Are You Observing Constitutional Rights in Disciplinary Hearings?

Boards of directors of community associations (and, unfortunately, even the attorneys advising them) will sometimes mistakenly believe that co-owners are not entitled to certain Constitutional rights of due process with respect to disciplinary hearings. They might warn a co-owner not to bring their attorney to a hearing or not allow an owner to cross-examine witnesses, believing these measures will minimize conflict. They also may believe that since a hearing does not take place in a court of law, there is nothing wrong with restricting how co-owners can defend themselves in a hearing, so long as the process does not violate the governing documents. However, boards that operate in this way are in for a rude awakening that they have been trampling on rights of due process guaranteed by the 5th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The phrase is similar in both, essentially:    Read the article…………..