30 N. Gould businesses blur lines of what it means to be a Sheridan business

SHERIDAN — US Bath Store is a member of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Its website contains pages of five-star reviews and name drops dozens of giant companies like Marriot, Disneyland and the American Red Cross to prove it is “trusted by thousands of customers, big and small.”

It even has a physical address at 30 N. Gould St. in Sheridan, Wyoming.

That’s why 58-year-old Russell Trahan wasn’t expecting to get scammed.

The Orlando, Florida resident ordered a cabinet shelf and step for his hot tub from the online company in April 2024. The company informed him one of the items was out of stock. Via email, US Bath Store agreed to send Trahan the items only if both were available. If not, Trahan would be refunded the full amount he paid — around $300.

Six weeks later, US Bath Store sent only one item and refused to refund him. Attempted calls to the company only resulted in “voicemail hell,” as Trahan calls it.

Essentially, it was a never-ending cycle of unattended phones and unanswered messages. And third-party review websites like Trustpilot left US Bath Store with poorer reviews than Trahan expected when looking at the website.

Then he checked the Sheridan address and found the company wasn’t really based in Sheridan at all.

“I found out that their address was just a PO Box basically, in Wyoming,” Trahan said. “The whole thing was just a front.”

US Bath Store’s Sheridan address actually belongs to Wyoming Corporate Office LLC, an office made up of 24 registered agents corporations, according to the Wyoming secretary of state website.

US Bath Store is just one of thousands of companies represented by registered agents at 30 N. Gould St. These numbers include a mix of reputable companies and those that have a history of scamming customers out of money and hiding behind a Sheridan address to do it.

State senator and lawyer Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, said this creates an opening — and a need — for new legislation to update policies and prevent scammers from using registered agents, while also recognizing a need for privacy.

“The two competing interests are privacy of ownership and privacy of companies, and then the other side is the ability to effectively investigate what may be crimes,” Crago said. “I’m extremely protective of our Wyoming businesses, and I want them to have as much privacy as they can. But on the other side, we’ve heard some stories, in particular out of Sheridan County.”

A legitimate business model

Having a registered agent is a well-established practice in the business world. Limited liability companies and other small businesses hire these agents to be the contact point and official address for legal documents, state filings and government notices.

“That’s why you have a registered agent,” said Amanda Roberts, a lawyer at Lonabaugh and Riggs in Sheridan. “So you can be served with legal paperwork from the state, if need be.”

Roberts and another colleague in Montana represent about 50 businesses as registered agents.

Many are clients from Roberts’ law office or referrals from others. She said it is an asset to her clients to be able to refer to her for their legal documents, but she doesn’t pursue it as a large moneymaker. She said the paperwork process usually weeds out fake businesses from legitimate ones.

Roberts said there are many reasons someone would want a registered agent, specifically in Wyoming.

With a registered agent, an LLC can register as a foreign entity in Wyoming, allowing it to take advantage of the state’s plethora of tax breaks. It provides a Wyoming address without the requirements of a physical presence in the state. That being said, Roberts said plenty of Wyoming-based LLCs also use registered agents.

Roberts does not accept mail as a registered agent for the companies she represents, which differs from many companies that operate out of 30 N. Gould St.

“Other places do and that, to me, takes on a lot of liability and a lot of work,” she said. “I’m not sure why you’d ever do that.”

Registered agents can establish their own LLCs, which make up the 24 businesses at 30 N. Gould St.

Many charge minimum fees, running from a few hundred dollars for help starting a company, to less than a hundred dollars for an annual registered agent fee.

Lack of transparency

Each week, the Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce receives about five calls from customers desperate to get hold of a 30 N. Gould company to get their money back. Owners and answers are hard to find.

“Inquiries continue to increase,” The Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce said in a statement to The Sheridan Press. “It seems to us that the issue is only getting worse, but we are typically only hearing the negative side of things from folks who have been scammed.”

After struggling to get his money back from US Bath Store, Trahan also called the Chamber. He found US Bath Store had little affiliation with the city and was one of the thousands of companies with addresses out of one office at 30 N. Gould.

Trahan emailed the company, this time threatening small claims court. Then, US Bath Store agreed to refund the money, but only after they resold the one item that did arrive on Trahan’s doorstep.

Instead of reprocessing the item, they sent Trahan the shipping label for the next buyer.

“What that person doesn’t realize, probably … they basically bought it from me,” Trahan said. “It didn’t come from the warehouse. It came from me. It came out of my garage, where it had been sitting for about four months.”

While Trahan eventually got his money back, others aren’t as lucky.

Other 30 N. Gould complaints shared with The Sheridan Press staff include fake discount airline and event tickets, incomplete orders and phony products. In these cases, the owners are often nowhere to be found.

