Wow.

Why?

I don't know... trying to start up a business isn't what I would call "waste". When the housing market collapsed, it makes sense that a construction business would fail. It's not like they went out and purchased a boat/new cars/all kind of expensive toys. That said, maybe a smaller loan would've been ideal.

Why would they put up their house - if you don't have the money and it fails ---the big question is where will your children sleep?

I think it was completely irresponsible... BUT... The house and donations were theirs to do with what they want. No reason to "hate" on them.

If anything, in future makeovers, the show will be more diligent about writing into contracts restrictions for the people who receive the donations.

You can give the people the charity, but you can't educate them on how to manage the money.

no, thats totally ridiculous
this family is ungrateful
terrible!

Yeah I think it was inappropriate of them to do that after such a good-will gesture.

If something is a gift, you can't control what the recipient does with it. If they had gotten a loan to buy fancy cars or gambling debts, that's one thing, but it's probably not unusual to use your biggest asset to secure loans for start-up business ventures. And saying that no one who has received help in the past is allowed to try to better their situations by becoming their own boss and managing their own income flow is ridiculous. Why make it even harder for people without middle-class connections to gain control over their own lives?

This just made me sick. I am not a fan of the show but if someone gives you something big like that, dont risk it all on a "sure thing". This is why people can never be happy with what they have, they always want more.

i'd need more info- i mean it sucks that they wasted the time and energy and the money that people donated to them. however if they really were trying to better their lives by starting a business, you can't fault them for trying completely. if it was just an investment in a fly by night scheme, then that is a different story

I agree with meg, my initial reaction is, what were they thinking?! But really, I would need more information.

I also agree that we need more information about this. I am also wondering if they knew a lot about the construction business before starting up one of their own. While I, personally, would never take the chance of putting my home on the line for a chancy business venture.

I'm with TheMissus. I think it was irresponsible of the family as well. It was foolish.

Technically, I don't think they did anything wrong. The house (and it's amenities) were given to them as gifts. It belonged to them. They could do anything they want with it, include sqaundering it on some risky venture.

Now they lost everything. They made a mistake, and have the negative consequences. Oh well.

Personally speaking, this sounds like something my in-laws would have done. They're foolhardy like that.

So they start a business which is very risky in itself. Then multiply the risk by making it a construction business, not smart. But taking out a $450,000 loan on the house? That's the entire value of the house! Plus they were given $250,000 in financial donations, which included scholarships and home maintenance. This is just a little ridiculous and they used very poor judgement, IMO. Maybe naivety but get some financial guidance before you bet it all.

it's almost as if the house isn't really theirs to give up. yes everyone put their time efforts and donated money into helping this family but it just seems wrong that they would put up something that was theirs through the help and generosity of so many people. plus it didn't seem like a very wise decision but not knowing the background to why they failed I don't think it's appropriate to judge.

it is disappointing but...

There was a extreme home makeover house done in Pennsauken, NJ, and the owner had to sell it because it was becoming to expensive to maintain. I think that's the only good reason to do something like that.

Honestly, I'm not surprised.

People can't handle money they haven't earned -- there's no sense of ownership or true value to it if it came free.

The losers these stupid shows pass off as "deserving families" are in their situations by their own doing, and deserve to stay there. Giving them a huge makeover and a money prize is a BAD IDEA all around. No sh*t they'll squander it to nothing, that's the only thing they know how to do.

I can understand the show being upset, but come on, how did they not see this coming?

I find it so irresponsbile in the articles I have read they were given so much from the community and I completely understand why everyone is so upset with them. It would be different if we were just talking about the lives of 2 adults but they have 3 kids. Not only were they given enough money to pay the taxes every year for the next 25 years, the kids were given scholarships, and they were also told/encouraged to meet with a financial planner to help them with their new life they clearly did not do that.

I think it was inappropriate and completely irresponsible of them. To be chosen for the show in the first place they would have had to be struggling quite a bit... why test your luck with the one huge free ride you were given?

It's unfortunate that we live in such a greedy world.

I think its horrible that those ungrateful people lost their house. If I had volunteered my time to build them a new home and they just threw it away, I'd be pissed too!

Okay, let me get this straight. People and companies DONATED their time & materials (and the companies got free advertisement for their services). They gave this family a home that was probably MUCH more than they really needed (in terms of monetary value). It was a showpiece. They didn't have to work for it as those who get assistance from Habitat for Humanity. There was no sweat, blood and tears. And the people who did this are really surprised? I wouldn't be. These people paid $0 for this and paid $0 in "sweat equity", too.

Now, I don't think I'd put my home up for collateral in a business deal, but they gambled with their free stuff & lost. Sure, I'd be a bit miffed, but I wonder when more Extreme Makeover folks are going to start losing their homes, just like thousands of other American homeowners.

Okay, let me get this straight. People and companies DONATED their time & materials (and the companies got free advertisement for their services). They gave this family a home that was probably MUCH more than they really needed (in terms of monetary value). It was a showpiece. They didn't have to work for it as those who get assistance from Habitat for Humanity. There was no sweat, blood and tears. And the people who did this are really surprised? I wouldn't be. These people paid $0 for this and paid $0 in "sweat equity", too.

Now, I don't think I'd put my home up for collateral in a business deal, but they gambled with their free stuff & lost. Sure, I'd be a bit miffed, but I wonder when more Extreme Makeover folks are going to start losing their homes, just like thousands of other American homeowners.

