7. Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Matters

Lawsuits, claims and proceedings have been or may be instituted or asserted against us in the normal course of business, including actions brought on behalf of various classes of claimants. We are also subject to local, state and federal laws and regulations related to land development activities, house construction standards, sales practices, employment practices and environmental protection. As a result, we are subject to periodic examinations or inquiry by agencies administering these laws and regulations.

We record a reserve for potential legal claims and regulatory matters when they are probable of occurring and a potential loss is reasonably estimable. We accrue for these matters based on facts and circumstances specific to each matter and revise these estimates when necessary.

In view of the inherent difficulty of predicting outcomes of legal claims and related contingencies, we generally cannot predict their ultimate resolution, related timing or eventual loss. If our evaluations indicate loss contingencies that could be material are not probable, but are reasonably possible, we will disclose their nature with an estimate of possible range of losses or a statement that such loss is not reasonably estimable. At June 30, 2014, the Company did not have any accruals for asserted or unasserted matters.

Warranty

The Company currently provides a limited one year warranty covering workmanship and materials. In addition, our limited warranty (generally ranging from a minimum of two years up to the period covered by the applicable statute of repose) covers certain defined construction defects. The limited warranty covering construction defects is transferable to subsequent buyers not under direct contract with us and requires that homebuyers agree to the definitions and procedures set forth in the warranty, including the submission of unresolved construction-related disputes to binding arbitration. We reserve up to 1.0% of the sales price of each home to cover our estimated costs of self-insured retentions and deductible amounts under our general liability insurance policy and estimated costs for claims that may not be covered by applicable insurance or indemnities from our subcontractors. We believe that our reserves are adequate to cover the ultimate resolution of our potential liabilities associated with known and anticipated warranty and construction defect related claims and litigation.

Estimated future direct warranty costs are accrued in accrued liabilities on the balance sheet and charged to cost of sales in the period when the related homebuilding revenues are recognized. Amounts accrued are based upon historical experience rates. We also consider historical experience of our peers due to our limited history related to home sales. Indirect warranty overhead salaries and related costs are charged to the reserve in the period incurred. We assess the adequacy of our warranty accrual on a quarterly basis and adjust the amounts recorded if necessary.

We subcontract our homebuilding work to certain subcontractors who provide us with an indemnity and a certificate of insurance prior to receiving payments for their work and, therefore, claims relating to workmanship and materials are the primary responsibility of these subcontractors. However, such indemnity is significantly limited with respect to subcontractors that do not provide us with a certificate of insurance who we add to our general liability insurance policy.

There can be no assurance, however, that the terms and limitations of the limited warranty will be effective against claims made by homebuyers, that we will be able to renew our insurance coverage or renew it at reasonable rates, that we will not be liable for damages, the cost of repairs, and/or the expense of litigation surrounding possible construction defects, soil subsidence or building related claims or that claims will not arise out of uninsurable events or circumstances not covered by insurance and not subject to effective indemnification agreements with certain of our subcontractors.

Warranty reserves consisted of the following (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended						Six Months Ended
	June 30,						June 30,
	2014			2013			2014			2013
Warranty reserves, beginning of period	$	3,636		$	1,575		$	3,338		$	1,593
Warranty reserves accrued		873			621			1,600			728
Warranty expenditures		(480	)		(257	)		(909	)		(382	)

Warranty reserves, end of period	$	4,029		$	1,939		$	4,029		$	1,939

Performance Bonds

We obtain surety bonds in the normal course of business to ensure completion of certain infrastructure improvements of our projects. As of June 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the Company had outstanding surety bonds totaling $38.8 million and $41.4 million, respectively. The beneficiaries of the bonds are various municipalities.

Purchase Obligations

In the ordinary course of business, we enter into land option contracts in order to procure lots for the construction of our homes. We are subject to customary obligations associated with entering into contracts for the purchase of land and improved lots. These purchase contracts typically require a cash deposit and the purchase of properties under these contracts is generally contingent upon satisfaction of certain requirements by the sellers, including obtaining applicable property and development entitlements. We also utilize option contracts with land sellers as a method of acquiring land in staged takedowns, to help us manage the financial and market risk associated with land holdings, and to reduce the use of funds from our corporate financing sources. Option contracts generally require a non-refundable deposit for the right to acquire lots over a specified period of time at pre-determined prices. We generally have the right at our discretion to terminate our obligations under both purchase contracts and option contracts by forfeiting our cash deposit with no further financial responsibility to the land seller. As of June 30, 2014, we had $21.9 million of non-refundable cash deposits pertaining to land option contracts and purchase contracts for 1,224 lots with an aggregate remaining purchase price of approximately $255.7 million (net of deposits). As of December 31, 2013, we had $19.7 million of non-refundable cash deposits pertaining to land option contracts and purchase contracts for 1,184 lots with an aggregate remaining purchase price of approximately $262.1 million (net of deposits).

Our utilization of land option contracts is dependent on, among other things, the availability of land sellers willing to enter into option takedown arrangements, the availability of capital to financial intermediaries to finance the development of optioned lots, general housing market conditions, and local market dynamics. Options may be more difficult to procure from land sellers in strong housing markets and are more prevalent in certain geographic regions.

We analyze each of our land option contracts under the provisions of ASC 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”). Under ASC 810, a non-refundable deposit paid to an entity is deemed to be a variable interest that will absorb some or all of the entity’s expected losses if they occur. Our land purchase and lot option deposits generally represent our maximum exposure to the land seller if we elect not to purchase the optioned property. In some instances, we may also expend funds for due diligence, development and construction activities with respect to optioned land prior to takedown. Such costs are classified as inventories owned, which we would have to write off should we not exercise the option. Therefore, whenever we enter into a land option or purchase contract with an entity and make a non-refundable deposit, a variable interest entity (“VIE”) may have been created for financial reporting purposes. As of June 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the Company was not required to consolidate any VIEs nor did the Company write off any costs that had been capitalized under lot option contracts. In accordance with ASC 810, we perform ongoing reassessments of whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE.