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Legal Liabilities | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2012
Legal Liabilities [Abstract] |
Legal Matters and Contingencies [Text Block] | Legal Liabilities On March 5, 2009, a resident of Florida and an owner of one of our homes filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, on behalf of himself and other similarly situated owners and residents of homes in the United States or alternatively in Florida, against the Company and certain other identified and unidentified parties (the “Initial Action”). The plaintiff alleged that the Company built his home with defective drywall, manufactured and supplied by certain of the defendants, that contains sulfur or other organic compounds capable of harming the health of individuals and damaging property. The plaintiff alleged physical and economic damages and sought legal and equitable relief, medical monitoring and attorney's fees. The Company filed a responsive pleading on or about April 30, 2009. The Initial Action was consolidated with other similar actions not involving the Company and transferred to the Eastern District of Louisiana pursuant to an order from the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation for coordinated pre-trial proceedings (collectively, the “In Re: Chinese Manufactured Drywall Product Liability Litigation”). In connection with the administration of the In Re: Chinese Manufactured Drywall Product Liability Litigation, the same homeowner and nine other homeowners were named as plaintiffs in omnibus class action complaints filed in and after December 2009 against certain identified manufacturers of drywall and others (including the Company), including one homeowner named as a plaintiff in an omnibus class action complaint filed in March 2010 against various unidentified manufacturers of drywall and others (including the Company) (collectively, the “MDL Omnibus Actions”). As they relate to the Company, the Initial Action and the MDL Omnibus Actions address substantially the same claims and seek substantially the same relief. The Company has entered into agreements with several of the homeowners named as plaintiffs pursuant to which the Company agreed to make repairs to their homes consistent with repairs made to the homes of other homeowners (as described in Note 9). As a result of these agreements, the Initial Action has been resolved and dismissed, and seven of the nine other homeowners named as plaintiffs in omnibus class action complaints have dismissed their claims against the Company. One of the two remaining plaintiffs has also filed a complaint in Florida state court asserting essentially the same claims and seeking substantially the same relief as asserted in the MDL Omnibus Action. The court in the MDL Omnibus Action recently preliminarily approved a global class action settlement, which is intended to resolve all Chinese Drywall-related claims of and against those who participate in the settlement. The Company currently is planning to participate in the global settlement. A final fairness and approval hearing is currently scheduled for November 2012. The Company intends to vigorously defend against the claims of any plaintiffs who are not bound by or elect to opt out of the global class action settlement. Given the inherent uncertainties in this litigation, as of September 30, 2012, no accrual has been recorded (other than the accrual for repairs described in Note 9) because we cannot make a determination as to the probability of a loss resulting from this matter or estimate the range of possible loss, if any. There can be no assurance that the ultimate resolution of the MDL Omnibus Actions, or any other actions or claims relating to defective drywall that may be asserted in the future, will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. Please refer to Note 9 for further information on this matter. The Company and certain of its subsidiaries have been named as defendants in other claims, complaints and legal actions which are routine and incidental to our business. Certain of the liabilities resulting from these other matters are covered by insurance. While management currently believes that the ultimate resolution of these other matters, individually and in the aggregate, will not have a material effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations and cash flows, such matters are subject to inherent uncertainties. The Company has recorded a liability to provide for the anticipated costs, including legal defense costs, associated with the resolution of these other matters. However, there exists the possibility that the costs to resolve these other matters could differ from the recorded estimates and, therefore, have a material effect on the Company's net income for the periods in which the matters are resolved. At September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we had $0.4 million and $0.5 million reserved for legal expenses, respectively.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for legal proceedings, legal contingencies, litigation, regulatory and environmental matters and other contingencies. + References No definition available. + Details
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