A reader has asked the Property Poser experts to clarify the rules regarding the appointment of trustees in a sectional title complex.<\/p>\n
Firstly, he would like to know whether more than one trustee may be appointed from a single unit, as in the case of a husband and wife, and, secondly, whether they would be allowed to nominate each other for the position.<\/p>\n
According to Grant Berndt from Abdo & Abdo Attorneys in East London, the fiduciary relationship between the trustee and body corporate has been set out in the provisions of the Sectional Titles Act and its regulations.<\/p>\n
“These provisions have been adopted by the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act, which has been signed into law but is still to be proclaimed effective.”<\/p>\n
Berndt says the Management Rules, which regulate the appointment of trustees, stipulate that he or she is not required to be an owner or the nominee of a juristic owner to qualify for office.<\/p>\n
“The only proviso is that the majority of trustees must be owners or spouses of owners, and the managing agent or an employee of the managing agent may not be a trustee unless he or she is an owner.”<\/p>\n
Subject to formal appointment by the general meeting, Berndt says it is unlikely that the selection of two trustees from a single unit would be challenged.<\/p>\n
“Likewise, the cross-nominations, while a little unusual, are fine as the appointment of either or both is still subject to formal approval by the general meeting.”<\/p>\n
With regard to the election of a trustee who is not resident in the complex, Berndt says it is possible as long as the majority of trustees are owners. <\/p>\n
Brian Kinnear, principal of Fresh Lifestyle Properties in East London, says the general meeting will presumably elect those candidates most suitable for the scheme\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n
“From a legal standpoint, it is more important that, once elected, the trustee understands his or her responsibilities and duties as a trustee, and abides by the provisions applicable to the office.”<\/p>\n
Of utmost significance is the fiduciary relationship between the trustee and the body corporate, says Kinnear.<\/p>\n
“A fiduciary relationship exists between two people, where one person owes a duty of honesty, good faith and care for the other person.”<\/p>\n
Kinnear says the Act thus provides that a trustee must exercise his powers for the good of the body corporate and not exceed these powers.<\/p>\n
“He or she must also not gain any personal benefit from exercising these powers. A trustee can be held responsible to the body corporate for any losses suffered or any personal gains made while breaching the fiduciary relationship.”<\/p>\n
It would therefore appear that the position of trustee is reasonably accessible with few requirements, says Kinnear.<\/p>\n
“This is presumably to allow a larger pool of candidates from which to draw and make an election.”<\/p>\n
However, says Kinnear, actually carrying the mantle of trusteeship and carrying out the associated duties may be quite onerous.<\/p>\n
“Should a trustee not perform, the removal is not particularly difficult and may be done by the owners at a general meeting.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A reader has asked the Property Poser experts to clarify the rules regarding the appointment of trustees in a sectional title complex. Firstly, he would like to know whether more than one trustee may be appointed from a single unit, as in the case of a husband and wife, and, secondly, whether they would be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[200,1931],"class_list":{"0":"post-18040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-east-london-2","8":"tag-property-poser","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18041,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18040\/revisions\/18041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}