We recently built a house with three horrible losses totaling about $700,000. First, we bought a modular home and paid a 50% deposit. The company went bankrupt before delivering the home. The case closed this year and we received a $500 check from a $200,000 loss. The second case is a bit different. We found another kit home and hired a contractor to build it. He made significant mistakes and abandoned the work before doing the work that we had paid him to do. We won in court and have recovered only $18,000 from the $500,000 he owes us. Thirdly, we purchased a wood stove for $7,600, and the business owner never delivered it. We won the small claims court but can't recover the money. Can I deduct any of these losses from our taxes? It would help a lot to deal with this bad experience. I also don't recommend anyone to ever build a home. There are so many dishonest people out there.
