Vincent arrested yet again: June 20 in Sea Isle City, NJ

 Arrest Report Overview: Vincent E Cottrell

• First Name: VINCENT
• Last Name: COTTRELL
• Middle Name: E
• Arrest Date: 2021-06-20 10:23:00
• Age: 45
• State: New Jersey
• County: Cape May
• Agency: SEA ISLE CITY PD
• Booking Date: 2021-06-20 22:23:00

www.findmugshots.com

Cottrell arrested in South Carolina on May 18

 Link to the public record and latest mug here: 

Jasper County inmate records

Cottrell arrested in Miami on Apr 28

Cannabis charges for Vinny this time.  May partially explain why jobs for which he collected funds are not starting or advancing. 

Link in the public record: 

Vincent Edward Cottrell (DOB 03/30/1976) booked in Miami Dade County FL

Vincent up to old tricks?!

This communication came into the blog recently:

I was notified about your blog by another contractor after doing business with Vincent Edwards AKA Vincent Cottrell. By the time I found out about him it was too late. He owed me thousands of dollars for services we provided for him and his company TCG.
I wanted you guys to know he is back to his old tricks again. I’ve been in contact with multiple people in various ends of the Philadelphia construction business that have been burned or taken advantage of my this guy.
Clearly he will never stop!!

Nicola/Gerety trial rescheduled (again) as COVID-19 delays a jury trial in Bucks County

Shawn Gerety Nicola's trial has been continued from March 2 to May 12 August 4.  His attorney is requesting a jury trial, but Bucks County is not conducting them at this time in any cases given the COVID 19 pandemic. 

See prior posts: 

January 16, 2021 - Arraigned! Heading to trial

August 8, 2020 - Bucks County criminal prosecution

Arraigned! Heading to trial March 2nd

Update on Bucks Co vs Shawn Nicola (aka Shawn Timothy Gerety, Sean Gerety, Sean Nicola): 

Following a hearing on October 28, 2020 at which a number of victims appeared to testify and he was represented by a defense attorney, the presiding judge immediately bound ALL of the district attorney's 21 counts of criminal charges (Theft by Deception, Receiving Stolen Property, Deceptive Business Practices, etc). Shawn was formally arraigned in November.  The legal process now proceeds to a trail, which has been scheduled for March 2, 2021 at Bucks County Justice Center, Doylestown PA 18901.  The DA's office has sent notice for witnesses to be prepared to appear. 

Bucks Co press release & mugshot: Contractor Accused of Ripping Off Several Victims

This criminal prosecution by Bucks Co. follows other legal actions against the BuildTrend conspirators from other jurisdictions for crimes against other victims including:

Delaware County (PA) vs Cottrell 2017

State of Delaware vs Gerety (now Nicola) 2016

Pennsylvania Attorney General vs Gerety (now Nicola) 2016

Shawn, Oct 28 Save the Date!

Shawn Nicola (aka Shawn Timothy Gerety, Sean Gerety, Sean Nicola) is scheduled to appear in a Buck County (PA) court to face criminal charges on October 28.  Prosecuting attorneys and detectives for the Commonwealth and Bucks Co. have issued subpoenas for witnesses to appear at this hearing on 10/28 at 2pm in the courtroom of Judge Seaman at 4001 Durham Road, Doylestown, PA 16902.  Others would also be welcome to attend and view the hearing. The criminal docket MJ-07302-CR-0000117-2020 and Court Summary describes multiple charges Mr Gerety Nicola will be facing.  

This criminal prosecution by Bucks Co. follows other actions against the BuildTrend conspirators from other jurisdictions and victims including:

Delaware County (PA) vs Cottrell 2017

State of Delaware vs Gerety (now Nicola) 2016

Pennsylvania Attorney General vs Gerety (now Nicola) 2016

Long Arm of the Law catches up to Gerety/Nicola with Bucks County criminal prosecution

The District Attorney of Bucks County (PA) filed criminal charges against Shawn Nicola (aka Shawn Timothy Gerety, Sean Gerety, Sean Nicola, etc) in March 2020.  See Docket MJ-07302-CR-0000117-2020 and Court Summary for the multiple charges including theft by deception, deceptive business practices and criminal attempt - receives advance payment for services and failure to perform.  He appears to have posted $100,000 bail on March 31.  

Patch reports on the Bucks Co prosecution here:

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/horsham/s/h6zji/contractor-ripped-montco-homeowners-others-da

"Anyone with information on Nicola or believe they may have been a victim should contact Bucks County Detective Eric Landamia at elandamia@buckscounty.org or Bucks County Detective Tim Campbell at tcampbell@buckscounty.org

Shawn's initial hearing before Honorable Jean Seaman has been rescheduled reapeatedly since May and it seems the most recent delays are due to Gerety/Nicola's attorney, rather than COVID-19.  We'll post the new date and location when available as we believe many victims of these repeat scammers would like to attend.  

 

Image: Mr Shawn Gerety (his legal name at the time) with Ms Julia Nicola during a 2015 vacation to Europe after collecting funds for customer projects where work would never start... 

