The show saved their butts. If you read the article it tells you the family later went to a bank and did a cash-out refinance against the price of their new home. The loan they took against the house was above their means and now they cannot afford to pay it back. This has nothing to do with the show, in fact it is a slap in the face to the people who bailed them out in the first place. Now the bank will get the house and some investor will snatch it up and make a profit from it!

The show did pay for everything. These people refinanced or took out a second mortgage (which means they took a loan out against their home) to pay their son's medical bills.

Actually, if you re-read the article, it has nothing to do with Extreme Home Makeover. The family made a choice to refinance and take the equity on their house to cover their son's medical therapy. The show didn't make them do that.

The show builds the homes and furnishes them for free, but the family is still stuck with the mortgage for the old house. The mortgage for the old house is occationally paid off for the family by donations or at times the construction company of the new house.

the show does pay for everything. the problem is these people refinance the home after the show and have no way of paying for it. They recently did a show in my neighborhood and its a lot of hoopla for nothing as far a I am concerned. its not about the people getting the homes its about the rating for the tv networks.

They do pay for everything.. these people took out a loan on the equity of the house thus creating the debt where they had none prior. This particular one says they took out the loan for medical treatments for their son but others I have read about took out equity lines for other somewhat frivolous reasons. Like they say "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man how to fish, he eats for a lifetime." Handouts only resolve issues in the short-term, when will society learn this?

Extreme makeover does pay for the whole thing. These people got in trouble because they took out equity loans to pay for sons medical expenses and now can't pay those back.

thye did pay off the house. the family took out a loan against the house to cover medical stuff.

snow if you read the article the house was paid for but the homeowners chose to refianance. it w2asnt enough these people were chosen but they refianced not being able to pay back. unfortunately like in many cases the greed factor kicked in....

The show does pay for everything, however, the owners now have a debt free home that they can borrow against. They take out the equity in the home and then can not make the mortgage payments. The bank should have been more diligent in the amount of loan they allowed the owners to take out. Basing the amount on income instead of just the value of the home. This is why so many Americans are in over their heads now and why so many homes are currently in foreclosure. With the exception of the "idiots" (like Fantasia) who have plenty of income but no common sense in financial matters.

Snow,

You must have missed the part where it stated that the family "refinanced". Much like many others today, they saw an opportunity to cash in on the equity that was provided by the value increase of the home. Even though thier intent was to pay medical bills, they obviously over extended themselves. The show is not obligated to pay off anybody's mortage, but sometimes it's the builders that see that this occurs. Either way, the family comes out waaayy ahead of where they were before they started. It's sad that it alls goes to waste.

The show does pay for the house, but people refinance or take out money against the newly built home's value, which the people wouldn't have been able to afford in the first place. So they end up losing their home because they can't pay back the loan they have taken out.

Actually, the house is given to the recipients free of charge. Although they are responsible for increased property taxes. The article indicated that they refinished to pay for medical expenses. Therefore, they took out a loan, or a line of credit to get cash out of the value of the house.
Extreme Makeover did a show close to where I live and details were written about daily in the State's newspaper. So it talked about everything being donated.

If you read the story.....the family that recieved the make over REFINANCED the home and took out equity which they cannot afford. From what I've seen the show does the make over as well as usually helping with the mortgage and taxes sometimes even going as far as to pay off the mortgage to help the family. The show cannot be responsible for these people using that gift to get cash which they cannot afford to pay back.

I agree with snow. They always give these families way more than they actually need. Sure it's nice and all, but when it comes down to taking care of it after the cameras are gone I'm sure it's difficult for these families. The show should be about giving these people a more modest home that provides a safe shelter or remodeling some of those homes that weren't so bad to begin with and just needed little fix ups. It's ridiculous to give people 3000 sq ft homes and all the latest most expensive appliances. Honestly are the basketball courts and swimming pools and mini baseball fields in the backyards necessary. What's with the brand new flat screens in every room in the house and the SUV's (even though they are hybrids they are still going to eat more gas than a smaller more efficient vehicle for those who don't have extremely large families). I suppose if they changed now they would lose viewers and disappoint those families who think that they will get a mansion, a new car and top of the line everything if they get on the show. As for me I stopped watching a couple of years ago, it makes me sick...just think of the number of families they could help if they started toning it down a bit and providing people with the necessities without going overboard.

Snow,
The show didn't leave these people in financial ruin. If you read the article, it clearly states they took equity out of their home and can't afford the $2,300. monthly payments. That's not the shows fault, it's their lenders as well as the home owners. You can't blame the show or ABC for providing a home worth more than what these people had before when they themselves borrow against it and then lose it. It's sad when this happens, but they aren't alone.

you are missing it... the families are taking out equity loans on homes they own or owe very little on. Then, based on property values, they are getting huge loans they can' t pay for.

snow,
read a little slower - they took out a loan against the house, for
which the mortgage had been paid in full. It was there decision
to take out the equity loan, I feel sorry for them but ...it was there
decision.

What the show does, is to come in and re-build these people's homes that are falling apart. ALL of those expenses are covered including the furniture etc. HOWEVER, if they had a mortgage, they MUST still continue paying off whatever mortgage they had as if the home was the same. BUT, what many have done if you research it, have seen a "new cash cow" and took out loans against the house. Had they still had their run down homes, they would not even qualify, but with a new home the value rises sharply and then GREED takes over!!! There should be a clause somewhere that if they receice a new home, that they can NOT use it for collateral or sell it for atleast 10 years. I am disabled and if someone came and made my home accessible for me, I would be so freeping happy and grateful that I'd be writing them Thank you's everyday. But of course who cares about a single person with no legs?!!