Family helped by "Extreme Makeover" now faces foreclosure

[Louisiana1976]

A family who received a new house from the TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" five years ago is now facing foreclosure, reports 10News' Joe Little. The Wofford family, of Encinitas, Calif., have been struggling for the past two years, they said. Dr. Brian Wofford, father of the eight kids, explained: "A lot of people think when you get the house you get the mortgage. Well, you don't."

snip

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/30/family-helped-by-extreme_n_374650.html

[Hoopla Phil]

1. That's odd. Everyone of those shows I've seen they paid off the mortgage.

[Texasgal]

3. I don't think they hand the house over

property taxes also seem to be an issue.

I could be wrong. :shrug:

[sandnsea]

7. Property taxes have been an issue

But they do just hand the house over, no mortgage. People have refinanced and lost homes because of that.

[DJ13]

2. That is the most irresponsible show on TV

They overbuild, which drastically raises the assessed valuation, and stick the "lucky" families with mortgages they cant afford, and property taxes that are at least triple what they used to pay.

ABC walks away with a huge profit week after week, with broken family finances in their wake.

[hadrons]

4. In addition to extra maintainance costs like heating and cooling ....

A possession that takes possession of the owners

[quiller4]

11. They do not stick the family with mortagages but some of the families

borrow against the houses and take on debt they cannot handle.

[StarfarerBill]

5. Daaaamn...I just assumed the houses were given free and clear, save for property taxes.

They stick the families with the mortgages, huh? Assholes...

[sandnsea]

6. They are, the people choose to refinance

There are lots of stories of people having troubles with these homes, but only if they refinance or have tax problems. The person is just flat out lying about there being a mortgage.

[MiniMe]

9. I think a lot of times they owe income tax on the house

And they take out a mortgage to cover the taxes. The house, and the amount they paid off for the mortgage if any, is all taxable income. Just like if you win a car on Wheel of Fortune, or something like that, you have to pay taxes on it. I have heard that this happens quite often on these houses. Most of them are sad stories, and the people can't afford a house any bigger than the one they are in.

[Blue-Jay]

8. Stupid is as stupid does.

How nice. Free fuckin' awesome house. Way to fuck up.

[quiller4]

10. The family refinanced. When Extreme Makeover delivered the house is was with no debt.

[PeaceNikki]

12. Wow $11.50/hr is too much to qualify for California's Medicaid

but not enough to pay for his own insurance coverage. He also has diabetes, which would qualify as a pre-existing condition and make his insurance costs even higher. Andrade recently was approved for a county indigent services program, but bureaucratic problems halted his treatment briefly. In late September surgery to help prevent the spread of his tumor was finally approved, though the procedure still terrified him.

That sucks. :(

(totally off-topic and from a different story but struck me more than the ABC show)