It should be noted that this court has held, generally, that a landlord-tenant claim may fall
within General Business Law § 349 (see Cooper v 85th Estates Co., 57 Misc 3d 1223[A], 2017 NY Slip
Op 51636[U], *12 [Sup Ct, NY County 2017]). Here, however, the complaint does not allege
that defendants, in advertising to or recruiting plaintiffs, engaged in deceptive conduct that might
otherwise constitute a situation beyond that of a private dispute.
For example, in David v No.1 Mktg.
Serv., Inc. (113 AD3d 810 [2d Dept 2014]), the defendants were operators of several
"three-quarter houses," which, according to the complaint, involved recruiting people with
disabilities and histories of substance abuse, and others living in [*6]shelters or re-entering the community after serving time in prison or
jail, to join housing programs which purportedly offered supportive services (id. at 810).
The complaint also alleged that "residents of three-quarter houses commit their personal incomes
or housing allowances to the operators of these three-quarter houses, only to find themselves
living in abject and overcrowded conditions with no support services on site" (id. at
810-811).
The plaintiffs in David, current and former residents of the respondents' three-quarter
houses, alleged five causes of action, one of which was that the respondents engaged in deceptive
business practices in violation of General Business Law § 349. The Appellate Division,
Second Department, held that defendants (respondents) failed to establish their prima facie
entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by showing that they did not engage in acts or
practices that were deceptive or misleading in a material way. Allegedly, the defendants recruited