Where is Gerety now?

A new question came into the blog.  Can anyone help with current information about Shawn Gerety (aka Sean Gerety) ?   Please post in comments or send to buildtrendscam@gmail.com .


I am dying to know..... has the long arm of the law ever finally caught up to this scumbag Sean Gerety? Or did he just slip away?

Did he escape to Romania?
I don’t see any information on any court cases for him or anything. I would have thought between the 3 states and the number of people he defrauded that he would be a top priority to lock up. Its amazing how white collar crime is not treated seriously.

Any updates at all?

Where is Garvin now?

Legal troubles for contractors in the BuildTrend ring continue into 2017.

Garvin Arthur Donaghy (and his companies RBS Builders and RBSF) were "project manager" agents of BuildTrend on several projects in Pennsylvania, including after the time when Shawn Gerety (aka Sean Gerety, Shawn Nicola) began to communicate bankruptcy plans for the BuildTrend entity to certain customers. Gerety was simultaneously starting new entities and moving south to Delaware and Maryland as Garvin was approaching customers for incremental payments and change orders. From the perspective of many BuildTrend customers, Garvin Donaghy and Gerety were one in the same.

A paint supplier started legal action against Garvin in Delaware County civil action 2017-002231: Sherwin-Williams Co vs Donaghy. Garvin failed to respond and Sherwin-Williams won a default judgement for $7,100 in April.

Garvin owns real estate in Media, PA and has a history of tax liens and judgments. This blog has previously covered Garvin's associations with BuildTrend (see 2015-Sept RBSF & JD Kelly).

RBSF Construction Company retains an active home improvement contractor registration in PA #114667 with an address of 3 East Spring Oak Circle, Media PA 19063.  The registration for one of Garvin's other companies RBS Builders (HIC #088891) expired and was not renewed.

Judge rules in favor of this blog

Vincent Cottrell initiated legal action against this blog in Delaware County case 2015-010034 alleging slander/libel/defamation. Court filings show Cottrell attempting to enforce a subpoena of Google while John Doe (contributors to this blog) filed a motion to quash and seek a protective order. On May 30, the Honorable G. Michael Green heard oral arguments from attorneys from each side. In a ruling file stamped on June 1, the judge ruled in favor of the blog with an Order to Quash the Subpoena and to Issue Protective Order.

Dispute between Cottrell and his own attorney also appears in the public records of this case. Court records show Cottrell's attorney Joseph J. Dougherty, Esq first resigned as counsel to Cottrell in February 2017 telling the court that Cottrell had outstanding balances for legal bills.  The judge granted the attorney's petition to withdraw as counsel on March 27.  But by March 31, Dougherty is filing with the same court that he is back as Cottrell's counsel, presumably after getting paid in the interim. Somehow Cottrell finds the money to pay his attorney, but can't collect funds to pay full restitution to his theft victims by the first sentencing date in his criminal theft case.

Also of note, the hearing on motions relating to this blog was not the only reason for Cottrell to be in the Media courthouse on May 30, 2017.  In the very same courthouse on the very same day, Cottrell was finally sentenced for criminal theft (Case CP-23-CR-0001749-2016) in a negotiated guilty plea with the Delaware County DA. This is Cottrell's latest conviction in a long record of theft and deceptive business practices crimes in Montgomery, Philadelphia and Delaware Counties in Pennsylvania and independent theft and theft by deception crimes in New Jersey.  Vincent Cottrell also uses the names Vincent Edward, Vincent Edward C and Vincent Edward Cottrell III.

Cottrell Sentenced in Delco Criminal Theft

Cottrell's Pennsylvania criminal record and docket sheet for CP-23-CR-0001749-2016 have been updated for his sentencing on May 30.  These public records show that Vincent Cottrell negotiated a guilty plea to misdemeanor criminal theft and was sentenced to Intermediate Punishment Program (IPP) for up to 24 months and Probation for up to 3 years. Cottrell's IPP requires that he wear an electronic monitor (ankle bracelet) and remain confined to his home for 6 months and perform 80 hours of community service. We hear from multiple sources that his Probation/Parole also requires that he pay fees to the County to monitor his activity and prohibits visitors except as approved.

The reason for continuance of his sentencing from May 15 to May 30 was Cottrell telling the judge he would need more time to assemble the balance of the funds to return to the victims.  The docket sheet reflects that Cottrell ultimately did pay full restitution to the victims of his thefts, without disclosing the amount.

Congratulations to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan and his office for securing a conviction and bringing Cottrell to justice in one incident of construction contracting scams in your district and for a process which resulted in monetary recovery for one family.

Please send any additional information to supplement or correct any errors in this post to: buildtrendscam@gmail.com.  This blog will always default to protecting anonymity unless a contributor requests attribution.

Cottrell's DelCo criminal sentencing May 30

According to criminal docket CP-23-CR-0001749-2016, Vincent Cottrell is scheduled for sentencing by a Delaware County judge on May 30 (continued from May 15).  Public records show that Cottrell finally pleaded guilty to criminal theft on April 10, 2017 following a series of continuances and delays since Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan initially charged him in January 2016 for crimes related to home renovation contracting work.

