Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2025

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Letters of credit and surety bonds

In the normal course of business, we post letters of credit and surety bonds pursuant to certain performance-related obligations, as security for certain land option agreements, and under various insurance programs. The majority of these letters of credit and surety bonds are in support of our land development and construction obligations to various municipalities, other government agencies, and utility companies related to the construction of roads, sewers, and other infrastructure. We had outstanding letters of credit and surety bonds totaling $307.7 million and $3.0 billion, respectively, at March 31, 2025, and $321.1 million and $2.9 billion, respectively, at December 31, 2024. In the event any such letter of credit or surety bond is drawn, we would be obligated to reimburse the issuer of the letter of credit or surety bond. Our surety bonds generally do not have stated expiration dates; rather we are released from the surety bonds as the underlying contractual performance is completed. Because significant construction and development work has been performed related to projects that have not yet received final acceptance by the respective counterparties, the aggregate amount of surety bonds outstanding is in excess of the projected cost of the remaining work to be performed. We do not believe that a material amount, if any, of the letters of credit or surety bonds will be drawn.

Litigation and regulatory matters

We are involved in various litigation and legal claims in the normal course of our business operations, including actions brought on behalf of various classes of claimants. We are also subject to a variety of local, state, and federal laws and regulations related to land development activities, house construction standards, sales practices, mortgage lending operations, employment practices, and protection of the environment. As a result, we are subject to periodic examination or inquiry by various governmental agencies that administer these laws and regulations.

We establish liabilities for litigation, legal claims, and regulatory matters when such matters are both probable of occurring and any potential loss is reasonably estimable. We accrue for such matters based on the facts and circumstances specific to each matter and revise these estimates as the matters evolve. In such cases, an exposure to loss in excess of any amounts currently accrued may exist. In view of the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of these legal and regulatory matters, we generally cannot predict the ultimate resolution of the pending matters, the related timing, or the eventual loss. While the outcome of such contingencies cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not believe that the resolution of such matters will have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial position, or cash flows. However, to the extent the liability arising from the ultimate resolution of any matter exceeds the estimates reflected in the recorded reserves relating to such matter, we could incur additional charges that could be significant.

Warranty liabilities

Home buyers are provided with a limited warranty against certain building defects, including a one-year comprehensive limited warranty and coverage for certain other aspects of the home's construction and operating systems for periods of up to, and, in limited instances, exceeding, 10 years. We estimate the costs to be incurred under these warranties and record liabilities in the amount of such costs at the time product revenue is recognized. Factors that affect our warranty liabilities include the number of homes sold, historical and anticipated rates of warranty claims, and the projected cost per claim. We periodically assess the adequacy of the warranty liabilities for each geographic market in which we operate and adjust the amounts as necessary. Actual warranty costs in the future could differ from the current estimates. Changes to warranty liabilities were as follows ($000’s omitted):


	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2025		2024
Warranty liabilities, beginning of period	$	130,538	$	120,393
Reserves provided	26,017		26,741
Payments	(24,332)		(24,834)
Other adjustments	64		442
Warranty liabilities, end of period	$	132,287	$	122,742

Self-insured risks

We maintain, and require our subcontractors to maintain, general liability insurance coverage. We also maintain builders' risk, property, errors and omissions, workers compensation, and other business insurance coverages. These insurance policies protect us against a portion of the risk of loss from potential claims. However, we retain a significant portion of the overall risk for such claims either through our own self-insured per occurrence and aggregate retentions, deductibles, policies issued by our captive insurance subsidiaries, and any potential claims in excess of available insurance policy limits.

Our general liability insurance includes coverage for certain construction defects. While construction defect claims may relate to a variety of issues, the majority of our claims relate to alleged problems with siding, windows, roofing, and foundations. The availability of general liability insurance for the homebuilding industry and its subcontractors has become increasingly limited, and the insurance policies available require companies to retain significant per occurrence and aggregate retention levels. In certain instances, we may offer our subcontractors the opportunity to purchase general liability insurance through one of our captive insurance subsidiaries or participate in a project-specific insurance program. Policies issued by our captive insurance subsidiaries represent self-insurance of these risks by us, limited by reinsurance policies that we purchase. General liability coverage for the homebuilding industry is complex, and our coverage varies from policy year to policy year. Our insurance coverage requires a per occurrence retention as well as an overall aggregate amount. Amounts paid to resolve insured claims apply to our per occurrence and aggregate retention obligations. Any amounts incurred in excess of the occurrence or aggregate retention levels are covered by insurance up to the purchased coverage levels. Our insurance policies, including the captive insurance subsidiaries' reinsurance policies, are maintained with highly-rated carriers for whom we believe counterparty default risk is not significant.

