Bob Brooks, the Democratic candidate for Congress in the Lehigh Valley, has settled a lawsuit with his ex-mother-in law that had become campaign fodder for his opponent, Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.<\/p>\n
According to a document filed in Northampton County Court on Sept. 10, Brooks and Carol Wiley, his ex-mother-in-law, agreed to settle the lawsuit with \u201ccosts paid\u201d and \u201cdismissed with prejudice,\u201d meaning the case cannot be re-tried in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis old family dispute has officially been resolved by an agreement between the two parties,\u201d Brooks\u2019 lawyer, Ryan Moore, said in a statement to The Morning Call. \u201cBob 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\u2019t be commenting further.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit stemmed from a dispute over a loan issued to Brooks and his ex-wife, Jennifer Lynn Brooks, by his former in-laws, Michael and Carol Wiley.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, Brooks and his ex-wife borrowed $55,000 in 2007 to finance the subdivision of a Moore Township property . The couple signed a promissory note in 2008 in which they agreed to pay back the $55,000 debt.<\/p>\n
In 2017, Bob and Jennifer Lynn divorced. As part of the divorce agreement, Bob received ownership of the property, but a deed was never signed to transfer ownership, so both Bob and his ex-wife remained co-owners, according to legal records.<\/p>\n
In 2018, Carol Wiley sued her daughter, Jennifer Lynn, and former son-in-law, claiming that the two failed to pay back that $55,000 debt. The Pennsylvania Superior Court sided with Wiley and ordered Brooks to pay Wiley back $130,000 in 2020.<\/p>\n
However, that debt remained unpaid following the court order, Wiley alleged.<\/p>\n
In a February 2026 lawsuit, Wiley accused Brooks of deliberate \u201csubterfuge\u201d to avoid paying the court-ordered debt, which she said occurred in 2022 when Brooks transferred sole ownership of the property to his second wife, Jennifer Lynne Brooks.<\/p>\n
Wiley\u2019s lawyers accuse Brooks of deliberately obscuring the identity of his second wife, due to the similarity of her first and middle name with his ex-wife, in order to avoid paying the debt he owed.<\/p>\n
In court documents, Brooks argued that the promissory note was legally invalid and subject to a statute of limitations that made the debt no longer legally enforceable.<\/p>\n
The exact terms of the settlement between the two parties was not disclosed.<\/p>\n