BS BULLETIN:

• Pennsylvania congressional candidate Bob Brooks has settled a decades-long financial dispute with his former mother-in-law.
• The fight began with a $55,500 debt dating to 2004 and eventually produced a judgment exceeding $130,000.
• The settlement arrives just weeks before Brooks faces Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania’s 7th District.

A Democratic congressional candidate has finally settled a family debt dispute that managed to survive two decades, a divorce and enough litigation to follow him all the way to the doorstep of Congress.

Bob Brooks, the Democratic nominee challenging Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, has reached an agreement with his former mother-in-law, Carol Wiley, over a debt dating back to 2004.

The settlement was disclosed in court filings earlier this month, Fox News Digital reported Sunday. The terms were not made public.

“This old family dispute has officially been resolved by an agreement between the two parties,” Brooks attorney Ryan Moore told Fox. “Bob is glad that this personal matter was resolved amicably and is now behind him and his family. Out of respect for everyone involved, we won’t be commenting further.”

The dispute began after Wiley and her husband transferred Brooks a subdivision of land in 2004.

According to court filings, a promissory note signed in 2008 stated that Brooks and his then-wife owed Wiley $55,500 at 6.5% interest, payable through monthly installments of $630.19.

The filings say those payments were never made.

“Defendants never made any of the payments prescribed in the promissory note,” one filing stated.

The dispute eventually went to court, where Brooks unsuccessfully challenged the enforceability of the agreement. Under the terms of the note and accumulated interest, a judgment against him grew to more than $130,000.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Wiley filed another lawsuit in February alleging Brooks and his current wife transferred ownership of their home in an attempt to prevent her from collecting the judgment. Brooks denied wrongdoing and sought to have the case dismissed.

A Northampton County judge ruled in August that Wiley’s lawsuit could proceed, finding that her allegations were sufficiently detailed to survive Brooks’ preliminary objections. The judge did not rule that Brooks committed fraud; the decision allowed Wiley’s allegations to proceed through the court process. That case sought more than $162,000.

Now, instead of continuing the courtroom battle, the two sides have reached a settlement.

Exactly what Brooks paid — if anything — isn’t publicly known. Fox reported that statements from his attorneys suggested some form of payment, but neither Brooks’ campaign nor his attorneys disclosed the financial terms.

The timing gives the otherwise very old family dispute a very current political dimension.

Brooks is a retired Bethlehem firefighter and former president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association. He won the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s 7th District and is attempting to unseat Mackenzie in November.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee previously placed Brooks in its “Red to Blue” program, identifying his race as one of the party’s targeted opportunities to capture a Republican-held House seat.

Now, weeks before Election Day, Brooks can at least say one particularly persistent piece of unfinished business is finished.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Fox News — Dem House candidate settles yearslong $55K debt fight with former mother-in-law
• Lehigh Valley Public Media — Fraud lawsuit against Bob Brooks allowed to proceed
• The Daily BS — Pennsylvania has the most Democrats in ‘Red to Blue’ campaign