Vincent Cottrell (aka Vincent Edward C.)

But this sentencing doesn't look like the end of legal troubles for Cottrell and his crew.

Cottrell + Kelly

Cottrell and contractor John Kelly (aka "Butch" and JD Kelly Corp.) are also defendants in a separate DelCo civil action where a Havertown, PA homeowner alleges fraud, negligence and unfair trade practices on a different home renovation construction job that went wrong.

From the filings in that case, matters between the two contractors Kelly and Cottrell appear to be getting more contentious. Read full proceedings including the initial complaint and a flurry of responses and motions:

Delaware County Case 2016-006677

Cottrell + Gerety
Another of Cottrell's conspirators in home renovation contracting has been Shawn Gerety (aka Sean Gerety, Shawn T. Gerety). Gerety and Cottrell were business partners in BuildTrend until Gerety bankrupted that company and started multiple new entities, including Trend Investment Group, TIG Construction Inc, Bay Breeze Exteriors. Cottrell meanwhile started Trend Consulting Group and possibly other entities. Gerety is currently a criminal defendant in the State of Delaware on multiple incidents of theft and fraud related to home renovations and simultaneously defendant in Pennsylvania in a civil suit by the Attorney General of Pennsylvania which aggregates the complaints of nine Pennsylvania homeowner victims, many of whom had also met Cottrell when he was VP of Gerety's BuildTrend company.
Complaint: Attorney General v Gerety/BuildTrend (Case. No 692 MD 2016) - Complaint
Docket sheet: Commonwealth Court Case 692 MD 2016

Note: the relationship between Cottrell, Gerety and BuildTrend is documented in the public domain by contracts and documents made public by Cottrell in his 2015 Delaware County civil lawsuit Cottrell v Gerety.  See this blog's June 2015 entry for the link.

Latest chapters in Cottrell's long criminal record 

A 2017 criminal conviction would add to quite a lengthy criminal record for Cottrell (links to public information below).  He was convicted in New Jersey of 2006 crimes and incarcerated in 2010-2011 in New Jersey and also separately convicted in 2011 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on theft and theft by deception offenses.

Links below show where this information is available in public domain:

2016-Jun Back in Business

2016-Jan Delco DA brings criminal charges
2015-Sep Pennsylvania Criminal Records of BuildTrend VP
2015-Aug Vincent Executive Contractor
2015-Jun Vince Cottrell - BuildTREND Vice President
2015-Jun Criminal Theft by Deception
2015-Jun Lawsuit reveals BuildTREND's debts & contracts with Cottrell

Where is Cottrell now?
Still in the construction contracting business with new entities and new business partners:
Trend Consulting Group

He appears to go by Vincent Edward C. on social media and may also be using other names, aliases and identities.  He is active on social media including @VincentC30 and @TrendGroup30 on Twitter and @VincentEdwardC30 on Instagram.

Cottrell pleads guilty to theft from homeowner clients in Delco

Vincent Cottrell pleaded guilty to criminal theft in Delaware County on April 10 according to criminal docket CP-23-CR-0001749-2016. The public records show that this plea follows a series of continuances and delays since the Delaware County District Attorney initially charged him in January 2016 and adds to a long criminal record of New Jersey and Pennsylvania convictions on similar offences (see links to public records below).

According to the docket sheet, sentencing is scheduled for May 15.

Cottrell is also known as Vincent Edward Cottrell III, Vincent Edward C., Thomas Cottrell and Thomas Dadino. He is active on social media including @VincentC30 and @TrendGroup30 on Twitter and @VincentEdwardC30 on Instagram.  He and may also be operating under many other names and identities.

Here are prior posts on this blog about Vince (with links to public information):
2016-Jun Back in Business
2016-Jan Delco DA brings criminal charges
2015-Sep Pennsylvania Criminal Records of BuildTrend VP
2015-Aug Vincent Executive Contractor
2015-Jun Vince Cottrell - BuildTREND Vice President
2015-Jun Criminal Theft by Deception
2015-Jun Lawsuit reveals BuildTREND's debts & contracts with Cottrell

Gerety update from E.Thomas

This letter was submitted to the blog by E.Thomas.  This blog will default to anonymity unless one who submits information asks for attribution. 

Good day,

This letter is in regard to Sean (Shawn) Gerety, who was arrested in Ocean City, MD on December 1, 2016 and then extradited to DE.

Sean has made numerous statements that once he gets his passport back from the State of DE, he will be forever leaving the US, never to return.

Sean has numerous outstanding debts.

We believe that he owes his landlord approximately $12,000, when he resided at 7001 Atlantic Avenue, Ocean City, MD, which is where he was arrested.  It is also believed that he owes his ex-wife in excess of $15,000 in back alimony and child support.

