Stiffed by contractor, then foreclosure

Q: I hired a contractor to remodel two bathrooms, and paint and plaster the entire interior of our 1,200-square-foot home. We agreed to buy all the fixtures, including the bathtub, toilets, plumbing materials, etc.

We signed the contract agreeing to this for a price of $28,000. From the very start things went south: The contractor had to redo the first bath three separate times because of terrible work in which he ruined $1,850 worth of tile. This happened 18 months ago when the contract said he would start and finish the job within 30 days.

I paid him in full -- a big mistake, I know now -- and to this day our bathrooms are not done. We were doing this work to sell the home. Now, we've lost our home to foreclosure and will very soon be evicted. What, if anything, can we do to at least get our $28,000 back?

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