Debt

Our senior notes are summarized as follows ($000’s omitted):



	March 31, 2012		December 31, 2011
5.45% unsecured senior notes due August 2012 (b)	$	96,634	$	96,795
6.25% unsecured senior notes due February 2013 (b)	62,692		62,677
5.125% unsecured senior notes due October 2013 (b)	117,522		117,197
5.25% unsecured senior notes due January 2014 (b)	255,887		255,882
5.70% unsecured senior notes due May 2014 (b)	312,613		311,900
5.20% unsecured senior notes due February 2015 (b)	207,916		207,906
5.25% unsecured senior notes due June 2015 (b)	271,557		270,551
6.50% unsecured senior notes due May 2016 (b)	469,774		469,147
7.625% unsecured senior notes due October 2017 (a)	149,400		149,373
7.875% unsecured senior notes due June 2032 (b)	299,119		299,108
6.375% unsecured senior notes due May 2033 (b)	398,436		398,418
6.00% unsecured senior notes due February 2035 (b)	299,396		299,390
7.375% unsecured senior notes due June 2046 (b)	150,000		150,000
Total senior notes – carrying value (c)	$	3,090,946	$	3,088,344
Estimated fair value	$	3,030,286	$	2,765,151


(a)	Not redeemable prior to maturity; guaranteed on a senior basis by certain wholly-owned subsidiaries.


(b)	Redeemable prior to maturity, guaranteed on a senior basis by certain wholly-owned subsidiaries.


(c)	The recorded carrying value reflects the impact of various discounts and premiums that are amortized to interest cost over the respective terms of the senior notes.

Letter of credit facilities

As a cost-saving measure and to provide increased operational flexibility, we voluntarily terminated our $250.0 million unsecured revolving credit facility ("the Credit Facility") effective March 30, 2011. The Credit Facility was scheduled to expire in June 2012 and was being used solely to issue letters of credit. No borrowings were outstanding under the Credit Facility during 2011. We did not pay any penalties as a result of the termination. The termination of the Credit Facility also:


•	released $250.0 million of cash required to be maintained in liquidity reserve accounts; and


•	resulted in expense of $1.3 million related to the write-off of unamortized issuance costs, which is included within selling, general, and administrative expenses during the three months ended March 31, 2011.

In connection with the termination of the Credit Facility, we entered into separate cash-collateralized letter of credit agreements with a number of financial institutions. These agreements provide capacity to issue letters of credit totaling up to $190.0 million, the majority of which is uncommitted. Letters of credit totaling $71.3 million and $83.2 million were outstanding under these agreements at March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively. Under these agreements, we are required to maintain deposits with these financial institutions in amounts approximating the letters of credit outstanding. Such deposits are included in restricted cash.

We also maintain an unsecured letter of credit facility with a bank that expires in June 2014. This facility permits the issuance of up to $200.0 million of letters of credit for general corporate purposes in support of any wholly-owned subsidiary. At March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, $148.0 million and $152.7 million, respectively, of letters of credit were outstanding under this facility.

Financial Services

Pulte Mortgage provides mortgage financing for many of our home closings utilizing its own funds and funds available pursuant to a repurchase agreement with the Company. Pulte Mortgage uses these resources to finance its lending activities until the mortgage loans are sold to third party investors, generally within 30 days.