Home Renovation Nightmare - $86,000 Later

Think you've got it bad? Joe and Delma Mendoza, of Highland, CA, dropped over $86,000 on home renovations with local contractor Tim Shaeffer before realizing that the contractor was absconding with the money. Shaeffer's version: the Mendoza family ran out of money half-way through the project. On top of that, Joe Mendoza had been in Iraq during much of this time, unaware of the disaster unfolding thousands of miles away.

Either way, Joe and Delma ended up worse than they started out. Their house has dangling wires, exposed pipes, drywall-less walls, yellow caution tape, one working toilet, and gutted sections. Now, the city has condemned the property. Now, the Mendozas need yet another $30,000 just to get the house into habitable shape.