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Commitments and Contingencies | 9 Months Ended
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Aug. 31, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and contingencies include typical obligations of homebuilders for the completion of contracts and those incurred in the ordinary course of business. Warranty. We provide a limited warranty on all of our homes. The specific terms and conditions of our limited warranty program vary depending upon the markets in which we do business. We generally provide a structural warranty of 10 years, a warranty on electrical, heating, cooling, plumbing and certain other building systems each varying from two years to five years based on geographic market and state law, and a warranty of one year for other components of the home. Our limited warranty program is ordinarily how we respond to and account for homeowners’ requests to local division offices seeking repairs of certain conditions or defects, including claims where we could have liability under applicable state statutes or tort law for a defective condition in or damages to a home. Our warranty liability covers our costs of repairs associated with homeowner claims made under our limited warranty program. These claims are generally made directly by a homeowner and involve their individual home. We estimate the costs that may be incurred under each limited warranty and record a liability in the amount of such costs at the time the revenue associated with the sale of each home is recognized. Our primary assumption in estimating the amounts we accrue for warranty costs is that historical claims experience is a strong indicator of future claims experience. Factors that affect our warranty liability include the number of homes delivered, historical and anticipated rates of warranty claims, and cost per claim. We periodically assess the adequacy of our accrued warranty liability, which is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets, and adjust the amount as necessary based on our assessment. Our assessment includes the review of our actual warranty costs incurred to identify trends and changes in our warranty claims experience, and considers our home construction quality and customer service initiatives and outside events. While we believe the warranty liability currently reflected in our consolidated balance sheets to be adequate, unanticipated changes or developments in the legal environment, local weather, land or environmental conditions, quality of materials or methods used in the construction of homes or customer service practices and/or our warranty claims experience could have a significant impact on our actual warranty costs in future periods and such amounts could differ significantly from our current estimates. The changes in our warranty liability were as follows (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended August 31, |  | Nine Months Ended August 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2019
Balance at beginning of period | $ | 92,844 |  |  | $ | 83,030 |  |  | $ | 88,839 |  |  | $ | 82,490 |
Warranties issued | 6,326 |  |  | 9,067 |  |  | 21,960 |  |  | 23,500 |
Payments | (4,823 | ) |  | (5,925 | ) |  | (16,452 | ) |  | (17,018 | )
Adjustments | — |  |  | — |  |  | — |  |  | (2,800 | )
Balance at end of period | $ | 94,347 |  |  | $ | 86,172 |  |  | $ | 94,347 |  |  | $ | 86,172 |
Guarantees. In the normal course of our business, we issue certain representations, warranties and guarantees related to our home sales and land sales. Based on historical experience, we do not believe any potential liability with respect to these representations, warranties or guarantees would be material to our consolidated financial statements. Self-Insurance. We maintain, and require the majority of our independent subcontractors to maintain, general liability insurance (including construction defect and bodily injury coverage) and workers’ compensation insurance. These insurance policies protect us against a portion of our risk of loss from claims related to our homebuilding activities, subject to certain self-insured retentions, deductibles and other coverage limits. We also maintain certain other insurance policies. In Arizona, California, Colorado and Nevada, our subcontractors’ general liability insurance primarily takes the form of a wrap-up policy under a program where eligible independent subcontractors are enrolled as insureds on each community. Enrolled subcontractors contribute toward the cost of the insurance and agree to pay a contractual amount in the future if there is a claim related to their work. To the extent provided under the wrap-up program, we absorb the enrolled subcontractors’ general liability associated with the work performed on our homes within the applicable community as part of our overall general liability insurance and our self-insurance. We self-insure a portion of our overall risk through the use of a captive insurance subsidiary, which provides coverage for our exposure to construction defect, bodily injury and property damage claims and related litigation or regulatory actions, up to certain limits. Our self-insurance liability generally covers the costs of settlements and/or repairs, if any, as well as our costs to defend and resolve the following types of claims:
• | Construction defect: Construction defect claims, which represent the largest component of our self-insurance liability, typically originate through a legal or regulatory process rather than directly by a homeowner and involve the alleged occurrence of a condition affecting two or more homes within the same community, or they involve a common area or homeowners association property within a community. These claims typically involve higher costs to resolve than individual homeowner warranty claims, and the rate of claims is highly variable.
