Contractor I Am Suing Evading Service

Location: Pennsylvania

In June I hired a roofer to do minor repairs. He is the same roofer who installed my roof in 2021. He charged me $500, which I paid via Zelle at his request. No invoice was given, everything was agreed to via text. I found out a couple days later that not only did he not complete the repair, he did shoddy work on what he did fix and left a roof tile loose which then fell and smashed on the ground. He refused to respond to my texts asking him to address the issues. I ended up having to hire another roofer to remove his work and repair it properly, and that cost $1500.

The problem roofer operates his business out of his home, which I verified with the tax assessor is owned by his wife (who sometimes serves as receptionist.) His state business license is registered to that address, the business card he gave me in June gives that address, every mention of him or his business online lists that address (although he no longer has a website,) and it is the same address listed on the invoice he gave me for the roof work he did in 2021.

I filed in small claims court against him for $1500 + costs. The court attempted to serve the filing, but the server was told by the wife "he isn't here." So, the court ruled against me because the filing was not served. Following the court's instructions, I submitted a request to the postmaster to verify his address, which was completed and returned "verified, no forwarding address given." Then I myself attempted to serve him via both 1st class mail and certified mail/return receipt. A notice was left on the door to which no one responded, and the court again ruled against me saying the filing was not served. I sent it again. This time the door notice was filled out with instructions to deliver to a neighbor. That was done, and the court ruled against me a third time, claiming the filing was not served. Finally, I sent it again, restricted delivery. This time, the wife answered the door and claimed he did not live there. The package was marked on the tracking "addressee unknown."

Tomorrow is my latest court date, and I'm expecting to be shut down again, after which I give up.

My question is, how on Earth is it this easy to evade being sued? You can really just pretend to not live at your address or not accept service, and get away with whatever? That seems ridiculous to me. This guy has been screwing people left and right according to his recent reviews, and is apparently using this tactic. Is it really not a crime or fraud of some sort to do this?