Abstimmungseinheit

08:28 Feb 18 

It it were not for (a) and (b), I wouldn't have said anything and I didn't post a disagree--I know that this is just a translation.

But if you're one of the many Americans looking to buy a home in Europe (mostly in Italy these days, apparently) and are used to how things are run back home, why not make things easier for you when signing the contract?

In short, I would expect the meaning in English to rougly approximate what was said in German. But curiously enough, neither of the two examples posted below can be translated into German as "Abstimmungseinheit," which instead describes all (or a portion of all) "voting units":
"Diesfalls ermittelt sich innerhalb einer Abstimmungseinheit die erforderliche Anteilsmehrheit anhand der diese Abstimmungseinheit bildenden Anteile."
https://cd.manz.at/rechtaktuell/pdf/Kothbauer_Fehlerfreie_Be...

To change this "Einheit," you can then use a template like the following:
https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https://ww...

Best wishes

08:00 Feb 18 

(A) If this is nothing to do with North America, then why speak of condos? I assumed, based on the asker's location and the use of the word--instead of, say, the alternative descriptions suggested by Adrian--that we're looking for something a US readership might have already heard of.

(B) If it's universal English, then why does "voting unit" have a specific meaning in the context of homeowners and condo associations? Cf.:
[CAN] "Any unit owner in a condo corporation can request a meeting. A requisition must describe the purpose of the meeting and must be signed by owners of at least 15 per cent of the voting units in the corporation and delivered to the board."
https://www.condoauthorityontario.ca/condo-living/owners-mee...

[US] "According to the GCA, the annual meeting could be called to order if owners representing at least 31 units are present in person or by proxy at the beginning of the meeting. 100 units – 10 units ineligible to vote = 90 voting units. One-third of 90 = 30. Accordingly, people representing 31 units would need to be present in person or by proxy..."
https://ljlaw.com/preparing-for-an-annual-meeting

[...]

20:48 Feb 17 

By contrast, here's an explanation of voting units:
"Except as noted later in this section, one vote shall be called a 'voting unit'...These by-laws may be amended at a regular or special meeting by a simple majority of the voting units."
https://www.hunterscreek-mascoutah.com/wp-content/uploads/20...

That's not even a link from Canada (where it's used in the same way)...but Illinois, and has nothing to do with Abstimmungseinheit. In fact, an Abstimmungseinheit as described will have multiple "voting units," which I believe makes this unnecessarily confusing (whether it's explained elsewhere in the agreement or not).

Why do we need to redefine a concept that already exists =(?

That being said, enjoy your afternoon/evening!

20:33 Feb 17 

It's the exact same thing described in this Florida bill (and elsewhere):
"607.0725
Shares entitled to vote as a separate voting group may take action on a matter at a meeting only if a quorum of those shares exists with respect to that matter. Unless the articles of incorporation or this chapter provides otherwise, a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter by the voting group constitutes a quorum of that voting group for action on that matter.
...
607.0726 Action by single and multiple voting groups.—
(1) If the articles of incorporation or this chapter provides for voting by a single voting group on a matter, action on that matter is taken when voted upon by that voting group as provided in s. 607.0725."
https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2019/Chapter607/All

It's far from the only reference (some just can't be copied and pasted because they were scanned in). Here's another (see last page):
https://coventrygrp.com/earlysgreen/wp-content/uploads/sites...

[...]

20:28 Feb 17 

Look, I was actually hoping you'd come up with something more succinct that what I wrote below; just didn't expect the past of least resistance (a literal solution) to be it.

The German definition is as follows (see link below):
"Prinzipiell ist die gesamte Liegenschaft eine Abstimmungseinheit. Bereits seit einiger Zeit besteht die Möglichkeit, dass – über einstimmige Vereinbarung der Wohnungseigentümer oder Gerichtsbeschluss – auf der Liegenschaft für bestimmte Anlagen oder Teile der Liegenschaft abweichende Abrechnungseinheiten geschaffen werden..."

Now comes the important part:
"Damit nicht auch Wohnungseigentümer zur Abstimmung aufgerufen sind, die von der konkreten Angelegenheit nicht betroffen sind (weil sie nicht Mitglied der Abrechnungseinheit sind), kann die – über Vereinbarung oder Gerichtsbeschluss geschaffene – von der Liegenschaft abweichende Abrechnungseinheit auch als abweichende Abstimmungseinheit vereinbart bzw vom Gericht festgesetzt werden; dies aber nur für die Angelegenheiten, die nur diese Abrechnungseinheit betreffen."

So it's a subgroup of those able to vote on matters concerning the HOA [Edit: or CA in this case].

[...]

22:01 Feb 16 

To not fall into the trap of "one person,one vote" in the US system, you do have fractional voting: https://www.davis-stirling.com/HOME/U/Unequal-Voting-Rights

...even in places like Australia:
"In my experience it is common for condominium associations to have weighted voting (also known as fractional voting). Each residential unit is assigned a vote value such as 0.1458, and the total of all units’ votes total is 100. Smaller or less valuable units have a proportionally smaller vote weight. (The vote weight also represents a percentage of ownership, and thus a percentage of financial responsibility for the common elements and general association budget.)"
https://sites.google.com/site/paulmcclintockparliamentarian/...

But that's again about the voting process itself and has little to do with the word being asked about. Maybe this could work here:
"Members entitled to vote as a separate voting group may take action on a matter at a meeting only if a quorum of those members exists with respect to that matter."
https://www.whitefordlaw.com/sitefiles/practices/2015 virgin...

21:55 Feb 16 

...who thinks Google is getting worse?

Anyway, in addition to Phil's reference, here's one explaining "Abstimmungseinheit":
https://www.hug-steglitz-zehlendorf.de/wp-content/uploads/20...

See pp. 146 & 147.

Based on the above, I can find "percentage interests" (=Miteigentumsanteile) on US pages, but not much more than that:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/things-consider-when-purchasi...

Cf.
https://images1.showcase.com/d2/Wok8SpBWied0eHFDnpBWNTuqYNyQ...

"Voting unit" is a Canadian term that I don't see making sense here. Again, first link:
"Die Mehrheit wird nicht nach der Anzahl der Personen (also nicht nach Köpfen), sondern nach dem Verhältnis der Miteigentumsanteile gezählt."

Compare with this ("One vote per unit" and "Joint Owners"):
https://cmrao.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CMRAOProxiesGuid...

Seems to have little to do with the word being asked for. First thought about voting interests, but then you'd need to redefine the term and I'm not sure that's helpful.

Cf. https://thefloridarealestateblog.com/f/quorums-voting-intere...

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17:25 Feb 16 

Here's the relevant article of the Wohnungseigentumsgesetz:
Sämtliche Wohnungseigentümer können einen von der Regelung des Abs. 1 abweichenden Aufteilungsschlüssel oder eine von der Liegenschaft abweichende Abrechnungseinheit festlegen; für die nur diese abweichende Abrechnungseinheit betreffenden Angelegenheiten kann auch eine von der Liegenschaft abweichende ***Abstimmungseinheit*** festgelegt werden.
http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/eli/bgbl/i/2002/70/P32/NOR40029917