In addition, he owes several subcontractors living in Wicomico County, MD, tens of thousands of dollars.  One of these subcontractors accosted him in a road rage incident, where Sean sought refuge in the Town of Berlin Police Department (I'm sure the local police have a report on this 2016 incident)

He also owes a former construction manager $1500, his former accountant (who quit on him when he learned the specifics of how Sean does business) $1200.  In addition, Sean will owe a sizeable amount of taxes that he will not be reporting to the IRS for the 2016 tax year.  Sean also owes $6600 to a customer by the name of Pablo Foranda, 31299 Terry Circle, Bethany Beach, DE, 19930.  Which is in addition to civil litigation filed against Sean by the State of PA.

Sean is STILL operating BayBreeze Exteriors, he has 100% sole control of the funds, numerous bank accounts, including PayPal accounts.... 

Sean has told many people that he and his attorney would just strike a deal with the State of DE whereby he would negotiate ONE settlement and plead guilty to ONE felony in return for his passport and reduced settlement for which he would pay 50% now and then 50% when his passport is returned to him.

Once Sean is given his passport back, he will immediately flee the US and fly to Romania when his fiancé' awaits.  Sean will never return to the US due to the economic burden the total extent of which will never be known.  Once Sean marries his fiancé', Iulia Nicola, he will then take her last name and become Sean Nicola and live in Romania.  Given the economy of Romania, Sean will never make the money he would need to pay back the settlement owed in the US, nor will he have any intention to do so.  Once Sean is on the airplane, he will never look back again.

Sean has only one goal, get his passport back and flee the US without having to pay another dime.

Sean had always leased several luxury vehicles, all of which have been repossessed when his money gets tight.  He has recently made attempts to purchase a vehicle in the Lancaster PA area and you can be that he will default on the loan payments should he be allowed to leave the US.

After reviewing his bankruptcy filings in Federal Court, he listed approximately $3800 in tangible assets and $1,364,988 in liabilities.  Allegedly his attorney quit after the court learned Sean was hiding assets.

How in the world did he make off with more than $1.3 million in cash, goods and services????  He owns nothing of record in the US ---- look for that money overseas.

Since he ran out on his lease in Ocean City, MD, he has been spending time in Lancaster, PA, specifically he interchanges between the Days Inn and Classic Inn on Route 30 East in Lancaster PA.  He has been paying for these motel stays with proceeds from BayBreeze Exteriors.  There is the possibility that his fiancé' is sending him money too, and we can't help but wonder if she has access to his overseas cash stash.

Again, once he gets that passport back, he will leave the US and never return, nor honor any of the countless obligations he has run up. 

If you really want to make your DE residents who have been scammed by him get their money back before you let Sean go.

Last known phone number for Sean is 443.365.3202

Gerety arraigned in Delaware for criminal theft and fraud

Rough week for Mr. Gerety.  In addition to the Attorney General in Pennsylvania bringing civil suit on behalf of multiple victims of his home renovation contractor scams, Gerety was charged criminally in the State of Delaware on multiple counts of theft and home improvement fraud after having been arrested in Maryland. 

Media reports indicate Gerety was arraigned in Delaware Superior Court on December 16 on five counts of theft and four counts of home improvement fraud. He appears to be out of custody and free on $20,000 bail.

According to anonymous posts to comments on this blog, Gerety may be staying at a Days Inn in Lancaster, PA and driving a Ford Explorer. Recent cell phone numbers are 443-365-3202 and 443-944-3838. 

In early December, this blog had confirmed Gerety had been arrested and held in Worcester County, Maryland near his oceanfront condo. 

Recent media reports:
12/20/2016 Delaware Business Now article by Doug Rainey
12/20/2016 ABC27 coverage by Miles Snyder
12/21/2016 Lancaster Online article by Dan Nephin
12/20/2016 WGAL Channel8 coverage by Brian Roche
12/21/2016 "Home Improvement Contractor Wanted in Two States"

Gerety sued by Pennsylvania Attorney General

BuildTrend and Shawn Gerety (aka Sean Gerety, Shawn T. Gerety) have been sued by the Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

12/20/2016

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Bruce R. Beemer today announced the filing of a consumer protection lawsuit against a Lancaster County company and its owner following allegations that the company accepted large sums of money from consumers for home improvement projects that were never completed. 

The lawsuit against Shawn Gerety and BuildTREND Construction LLC alleges violations of the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act and the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. The lawsuit is the result of an investigation conducted by the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Public Statement from the Attorney General

Read the complaint filed 12/14/2016 here:
Attorney General v Gerety/BuildTrend (Case. No 692 MD 2016) - Complaint

Docket sheet:
Commonwealth Court Case 692 MD 2016

Cottrell & Kelly sued by homeowner

While Cottrell awaits trial in Delaware County on January 2016 felony criminal charges relating to his actions as a home renovation contractor on a project for a Drexel Hill (PA) family, he and contractor John Kelly are also co-defendants in a civil lawsuit by a another Havertown (PA) customer.

