of one of the buildings in question, the owners were interested in replacing said administrator. He is using this to keep the power out of the owners hands.

The lawyer suggested a solution for this, STOP PAYING. It is a scary solution for a lot of owners because of the uncertainty of what is happening, but the bottom line is, if enough owners stop paying the administrator something will have to be done.

Good luck.

[popeye]

Me four....... let me know the latest tonite Michele. Sounds like a bunch of us in the same boat!

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Solomon

According to the lawyer I am using to draw up the regimen de condominio for one of the buildings I am the administrator of, LEGALLY the owner of the condominium is the bank which issued the fidecomiso. That means that they LEGALLY are responsible for the vote, but they have the responsibility to give you power of attorney to vote. They may charge you for this, there will be a notary involved.

No laws have changed, there is nothing new here, the reason the building administrator is now requiring this is to retain control of his buildings. Recently, at the board meeting of one of the buildings in question, the owners were interested in replacing said administrator. He is using this to keep the power out of the owners hands.

The lawyer suggested a solution for this, STOP PAYING. It is a scary solution for a lot of owners because of the uncertainty of what is happening, but the bottom line is, if enough owners stop paying the administrator something will have to be done.

Good luck.

Charming. I have not yet heard anything back from either of the two banks we contacted but I tend to believe exactly what Solomon says. This is not a new regulation or a new law, rather another way to keep the "balance of power" leaning a certain direction. It is happening in other condo buildings/developments as well, just with different tactics. When you ask for your Power of Attorney, if it turns out that you must, make sure it is a "Durable" POA that will be in effect for every meeting regardless of circumstances. Can you imagine how much money they could soak you for if you had to apply every time??

[boone]

Thanks Solomon and Michele,

I can see that's exactly what's happening and the problem becomes all those people who don't vote and just keep paying their dues. Since we did not vote this admin in can someone tell me how legal it is if he was just appointed. I know I had no say in this since I purchased pre-construction and I had no knowledge of who was the admin or who was on the commitee de vigilance until our first meeting. I have also just emailed my bank and inquired as to the procedure for obtaining such a document. Thanks also Michele for suggesting a continuing document so that this does not become an ongoing situation. I just cannot imagine, with all the new building in Playa, how the bank would ever be able to issue enough documents.B

[jamnkats]

Originally Posted by Solomon