The owner of a tree removal company accused of price gouging in the aftermath of the deadly 2021 tornadoes in Bowling Green has agreed to a $55,000 civil penalty to settle a lawsuit brought against him by the state.

Benjamin Lamb was sued last year in Warren Circuit Court by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, which accused him and his company, BG Treeman, of overcharging customers affected by the disaster to remove trees from their property.

The state attorney general accused Lamb of violating the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act and emergency state price gouging laws put into place by Gov. Andy Beshear following the tornadoes.

A bid by Lamb last year to dismiss the lawsuit was unsuccessful, but the dispute has been resolved through an assurance of voluntary compliance, signed in June by all parties and Warren Circuit Judge J.B. Hines.

Under the terms of the settlement, Lamb and his company were assessed a $45,000 civil penalty for violations of state price gouging laws and a $10,000 civil penalty for violations of the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act.

Lamb and his company, however, will be required to pay only $28,000 of the penalty, with the remaining $27,000 to be suspended on the condition that he comply with the terms of the settlement, which also requires that Lamb pays $2,207 in restitution to two customers identified in the complaint.

The financial obligations cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and Lamb was ordered to cease collection of payments in excess of customers’ insurance coverage for tree removal services.

Lamb’s attorney, Matt Baker, said that the settlement does not constitute a legal admission of fault.

“My client was anxious to get the matter resolved and have it behind him and start a new chapter,” Baker said.

Lamb and BG Treeman were accused of falsifying invoices by misrepresenting the number of personnel on a tree removal job, the size and number of trees removed, the equipment used and the time spent on a job.

Customers were induced into agreements for tree removal services based on misrepresentations that they would not be personally responsible for paying any charges not covered by insurance.

If an insurer refused to pay the falsified invoices in full, however, Lamb would attempt to coerce the customers into paying the remaining balance out of pocket, threatening to place a lien on their property and refer the customer to a debt collector, according to court records.

Some customers received a document titled “Notice of Intent to File a Lien” that purported to give them 10 days to pay the entire balance for tree removal services to avoid having a lien placed on their home, records show.

Those notices were sent to at least five customers, and falsified and overly expensive invoices were sent to eight customers overall, with a married couple paying $2,207, according to settlement documents.