An Alliance man with several rental properties in Salem is taking action against the city, it's director of housing, office of housing inspection, and housing inspector Richard Snyder.

It's over an ordinance that adopted in 2021, and amended in 2024, mandating rental owners must schedule a warrantless search of their properties all before an occupancy license can be approved. Failing to schedule inspection could subject these owners to civil fines and criminal charges.

A lawsuit filed by Mark Courtney and his attorney on Tuesday claim these warrantless searches are a violation of plaintiff's fourth amendment rights, and that the city of Salem has wrongfully collected funds as a condition for securing these occupancy licenses.

The suit demands that the pre-occupancy license inspection requirement be declared unconstitutional and that all past payments made by plaintiff be reimbursed, adding that the city has unjustly been enriched.

Courtney tells 21 News he's being charged $72 per unit, and have paid more than $25,000 over the life of these fees.

21 News reached out to Salem's City Law Director Brooke Sellars for comment but as of this writing have not heard back yet.