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?

BuildTREND Bankruptcy Filing

Here's the Chapter 7 filing on 9/30/2015 for BuildTrend Construction LLC with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania: Case 15-17039.

http://ecf.paeb.uscourts.gov

This is a long-expected filing for those subcontractors, suppliers and customers with whom Shawn Gerety has been discussing his bankruptcy plans for at least a year.  For victims from whom BuildTrend collected deposits and payments this summer for construction work that still has not started, this filing may be a surprise.

Shawn Gerety and BuildTrend are represented by: Barry Solodky
(717) 299-3726  bsolodky@n-hlaw.com

Stephen Raslavich is listed as the judge.

The Trustee is: Office of the U.S. Trustee, 833 Chestnut Street, Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 597-4411

Current status is "Awaiting First Meeting"

From boxes checked on the voluntary petition form, the debtor estimates more than 100 creditors, between $100,000 and $500,000 in assets and between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000 in liabilities.

He notes the Department of Justice and Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection as creditors. Shawn also lists Trend Consulting Group (Vincent Cottrell's company) as a creditor!   There is more information about Vince and his role at BuildTrend elsewhere on this blog.

Among the many questions this Chapter 7 filing raises:

• What's the status of other entities owned and operated by Shawn Gerety, including his other residential construction contracting businesses? 
• Is a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for BuildTrend in 2015 legal if BuildTrend has been a single member LLC owned exclusively by Shawn Gerety who previously discharged all debts in a 2010 bankruptcy?  
• If the projects customers paid and contracted BuildTrend to complete were not even started in many cases nor completed in any cases, and if many sub-contractors and suppliers were also not compensated fully for their services, then where did all the money actually go?  

This follows a post from early September when customers started to see BuildTrend project manager Jamie Wermuth and attorneys giving formal notice of intent to file Chapter 7.

Shawn Gerety Drug Convictions

Shawn T. Gerety of BuildTrend has a record of Pennsylvania drug crimes.

Gerety was arrested in Indiana County, PA in October 1994 and charged with Use and Possession of Drugs and Drug Paraphanalia.  He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor and paid a fine.

Gerety was then arrested by Pennsylvania State Police in Franklin County, PA in March 1995 and charged with Manufacturing, Delivering or Possession with Intent to Deliver Controlled Substances.  He ultimately pleaded to Felony - Delivery in November 1995 and was imprisoned in the Franklin County Jail in Chambersburg from February 1996 until parole-probation in April 1996.

Perhaps drug convictions at age 25 are not relevant to Shawn's contractor businesses now. Or maybe they are.

Some victims of Shawn's contractor fraud schemes are wondering if perhaps some of the money he collected for home improvement projects that would never start or advance beyond the demolition stage actually went to pay drug-related debts.  We are also hearing of a number of other theories about where the money may be.  Unfortunately for customers, very little of the funds he collected recently has gone to work on BuildTrend's contracted projects.

Pennsylvania Criminal Records of BuildTrend VP

Here is the Montgomery County PA criminal record of BuildTrend VP Vincent Cottrell.

Vincent was charged in Pennsylvania with: Theft by Deception - False Impression. Theft by Unlawful Taking.  Receiving Stolen Property.  Deceptive Business Practices. 

Following his incarceration in New Jersey from August 2010 to March 2011, it looks like Vincent spent a few days in Montgomery County PA prison the very same month he was released by NJ and until bail of $300 was posted by a Carolyn S. Mellwig of Delran, NJ.

This supplements a prior post about Vincent's New Jersey criminal record for Theft and Theft by Deception :
http://buildtrend.blogspot.com/2015/06/criminal-record-of-vincent-e.html

The scale of thefts by BuildTrend and related parties appear to be orders of magnitude larger.

RBSF & J.D. Kelly

J.D. Kelly Corp (John Kelly) is a registered general contractor also associated with this ring of scammers. We are hearing of many J.D. Kelly connections to Gerety, Cottrell and BuildTrend, including common subcontractors, suppliers and representatives.  J.D. Kelly Corp has been a registered Pennsylvania contractor #035571 since July 2009 with a Bucks County PA address.

RBSF Construction Company (Garvin Donaghy) is another registered Pennsylvania contractor intertwined with the BuildTrend ring.  We are hearing that Garvin has been a subcontractor on several BuildTrend jobs, approaching customers with contracted and substantially paid BuildTrend projects directly for payments and threatening liens on BuildTrend customer properties where very little work had been completed.  RBSF is Garvin Donaghy's PA registered contractor #114667 since March 2015 with a Media (Delaware County, PA) address. Garvin also owns at least one other contractor entity that has a current registration in the Commonwealth: RBS Builders Inc., a PA registered Home Improvement Contractor #088891 since 2012 and using a Drexel Hill address.

Garvin made the news when the Philadelphia Parking Authority released a list of Top 25 parking offenders :

No. 16 on the list, Delaware County's Donagnew Builders, is owned by Garvin Donaghy, who has operated a network of construction companies across the Philadelphia suburbs and in Camden. Donagnew has $9,632 in unpaid tickets and 144 violations. Donaghy, who repeatedly has been sued in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by construction suppliers, did not respond to messages left at his home and business addresses. 

Perhaps when creditors (and parking bureaucrats) are in pursuit, creating and registering new entities while collapsing and bankrupting spent corporate shells helps one to stay a few steps ahead.

Delaware County Victim Contacts

We are hearing Delco victims are reporting crimes by the BuildTREND-Gerety-Cottrell-Trend contractor ring to detectives.  If you have information to share:

Delaware County District Attorney’s Office

Criminal Investigation Division

(610) 891-4700

We have also heard about a crime report filed with the Pennsylvania State Police Media Barracks in 2014.