At any point in time, we are managing numerous individual claims related to general liability, property, errors and omission, workers compensation, and other business insurance coverages. We reserve for costs associated with these claims (including expected claims management expenses) on an undiscounted basis at the time revenue is recognized for each home closing and evaluate the recorded liabilities based on actuarial analyses of our historical claims. The actuarial analyses calculate estimates of the ultimate net cost of all unpaid losses, including estimates for incurred but not reported losses ("IBNR"). IBNR represents losses related to claims incurred but not yet reported plus development on reported claims.

Our recorded reserves for all such claims totaled $276.3 million and $267.5 million at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The recorded reserves include loss estimates related to both (i) existing claims and related claim expenses and (ii) IBNR and related claim expenses. Liabilities related to IBNR and related claim expenses represented approximately 71% and 68% of the total general liability reserves at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The actuarial analyses that determine the IBNR portion of reserves consider a variety of factors, including the frequency and severity of losses, which are based on our historical claims experience supplemented by industry data. The actuarial analyses of the reserves also consider historical third party recovery rates and claims management expenses.

Volatility in both national and local housing market conditions may affect the frequency and cost of construction defect claims. Additionally, IBNR estimates comprise the substantial majority of our liability and are subject to a high degree of uncertainty due to a variety of factors, including changes in claims reporting and resolution patterns, third party recoveries, insurance industry practices, the regulatory environment, and legal precedent. State regulations vary, but construction defect claims are typically reported and resolved over an extended time period often exceeding ten years. Changes in the frequency and timing of reported claims and estimates of specific claim values can impact the underlying inputs and trends utilized in the actuarial analyses, which could have a material impact on the recorded reserves. Because of the inherent uncertainty in estimating future losses and the timing of such losses related to these claims, actual costs could differ significantly from estimated costs.

Adjustments to reserves are recorded in the period in which the change in estimate occurs. Our lower ending reserve balance at March 31, 2025 compared with March 31, 2024 results primarily from adjustments made during 2024 as a result of changes in estimates resulting from actual claim experience being less than anticipated in previous actuarial projections. The changes in actuarial estimates were driven by changes in actual claims experience that, in turn, impacted actuarial estimates for potential future claims. These changes in actuarial estimates did not involve any changes in actuarial methodology but did impact the development of estimates for future periods, which resulted in adjustments to the IBNR portion of our recorded liabilities. There were no material adjustments to individual claims. Costs associated with our insurance programs are classified within selling, general, and administrative expenses. Changes in these liabilities were as follows ($000's omitted):


	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2025		2024
Balance, beginning of period	$	267,474	$	563,103
Reserves provided	12,013		19,966
Adjustments to previously recorded reserves	—		(26,845)
Payments, net	(3,193)		(8,603)
Balance, end of period	$	276,294	$	547,621

Leases

We lease certain office space and equipment for use in our operations. We recognize lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term and combine lease and non-lease components for all leases. Right-of-use ("ROU") assets and lease liabilities are recorded on the balance sheet for all leases with an expected term of at least one year. Some leases include one or more options to renew. The exercise of lease renewal options is generally at our discretion. The depreciable lives of ROU assets and leasehold improvements are limited to the expected lease term. Certain of our lease agreements include rental payments based on a pro rata share of the lessor’s operating costs which are variable in nature. Our lease agreements do not contain any residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.

ROU assets are classified within other assets on the balance sheet, while lease liabilities are classified within accrued and other liabilities. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet. ROU assets and lease liabilities were $105.8 million and $121.1 million at March 31, 2025, respectively, and $93.9 million and $109.0 million at December 31, 2024, respectively. In the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 we recorded an additional $19.6 million and $3.7 million of lease liabilities under operating leases, respectively. Payments on lease liabilities in the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 totaled $5.8 million and $5.9 million, respectively.

Lease expense includes costs for leases with terms in excess of one year as well as short-term leases with terms of less than one year. In the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 our total lease expense was $15.7 million and $15.0 million, respectively, inclusive of variable lease costs of $5.3 million and $3.6 million, respectively, as well as short-term lease costs of $3.8 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Sublease income was de minimis.

The future minimum lease payments required under our leases as of March 31, 2025 were as follows ($000's omitted):


Years Ending December 31,
2025 (a)	$	19,200
2026	26,690
2027	22,249
2028	19,682
2029	17,229
Thereafter	33,558
Total lease payments (b)	138,608
Less: Interest (c)	(17,546)
Present value of lease liabilities (d)	$	121,062

(a)Remaining payments are for the nine months ending December 31, 2025.

(b)Lease payments include options to extend lease terms that are reasonably certain of being exercised and exclude $19.2 million of legally binding minimum lease payments for leases signed but not yet commenced at March 31, 2025.

(c)Our leases do not provide a readily determinable implicit rate. As a result, we must estimate our discount rate for such leases to determine the present value of lease payments at the lease commencement date.

(d)The weighted-average remaining lease term and weighted-average discount rate used in calculating our lease liabilities were 5.8 years and 4.5%, respectively, at March 31, 2025.