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excessive lifestyle? >> i don't really think so. my husband made good money. >> deserved what you had, deserved the pool and outdoor barbecue? >> yeah, he worked hard for it. i worked hard. >> not excessive? >> no. >> reporter: for is a douse i cans the initial signs that life was about to change was subtle. tim's construction business felt it first. >> the recession started hitting our industry in the first quarter of 2007. at that point i started seeing,

you know, this isn't getting better from month to month. it progressively got worse. >> reporter: since business was drying up tim had to let workers go. >> when i have to start laying people off that have helped build my business i feel like a failure and it hurts me deep down inside. >> really lose any sleep over this thing? >> yes. >> that's an understatement. i would be up at 2:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the morning, sleep for an hour down here and then go to work when there wasn't any work, looking for work. >> reporter: as the months went by and still no construction projects, tim was willing to take just about any job. >> i applied for over 100 jobs when things started to slow down online and trying to get interviews to get out of construction. >> reporter: they cut back their spending but a year after, tim's business had all but stopped the $80,000 they had set aside had run out. >> we blew through our savings just trying to make our mortgages and pay the insurance. >> reporter: krichelle got a job

working part time as lunch aide supervisors at the boys' school and they turned to family and friends for help. >> we borrowed a lot of money, which i absolutely hate. but we just keep thinking it's going to get better, it's going to get better. >> reporter: they scrambled to generate money trying to sell the toys that had once given tim so much pleasure. >> i sold one of my classic cars. i got another class sir car for sale that nobody wants to purchase it. >> reporter: the bills were piling up. and there wasn't enough money to pay them. >> we don't own anything anymore. we used to have an rv. that was repossessed. i had a mercedes that we couldn't pay on anymore and that was repossessed. >> reporter: with the construction industry at a stand still, tim had to do something he never imagined, close his office and shatter his business. when the company closed the family could no longer afford health insurance. at this point, tim was desperate. >> we started to really struggle i started using a lot of credit cards.

>> reporter: you three it all they had hoped their home would be their safety net. but it could no longer hold the weight of their debt. the sadowski's house went into foreclosure. >> this is the paperwork i generated to triand save our life since may of 2008. >> reporter: tim tried desperately to convince the bank to modify his mortgage, lower the monthly payments by making the term of the loan longer. >> over the last nine months i've been trying to modify my loan and every single time i got a letter back that we don't qualify for a modification. resubmit paperwork again. >> the sadowski story is echoed in the story of million of americans. >> reporter: a political science professor at yale university has studied the impact of the great recession on families like the sadowskis. >> the numbers are staggering. 6.6 million foreclosures initiated between 2007 and the beginning of 2010. >> reporter: and it wasn't as if they could move in with family.

krichelle's mother beverly who lives about 25 miles away was was also trying to save her house. it had been in foreclosure for a year and a half. >> i saw this taped up there with this paperwork and i just thought, what's going on? that's when i noticed it's a notice of a trustee sale. >> reporter: we were there when the bank notified her that her house would be auctioned off in a month. >> i've got days, days. as far as, what do you mean, as far as -- as far as stopping this. i want to keep my home. i've been here 27 years. >> reporter: her husband, who repaired computers, had lost most of his business during the recession. making it impossible for thome to pay their mortgage. >> they keep doing this. >> is this tl a case of denial sometimes that this home is such a symbol of your success that you don't want to let go when the evidence suggests maybe you should?

>> for most americans their home is their major asset. if your house goes into foreclosure your credit rating is ruined, you don't think you will be able to get another house. so it's not so much you're denying it but you're just hoping against hope that you can somehow work it out. >> reporter: so why didn't they just sell their houses? well, it wasn't so easy. each had a mortgage that was underwater, meaning they owed more than their house was worth. for the sadowskis, about $90,000 more. by 2009 the value of their home had plummeted about $300,000. >> i can't sleep at night. i don't want to lose my house. i don't know where we would go. >> reporter: for noah and owen, no more backyard pool parties. and their expensive dirt bikes and four-wheelers were sold. >> you guys are okay? you've adapted? >> yeah. >> yeah. well, like we don't need to like live with tons of stuff. we just like a few things here and there which make us happy. >> that's a good attitude. you know a lot of kids in your

situation would maybe be feeling kind of sorry for themselves. >> i haven't really felt like sorry for myself. i feel like more sorry for my parents because they don't get like as much time to spend together. >> i thought you were going to ed them? >> oh, no. oh, no. i'm out of money. >> reporter: and when their parents were together, they were often bickering. >> coupon? >> no. >> reporter: the financial crisis had already taken so much from this family. >> we argue a lot because of the finances. >> reporter: and now it was threatening to claim something more important than all of that, tim and krichelle's marriage. >> i'll get personal with it. my wife told me in august th

