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YEP, I was in negotiations just last weekend with one of their subsidiaries here in FL. Throughout the entire thing both I and my client were getting weird vibes from everyone we talked with, they kept going back on what they said the previous day, and in general made extremely bad decisions.......for one after not being able to sell several inventory homes over the past month, they decided "maybe if we raise the price 20K we'll be able to sell!".........huh??????
When I heard about the filing earlier this week, it all made a little more sense. They basically KILLED that deal with an elephant gun, and we were all to happy to walk away.
From what I've heard though they are instituting third party services to handle their waranties and other after sale obligations to try and keep the trust of new buyers. All their press releases stress that it is JUST a re-orginization of their balance sheet and they have no problems with their operations. I won't comment publically on my opinions of this, but you can see some of their "press releases" here. :::: TOUSA :: Breaking new ground :::: (http://www.tousa.com/reorg/index.html - broken link)
They have not "bitten the dust" - not by any means.
Chap 11 allows for re-organization of debt. They already have agreements for their note holders in many cases.
It's actually business as usual
We'll see....this thing has a lot of moving parts and is by no means over.
Six builders, including three of the seven biggest home builders in the Jacksonville market, have agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle federal allegations that they illegally established title insurance companies that took payments for a portion of the insurance risk.
Under the settlement announced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), TOUSA (NYSE: TOA), Pulte Homes, KB Home, Meritage Homes Corp. and Ryland Group denied any wrongdoing, but said they settled the civil cases to avoid legal expenses.
Pulte is the second-largest home builder in the Jacksonville market, according to the Business Journal's 2007 Book of Lists, while KB Home is No. 5 and Beazer is No. 7.
The companies agreed to six separate settlements. Hollywood-based TOUSA and its title reinsurance company, Cornerstone Title Insurance Co., agreed to pay $52,000. Atlanta-based Beazer Homes and its captive title reinsurance company Security Title Insurance Co. agreed to pay a $261,000 settlement.
HUD alleged that the builders were illegally using their own "captive" title insurance companies to receive payments for a portion of the insurance risk, when no such arrangement is necessary in the single-family home market.
Chapter 11 doesn't always mean business as usual. I don't know much about this particular case, but in my area (Chicagoland) Neumann Homes filed for chapter 11 and I can tell you from experience, it is NOT business as usual. They laid off nearly their entire workforce and shut down operations. Construction halted on all their homes that were currently under construction, deposits are tied up, contractors are filing liens left and right, for recent homeowners the 1-year warranty is gone, and there is very little chance Neumann Homes will ever rise again. I've been following Neumann's case closely because I closed on one of their homes a month before the bankruptcy filing.
Chapter 11 doesn't always mean business as usual. I don't know much about this particular case, but in my area (Chicagoland) Neumann Homes filed for chapter 11 and I can tell you from experience, it is NOT business as usual. They laid off nearly their entire workforce and shut down operations. Construction halted on all their homes that were currently under construction, deposits are tied up, contractors are filing liens left and right, for recent homeowners the 1-year warranty is gone, and there is very little chance Neumann Homes will ever rise again. I've been following Neumann's case closely because I closed on one of their homes a month before the bankruptcy filing.
In this case, they are a) completing existing contracts nationwide (under their different brands) b) actively selling new floors c) going forward with new / proposed developments.
In this case, they are a) completing existing contracts nationwide (under their different brands) b) actively selling new floors c) going forward with new / proposed developments.
Well, what else are they going to say? It wouldn't be great PR if they admitted what could likely happen....
We'll see....this thing has a lot of moving parts and is by no means over.
Six builders, including three of the seven biggest home builders in the Jacksonville market, have agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle federal allegations that they illegally established title insurance companies that took payments for a portion of the insurance risk.
Under the settlement announced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), TOUSA (NYSE: TOA), Pulte Homes, KB Home, Meritage Homes Corp. and Ryland Group denied any wrongdoing, but said they settled the civil cases to avoid legal expenses.
Pulte is the second-largest home builder in the Jacksonville market, according to the Business Journal's 2007 Book of Lists, while KB Home is No. 5 and Beazer is No. 7.
The companies agreed to six separate settlements. Hollywood-based TOUSA and its title reinsurance company, Cornerstone Title Insurance Co., agreed to pay $52,000. Atlanta-based Beazer Homes and its captive title reinsurance company Security Title Insurance Co. agreed to pay a $261,000 settlement.
HUD alleged that the builders were illegally using their own "captive" title insurance companies to receive payments for a portion of the insurance risk, when no such arrangement is necessary in the single-family home market.
Thanks for the info.
That sounds pretty bad. But can you explain what it exactly means if you as a home owner have closed on your home at Cornerstone Ttitle company?
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