Vince Cottrell (aka "Vincent Edward C.") and John Kelly (aka "Butch" and JD Kelly Corp.) have been defendants in a lawsuit filed in August 2016 by Jeff Marmon.  This Havertown homeowner alleges fraud, negligence and unfair trade practices and demands a jury trial in Delaware County:

Civil Complaint: Marmon v Cottrell & Kelly

Customers who know Gerety, Cottrell and the rest of their crew from when they were identifying themselves as BuildTrend would probably recognize many similarities to Marmon's story about Cottrell, Kelly and co:  foreman changes, failure to pay subcontractors, demands for additional money, threats of breach of contract, mechanics liens, denial of accountability and position at the company when the project ultimately goes wrong, etc.

Full proceedings in that case including the latest responses and motions are here:

Delaware County Case 2016-006677

As cases mount, victims who never saw their renovations started or completed are saying this doesn't look like poor business management by the contractors... Rather, this looks more and more like a deliberate business strategy to collect funds and NOT do the work.

Gerety arrested

Sean Gerety (aka Shawn Gerety) was recently arrested in Worcester County, Maryland on criminal charges related to his latest construction contracting business.

If any readers have more details or links to public information about Gerety's arrest, please send to buildtrendscam@gmail.com and we'll post to the blog.  As always, this blog posts factual information and defaults to protecting anonymity unless a contributor requests attribution.

Update on Cottrell's trial in DelCo on felony charges

Delaware County's District Attorney is moving forward with a November 28 Oct. 17 Sept. 19 trial date for felony criminal charges against Vincent Cottrell according to the docket.

He is also known as Vinny, Vincent Edward Cottrell III, Vincent Edward C., Thomas Cottrell, Thomas Dadino and possibly other names as well and believed to be representing various construction contracting, home renovation products and lending businesses in Pennsylvania and New York today.

Here are prior posts on this blog about Vince (with links to public information):
2016-Jun Back in Business
2016-Jan Delco DA brings criminal charges
2015-Sep Pennsylvania Criminal Records of BuildTrend VP
2015-Aug Vincent Executive Contractor
2015-Jun Vince Cottrell - BuildTREND Vice President
2015-Jun Criminal Theft by Deception
2015-Jun Lawsuit reveals BuildTREND's debts & contracts with Cottrell

Back in business under new names

Vince Cottrell has a fresh business website for his Trend Consulting Group.

Don't confuse Cottrell's TCG (Trend Consulting Group) with Gerety's TIG or TGI (Trend Investment Group)... According to them, these new names and entities have nothing to do with the BuildTrend Construction they are attempting to bankrupt. Customers of BuildTrend who in aggregate are out well over $1 million for contracted work that never started or advanced very far are generally struggling with this explanation as they see both Sean and Vince continuing in the exact same contracting businesses under new names after abandoning their projects and refusing to return funds paid for work that the contractors never completed.

If you'd like to engage Vince and his current companies for any construction project management assignments in the Philadelphia or New York regions, his current business phone is 484-728-4140.

Cottrell is recently using at least a couple of newer Twitter identities @TrendGroup30 (TCG PM Management) and @Vincent30 (Vincent Edward C.)  Perhaps like Sean (aka Shawn) Gerety, Vinny is also moving on from his prior names. How many names have they used in the past and what other names may they be using currently?

Vincent Edward Cottrell III lives at 1228 Foss Ave, Drexel Hill, PA.   He is currently awaiting trial in criminal charges in Delaware County for receiving advance payment and failing to perform services, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property in a single instance of thefts from a Drexel Hill family with multiple young children.

Vincent is also driving a newer car these days (white Ford Explorer).

Shawn is now Sean

Bill collectors, creditors and homeowners who may be wondering why projects they made payments for are not advancing should take note: Sean T. Gerety is Shawn T. Gerety.  He changes his own name, much as he continues to change his contracting business entity names.  See notice of the legal name change from the Worcester County, Maryland court below.

Sean Gerety (aka Shawn Gerety) currently lives on the beach in Maryland and drives a gray Jeep (PA plates JHV2225) while operating his contracting businesses. Gerety has used phone number 443-944-3838 recently.

When filing to change his name with the court in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings for his BuildTrend entity, Gerety listed two Ocean City mailing addresses:

7001 Atlantic Avenue, Ocean City, MD

PO Box 3219, Ocean City, MD

Trend Investment Group and BuildTrend Construction were two of the registered contractor entities he used in Pennsylvania and names he is currently using in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania appear to be close derivatives of these names.

CIRCUIT COURT FOR WORCESTER COUNTY 
CIVIL NO. 23C-15-1419 
IN THE MATTER OF SHAWN TIMOTHY GERETY 
FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO 
SEAN TIMOTHY GERETY 
NOTICE (ADULT) (DOM REL 61) 

The above petitioner has field a petition for Change of Name in which he seeks to change his name from SHAWN TIMOTHY GERETY to SEAN TIMOTHY GERETY. The petitioner is seeking this name change for the following reasons: “I ALWAYS WANTED TO CHANGE MY NAME TO THE ORIGINAL IRISH SPELLING.”. 

