Mortgages and Notes Payable

Mortgages and notes payable consisted of the following (in thousands):



	February 28, 2013		November 30, 2012
Mortgages and land contracts due to land sellers and other loans	$	62,908	$	52,311
Senior notes due February 1, 2014 at 5 3/4%	75,923		75,911
Senior notes due January 15, 2015 at 5 7/8%	102,018		101,999
Senior notes due June 15, 2015 at 6 1/4%	236,833		236,826
Senior notes due September 15, 2017 at 9.10%	261,579		261,430
Senior notes due June 15, 2018 at 7 1/4%	299,161		299,129
Senior notes due March 15, 2020 at 8.00%	345,331		345,209
Senior notes due September 15, 2022 at 7.50%	350,000		350,000
Convertible senior notes due February 1, 2019 at 1.375%	230,000		—
Total	$	1,963,753	$	1,722,815

Letter of Credit Facilities. We maintain LOC Facilities with various financial institutions to obtain letters of credit in the ordinary course of operating our business. As of February 28, 2013 and November 30, 2012, $43.7 million and $41.9 million, respectively, of letters of credit were outstanding under our LOC Facilities. Our LOC Facilities require us to deposit and maintain cash with the issuing financial institutions as collateral for our letters of credit outstanding. We may maintain, revise or, if necessary or desirable, enter into additional or expanded letter of credit facilities or other similar facility arrangements with the same or other financial institutions.

Mortgages and Land Contracts Due to Land Sellers and Other Loans. As of February 28, 2013, inventories having a carrying value of $129.1 million were pledged to collateralize mortgages and land contracts due to land sellers and other loans.

Senior Notes. All of our senior notes outstanding at February 28, 2013 and November 30, 2012 represent senior unsecured obligations, rank equally in right of payment with all of our existing and future indebtedness and are unconditionally guaranteed jointly and severally by certain of our subsidiaries (the “Guarantor Subsidiaries”) on a senior unsecured basis. Interest on each of these senior notes is payable semi-annually. At our option, these notes may be redeemed, in whole at any time or from time to time in part, at a redemption price equal to the greater of (i) 100% of the principal amount of the notes being redeemed and (ii) the sum of the present values of the remaining scheduled payments of principal and interest on the notes being redeemed discounted to the redemption date at a defined rate, plus, in each case, accrued and unpaid interest on the notes being redeemed to the applicable redemption date.

On February 7, 2012, pursuant to our universal shelf registration statement filed with the SEC on September 20, 2011 (the “2011 Shelf Registration”), we issued $350.0 million of 8.00% senior notes due 2020 (the “$350 Million 8.00% Senior Notes”). We used substantially all of the net proceeds from this issuance to purchase, pursuant to the terms of tender offers that were initially made on January 19, 2012 (the “Tender Offers”), $340.0 million in aggregate principal amount of our senior notes due 2014 and 2015. The total amount paid to purchase these senior notes was $340.5 million. We incurred a loss of $2.0 million in the first quarter of 2012 related to the early redemption of debt due to a premium paid under the Tender Offers and the unamortized original issue discount. The loss on early redemption of debt was included in interest expense in our consolidated statements of operations.

Convertible Senior Notes. On January 29, 2013 and February 4, 2013, pursuant to the 2011 Shelf Registration, we issued in an underwritten public offering the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes at 100% of the principal amount of the notes. The issuance on February 4, 2013 was made pursuant to the exercise of an option granted to the underwriters to purchase such notes to cover over-allotments. Interest on the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes, which represent senior unsecured obligations of ours and rank equally in right of payment with all of our other senior unsecured indebtedness, is payable semi-annually in arrears on February 1 and August 1, commencing on August 1, 2013. We will also pay interest on November 1, 2018. The $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes will mature on February 1, 2019, unless converted earlier by the holders, at their option, or redeemed by us, or purchased by us upon the occurrence of a fundamental change, as defined in the instruments governing the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes.

At any time prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding the maturity date, holders may convert all or any portion of their $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes. The $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes are initially convertible into shares of our common stock at a conversion rate of 36.5297 shares for each $1,000 principal amount of the notes, which represents an initial conversion price of approximately $27.37 per share and a conversion premium of 47% based on the closing price of our common stock on January 29, 2013, which was $18.62 per share. This initial conversion rate equates to 8,401,831 shares of our common stock. The conversion rate is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events. On conversion, holders of the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes will not be entitled to receive cash in lieu of shares of our common stock, except for cash in lieu of fractional shares.

We may not redeem the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes prior to November 6, 2018. On or after November 6, 2018, and prior to the stated maturity date, we may at our option redeem all or part of the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes for a cash price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the notes being redeemed, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the redemption date. If a fundamental change, as defined in the instruments governing the $230 Million Convertible Notes, occurs or our stock ceases to trade prior to the stated maturity date, the holders may require us to purchase for cash all or any portion of their $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes at 100% of the principal amount of the notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any.

The $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed jointly and severally by the Guarantor Subsidiaries. In the first quarter of 2013, we used a portion of the $223.1 million in total net proceeds from the issuance of the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes together with a portion of the total net proceeds from a concurrent underwritten public offering of our common stock, which is described in Note 15. Stockholders’ Equity, for general corporate purposes, including without limitation for land acquisition and land development. The remainder of such net proceeds are expected to be used in future periods for such purposes.

The indenture governing our senior notes and $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes does not contain any financial maintenance covenants. Subject to specified exceptions, the indenture contains certain restrictive covenants that, among other things, limit our ability to incur secured indebtedness, or engage in sale-leaseback transactions involving property or assets above a certain specified value. Unlike our other senior notes, the terms governing the $265.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 9.10% senior notes due 2017 (the “$265 Million Senior Notes”), the $350 Million 8.00% Senior Notes, the $350.0 million in aggregate principal amount of 7.50% senior notes due 2022 (the “$350 Million 7.50% Senior Notes”), and the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes contain certain limitations related to mergers, consolidations, and sales of assets.

As of February 28, 2013, we were in compliance with the applicable terms of all of our covenants under our senior notes, the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes, the indenture, and mortgages and land contracts due to land sellers and other loans. Our ability to secure future debt financing may depend in part on our ability to remain in such compliance.

Principal payments on senior notes, the $230 Million Convertible Senior Notes, mortgages and land contracts due to land sellers and other loans are due as follows: 2013 – $42.2 million; 2014 – $91.8 million; 2015 – $342.3 million; 2016 – $1.3 million; 2017 – $261.6 million; and thereafter – $1.22 billion.