“It just seems like there should be a way to track them down. It’s ridiculous that consumers have no recourse,” Trahan said. “Companies count on people just going, ‘Oh, I can’t win against the system,’ and walking away from it…It’s just ridiculous that the corporations are set up for stuff like this.”

Improved legislation

Crago said some of this may be prevented in the future.

“I think some of this has quieted down recently,” Crago said. “You know, it always gets louder when we discover an issue.”

Previous legislation did not require registered agents to know much beyond basic contact information for the companies they represented — typically the names and addresses of directors, officers and LLC managers.

Therefore, Wyoming registered agents could be following every law, yet still leave loopholes for scamming companies to exploit.

In 2021, U.S. Congress enacted The Corporate Transparency Act, introduced in 2019. Meant to prevent illegal foreign investors, tax fraud and money laundering, the act requires LLCs and other companies to report and file beneficial owners for the government through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Companies formed prior to 2024 have to register by the end of 2024.

Crago said this could impact the future of LLCs and registered agents in Wyoming, as the government will have easier access to the business’s benefactors. Crago introduced similar legislation on the state level earlier this year, but said development has been put on hold while The Corporate Transparency Act takes effect.

“The business community and a lot of the folks that deal in that really thought this Corporate Transparency Act… would effectively deal with this problem and we wouldn’t necessarily need state legislation,” he said. “I think we’re going to end up waiting to see what happens here, and if it continues to be a problem, we’ll attack it again.”

Gary Kalman, who investigates transnational corruption and financial crimes with Transparency International, said the Corporate Transparency Act is one step in the right direction.

“It is a major development to be clear. It is also not the only thing that needs to be done,” Kalman said, supporting the ENABLERS Act, a bipartisan bill that would extend anti-money laundering acts to corporate service agents. The Act did not make it past the Congress floor.

The Sheridan Chamber of Commerce also sees the Corporate Transparency Act as only part of the solution.

“Transparency in business is essential, and while the Corporate Transparency Act is a good start, there’s room for improvement,” the Chamber said in a statement to the Press. “Stronger methods of verification and enforcement are necessary, as some fraudulent entities are profiting millions while facing minimal consequences. A small fine is hardly a deterrent. At the same time, it’s crucial to strike a balance that promotes openness and protects consumers without overburdening small businesses or stifling economic growth.”

Crago’s proposed legislation for the state differed from the Corporate Transparency Act in that it would not require LLCs to report beneficial owners to the government but to their registered agent. Agents would not give the name of the business owners unless they were served a subpoena or warrant.

Crago said this policy would provide greater privacy for businesses than the Corporate Transparency Act, avoiding government involvement until an issue emerged. Kalman said the Corporate Transparency Act will be more efficient at holding accountability for companies hiding behind registered agents.

“We actually think that relying on individuals to hold the information and risking that, you know, law enforcement won’t come knocking at their door is a more diffuse system,” Kalman said. “It’s less efficient, it’s less accurate, it’s harder for law enforcement, it’s easier to evade.”

Blurring lines

One business, however, changes perspective on how commercial registered agents can provide services for a legitimate business.

“As a business headquartered in Sheridan, we employ hardworking local residents and there is nothing nefarious about serving as a commercial registered agent for a business,” Registered Agents, Inc. wrote in a statement to The Sheridan Press.

Body Restore first filed in Sheridan as an LLC represented by Registered Agents, Inc. in July 2020. Now, it’s a small business that’s received national recognition.

Through Walmart’s annual open call event in October, Body Restore landed a business deal to sell collections of shower steamers via Walmart’s website.

While Body Restore attended a Walmart product pitch event as a Wyoming-based business, its strongest affiliation to the state lies in the registered agent’s address at 30 N. Gould. According to Walmart’s press contact Erin Beck, Body Restore manufactures in California and Texas.

Similar to other businesses with registered agents, it blurs the lines of what it means to be a Wyoming business — and more specifically, a Sheridan one.

Based on his research, Kalman said few businesses represented by registered agents are giving back economically to the city they are supposedly located in.

“If you talk to other people, they’re going to say, ‘Well, wait a minute. You know, this is also a boon to our economy, having all these companies registered here,’” Kalman said. “How much of this money actually gets invested in Wyoming? Because I think the answer is going to be virtually none of it.”

The Chamber said the illegitimate businesses coming out from under commercial registered agents hurts local ecommerce operations.

“We know that our true Sheridan businesses are hardworking, reputable people who want to provide the best products and services to the community,” the Chamber said in its statement. “For our local businesses who sell online, this can be very detrimental as more and more people are wary of doing business with anyone with a Sheridan address.”