Do HOA foreclosures violate 14th Amendment?

A US Supreme Court case, State Farm v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408, on the topic of punitive damages has bearing on the Radcliff foreclosure in California, and on other HOA foreclosure cases. Here’s what the USSC said in 2003:

“Compensatory damages are intended to redress a plaintiff's concrete loss, while punitive damages are aimed at the different purposes of deterrence and retribution. The Due Process Clause prohibits the imposition of grossly excessive or arbitrary punishments on a tortfeaser ... Punitive damages awards serve the same purpose as criminal penalties … However, because civil defendants are not accorded the protections afforded criminal defendants, punitive damages pose an acute danger of arbitrary deprivation of property …”

This was an insurance case, won by the inurance company, with a ratio of 145:1 in punitive damages that the Court denied. The foreclosure against the Radcliff’s was for $120 debt and the loss of home equity was some $285,000, representing over a 2,000:1 punishment.