Change to a leasehold covenant

[Ciara Higgins]

I live in an apartment complex. There is a Board of 6 Directors and a Company Secretary. One of the Directors wants to remove one of the covenants relating to pets as he has recently gotten a dog. This change is to benefit him personally, he has even suggested only amending the convenant to allow dogs but no other pets! He is also soliciting other property owners/tenants for their proxy, which I am sure is a breach of Director responsibilities. Can you please offer any advice, 1. can a covenant be amended/removed, and 2. can this Director be removed for such behaviour.

Thank you

 

[ClubMan]

Don't the management company documents (memorandum and articles of association or similar?) outline how things like such rule changes or even the removal of directors are dealt with?
I would expect that something like that would at least require a general meeting and a vote on a motion by members.

 

[Eblanoid]

My sympathies. I sold an apartment I'd owned for 20 years due this kind of shenanigans by co-directors of my OMC.
My reading of the MUD Act 2011 is that the covenants can only be changed by a Circuit Court order: section 24 (5) (g) "amending the covenants contained in an agreement (including a lease) between the developer, owners’ management company and the unit owners".
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2011/act/2/enacted/en/print#sec24

Also, any "House Rules" (which can normally be changed at an OMC AGM) must be in keeping with the covenants, see section 23 (2). So, if the covenants say no animals, then the "House Rules" can't allow animals.

 

[8till8]

I live in an apartment complex. There is a Board of 6 Directors and a Company Secretary. One of the Directors wants to remove one of the covenants relating to pets as he has recently gotten a dog. This change is to benefit him personally, he has even suggested only amending the convenant to allow dogs but no other pets! He is also soliciting other property owners/tenants for their proxy, which I am sure is a breach of Director responsibilities. Can you please offer any advice, 1. can a covenant be amended/removed, and 2. can this Director be removed for such behaviour.

Thank you

I've been down this road about changing the covenants in a lease, there are two routes to amending a lease covenant

1) legal action by way of the MUD act where a circuit court can impose a change
or
2) 100% of all lessees agree to the proposed change

In my situation, it was virtually impossible to get 100% agreement and legal action via he MUD Act was too expensive so it was a dead duck.