Any person may file an objection to the Petition on or before the 22ND day of DECEMBER, 2015. The objection must be supported by an affidavit and served upon the Petitioner in accordance with Maryland Rule 1-321. Failure to file an objection or affidavit within the time allowed may result in a judgment by default or the granting of the relief sought. 

A copy of this notice shall be published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least fifteen (15) days before the deadline to fine an objection. 

Name of Newspaper: Maryland Coast Dispatch Date of Publication DECEMBER 04, 2015 

SUSAN R. BRANIECKI 
Clerk of the Circuit Court for Worcester County 
Room 104 - Court House 
One W. Market Street 
Snow Hill, MD 21863-1074 12-04

HomeAdvisor in the news for promoting criminal contractors

Readers of this blog who are victims of BuildTrend thefts in Pennsylvania/Delaware noticed news coverage of a HomeAdvisor.com-vetted contractor in Georgia:

26NBC Augusta On Your Side

Taking a deposit and not starting or completing the work, criminal records, fake names, multiple business identities with similar names, HomeAdvisor recommendations, using his same old tricks to target new victims...  Does this sound like anyone we know?

See prior posts about BuildTrend's use of HomeAdvisor.com:
11/18/2015 HomeAdvisor's role in BuildTrend fraud

How many of the crooked contractors in the BuildTrend crew are on homeadvisor today to source their next hits?

Same contractor scams, new names?

This blog has recently received tips about several business identities that appear to be in current use by the ring of crooked contractors who were previously operating as BuildTrend, Trend Construction, JD Kelly and similar and related names. At least some of the new entity names we are hearing about are registered HIC's with the PA Attorney General.  The blog plans to post names here soon.

If readers have any information to contribute on this topic or any other, please email to: buildtrendscam@gmail.com

This blog will always default to protecting anonymity unless a contributor asks for attribution. Multiple victims of these scammers have contributed information. Unfortunately, the victim count appears to be growing.

Commonwealth v. Cottrell update

Here's the Criminal Docket of the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County as the DA prepares for trial of crooked contractor Vincent Cottrell for this thefts from a family who paid him for a home renovation project he abandoned after taking the money.

Anthony Scanlon will be the judge.

Pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 9.

Cottrell is charged with:

1. Receives Advance Payment for Services and Fails to Perform
2. Theft by Unlawful Taking - Movable Property
3. Receiving Stolen Property

In that case, Cottrell is no longer charged with Thefts by Deception or Identify Theft.   Do prosecutors now believe Cottrell was cooperating with other contractors and contractor entities rather than misrepresenting them?

Cottrell has a long prior record of theft charges in Delaware County, Montgomery County and Philadelphia PA. Please note the court's summary page here does NOT include Cottrell's New Jersey convictions for which he served prison time.

This blog's prior posts about Cottrell:
1/19/2016 Delco DA brings criminal charges against Vincent Cottrell
9/21/2015 PA Criminal Records
8/18/2015 Vincent executive contractor
6/11/2015 Vince Cottrell - BuildTREND Vice President
6/11/2015 Criminal Theft by Deception
6/11/2015 Lawsuit reveals BuildTREND's debts & contracts with Cottrell

Vincent's current business website is here:
Trend Consulting Group

Is BuildTrend bankruptcy attempt a fraud?

Shawn Gerety - June 2015 

A blog reader noticed January 2015 news that the Pennsylvania Attorney General is challenging the bankruptcy attempt of a consignment store near Pittsburgh.  In that case, the AG alleges false pretenses, false representations and fraud/embezzlement by store owners when they took more than $50,000 of value from 200+ consignors knowing they would never fulfill obligations to try to sell the products through the store and pay the consignors.

To be clear, that matter has no direct connection to BuildTrend.  However, victims of BuildTrend see parallels to BuildTrend's attempt to discharge debts through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy process.

From the filings with the bankruptcy court, BuildTrend had well over $1 million in unfinished projects. Gerety, Cottrell, Kelly, Donaghy and their other conspirators so far appear to have gotten away with stealing much more than the store owners by collecting deposits and pre-payments for construction work only to abandon the projects and perform almost none of the work.

Could law enforcement challenge BuildTrend's bankruptcy as a fraud?

Contributors to this blog have no insight on possible law enforcement actions, but this is an interesting question.

Cottrell criminal hearing now set for March 17

Update Feb 18:
Vincent's preliminary hearing has been continued (again) to March 17 and the case has also been assigned to a new judge, Elisa Lancianca.  Apparently Judge Radano is Vincent's neighbor in Drexel Hill, which could be a factor in the new judge assignment.

Here's the new docket sheet which shows the Delaware County criminal charges against crooked contractor Vincent E. Cottrell:
Criminal Docket MJ-32253-CR-0000010-2016

Original Feb 4 post:
Criminal Docket MJ-32134-CR-0000003-2016 shows the charges against home improvement contractor Vincent E. Cottrell:

• Receives Advance Payment For Services and Fails to Perform 
• Theft By Unlaw Taking-Movable Prop 
• Theft By Decep-False Impression 
• Receiving Stolen Property 
• Identity Theft

According to public information in the docket, Officer Timothy Deery arrested Cottrell and Asst. District Attorney Jessica Conley is the prosecutor representing Delaware County.