i smile and laugh when i'm nervous, but i've been depressed for about two years now. >> reporter: by 2009 this once well-off family was sinking into poverty. tim sadowski had gone from earning about 15$,000 a month to less than $3,000. >> i pulled the safety chute and

said we're done spending. >> reporter: and the financial laws was impacting their family. they tried to remain optimistic for their children. but behind the smiles, noah and owen knew their parents were suffering. >> was your mom happy? >> no. >> why? >> because you're like never happy. i just never see you happy. >> i know. i'm trying. how come i'm not happy? do you know? >> no. >> you're not happy. >> okay. >> what about dad, is he happy? >> no, never. >> he's always crabby. >> reporter: tim and krichelle felt they had so little to be happy about. not only were they in fear of losing their house, like so many other couples going through financial struggles, their marriage was also in trouble. >> we saw a marriage counselor several times, and it's been

really rough, it still is. >> so money really is the issue? >> huge. number one. >> reporter: adding to the household tension, tim who had been out of work for more than a year, was around a lot trying to make himself useful. >> don't make breakfast again. before, he was never home to make breakfast and now he makes breakfast every morning. that's driving me crazy. >> almost ready? >> it's ready right now. >> we argue a lot and we blame each other. i shouldn't because it's not his fault because he's one of the hardest working men i know. he's been such a wonderful provider for 14 years of marriage. and within the last two years, it hasn't been that way and i shouldn't blame him. but i do. >> reporter: krichelle started looking for a way out. she no longer wore her wedding rang ring. >> i'll get personal with it. my wife told me in august she wanted a divorce. i was drawn back by it. i always envisioned a nice family that stays together forever. >> reporter: with their marriage on the edge and their finances in a nose dive, they thought

things couldn't possibly get any worse. but more than a year after "dateline"'s cameras had begun following them, in late october 2010 in a flash, their desperate situation became dire. >> that day, gosh, that day, we had been seeing a counselor at our church. i had just told tim the night before that i just didn't think the counseling was working and i just didn't want to continue. >> supposed to have a job start that friday. and when the contractor called me and said, we're postponing it for another week, i couldn't stand being around this atmosphere for another week without any work. so i jumped on the motorcycle and i took off on my little trip. >> reporter: tim said he was feeling distracted, worried about his finances and the future of his marriage. while riding on unfamiliar roads, he turned a corner and was blinded by the high beams of an oncoming car. >> i tried to bend the motorcycle to steer it over to

the right, and the next thing i know, i'm laying down on a street face-up looking up at the sky. >> reporter: he had slammed into the windshield of the oncoming car. >> i knew it was bad. i prayed right there for god to take me. it was -- it was probably the worst day of my life. my knee, fractured, sock get fractures the pelvis areas. i fell in and out of consciousness but what i do recall from some of the conversation is possibly amputating my leg that night. >> reporter: his foot had been severed and his pelvis broken. if that wasn't terrifying enough, remember, he had no health insurance. >> he needed an operation. no hospital would take him because we didn't have insurance. so he was laying in the intensive care with a broken pelvis for days. i was calling every hospital begging them, please take us. finally, riverside county did

take us. >> reporter: for once, good news. since they were completely broke, they qualified for california state health care, most of tim's medical bills were covered. >> are we ready? >> reporter: the doctors were able to reattach tim's severed foot but there was no guarantee he would ever walk again. >> how worried about him were you? >> i was actually really worried. i thought he wouldn't survive. >> really? >> i thought he might die in the hocht, which he almost did. >> we need to pray for everyone. >> amen. >> reporter: two months post-accident, christmas 2010, the sadowskis reached a new low. no more extravagant presents, just a few gifts bought with money given to them by family. >> how nice. >> reporter: and tim looking helpless, unable to move from his hospital bed. i'm usually the person getting things ready with my life. being laid up in a hospital bed

p cannot move, i try not to think about it. it's very difficult. >> reporter: they found it all so humiliating. the family that had once been living the american dream now unable to buy even small presents for their children. and it got worse. so bad, they say, they had to turn to the government in order to put food on the table. >> about $668 a month on food stamps. and a cache aid of $762. >> a lot of people call that welfare? >> yes. >> what's it like to go to the grocery store around here and lay down food stamps? >> it's embarrassing. it's embarrassing but i had to do what i had to do. we did not have enough money to buy food. >> i think the face of welfare has changed. >> reporter: in fact, hacker pointed out that 48 million americans are now receiving food stamps. >> that's a huge increase since before the downturn. and it's driven by the fact that we have seen so many people thrown out of work or seen their incomes decline.