Contractor fraud victims should also report to the Attorney General 1-888-520-6680.  

Montgomery County Victim Contacts

We are hearing victims in Montgomery County have been reporting thefts by BuildTREND to Lower Merion since December 2014. 

Lower Merion Police Department

71 E. Lancaster Ave

Ardmore, PA 19003

610-645-6235

Contractor fraud victims should also report to the PA Attorney General (1-888-520-6680). 

Contributions to this blog

Interest in this blog is exploding with over 100 views per day each day in the past week.

A number of parties have contributed content here.  If you have information about BuildTREND to share, please send to: buildtrendscam@gmail.com 

We'll post reliable information while protecting anonymity unless you ask for attribution. One can also contribute to comments sections which are available under each post.  

Bucks County Victim Contacts

Contractor fraud victims in Bucks County should consider contacting Detective Eric Landamia and Deputy DA Alan Garabedian. Main numbers: 215-348-6344 and 6354.

Here is news coverage about their criminal prosecution of a fraudulent Yardley PA contractor:

Succi repeatedly signed contracts for renovations, additions and new construction, only to demand more money for shoddy, unfinished work that he typically failed to complete. When customers tried taking him to court, Succi would file for bankruptcy protection, often changing the name of his company to further avoid collection efforts.

Succi was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison after conviction on 27 felony counts.

John Succi does not have a known relationship to Shawn Gerety, Vince, Garvin, John, Jamie or others in the BuildTrend ring, but the scams and the experiences of multiple victims sound similar.

9/21/2015 update:

We are also hearing about Bucks County victims of the BuildTrend ring reporting to Detective Tim Williams of the Warrington Township Police Department.

BuildTREND in Bankruptcy

Hearing from multiple sources that Shawn T. Gerety is telling attorneys contacting him on behalf of victims that BuildTREND Construction LLC is in bankruptcy.

Yet no bankruptcy filing to date.  If any readers can confirm definitively, please send info in and we'll post to the blog.

Shawn Gerety at the beach, summer 2015

Where has customer money gone if initial payments collected by Shawn for materials to start projects has not gone to work on the jobs?

What other entities and assets has Shawn been using to hide stolen funds from victims whose projects he will never complete?

Shawn registers a second PA contractor entity

Shawn T. Gerety registered TREND Investment Group Inc. (PA116781) as a new Pennsylvania registered home improvement contractor in May 2015.  TREND Investment Group appears to be a successor to BuildTREND Construction LLC (PA073348) which has been registered since October 2010.

One can look up the PA registrations directly here:
http://hicsearch.attorneygeneral.gov/

Shawn indicates no petitions for bankruptcy, no civil judgments related to home improvement transactions and no record of criminal offenses for either business.  Read the rest of this blog (and note Shawn's 2010 bankruptcy, ongoing civil complaints related to business practices and his VP's record of criminal theft by deception). Judge for yourself if Shawn Gerety has made accurate representations to the Attorney General and the consumer public with his business registrations.

BuildTREND Construction... TREND Investment Group... Trend Consulting Group... The three names sound really similar.  Indeed, the names of Shawn's two registered contractors, BuildTREND and TREND Investment Group, could be confused with Vince's (unregistered) Trend Consulting Group.

Are Shawn and Vince getting back together for new contractor fraud schemes?

What other entities is Shawn using to hide customer funds that aren't being used to complete projects?

Vincent executive contractor

Recent BuildTREND vice president now builds relationships and trust for Trend Consulting Group:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4AQFxOc4I0

When I say "we," we're not actually the construction firm, we're the management firm... we work strategically with our partners and we're only as good as our trade partners and vendors - the contractors, subcontractors, trades...

One of the ugly words in our business is change order.      

- Vincent Cottrell

Confirming multiple victims in PA & DE

We have learned of several other victims of crooked contractor Shawn Gerety and BuildTREND Construction.  Since starting this blog, we have heard directly from victims across multiple Pennsylvania counties and the state of Delaware.

The stories sound similar - BuildTREND collects significant early payment while promising prompt work, months of delays, similar excuses, requests for change orders and ultimately failure to actually start or satisfactorily complete work.  Two victims say they have damages of around $100,000 due to BuildTREND's theft and deceptions, while others say they are out in the range of $5,000 to $45,000 before significant hassle, anxiety and life disruption.

To reach the PA Attorney General with information about BuildTREND email to HIC@attorneygeneral.gov or call 1-888-520-6680. 

Here is the link to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General:
https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/Consumers/Home_Improvement_Consumer_Information/

Contractors Linked to BuildTREND & Shawn Gerety

We have heard from a number of BuildTREND's suppliers and subcontractors since starting this blog.  His victims are not just customers from whom he has collected deposits and progress payments but also plumbers, electricians, carpenters, cabinet-makers, flooring suppliers, and other trades who may have legitimate businesses that have been injured when BuildTREND has failed to pay on time for their work.

Too busy for contracted projects

But BuildTrend owner Shawn Gerety has time and money to travel to London:

London has called... I listened...

— Shawn T. Gerety (@ShawnGerety) December 17, 2014

Shawn is so extremely busy he can't focus on projects he was paid for months ago:

Keep moving... Keep doing... Keep living... The moment we stop, we are dead...

— Shawn T. Gerety (@ShawnGerety) May 31, 2015

Vince Cottrell - BuildTREND Vice President

Cottrell has apparently moved on from a public affiliation with BuildTREND.  He now represents himself as Managing Partner of Trend Consulting Group (TCG).  That name sounds similar to BuildTREND doesn't it?

Vince is still in the construction business and seeking to hire "skilled Project Managers who poses the necessary background, experience, and expertise required to manage large commercial construction projects and/or multiple mid-size construction projects simultaniousley."

(Note: spelling and grammar carried forward from the source job posting)