Lost Lake Holdings, LLC v. Town of Forestburgh (S.D.N.Y.)

On March 27, 2023, the United States filed a Statement of Interest in Lost Lake Holdings, LLC v. Town of Forestburgh (S.D.N.Y.), a private lawsuit alleging discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.  The lawsuit alleges that the Town of Forestburgh and other municipal defendants engaged in a series of discriminatory acts to prevent an Orthodox Jewish developer from building a subdivision in Forestburgh because the defendants believed that it would attract Orthodox Jews.  Specifically, plaintiffs allege that defendants denied their applications for building permits on the basis of religion. The statement argues that the plaintiffs’ Fair Housing Act claims, premised in part on the Zoning Board of Appeals’ denial of their building permit applications, are ripe and that the plaintiffs, who alleged lost profits and lost home sales, have standing to assert their FHA claims.

On March 7, 2025, the United States filed a second Statement of Interest in Lost Lake Holdings, LLC v. Town of Forestburgh (S.D.N.Y.), a private lawsuit alleging discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.  The lawsuit alleges that the Town of Forestburgh and other municipal defendants engaged in a series of discriminatory acts to prevent an Orthodox Jewish developer from building a subdivision in Forestburgh because the defendants believed that it would attract Orthodox Jews.  The statement was filed in response to a motion filed by the defendants seeking to dismiss plaintiffs’ FHA claims as prudentially unripe under BMG Monroe I, LLC v Vil. of Monroe, 93 F4th 595 (2d Cir. 2024).  The statement explains that Monroe did not alter existing law on prudential ripeness and that the Court had correctly rejected the defendants’ ripeness arguments in a prior ruling.  The statement also explains that no additional land use proceedings would help define the plaintiffs’ injury because the plaintiffs’ amended complaint plausibly alleged that the Township had used the land use process in a discriminatory fashion to delay the proposed housing development, which had inflicted economic and other injuries on plaintiffs. On July 9, 2025, the court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ FHA claims as unripe.