It's Annual Meeting Season: What Every Condo or Co-op Should Know About Voting, Quorum, and Getting People to Show Up

It is that time of year.

Across New York City, condo and co-op boards are scheduling their annual meetings. Notices are going out. Proxy ballots are being mailed. And somewhere in a building lobby or on a Zoom link, someone is asking the same question they ask every year: "Wait, how does this work again?"

The truth is, annual meetings are not unique to condos or co-ops. Any organization that votes, whether a company, a nonprofit, a homeowners association, or even a team deciding on a new direction, runs into the same fundamental questions. How does voting work? What is quorum? What happens when not enough people show up? And how do you get someone to actually volunteer for a leadership role?

If you have ever wondered about any of those things, this post is for you.

What Is an Annual Meeting and Why Does It Matter?

What is an annual meeting?

An annual meeting is a scheduled gathering where eligible members vote on key decisions, elect leadership, and hear about the state of the organization. For a corporation, that might mean electing a board of directors and approving financial statements. For a condo or co-op board, it means electing board members, reviewing the building's finances, and giving unit owners or shareholders a chance to raise concerns.

It is the one time each year when the people who have a stake in an organization get to weigh in officially.

Who holds annual meetings?

Corporations, nonprofits, homeowners associations, cooperatives, condominiums. Any organization with a formal governance structure typically holds some version of an annual meeting. The rules vary depending on the entity type and governing documents, but the purpose is the same: shared accountability and collective decision-making.

For New York City condo boards and co-ops specifically, the annual meeting is required under the building's governing documents, which include the proprietary lease, bylaws, and house rules. It is not optional. And how it is run matters.

What happens at a condo or co-op annual meeting?

At a typical condo or co-op annual meeting, you can expect board elections, a financial overview from management or the board treasurer, unit owner or shareholder comments, and votes on any items that require full membership approval.

How the meeting is actually run, including the agenda, the order of business, and how to handle difficult questions from the floor, is a topic worth studying before you sit at that table. More on that later.

Voting: How Does It Actually Work?

How does voting work at an annual meeting?

Voting at an annual meeting can happen in a few ways: in person, by proxy, or by mail-in ballot. Who gets to vote depends on the organization. In a co-op, voting rights are typically tied to share ownership. In a condo, it is tied to unit ownership. In a company, it may be tied to equity or membership status.

Votes are usually counted by a designated inspector of elections or by management. Results are announced at the meeting or shortly after.

What is a proxy vote?

A proxy vote allows an eligible voter to authorize someone else to vote on their behalf. In a condo building, a unit owner who cannot attend the annual meeting can sign a proxy form designating another person, often a fellow owner or a board member, to cast their vote.

Proxies matter more than most people realize. In buildings where attendance is low, proxy collection can be the difference between reaching quorum and having to reschedule the entire meeting.

Can someone vote on my behalf if I cannot attend?

Yes, in most cases. The process depends on your building's governing documents, but typically you complete a proxy form before the meeting and designate someone to represent your vote. If you are a condo owner or co-op shareholder and you know you will miss the annual meeting, ask your managing agent or board for the proxy form well in advance.

One important exception worth knowing. Not all co-ops follow the same rules when it comes to proxies. Most New York City co-ops are governed by the Business Corporation Law, which permits proxy voting as a standard right. But some co-ops are governed instead by the Cooperative Corporations Law, and under that framework, proxies are only allowed if the bylaws expressly permit them. If your bylaws do not include a proxy provision, proxies may simply not be an option for your annual meeting.

If you are on the board of a CCL co-op and your bylaws are silent on proxies, it may be possible to amend the bylaws to add that provision before your next annual meeting. Whether the board can approve that amendment on its own, or whether it requires a shareholder vote, depends entirely on what your governing documents say. Either way, it is not something to sort out at the last minute. If your annual meeting is coming up soon, speak with your co-op attorney sooner rather than later.

When in doubt, check your documents. And if you are not sure which law governs your co-op, that is a question worth asking your attorney or managing agent today.

What is the difference between a majority vote and a supermajority?

A majority vote means more than half of those voting must approve a measure. A supermajority means a higher threshold is required, often two-thirds or three-quarters. Supermajority votes are typically reserved for significant decisions such as amending the bylaws, approving a major capital project, or making changes to the proprietary lease.

Boards need to know which decisions require which threshold before they get to the meeting. Surprises at the table are rarely good ones.

This sounds a lot like how teams make decisions at work. Is that right?

It really is. Think about the last time your team needed to agree on a new direction, elect a committee chair, or approve a budget. Someone made a proposal. Others weighed in. The group voted, and the outcome moved things forward.

In a condo or co-op, the mechanics are the same. They just come with more formal rules, more paperwork, and occasionally more drama. But the underlying principle is identical: eligible people cast votes, the count determines the outcome, and everyone agrees to abide by the result. When you understand that, the annual meeting stops feeling like a mystery and starts feeling like something you can actually manage.

Quorum: What It Is and Why So Many Boards Struggle With It

What is quorum?

