Fall River and Highlands mansion owners sue over Airbnb rentals. Here's what's happening.

FALL RIVER — The owners of the mansion at 503 Highland Ave. and the city have filed dueling injunctions against each other over the Zoning Board of Appeals' denial of a variance to allow them to rent the massive home on Airbnb and Vrbo.

Austin Feng and Rui Tang, whose primary residence is in Wellesley, purchased the seven-bedroom, six-bath, 7,860-square-foot stone mansion in June 2021 for $1 million.

The pair had been renting the home to guests for a year on short-term rental websites before Glenn Hathaway, the city’s head of inspections, ordered them to seek a variance from the ZBA.

Last January, the ZBA unanimously denied Feng and Tang a variance for short-term rentals, which are not allowed under zoning rules in the property's single-family district.

At the hearing, the ZBA board noted that, under state law, they could only grant the use variance for hardship reasons related to soil, shape of the property or topographic conditions. Feng and Tang had claimed financial hardship, telling the board the mansion costs $50,000 a year to maintain.

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Feng and Tang have apparently continued to rent out the home in violation of the ZBA's ruling, advertising on Vrbo and offering it for $1,022 a night.

They sued the city on July 24 after Hathaway served them a notice of multiple zoning violations totaling $3,000. Hathaway also told them he intended to begin evicting the short-term tenants.

On July 25, both the mansion owners and the city filed requests for injunctive relief in Bristol County Superior Court in New Bedford.

Feng is requesting that a judge deem the ZBA can’t legally prohibit him from renting out the property on a short-term basis because the zoning ordinance does not contain any language specific to short- and long-term leasing. He also requests that the court prevent Hathaway from “illegally” evicting his renters, claiming “Mr. Feng will suffer irreparable harm to his relationships, reputation and future rental prospects.”

The city’s request asks the court for a preliminary injunction to stop the owners from renting the property, and then issue a permanent injunction of short-term operations and to allow inspectors to “enter and evict short-term renters found within the premises.”

On July 30, Feng, his attorney, David Glod, Hathaway and city attorney Kenneth Fredette appeared in Bristol County Superior Court in New Bedford before Judge Renee Dupuis, who combined the cases.

Dupuis scheduled a trial on the matters for Sept. 24.

Fall River 'very close' to passing a short-term rental ordinance

Corporation Counsel Alan Rumsey said the mansion's owners are arguing that because short-term rentals are not prohibited in an ordinance, then they must be allowed.

“Our position is unless something is specifically zoned for something, you can’t do it,” said Rumsey.

However, the city’s law office is working on legislation that will be voted on by the City Council to deal with short-term rentals.

“We are very close to having a short-term rental ordinance that will permit them, with heavy regulation, in the future,” said Rumsey.

Feng and Tang are not the only property owners renting to short-term guests in Fall River, according to Vrbo and Airbnb.

“If we are going to enforce it, we need to enforce it across the board,” said Rumsey. “So, it's a fair argument that we don’t think we need an ordinance to prevent them. Having an ordinance that regulates it, registration and fees and things of that nature, it's probably helpful to regulate it rather than just try to catch them.”

Judge orders no action against mansion owners for now

According to court records, Dupuis ordered that pending the lawsuits, the city “shall refrain from taking action against the Plaintiff's renters, tenants, guests or other occupants.”

It may be good news for the owners of the Highland Avenue mansion.

A check of Feng’s Vrbo account shows he has the property rented for periods of time from late August into October.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River and Highlands mansion owners sue over Airbnb rentals. Here's what's happening.