Cancer and finances devastating loving couple

My lovely daughter, Jen and her wonderful wife, Sharon are financially devastated after her 2019 ovarian cancer diagnosis and remission, a fraudulent contractor and two-year litigation resulting in exorbitant attorney fees, and finally in May 2022 a stage four diagnosis and treatment. Please read their story:

The last three years have been incredibly difficult for these two. In August 2019 Jen lost her dad. In November she had emergency surgery to remove her appendix. A cyst was found on her ovary so another surgery was performed in December to biopsy the cyst. Cancer was found in the ovary and a hysterectomy was performed. Then after a CT, the doctors thought the cancer had spread, so Jen had a third surgery in February 2020. Thankfully, the spots on the CT were just scar tissue. After a course of oral chemotherapy over the next year her CT showed no cancer remaining. Their beautiful wedding took place on March 30, 2021 and the future looked bright.

In the midst of all this, they hired “a friend” to remodel their basement. He assured them that he would do a great job and agreed on a reasonable price of $50,000. The project was begun on January 6, 2020. By April the basement was demolished, and the contractor disappeared with $45,600.

After two months and no communication, they hired an attorney. They had hoped to settle out of court but the contractor forced them to take him to court. He made up fake invoices and claimed to have done work that Jen and Sharon and other contractors had done prior to his hiring.

Their attorneys represented them in a civil theft lawsuit against the contractor. After spending almost two years in litigation their life savings were drained. They used credit cards and borrowed money to continue to pay their attorneys and seek justice. Many times the attorneys were asked if it was worth it to go to court since he had transferred or hidden his assets and was self-employed (making it harder to garnish his wages) and were assured it was and that “there were ways to collect”. In the end, it was not at all worth it. They “won” the court case but the contractor was not convicted of civil theft; the judge did not believe that “at the time he took the money his intent was to keep it”. This ruling did not allow them to recover their attorney fees totaling over $119,000. This amount added to the stolen $45,000 makes their total loss $164,000.

They are consulting with collection attorneys and it seems very unlikely they will be able to collect anything. However, even if the entire judgment were collected (minus what is owed the collection attorney), the net loss would be around $73,700. On top of that, their previously finished basement is still demolished with no money to finish it. In hindsight, they wish they would have let the thief walk away with their money and they would not be drowning in debt and facing bankruptcy.

In May 2022, Jen’s cancer recurred and metastasized to her liver so is now stage four ovarian cancer. She is undergoing her second round of chemotherapy. The prognosis is not good but we are all staying positive and hoping for a miracle! Dealing with cancer is extremely difficult in itself but combined with the financial stress it has been overwhelming. Jen has been able to work very little since the diagnosis and medical bills are piling up on top of their other debt. They cannot keep up with month-to-month living expenses.

If anyone out there can help ease their burden, they would be ever so appreciative and grateful. Thank you for reading their story.