Judge Robert Radano continued a Feb 2 hearing and has now scheduled the first hearing for Feb 16 at 8:30am. 

Gerety / BuildTrend bankruptcy hearing continued

From public filings related to Case 15-17039-sr with US Bankruptcy Court  Eastern District of Pennsylvania we see:

• The judge granted the motion of Barry Solodky to resign as counsel representing the Debtor (BuildTrend Construction) on Jan 13 (entered into the record on Jan 17).  There is no indication if Gerety and BuildTrend have new counsel. 
• The hearing with the judge and trustee scheduled for Wednesday, Jan 27 was continued. If any readers can confirm the day/time/location please post to comments. 

To follow the filings around Gerety's attempt to discharge BuildTrend debts through a try at Chapter 7 bankruptcy go to this link: https://ecf.paeb.uscourts.gov/ and search Case 15-17039.  You may need to set up a Pacer account if you do not already have one. 

Delco DA brings criminal charges against Vincent Cottrell

Multiple news outlets are reporting that Vincent E. Cottrell III was arrested and "charged with misrepresenting himself as a contractor and taking payments for work that was never completed"

CBSPhilly video link:
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/01/19/crooked-contractor-accused-of-scamming-50000-from-delco-family/


Delaware County Daily Times
Upper Darby contractor busted for taking $52G, not doing the work
http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20160119/NEWS/160119526

Philadelphia Inquirer
DA: Fake Contractor stole $50,000
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160120_DA__Fake_contractor_stole__50_000.html#gmtUVyfBBRPezWyF.03

According to the articles, the Delco DA says Cottrell stole over $50,000 from an Upper Darby, Pennsylvania couple while misrepresenting himself as an agent of JD Kelly Corp. 

The news sources indicate Cottrell has been released on $75,000 bail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb 2 before Magisterial District Judge Robert J. Radano.  

Of course, many BuildTrend "customers" are also familiar with Cottrell because he was VP of BuildTrend Construction around the same time in 2014. 

Indeed, as exhibits in Cottrell's own January 2015 civil lawsuit against BuildTrend CEO Shawn Gerety demonstrate, Vincent Cottrell had knowing connection and economic linkage to Gerety's BuildTrend and Trend Investment Group registered contractor entities. See contracts which both Cottrell and Gerety appear to have signed in September 2013 and June 2014. 

Based on recent filings in BuildTrend's Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, BuildTrend abandoned over $1,000,000 in unfinished projects and lists at least 12 homeowners as material creditors.  The scale of thefts by Gerety, BuildTrend, Trend and other contractor front entities could be orders of magnitude larger than the crimes for which Cottrell has been charged in Delco. 

Victims of these crooked contractors have observed common schemes, common sub-contractors and numerous common connections between the JD Kelly, RBSF, BuildTrend Construction, Trend Investment Group and Trend Consulting Group entities. Many of these entities appear to be in business today. 

Gerety examined by bankruptcy trustee

On December 16, Shawn Gerety appeared in Philadelphia for a Rule 2004 Examination of the Debtor related to his attempts to bankrupt his BuildTrend entity and discharge all debts.  Under oath, Gerety answered further questions from the Chapter 7 Trustee, multiple creditors, former BuildTrend business partners and representatives of the Attorney Generals of Pennsylvania and State of Delaware.

Gerety's appearance today follows the bankruptcy court judge Stephen Raslavich ordering him to show up.

All of this public information, including motions from the Trustee to compel him to appear and the December 10 order from the judge, can be found here:  http://ecf.paeb.uscourts.gov associated with Case 15-17039.

BuildTrend bankruptcy: Assets discovered & Gerety's counsel moves to resign

Following the first meeting of creditors in Lancaster on November 16 there have been a couple of interesting developments.

Please note that all of the following are based on documents filed with the bankruptcy court: http://ecf.paeb.uscourts.gov under Case 15-17039.

1) The Chapter 7 trustee changed this matter to "Asset" case from the "No Asset" bankruptcy petition that Shawn Gerety had filed on 9/30/2015.  This appears to indicate that she has discovered assets Gerety has attempted to conceal from her and the court.  Due date for creditors to file proof of claim is February 18.

2) The next meeting will be a Rule 2004 Examination of the Debtor on December 16 at the law firm offices of Maschmeyer & Karalis, PC, 1900 Spruce Street, Philadelphia PA 19103.  This presents an opportunity for the trustee and creditors to question Gerety under oath.

3) Barry Solodky, counsel to BuildTrend who sat with Shawn Gerety at the meeting of creditors in Lancaster, filed a motion on November 20 to withdraw from representing him.  In his motion, Mr. Solodky also indicated that the "the debtor and its principal has advised Movant that he does not intend to appear at the Bankruptcy Rule 2004 Examination in Philadelphia."

