Extreme Makeover Home Edition… have you seen it?  It is the cousin to Extreme Makeover (People Edition).

Anyway, the premise of the show… they select a family that has a very sad and heart wrenching story (disabled children, poor living conditions, too many children, you name it, they’ve shown it).  The show pays off the family’s mortgage.  Then a team of architects, plumbers, designers, electricians, builders, and hundreds of other volunteers demolish the family’s existing home.  After that, the team rebuilds a luxurious, mammoth-sized, fairytale like dream home in its place.

The fantasy home, all of its contents, and usually other gifts like scholarships, cash, cars, etc. are bestowed onto the family… scot-free! This copious gesture serves to uplift the family and to help them better cope with their unfortunate circumstances.  Well… at least for the time being…

Recently stories have been surfacing about how some Extreme Makeover Home Edition families have been losing their mansions!  So they no longer have their extravagant made over house, but they also no longer have the shabby house that it replaced.

Case # 2382G - The Harper’s

Patricia and Milton Harper of Lake City, GA, married 24 years, three children, the wife - a homemaker, the husband - works in the home security business.

Their tragic story: They lived in the projects of New York.  They lost a child that choked to death while eating his food.  The incident motivated them to seek something better.  They decided to work hard, save up and finally moved to Georgia and purchased their first home.

The house, however, was a doozy.  Every time it rained, raw sewerage would back up into their house. The horrid conditions forced the family to live in their van.  The van was totalled in an accident. Long story short… they got dealt a bad hand.

Three years ago, Extreme Makeover decided to help them out.  Nearly 1800 people took on the task of overhauling the Harper’s house. And what an overhaul it was? 6500 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, stone fireplaces (with an “s”), a music room, a theater room, an office… a castle! On top of the house, they also received nearly a quarter of a million dollars in cash.

How’s that for a gift?

But apparently the Harper’s fell onto hard times.  Back in May, they put the house up for sale… asking price, $950,000.  The house did not sell back then.  However, due to some unfortunate circumstance, the house will be up for sale… or rather up for auction on August 5^th.  The house is being auctioned off as a result of a foreclosure.

This auction comes as the sad and final end to an unbelievable story.  But I am left to ponder… who is to blame?

Most people are blaming the Harper’s.  Some have called them ungrateful… and even stupid.  While I feel that they are partially to blame… I also want to point a finger at the bank, Chase, and at the show, Extreme Makeover.

Here is my question to Chase… Why would you loan nearly a half a million dollars to a couple that survives on the income of a home security worker?  Seriously, did you really think they were going to be able to pay you back?

And to the Extreme Makeover folks… Ok, so you want to help a family that is down and out. Really, I applaud your philanthropy.  But have ya’ll ever heard the old 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.  For an extra four or five hundred dollars, ya’ll could have thrown in a financial planning class as a part of the package.

Well that’s my 2 cents, for what it’s worth.