California’s Court of Appeals has okayed the attempted lawsuit brought by the “Higgins orphans” against ABC and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The “Higgins orphans” - five siblings aged 14 to 21 - appeared on the show last year after having lost both of their parents in 2004.

A neighboring family, the Leomitis, had taken the Higgins children in and had their home renovated by Extreme Makeover to accomodate them. However, shortly after the work was done and the episode aired, the Higgins claim they were “evicted” from the house.

While many feel that the appropriate defendants of the lawsuit should be the Leomiti family - for allegedly using the orphans to get their home renovated - the Higgins’ lawyer maintains that ABC should be libel. He claims that the network promised them a home, plain and simple, and they will fight until they get that home.

Although the Higgins’s contract required that any complaints go through arbitration instead of the court system, the Court of Appeals rejected that clause and is allowing the lawsuit to proceed.