>> reporter: while the is a sadowskis reel from their cascading money problems, tim's accident turned out to be a blessing in disguise. >> i fell in love with my wife again. >> reporter: for the kids, though, all the uncertainties started to take a toll as they ply their parents with anxious questions. >> like, are we going to be able to keep our house and are you guys going to stay together? >> what kind of answers do you get? save them. woolite detergents clean your jeans and won't torture your tanks. so clothes look like new even after 20 washes.

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in the midst of all the heartache surrounding the sadowskis, a blessing. while tim was lying in his hospital bed, the couple's dying marriage took on new life. >> the first time i seen her

cry, second time with tears in her eyes telling her i love you, i'm going to take care of everything. and at that point i gave -- i thanked god, i felt like this was a breakthrough in our relationship that i was hoping and praying for. >> i'm just think of how great it is that tim survived this accident. we'll take -- >> reporter: we were there to see krichelle's transformation from disgruntled wife to devoted nurse. >> okay, we'll get you some blankets. and load you up. >> reporter: with no money to hire help and tim confined to a hospital bed, she tended to his every need, from feeding him to cleaning him. >> it's very humbling but also somewhat sad for me because i've never been on this receiving side before. i believe that it was, you know, fate that made this come full circle. i fell in many love with my wife again and i told her when i'm able to get on my feet and take care of you again, i will. >> reporter: by 2011 his

marriage appeared to be on the upswing. now they needed to figure out how to save their house. they hadn't made a mortgage payment in more than a year. the foreclosure notices had turned into threatening auction notices. >> so i'm laying here in this bed thinking, okay, they're going to come foreclosure our house. the sheriff's have to wheel me out in my bed. somebody has to pack all of our house up and move it to where? i don't have a place to go. i need to keep this house. >> reporter: krichelle stepped in and took over the finances. she began negotiating with the bank. >> that's good. >> i spoke to someone from wells fargo. her name was adrian. >> reporter: she pleaded with the bank sharing all the details of tim's accident and managed to get a reprieve. the foreclosure process was stopped and for three months they would not have to make a mortgage payment. >> i was thrilled to hear that because that's what i was hoping for. i'm going to grab you here. >> reporter: that good news came

several months after tim's accident. he was improving, but three months was not a lot of time. >> try and go to sleep. >> this is really hard on both of them. and it breaks my heart. i was just going to make that call to the bank. >> reporter: beverly, krichelle's mom, was in even greater jeopardy of losing her house. it was scheduled to be auctioned off in eight days. >> today's the 18th and the sale date is the 26th. i'm a nervous wreck. >> reporter: she explained to the bank that her husband landed in you business and she rented out a room in her house. >> i'm sorry. repeat that. you said it so fast. my heart is skipping a beat. >> reporter: it would prove to be enough to convince the bank to modify their loan and save their house. >> i'm hoping everything is in order now. it's just been a long haul. >> reporter: beverly knew she was one of the lucky ones and she hoped her luck might rub off on her daughter and son-in-law. >> this is a workout. it is. as hard as it looks, i'm huffing

and puffing. >> reporter: tim was now able to get around using crutches and krichelle was confident they were headed in the right direction. >> he is going to go back to work. i'm going to go back to work. so we will be able to afford our home. >> reporter: as tim's health improved, so did the mood around the house. they even found humor in their disastrous finances. >> kevin, for his birthday, can take me and christian to a factory to downhill. >> i'll have to get him a card and put some money in it. >> we'll put an iou. >> kevin opens it -- >> reporter: while tim and krichelle were able to laugh once in a while, they were acutely aware their reprieve was quickly running out. as three months became two became one. finding a job was their primary focus. but with tim's injury, it wouldn't be easy.