• | Bodily injury: Bodily injury claims typically involve individuals (other than our employees) who claim they were injured while on our property or as a result of our operations.
• | Property damage: Property damage claims generally involve claims by third parties for alleged damage to real or personal property as a result of our operations. Such claims may occasionally include those made against us by owners of property located near our communities.
Our self-insurance liability at each reporting date represents the estimated costs of reported claims, claims incurred but not yet reported, and claim adjustment expenses. The amount of our self-insurance liability is based on an analysis performed by a third-party actuary that uses our historical claim and expense data, as well as industry data to estimate these overall costs. Key assumptions used in developing these estimates include claim frequencies, severities and resolution patterns, which can occur over an extended period of time. These estimates are subject to variability due to the length of time between the delivery of a home to a homebuyer and when a construction defect claim is made, and the ultimate resolution of such claim; uncertainties regarding such claims relative to our markets and the types of product we build; and legal or regulatory actions and/or interpretations, among other factors. Due to the degree of judgment involved and the potential for variability in these underlying assumptions, our actual future costs could differ from those estimated. In addition, changes in the frequency and severity of reported claims and the estimates to resolve claims can impact the trends and assumptions used in the actuarial analysis, which could be material to our consolidated financial statements. Though state regulations vary, construction defect claims are reported and resolved over a long period of time, which can extend for 10 years or more. As a result, the majority of the estimated self-insurance liability based on the actuarial analysis relates to claims incurred but not yet reported. Therefore, adjustments related to individual existing claims generally do not significantly impact the overall estimated liability. Adjustments to our liabilities related to homes delivered in prior years are recorded in the period in which a change in our estimate occurs. Our self-insurance liability is presented on a gross basis for all periods without consideration of insurance recoveries and amounts we have paid on behalf of and expect to recover from other parties, if any. Estimated probable insurance and other recoveries of $51.0 million and $50.6 million are included in receivables in our consolidated balance sheets at August 31, 2020 and November 30, 2019, respectively. These self-insurance recoveries are principally based on actuarially determined amounts and depend on various factors, including, among other things, the above-described claim cost estimates, our insurance policy coverage limits for the applicable policy year(s), historical third-party recovery rates, insurance industry practices, the regulatory environment and legal precedent, and are subject to a high degree of variability from period to period. Because of the inherent uncertainty and variability in these assumptions, our actual insurance recoveries could differ significantly from amounts currently estimated. The changes in our self-insurance liability were as follows (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended August 31, |  | Nine Months Ended August 31,
| 2020 |  | 2019 |  | 2020 |  | 2019
Balance at beginning of period | $ | 178,081 |  |  | $ | 170,978 |  |  | $ | 177,765 |  |  | $ | 176,841 |
Self-insurance expense (a) | 3,545 |  |  | 4,802 |  |  | 9,522 |  |  | 12,844 |
Payments (b) | 2,483 |  |  | (5,162 | ) |  | (3,178 | ) |  | (19,067 | )
Balance at end of period | $ | 184,109 |  |  | $ | 170,618 |  |  | $ | 184,109 |  |  | $ | 170,618 |
(a) | These expenses are included in selling, general and administrative expenses and are largely offset by contributions from subcontractors participating in the wrap-up policy.
(b) | Includes net changes in estimated probable insurance and other recoveries, which are recorded in receivables, to present our self-insurance liability on a gross basis. The amount for the three months ended August 31, 2020 reflects an increase in the actuarially estimated probable insurance and other recoveries that exceeded the payments made.
For most of our claims, there is no interaction between our warranty liability and self-insurance liability. Typically, if a matter is identified at its outset as either a warranty or self-insurance claim, it remains as such through its resolution. However, there can be instances of interaction between the liabilities, such as where individual homeowners in a community separately request warranty repairs to their homes to address a similar condition or issue and subsequently join together to initiate, or potentially initiate, a legal process with respect to that condition or issue and/or the repair work we have undertaken. In these instances, the claims and related repair work generally are initially covered by our warranty liability, and the costs associated with resolving the legal matter (including any additional repair work) are covered by our self-insurance liability. The payments we make in connection with claims and related repair work, whether covered within our warranty liability and/or our self-insurance liability, may be recovered from our insurers to the extent such payments exceed the self-insured retentions or deductibles under our general liability insurance policies. Also, in certain instances, in the course of resolving a claim, we pay amounts in advance of and/or on behalf of a subcontractor(s) or their insurer(s) and believe we will be reimbursed for such payments. Estimates of all such amounts, if any, are recorded as receivables in our consolidated balance sheets when any such recovery is considered probable. Florida Chapter 558 Actions (Individual and Homeowner Association Claims). We and certain of our subcontractors have received a growing number of claims from attorneys on behalf of individual owners of our homes and/or homeowners’ associations that allege, pursuant to Chapter 558 of the Florida Statutes, various construction defects, with most relating to stucco and water-intrusion issues. The claims primarily involve homes in our Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa operations. Under Chapter 558, homeowners must serve written notice of a construction defect(s) and provide the served construction and/or design contractor(s) with an opportunity to respond to the noticed issue(s) before they can file a lawsuit. Although we have resolved many of these claims without litigation, and a number of others have been resolved with applicable subcontractors or their insurers covering the related costs, as of August 31, 2020, we had approximately 583 outstanding noticed claims, and some are scheduled for trial over the next few quarters and beyond. In addition, some of our subcontractors’ insurers in some of these cases have informed us of their inability to continue to pay claims-related costs. At August 31, 2020, we had an accrual for our estimated probable loss for these matters and a receivable for estimated probable insurance recoveries. While it is reasonably possible that our loss could exceed the amount accrued and our recoveries could be less than the amount recorded, at this time, we are unable to estimate the total amount of the loss in excess of the accrued amount and/or associated with a shortfall in the recoveries that is reasonably possible. Townhome Community Construction Defect Claims. In the 2016 fourth quarter, we received claims from a homeowners association alleging there were construction defects, primarily involving roofing and stucco issues, at a completed townhome community in Northern California totaling approximately $25.0 million. We, along with our outside consultants, have continued to investigate these allegations and we currently expect it may take additional quarters to fully evaluate them. At August 31, 2020, we had an accrual for our estimated probable loss in this matter and a receivable for estimated probable insurance recoveries that reflected the status of our investigation to such date. At this stage of our investigation into these allegations, it is reasonably possible that our loss could exceed the amount accrued by an estimated range of $0 to $5.0 million. Our investigation will also involve identifying potentially responsible parties, including insurers, to pay for or perform any necessary repairs. We are in discussions with the homeowners association regarding the claims and their resolution. Performance Bonds and Letters of Credit. We are often required to provide to various municipalities and other government agencies performance bonds and/or letters of credit to secure the completion of our projects and/or in support of obligations to build community improvements such as roads, sewers, water systems and other utilities, and to support similar development activities by certain of our unconsolidated joint ventures. At August 31, 2020, we had $818.0 million of performance bonds and $41.7 million of letters of credit outstanding. At November 30, 2019, we had $793.9 million of performance bonds and $34.7 million of letters of credit outstanding. If any such performance bonds or letters of credit are called, we would be obligated to reimburse the issuer of the performance bond or letter of credit. We do not believe that a material amount of any currently outstanding performance bonds or letters of credit will be called. Performance bonds do not have stated expiration dates. Rather, we are released from the performance bonds as the underlying performance is completed. The expiration dates of some letters of credit issued in connection with community improvements coincide with the expected completion dates of the related projects or obligations. Most letters of credit, however, are issued with an initial term of one year and are typically extended on a year-to-year basis until the related performance obligations are completed. Land Option Contracts and Other Similar Contracts. In the ordinary course of our business, we enter into land option contracts and other similar contracts to acquire rights to land for the construction of homes. At August 31, 2020, we had total cash deposits of $65.0 million to purchase land having an aggregate purchase price of $1.36 billion. Our land option contracts and other similar contracts generally do not contain provisions requiring our specific performance.

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