Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Abstimmungseinheit

English translation:

voting unit

Added to glossary by Mary Burdman
Feb 16 17:16
3 mos ago
30 viewers *
German term

Abstimmungseinheit

German to English Bus/Financial Real Estate Austrian condominium purchase agreement
This is in an Austrian condominium purchase agreement. The context is divisions of accounting for various common costs - maintenance, etc.
I am assuming it is 'voting unit' (allocated to condo owners) but can anyone confirm that?
Many thanks,
Mary

Context:

Gemäß §32 Abs 2 WEG vereinbaren Mit- bzw. Wohnungseigentümer, dass die gesonderten Abrechnungseinheiten für die „Wohnungen“ und die „Gewerbeflächen“ und die „KFZ-Abstellplätze Tiefgarage“ und „KFZ-Abstellplätze im Freien“ jeweils eine eigene **Abstimmungseinheit** (abweichende **Abstimmungseinheit**
gemäß §32 Abs 2 WEG) bilden.

Discussion

Björn Vrooman 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
Björn Vrooman Feb 18:
In reply to your comment (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

[...]
Björn Vrooman 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!
Björn Vrooman 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...

[...]
Björn Vrooman Feb 17:
@Phil 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].

[...]
Björn Vrooman 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...
Björn Vrooman Feb 16:
Am I the only one... ...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...

[...]
philgoddard Feb 16:
Context 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

Proposed translations

+1
1 day 11 mins
Selected

voting unit

The exact mechanism doesn't concern us, and is probably explained elsewhere in the agreement.

They're saying that these parts of the property are treated separately both for billing and voting purposes.
Peer comment(s):

neutral Björn Vrooman : I agree with your explanation. But I don't understand why you'd prefer a term with a completely different meaning (in both the US and CAN, it seems) over the US one. Cf. discussion.
2 hrs
I don't understand your objection. This is nothing to do with the US or Canada - it's just universal English.
agree liz askew : indeed
23 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks - this is the clearest way of saying it!"
3 hrs

fractional (service-charge) ballot unit

voting unit (AmE) allocated (BrE) based on cost apportionment is roughly right.

The votes allocated at condo-owners' (BrE: commonholders' / Can: strata-title) residents' meetings and on proxy forms emailed and faxed are predicated on the fractions stipulated at the Grundbuch (Land Registry / US: Recordation) level.

This asker, again, likes s high CL / confidence level, so here it is from someone battling against neighbo(u)rs with just one 'Abstimmungseinheit'.
Example sentence:

Ab­weich­ende Auf­teil­ung der Kosten bei Eigen­tums­wohn­ung­en Allgemeiner Aufteilungsschlüssel und Ab­stimm­ungs­ein­heit

Eine solche abweichende Abstimmungseinheit kann nur für solche Angelegenheiten geschaffen werden, die ausschließlich die zugehörige Abrechnungseinheit betreffen.

Something went wrong...
1 day 12 hrs

Vote on Changes to Common Elements

I am only a hobby student of translation, and I take this opportunity to try and practice and learn.

Now regarding the term in question, I would translate Abstimmungseinheit into English as : vote on changes to common elements.

I came to this conclusion by researching and piecing together things from English language sources and by reviewing the Condominium act of Austria. I thought critically and analyzed the German and English sources I found online and now I attempt to build a terminological bridge that is the translation that I offer here. So, summarily, I learned that condo laws vary from country to country. In the USA it is quite different from Austria.
From what I understand similar matters as stated in the original poster’s context are regulated by percentage ownership. In Canada it is more similar to Austria as the costs may be distributed by vote.
I read the context of the original post and from what I understand die Abstimmungseinheit describes the spaces/amenities/things being maintained, which I think can be referred to as common elements in this context.

So, vote on changes to common elements is my best guess.

Something went wrong...

Reference comments

54 mins
Reference:

useful maybe

Peer comments on this reference comment:

neutral writeaway : How is this helpful? What does it have to do with the context of the question?
24 mins
because it referred to Abstimmungseinheiten!
neutral philgoddard : This is about voting hardware units.
4 hrs
because it referred to Abstimmungseinheiten!
Something went wrong...
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