Accrued Expenses

3 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2024

Accrued expenses at January 31, 2024 and October 31, 2023 consisted of the following (amounts in thousands):


	January 31, 2024		October 31, 2023
Land, land development, and construction	$	529,185	$	555,146
Compensation and employee benefits	159,617		212,684
Escrow liability associated with our wholly owned captive title company	41,905		42,451
Self-insurance	231,574		230,688
Warranty	202,920		206,171
Lease liabilities	123,414		123,866
Deferred income	54,776		52,907
Interest	31,302		30,044
Commitments to unconsolidated entities	32,099		29,212

Other	56,754		65,612
	$	1,463,546	$	1,548,781

The table below provides, for the periods indicated, a reconciliation of the changes in our warranty accrual (amounts in thousands):


	Three months ended January 31,
		2024		2023
Balance, beginning of period		$	206,171	$	164,409
Additions – homes closed during the period		5,822		7,186

Change in accruals for homes closed in prior years – net		2,801		2,096

Charges incurred		(11,874)		(16,796)
Balance, end of period		$	202,920	$	156,895

Since fiscal 2014, we have received water intrusion claims from owners of homes built since 2002 in communities located in Pennsylvania and Delaware (which are in our North region). Our recorded estimated repair costs to resolve these claims were approximately $40.7 million at January 31, 2024 and $41.1 million at October 31, 2023. We continue to perform review procedures to assess, among other things, the number of affected homes, whether repairs are likely to be required, and the extent of such repairs.

Our review process, conducted quarterly, includes an analysis of many factors to determine whether a claim is likely to be received and the estimated costs to resolve any such claim, including: the closing dates of the homes; the number of claims received; our inspection of homes; an estimate of the number of homes we expect to repair; the type and cost of repairs that have been performed in each community; the estimated costs to remediate pending and future claims; the expected recovery from our insurance carriers and suppliers; and the previously recorded amounts related to these claims. We also monitor legal developments relating to these types of claims and review the volume, relative merits and adjudication of claims in litigation or arbitration. Our review process includes a number of estimates that are based on assumptions with uncertain outcomes. Due to the degree of judgment required in making these estimates and the inherent uncertainty in potential outcomes, it is reasonably possible that our actual costs and recoveries could differ from those recorded. However, based on the facts and circumstances currently known, we do not believe that any such differences would be material.