Milwaukee woman loses $40,000 to contractors who didn't finish the job

More contracts is the last thing you would think Sarah Hillmert would want in her home. Her second floor was demolished by two other contracts. They took more than $40,000 for the job up front and then left.

We thought this would be a clear case of theft by contractor, but the Milwaukee Police Department issued a statement to us saying that Sarah's situation does not meet the definition of the state statute.

The law says there must be proof the contractor intentionally used some or all the money for purposes other than the specified job. Unfortunately, that's something Sarah can't prove.

The Milwaukee Chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) wanted to help. Nick Kerzner and Greg Adamec are members of NARI's foundation, a charity that helps people like Sarah. Kerzner says, "It's sub-standard. It's not done right. There's a lot of issues going on here that are both cosmetic and functional."