Quorum is the minimum number of eligible voters who must be present, in person or by proxy, for a meeting to be valid. Without quorum, no official votes can be taken and no binding decisions can be made.

The quorum requirement is set by your governing documents. In some condo buildings it is a percentage of units. In some co-ops it is a majority of shareholders. It varies, and boards need to know their specific number going into every annual meeting.

Why is quorum so hard to achieve in condo and co-op buildings?

Because people are busy. Because some owners have lived in their building for decades and have never felt the need to engage. Because annual meetings are sometimes scheduled at inconvenient times in inconvenient places. Because nobody told them it mattered.

There is also a deeper issue: in many buildings, there is no culture of participation. Owners do not feel connected to the governance of their building. They pay their monthly charges, they live their lives, and they assume someone else is handling it. Until something goes wrong.

What happens if a meeting does not reach quorum?

The meeting must be adjourned. Decisions get delayed. If a board election was on the agenda, it cannot proceed. If a vote on a capital project was planned, it is pushed. And then the board has to go through the entire notice and scheduling process again.

It is time-consuming, frustrating, and entirely avoidable with the right preparation.

How can a board improve quorum participation?

A few things make a measurable difference. Sending meeting notices early and following up. Making proxy forms easy to find, easy to complete, and easy to return. Offering multiple ways to participate, whether in person, by phone, or by video. Communicating clearly about what is actually on the agenda so people feel the meeting is worth their time.

If your building consistently struggles to reach quorum, or if you are having trouble getting residents to volunteer for the board at all, The Folson Group's Quorum Blueprint walks boards through the practical steps to build participation and make governance feel less like a burden and more like a shared responsibility.

Nominations: How Does Someone Get on the Board?

How does someone get nominated to a condo or co-op board?

Nomination processes vary by building. In some co-ops, any shareholder in good standing can self-nominate before the annual meeting by submitting their name and a brief bio. In some condo buildings, there is a nominating committee that puts forward a slate of candidates. In still others, nominations can be made from the floor at the meeting itself.

The key is knowing your building's process before the meeting, not at it.

Do I have to campaign to get on a condo or co-op board?

Not in the traditional sense. But showing up matters. Owners and shareholders who attend meetings, ask thoughtful questions, and are known to their neighbors are far more likely to earn votes than someone whose name appears on a ballot with no context. If you are considering running for your board, start by being present and being helpful long before nomination season.

What should new board members know before their first meeting?

Quite a lot, honestly. And this is where we see the biggest gap in how buildings operate.

Can you imagine starting a new job and nobody gave you a handbook, a description of what the business actually does, or access to the tools you are expected to use every day? No training, no context, no introduction to your colleagues or their roles. Just: be here Monday through Friday, nine to five. That would be unacceptable in any workplace. And yet that is exactly what happens to most new condo and co-op board members.

Joining a board without preparation is not just uncomfortable. It is a setup for poor decisions, avoidable conflict, and burnout. You might be smart, motivated, and well-intentioned, and still walk into your first meeting not knowing what your role actually requires, what documents govern your decisions, or what your legal responsibilities are.

That gap is exactly why we built the Folson Board Academy. "Know It. Run It. Own It." is a nine-module course designed to give new and current board members the foundation they need to serve effectively. From understanding your governing documents to reading your financial statements to knowing how to run a board meeting, the course covers what no one teaches you when you raise your hand and say yes to a board seat. 

When Nobody Wants to Volunteer: What Then?

Why is it so hard to get people to volunteer for the board?

A few reasons come up over and over. People do not know what the role actually involves, so they assume the worst. They have seen conflict in their building and do not want to be in the middle of it. They are busy professionals who do not think they have the time. Or they simply have never been asked directly.

The irony is that most of those concerns shrink significantly when people understand what board service actually looks like day to day. It is not glamorous. But it is not impossible either. And the buildings with the healthiest governance culture are almost always the ones where the board makes it easy to say yes.

What can a board do when it cannot fill open seats?

Start by making the role feel manageable. Share information about what board service requires in plain language. Highlight the time commitment honestly. Create a culture where asking questions is welcome and where new members are supported rather than thrown into the deep end. When residents see a board that is organized, prepared, and approachable, they are far more likely to want to be part of it.

Is board burnout real?

Completely. And it almost always starts in the same place: someone said yes without really knowing what they were saying yes to. They did not get onboarded. They did not understand the financials. They did not know how to handle a difficult meeting. And eventually, they stopped showing up.

Proper preparation does not just help individual board members. It protects the entire building. A board that knows what it is doing makes better decisions, runs smoother meetings, and builds the kind of credibility that makes other residents want to get involved.

The Bottom Line

Annual meeting season does not have to be stressful.

Whether your building has been doing this for decades or your board is brand new, having the right information changes everything. Voting, quorum, nominations. These are not complicated concepts. They just require someone to explain them clearly, and someone on your board who took the time to learn.

The Folson Group works with condo and co-op boards across New York City every day. If you have questions about your annual meeting, your governance structure, or how to build a stronger board, we are here to help. Start at thefolsongroup.com.