>> what's the prognosis for your leg and your foot? >> my foot doesn't work. i have to wear this boot to walk in because my foot just will dangle. >> you have really no control of it? >> no control of the foot, correct. it will just flop like this. >> but you're not going to lose it? >> i don't know yet. >> okay. >> reporter: he was physically disable, on top of that, without a college degree, his job prospects were extremely limited in a dismal job market. >> is there a plan b? >> there's always a plan b. i can do a lot of other things. i've managed big crews before. i have negotiated contracts, completed payroll. i can do so much more than just actual physically working with my hands. >> right here i've submitted to account managers. >> reporter: but no one was giving him that chance. from project manager positions to starbucks. >> i sent out maybe over 100 to 150 online applications and very

few responses. when they do respond they state that the position has been filled. >> reporter: in the meantime, tim was able to do odd jobs working for friends or neighbors. but his foot was so painful, he could only work a few hours at a time. >> there's always pain associated when i'm doing physical -- when i'm laying in bed and totally calm, the pain goes away after a while. >> reporter: krichelle was also doing odd jobs like walking the neighbor's dogs. >> they paid me. i feel bad taking this but i need it for gas. >> reporter: and still looking for full-time work. but without a college degree, her resume wasn't attracting much attention, either. >> i probably put in at least 100 applications. one interview so far. so far, i didn't get the job. so it's tough out there. >> they both acknowledge that they can't believe they've been out of work as long as they've been out. >> when the economy is

depressed, when there's not much demand for workers, the people who lose their jobs at the beginning of the recession offer are the ones who have the hardest time getting back in. once you're out of work for a while employers start to question why you're not working, your skills are atrophying at the same time. >> reporter: their sons owen and noah, spectators to their parents struggles worry about their future. >> do i ask them questions? >> what do you say? >> like, are we going to be able to keep our house and are you guys going to stay together? are we going to move, or no? >> what kind of answers do you get? >> sometimes they say yes, we're going to be able to keep the house, we're all going to stay together and we're not going to move, but i don't think that's going to happen. i think something is going to change. >> reporter: what seemed obvious to the boys was only beginning to dawn on their parents. the three-month grace period from the bank was coming to an end. what would they do next?

>> it's still hard to sleep at night because even though we're in a moratorium we're still going to owe all this r this money. >> reporter: the issadowskis ar about to get a bit of a break. but later krichelle gets stunning news. >> i'm really scared. i need to go tell my husband. save them.

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during those first couple of years of following the sadowskis we had seen their marriage transform from shaky to hopeful. >> i've not had this on for how long? this is my wedding ring that i haven't worn in several years. i decided i'm going to start wearing it again. felt right. i'm going to try. >> reporter: but keeping their marriage solid wasn't easy with the looming question of how to save their house. >> we're going to saddleback church for a counseling session for tim and i. >> reporter: despite their best efforts, as the auction deadline approached, no job, no money, the financial stress seep back into their marriage. >> we're waiting for you. we've been waiting. >> i washed my hands. i'm getting a drink. >> i'm just saying.

we're waiting for you. >> krichelle is barking at me because it's dinner time. >> reporter: now that tim was able to take care of himself, krichelle grew resentful and she had a reason. there was something about tim's accident that had been gnawing at her ever since she got that call from the hospital. >> they said your husband has been in a motorcycle accident. and i said, well, his motorcycle is here. i don't understand. he's at work. and he had two motorcycles. he had a motorcycle i didn't know about. >> the harley you had hidden from krichelle. >> correct. >> and where? >> it was at a storage shop that i had. >> because i would have said get rid of it. >> get rid of it for money. >> yes. >> exactly. >> reporter: krichelle again started threatening to file for divorce, so tim got prepared. >> these are divorce documents. >> reporter: he secretly showed us the documents, ready in case she ever decided to go through with it. >> i don't want a divorce, but

my wife has told me that she wants a divorce and then she tells me she doesn't. and a week later she wants a divorce. next week she doesn't. so not knowing, again, i know i want to keep the family together but this is my other option right here. >> reporter: krichelle continued to waffle on the divorce decision, mostly because of her boys. >> i don't want to break our family up. i don't believe in that. i don't want to do that to my children. money isn't going to fix everything, i know that. all it's going to do is maybe get us a night of go to the movies and enjoy each other. we have no fun anymore. >> is there still some love? i mean -- >> a little. you're going to force it out of me, huh? yes, i love him. i love him. he's a wonderful father and a great husband. he's a good person. >> reporter: but would that little bit of remaining love be

enough to carry them from what was about to happen? >> now it looks like we've got a new sale date. >> i have no -- >> reporter: the mortgage reprieve was over. the bank sent them a notice with an exact date their house would be sold at auction. >> wells fargo called me and said they were going to proceed forward with the sale date tomorrow at 12:00 noon. >> reporter: it looked as if their battle with the bank was finally over. out of desperation, they called a company whose representative claimed he could stop home auctions. >> he is still trying to get us our last-minute stay. it's like an execution, i feel like. so we're going to the kocourthoe right now to find out if we got the last-minute save of the house. but so far we haven't heard anything. so far as i know, it's going to be auctioned off. and then i don't know. do we have to move tomorrow? >> reporter: we were there at the courthouse when they got a call. >> how do you know? >> reporter: they don't know how