Perhaps this schedule and order from the court interferes with Gerety's European vacation and travel that are likely funded by his thefts and fraud.

HomeAdvisor's role in BuildTrend fraud

At the meeting of creditors hearing in Lancaster this week, Shawn Gerety gave sworn testimony before the bankruptcy trustee that he paid HomeAdvisor for customer leads.  He said HomeAdvisor was his primary source of business when BuildTrend was grossing $200,000 in revenues per month.

Fraud victims describe 5-star ratings of BuildTrend Construction on HomeAdvisor.com as a driving influence in their unfortunate introductions to this crooked contractor ring.  Validation by HomeAdvisor appears to have influenced consumers to develop undue confidence in the contractor, even when the introduction may not have originated from HomeAdvisor.

What is HomeAdvisor?
HomeAdvisor appears to collect comprehensive reviews and connect consumers with "trusted home improvement pros."  From their website:

With more than two million pro reviews and one of the industry's most comprehensive screening processes, HomeAdvisor gives you the peace of mind that comes from knowing you hired a pro you can trust. 

HomeAdvisor listed BuildTrend as a 5-star contractor on their site until late September 2015.  Indeed, from Google search results for BuildTrend, HomeAdvisor's endorsement was consistently a top ranking.  HomeAdvisor also promoted an independent listing for Trend Investment Group - another one of Shawn Gerety's  registered contractor entities - until October 2015 when the Trend page was also finally removed.

What Background Checks?
HomeAdvisor claims to perform background checks on recommended contractors.

If they actually perform checks, how did they miss that both Shawn Gerety and Vincent Cottrell are felons?  How did HomeAdvisor also miss prior bankruptcies, civil actions, criminal theft and theft by deception convictions and prison time for drug crimes?

Shawn Gerety and others could have made misrepresentations to HomeAdvisor, but how rigorous or independent was HomeAdvisor's supposed vetting when they missed ALL of these reasons to question this contractor?

Why does HomeAdvisor suppress critical reviews?
We have heard of multiple customers whose projects were going wrong attempting to post on HomeAdvisor only to see their critical reviews quickly purged from the HomeAdvisor site by staff of that website.

What service was this to other consumers who may have benefited from a balanced perspective of actual customer experiences with this contractor?  What value does HomeAdvisor provide by curating reviews to only retain the most positive ratings?  What steps does HomeAdvisor take to validate if positive (or negative) reviews are even originating from real customers?

Were the BuildTrend's listings with HomeAdvisor removed when Shawn stopped paying for advertising?  or for some other reason?

How much do contractors like BuildTrend pay HomeAdvisor?
Shawn Gerety testified that his companies paid HomeAdvisor for leads and that this was his primary source of business.

In the case of BuildTrend, leads HomeAdvisor sold turned out to be a hit list for the next crime victims, folks who would have their lives disrupted by the thefts and frauds of this ring of scammers.

BuildTrend Meeting of Creditors

Meeting of Creditors details announced by the bankruptcy court:

November 16, 2015 at 1:00pm
Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square
25 South Queen Street
Lancaster, PA 17603

The debtor's representative must be present at the meeting to be questioned under oath by the trustee and by creditors. Creditors are welcome to attend, but are not required to do so. 

Romania?

Romania and the United Kingdom are the top non-US locations for viewers of this blog.

Shawn, did her family and friends discover how you paid for the ring?  

More filings in bankruptcy attempt

Shawn Gerety and BuildTrend have filed additional documents this month with U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania: Case 15-17039.

http://ecf.paeb.uscourts.gov

Since the initial Chapter 7 petition on 9/30/2015, Shawn Gerety has made additional filings which show BuildTrend Construction LLC with $338,652 of assets, $115,354 in claims by secured creditors, $11,000 in claims by the Internal Revenue Service, and $1,238,634 in claims by all other unsecured creditors.  

From documents filed by Shawn Gerety on 10/9/2015: Schedule A shows BuildTrend with no real property. Schedule B indicates 99% of assets of BuildTrend derive from $334,852.60 due to BuildTrend from related contractor RBSF Construction (Garvin Donaghy) for "breach of contract."  Schedule F lists approximately 120 "unsecured nonpriority" creditors.  The unsecured creditors appears to include at least 18 customers for which BuildTrend failed to start or complete contracted home renovation projects.  Schedule F also includes certain BuildTrend crew members like John McDevitt, John Maersch, Travis Waid, James Fishbourne and Trend Consulting (Vincent Cottrell).

Status remains "Awaiting First Meeting."   When anyone notices the court announcing a time/place for the meeting of creditors, please advise and we'll get that information posted to this blog. 

The government trustees handling the bankruptcy are:

George M. Conway, U.S. Trustee, (215) 597-4411

Christine C. Shubert, Chapter 7 Trustee, 609-938-4191, christine.shubert@comcast.net

Will the trustees let Gerety get away with discharging all these debts given so many questions about the legitimacy of this bankruptcy attempt?