I don't think they just squandered the money, they probably had good intentions but the new business just didn't work out. Its not exactly the best idea they could have had but maybe they didn't have any other means of income.
I know if someone made over my home, esp. with all the cool gadgets and nice appliances and such that they gift you during the makeover, I wouldn't put it up for anything.

I don't think it was smart of them to take money that was earmarked for something specific and mess it up by blowing the money on something else. They should have kept the money in a CD for their kids' college funds (or otherwise smartly invested it).

Well I agree with others saying I need more info. In construction everyone is hurting but my dad who owned a construction never put up his own house. You need to build small not do such a huge loan like that, I think that is just poor business practices. I hope they dont get bailed out because they will never learn if they do.

Well I agree with others saying I need more info. In construction everyone is hurting but my dad who owned a construction never put up his own house. You need to build small not do such a huge loan like that, I think that is just poor business practices. I hope they dont get bailed out because they will never learn if they do.

Aaaaaaand this is why purely throwing "FREE STUFF!" at people won't help in the long run. You might as well throw valuable resources into a bottomless pit. I'd rather donate to something like Oxfam, a charity that stresses helping people help themselves make a sustainable living.

Most poor people are poor and stupid for a reason. There's a reason they are in the gutter. If you pick them up out of the gutter and hand them a crystal chalice, do not be surprised when you find them laying back in the gutter and the crystal chalice lies smashed on the pavement.

The whole problem with welfare. It's a farce and should be shut down.

20 million Mexicans who do not speak the language managed to swim across a murky river, cross a perilous desert and run across a 4 lane highway to find a job in a land where they are not supposed to work and have no right to work. There is no excuse for America's fat welfare bums to not be able to find gainful employment.

Excuse - no! Reason - Yes: Sloth, stupidiy and the handout mentality bred by vote pimping politicians.

They blew through $450k in less than 3 years? Bad planning.

While they had a home fully paid for, including taxes for the next 25 years, they couldn't manage to find a job to pay the rest of their basic living expenses? So now they have no home, no equity, and have to start paying rent too.

It's really just a shame because now they look totally ungrateful. I agree with all those who already said it's proof that giving people things for free does not help.

blamed

This reminds me of this Chinese Proverb; Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

No, they should not be forgiven. Freewill involves responsibility.

doesnt surprise me that one family or two out of this reality show didnt appreciate thier gift and gambled it on something that didnt work out. They got in thier first situation for a reason, they give them a new home, not new brains.

I feel sorry for the people who donated thier time and money.

They absolutely should NOT be forgiven. These people had a good thing and they decided to make poor decisions...AGAIN. Because obviously they had made poor decisions in the past that had ended them up on Extreme Home Makeover. Maybe this time around they'll have learned their lesson. If i were one of those volunteers, I'd be soooo livid!

People who are "poor" are for a reason, they don't know how to handle money. This is the reason why so many lottery winners lose everything and are back where they started. Extreme Home Makeover should have had something in the contract preventing something like this from happening.
The shame is that we don't teach anything about finance to people before they get out of high school and into the real world.

http://realitytv.about.com/od/extrememakeoverhome/ss/HarperMakeover.htm

From the article: After putting in long hours and saving up every penny they had, the Harpers packed up their kids and bought their first home, a 1400 square-foot, four-bedroom ranch house just outside Atlanta.

What these first-time homeowners didn't know was they had just bought a big dump -- literally. Every time it rained hard -- which was often -- their septic tank would back up and human waste actually flooded their suburban home.

So, basically from what I found, the husband and wife struggled to get their family out of the Brooklyn projects and moved to Atlanta to give them a better life. However, their first house was a dud.

Did you hear that ABC? This family risked everything they had, their entire savings, on their first house in Atlanta and FAILED!

It makes complete sense to me that they did not learn their lesson the first time and enjoy taking huge gambling risks.

Shocking and sad to say the least. These parents were obviously living in a dream world and thought that because they were on TV, they had a chance to make even more money by trying to start a construction business. They were even given enough money to pay the taxes on the house for up to 25 years. There are so many other families in this world who can't afford to put food on their tables and will never ever be given the opportunity that this family was given. Really, really sad.

i think that it's a shame on how things turned out. the point of EMHE is that they are helping families out that aren't fortunate and have good intentionns, and yes they probably had good intentions with the company but to put the house up as collateral - that's really a shame. it's definitely hard times out there when you want to be successful in business, but so few people get the opportunity that this family got with the house and having the mortgage paid for and having teh $$ to pay for maintenance - and now to see the outcome, i'm sure that a lot of people feel hurt and a bit disrespected.

The point is that the house was supposed to be their sanctuary -their relief- their gift. If all they needed was money for a construction co. then they should have ask for something like that. But that was not it - the building of a house for them was the whole point - it is irresponsible to put it up as collateral

This is just appalling on so many levels. This makes me wonder how often other families have done this with their donated house and funds. I hope the companies that facilitate the budget for future projects include a clause against the family from placing their donated home as collateral for business ventures. I understand that destitute people can be desperate to make money and find a job or career, but this shouldn't be done at the expense of their children or all the people and companies that donated their time, sweat, hope and money to the project.

Greed!

This is just sad.