Judge Gary Marton
In this non-payment proceeding, landlord Tyl Realty alleged the rent was $1,900 monthly and that tenant Boder failed to pay same since April 2012. Boder interposed an amended answer and counterclaimed for a rent overcharge. He further sought leave to take discovery in the form of a rent history back to 1995. Tyl opposed, arguing there was a statutory bar to discovery earlier than four years before the filing of the petition, and that the discovery demands were overly broad. Boder claimed the statutory bar was inapplicable as Tyl engaged in a fraudulent scheme to raise the rent above legal levels. The court held that the unexplained rent increase in 1998 of 52 percent, followed by unexplained mis-registrations of the premises, taken together, were sufficient to make the requisite “colorable claim of fraud.” Therefore, the court granted Boder’s motion to the extent he sought leave to take discovery earlier than four years before commencement of this proceeding. The court directed Tyl to comply with the interrogatories and document requests within 30 days of the date of service, concluding the various interrogatories were neither burdensome nor irrelevant.
