The unfavorable ruling came despite the fact that the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that counties may not keep for themselves as a windfall funds left over from the sale of real property for unpaid taxes, an unconstitutional practice the property owner's lawyers denounce, calling it "home equity theft."

The case is "about a city using a predatory tax law as an engine for its other government purposes, and to enrich private companies," Christina M. Martin, a senior attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), told The Epoch Times in an interview. PLF is a Sacramento, California-based national public interest law firm that represents injured clients free of charge.

"So the government says that since it didn't make any money, it doesn't have to pay these property owners anything," Martin said.

"But the bottom line is, the government took these homes that were worth far more than any of the homeowners owed the government. And the government should have to pay just compensation for that surplus that it took."