A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of the city of Saginaw in a class-action lawsuit brought by residents opposed to a vacant property ordinance.

The court sided with the opinion of federal Judge Thomas Ludington. Ludington, on June 21, granted the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit and denied a motion for a preliminary injunction, filed by Phillip Ellison, a Hemlock-based attorney, file a lawsuit on March 14 in U.S. District Court.

Ellison named the city's Chief Inspector John Stemple and Clerk Janet Santos in the lawsuit and alleged that language at the bottom of an application to register unoccupied or vacant properties strips property owners of their protections against unreasonable searches and seizures by forcing them to sign them away in order to be compliant with the city law.

Ellison alleges the language violates property owner’s Fourth Amendment rights, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

"Law presumes that the government can't just enter your property," Ellison said in a previous interview.

The appeals court says the city requires a hearing before finding that a building is dangerous, so there's an opportunity for owners to enforce their rights.

The lawsuit arose because James Benjamin, trustee of the Rebekah C. Benjamin Trust and client of Ellison, was ticketed by the city for two vacant or unoccupied properties he failed to register.