Idaho family to foreclose on ‘Extreme Makeover’ home

SANDPOINT – A North Idaho man whose family received a house from the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” television program three years ago is facing foreclosure.

Eric Hebert put the house up for sale last year and said the maintenance had become too expensive and time-consuming as he raised his late sister’s 11-year-old twins, Keely and Tyler.

Hebert used the house as collateral for a loan from Wells Fargo & Co. and can no longer make payments, according to a legal notice announcing the foreclosure proceedings.

As of Feb. 11, Hebert still owed the bank nearly $396,145, the Coeur d’Alene Press reports.

The construction worker moved from Montana to Sandpoint to care for the twins after his sister, Francine Hebert, died of a heart attack in 2004 and it appeared her children would otherwise end up in the foster care system.

He moved them out of a rundown trailer and into a “berm house,” described as a daylight basement with a roof. In the “Extreme Makeover” program, the berm house was demolished and replaced in a week with a large, two-story house.

After Hebert put the house up for sale last year, he said he worried community members who helped build his home in November 2006 would think he was selling it to make a profit.

At the time, Hebert was single and had a full-time job as a construction worker. He said he spent most evenings taking his niece and nephew to baseball and soccer practice.

He could not be reached by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The home is now priced at $449,000, down by $80,000.