Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday has filed a civil lawsuit against an Albrightsville home improvement contractor and family members, alleging they transferred four parcels of Carbon County land to relatives for $1 apiece in an effort to shield the properties from a nearly $565,000 court judgment.

The complaint, filed Feb. 12 in the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas, names Edward Myles, his wife Beata Myles, her mother Malgorzata Bennett, her stepfather Robert Bennett and the now-defunct Professional Home Services Contracting LLC as defendants.

“This case is about a company’s continued disregard of victims and attempts to avoid accountability,” Sunday said. “Our office does not file a lawsuit, and then let the chips fall as they may. We are aggressively pursuing this company to secure payouts for victims who lost hard-earned money and have yet to be made whole.”

The Attorney General’s Office received complaints from 14 consumers who alleged that Edward Myles and Professional Home accepted deposits totaling nearly $540,000 for work that was promised but never performed or performed in an unworkmanlike manner. The state sued the company and Edward Myles in September 2022 for violations of the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law and Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act.

That lawsuit ended with a default judgment of $564,888.80 — comprising $536,560.05 in restitution for consumers, $28,000 in civil penalties and $328.75 in costs — after the defendants failed to file a court-ordered amended response.

According to the complaint, on or about June 8, 2023 — less than three weeks before that default was entered — Professional Home transferred four parcels of land in Penn Forest Township to Malgorzata and Robert Bennett for $1 each. The four parcels carried a combined county-assessed value of $132,664 at the time of the transfer. Edward and Beata Myles signed the deed transfers on behalf of Professional Home.

The Attorney General’s Office says it discovered the transfers only while investigating the defendants as part of its collection efforts.

“The transfer of the properties to Malgorzata Bennett and Robert Bennett was a sham transaction since not a single property was conveyed for fair-market value,” the complaint states.

Edward and Beata Myles subsequently filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The Attorney General’s Office filed a proof of claim and an adversary complaint arguing the debt owed to consumers was non-dischargeable. The bankruptcy court ultimately dismissed the case and barred the Myleses from filing another bankruptcy petition for 180 days.

The new lawsuit invokes the Pennsylvania Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, arguing the property transfers were made to hinder, delay or defraud the commonwealth as a judgment creditor. The state is asking the court to void the transfers, enter judgment against Edward and Beata Myles, permit execution on the transferred properties and award punitive damages.

The case was filed by the Attorney General’s Financial Enforcement Section in conjunction with the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Any Pennsylvania resident who believes they may have been victimized by Professional Home Services or Edward and Beata Myles can file a complaint with the Bureau of Consumer Protection online or by calling 1-800-441-2555.