In early November an attorney from our office attended an annual meeting of an association consisting of 44 homes.  In spite of the attendance of our attorney,  the property manager, the association’s accountant, 5 board members, and 13 homeowners, no business could be conducted in that the association failed to achieve a quorum.  At this particular association, the required quorum is one half of the owners attending either in person or by proxy.  The meeting had to be rescheduled and was held this past week. However, this time the property manager wisely submitted to the owners a five-year proxy.  In Ohio, a proxy is valid for longer than one year so long as it explicitly states the term of validity.  The property manager wisely drafted the proxy  following  the form available on our firm’s educational portal for property managers and board members called ATLAS.  (See Sample Forms:  Proxy (5 year) with voting power to Board President)  The association received 30 of these five-year proxies.  As a result this association should not have trouble obtaining a quorum for their annual election meeting for the next five years.  All boards should consider the use of a five-year proxy.  It is an effective and legal tool to overcome owner apathy.