it happened, but the service they had hired was able to postpone the auction for two more months. >> are you happy? >> i'm relieved, but i'm not going to celebrate. it's not over yet. >> i'm -- i'm feeling happy right now. >> relief. it is a big relief know that we're going to have a place to stay for the next two months. >> yes. >> how much longer have you stave off the actual foreclosure? >> when you have no money to go out and rent another place for your family you've -- you've got to stave the offer as long as you can. >> reporter: one month before the deadline reality finally sank in, the latest battle to save their house had again damaged their marriage. tim's once driving business was gone and unlikely to ever reopen. all their expensive possessions sold or repossessed. and despite years of hunting, no job offers for either of them. >> thank you very much. that's awesome.

>> reporter: so as many holidays approached and another year was coming to a close, the sadowski's finally decided to give up the fight. christmas 2011 would be the last one they would spend here. >> mixed emotions. very mixed. >> reporter: they would try to short sell their house, leaving behind all the money they had invested in it. >> pretty much came down to either we're going to lose the foreclosure or we need to try to short sell it. >> a short sale is when the bank agrees to let you sell your home for less than the amount it's owed on the mortgage. and essentially the bank is going to eat that cost. but what it means for the sadowskis is two things. one is all their equity that they ever thought they had is gone, right? they walk away with absolutely nothing. second, a short sale is a very negative point on your credit report. >> thank you very much. >> it's not as bad as losing your home all together but it's very bad. it can be up to 200 or 300

points taken off of your credit reports. >> socks. >> t-shirt. >> you got me socks? >> reporter: even with their whole world about to change these resilient boys found joy in the little things. >> the past few years we haven't been getting much. i'm just thankful we're getting a few things to like ties me over for a while. >> reporter: less than a month after they put their house on the market they had a buyer. >> just got off the phone with my real estate agent and they informed me the bank is accepting a sales price and i'm running out of time. i'm really scared. i need to go tell my husband that i just found a sale and told him that we need to find a place to live and start packing. >> reporter: the sadowskis who had been on a wrenching journey are about to face their most emotional moment yet. >> i feel like i let my kids down. >> reporter: as these parents contemplate the future. >> i want to start being happy again. >> reporter: they were finally forced to make the hardest decision of all, should they stay together.

are we ready? >> reporter: early 2012 the sadowskis were making plans to leave the house they love. >> there's a certain amount of relief that i feel now that we've decided to move forward with the short sale and not save our house. >> reporter: but that relief came too late, after all that talk of a split, krichelle finally went to see a divorce lawyer. >> i wanted to just talk to someone about getting some advice on either a legal separation or possibly a divorce. >> reporter: none of this was a surprise to tim. >> she doesn't know what she wants. but now that we're losing the actual house, she looks at it as a good time for us to split and go our separate ways. this has been going on for such a long time that maybe it is time for us to go our separate ways. but it's not an easy choice because of my children. >> reporter: they had lost so much and tried so many times to make their marriage work. now they both wanted to start fresh and separating felt right for both of them.

>> we sat down last night with the kids and we told them that, you know, we love you, it's nothing that you guys did, you know, mom and dad just grew apart and we don't love each other like we used to. we're going to break up. >> after they heard it they went outside and started playing basketball together. they're usually fighting, 14 and 12, constantly getting on each other's nerves. one this is one of the rare times i saw them both get up and walk out together and play basketball together. >> reporter: they needed money to move. in a moment symbolic of all their loss, krichelle went to a jewelry store to pawn her wedding ring. >> even though my husband and i are separating, this ring is still very important to me. 18 years of a marriage and a lot of those were good years. i'll get it back. >> here's your money. one, two,

good monday morning. here's what's coming up on "early today." the government shutdown is a week old and now fear is growing that the leaders won't come to a deal on the debt ceiling to prevent the u.s. from defaulting for the first time in history. terrifying typhoon in china. new details on al qaeda's major bust in africa. a horrific accident involving an out of control monster truck. gas prices to just a penny under $3. and some of the world's most talented animals strut their stuff. "early today" starts right now. >> announcer: this is "early today" for monday, october 7th. good morning. i'm veronica de la cruz. it's nice to see you. a week into the government shutdown and a far more dangerous deadline looms on the horizon. we're just ten days away from the risk of