LANSDALE, Pa. – A Lansdale contractor who pleaded guilty to home improvement fraud has learned his sentence.
Joseph E. Collopy, 46, was sentenced Wednesday to nine to 23 months in the county jail and ordered to repay almost $43,000 for incomplete work at four homes, including one in Warrington Township, according to a news release from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
He was also sentenced to seven years of probation.
Collopy had entered an open guilty plea in August to home improvement fraud, receiving advance payment for services and failing to perform, deceptive business practices, theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, the DA’s office said.
Collopy was ordered to pay more than $42,000 in restitution, including $23,771.96 to a Warrington Township family, according to the DA’s office.
Collopy operated Macintosh Construction Company and Collopy Construction Inc. out of his Montgomery County home. The insurance listed on his state Home Improvement Contractor’s registration expired in January 2018, the investigation by Warrington Township Police Detective Bernard Schaffer found.
The victim signed a contract with Macintosh Construction on Jan. 9, 2019, to renovate the kitchen and basement of his Warrington Township home for $30,700, the DA’s office said. Two days later, the victim issued Macintosh Construction a check for $15,350, which was deposited by Collopy into his bank account. The work on the project was to be completed by April, but Collopy did not begin work until the end of April. After work began, Collopy showed up only sporadically and performed erratically, the victim said.
In May 2019, the victim issued Collopy a second check for $7,900. The victim also agreed to purchase a $1,000 grill from Collopy, but Collopy provided him with a lesser model that was only valued at $119. When work conditions did not improve, the victim fired Collopy in September 2019 and asked for a refund.
Collopy begged for a second chance and agreed to sign a new contract that all work would be finished by the end of October, or he would issue a full refund, according to the DA’s office. Collopy worked for two weeks, then stopped showing up to the house to complete the project. Collopy returned a few more times after the victim’s girlfriend texted him, but there were multiple issues with the materials Collopy used, which led to even more damage to the home.
Collopy failed to refund the victim any of the $23,250 he was paid for the project, and the victim eventually filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office and the Warrington Township Police Department. None of the projects Collopy began were completed and nearly every aspect of the work he performed required repair or replacement, the DA’s office said.
The investigation also found that Collopy, through Macintosh Construction, agreed to contracts and failed to complete work on three other home improvement projects. As part of the restitution, Collopy will have to pay $6,890 to a Lansdale man for a roof project; $8,375 to a Philadelphia man for a bathroom project; and $3820.75 to a Philadelphia man for a laundry room project.