Item 1. Business
Overview of Lennar Corporation
We are the largest homebuilder in the United States by net earnings, an originator of residential and commercial mortgage loans, a provider of title insurance and closing services and a developer of multifamily rental properties. In addition, we are a sponsor and manager of funds engaged in development and ownership of multifamily rental properties and a sponsor and manager of a fund engaged in ownership of single family rental properties. We also have investments in companies that are engaged in applying technology to improve the homebuilding industry and real estate related aspects of the financial services industry.
Our homebuilding operations are the most substantial part of our business, generating $25.5 billion in revenues, or approximately 94% of consolidated revenues, in fiscal 2021.
As of November 30, 2021, our reportable homebuilding segments and Homebuilding Other had divisions located in:
East: Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina
Central: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
Texas: Texas
West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington
Other: Urban divisions and other homebuilding related investments primarily in California, including Five Point Holdings, LLC ("FivePoint")
Our other reportable segments are Financial Services, Multifamily and Lennar Other. Financial information about our Homebuilding, Financial Services, Multifamily and Lennar Other operations is contained in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, which is Item 7 of this Report.
About Our Company
Our company was founded as a local Miami homebuilder in 1954. We completed our initial public offering in 1971 and listed our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. During the 1980s and 1990s, we entered and expanded operations in a number of homebuilding markets, including California, Florida and Texas, through both organic growth and acquisitions, such as Pacific Greystone Corporation in 1997. In 2000, we acquired U.S. Home Corporation, which expanded our operations into New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Minnesota and Colorado and strengthened our position in other states. From 2002 through 2005, we acquired several regional homebuilders, which brought us into new markets and strengthened our position in several existing markets. From 2010 through 2013, we expanded our homebuilding operations into Georgia, Oregon, Washington and Tennessee. In 2017, we acquired WCI Communities, Inc., a homebuilder of luxury single and multifamily homes, including a small number of luxury high-rise tower units, in Florida. In 2018, we acquired CalAtlantic Group, Inc. ("CalAtlantic"), a major homebuilder which was building homes across the homebuilding spectrum, from entry level to luxury, in 43 metropolitan statistical areas spanning 19 states, and providing mortgage, title and escrow services.
In fiscal 2020, as the coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic caused the shutdown of large portions of our national economy, we accelerated the use of various technology initiatives that made our home sale process safer, including selling homes virtually or through self-guided tours and digital closings. As a robust housing market took shape in the second half of 2020 and throughout 2021, technology initiatives helped us meet strong housing demand and reduce our marketing and other selling costs. We are focused on increasing efficiencies in our building process and reducing selling, general and administrative expenses by using technology, deferring home sale price commitments until construction costs are finalized to protect against cost escalations and using innovative strategies to reduce customer acquisition costs. We also continue to focus on divesting non-core assets through a planned spin-off to our stockholders of our Multifamily and single-family home rental platforms and some investment assets. This will continue our migration toward being more of a pure homebuilding and financial services company. In addition, we are continuing our pivot to a land light operating model by increasing the percentage of land controlled through options or agreements versus owned land and controlling the timing of land purchases, which reduce our years supply of owned homesites.
Homebuilding Operations
Overview
Our homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes as well as the purchase, development and sale of residential land directly and through entities in which we have investments. New home deliveries, including deliveries from unconsolidated entities, were 59,825 in fiscal 2021, compared to 52,925 in fiscal 2020 and 51,491 in fiscal 2019. We primarily sell homes in communities targeted to first-time, move-up, active adult, and luxury homebuyers. The average sales price of a Lennar home varies depending on product and geographic location. For fiscal 2021, the average sales price, excluding deliveries from unconsolidated entities, was $424,000, compared to $395,000 in fiscal 2020 and $400,000 in fiscal 2019.
We operate primarily under the Lennar brand name. Our homebuilding mission is focused on the profitable development of residential communities. Key elements of our strategy include:
•Strong Operating Margins - We believe our purchasing leverage combined with our focus on reducing selling, general and administrative costs by using technology and innovative strategies and reducing interest expense through paydowns of debt position us for strong operating margins.
•Everything’s Included® Approach - We are focused on distinguishing our products, including through our Everything’s Included® approach, which maximizes our purchasing power, enables us to include luxury features as standard items in our homes and simplifies our homebuilding operations.
•Innovative Homebuilding - We are constantly innovating the homes we build to create products that better meet our customers' needs and desires. Our Next Gen® home provides what can be a home within a home to accommodate children or parents or can be an office from which to work remotely.
•Flexible Operating Structure - Our local operating structure gives us the flexibility to make operating decisions based on local homebuilding conditions and customer preferences, while our centralized management structure provides strategic oversight for our homebuilding operations.
•Digital Marketing - We are increasingly advertising homes through digital channels, which is significantly increasing the cost effectiveness of our marketing efforts.
•Technology Focused - We partner with and/or invest in technology companies that are looking to improve the homebuilding and financial services industries to increase efficiencies and create a better customer experience.
•Land light strategy - We are focused on reducing our years supply of owned homesites and increasing the percentage of land we control through options or agreements, including agreements with strategic land funds, versus owned land.
Diversified Program of Property Acquisition
We generally acquire land for development and for the construction of homes that we sell to homebuyers. Land purchases are subject to specified underwriting criteria and are made through our diversified program of property acquisition, which may consist of:
•Acquiring land directly from individual land owners/developers, or other homebuilders;
•Acquiring local or regional homebuilders that own, or have options to purchase, land in strategic markets;
•Acquiring land through option contracts, which generally enables us to control portions of properties owned by third parties (including strategic land funds) or entities in which we have investments until we have determined whether to exercise the options;
•Acquiring access to land through joint ventures or partnerships, which among other benefits, limits the amount of our capital invested in land while helping to ensure our access to potential future homesites and allowing us to participate in strategic ventures;
•Investing in regional developers in exchange for preferential land purchase opportunities; and
•Acquiring land in conjunction with Multifamily.
We are in the process of further reducing our reliance on land we own and increasing our access to land through options and joint ventures. At November 30, 2021, 59% of our total homesites were controlled through options and joint ventures compared to 39% at November 30, 2020. For additional information about our investments in and relationships with unconsolidated entities, see Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Report.
Construction and Development
We are involved in all phases of planning and building in our residential communities, including land acquisition, site planning, preparation and improvement of land and design, construction and marketing of homes. We use independent subcontractors for most aspects of home construction. At November 30, 2021, we were actively building and marketing homes in 1,263 communities, including four communities being constructed by unconsolidated entities. This was an increase from the 1,177 communities, including four communities being constructed by unconsolidated entities, in which we were actively building and marketing homes at November 30, 2020. Even though our community count increased in 2021, the number of homes we built was limited by shortages of both construction materials and skilled labor.
We generally supervise and control the development of land and the design and building of our residential communities with a relatively small labor force. We hire subcontractors for site improvements and virtually all of the work involved in the construction of homes. Arrangements with our subcontractors generally provide that our subcontractors will complete specified work in accordance with price and time schedules and in compliance with applicable building codes and
laws. The price schedules may be subject to change to meet changes in labor and material costs or for other reasons. Although we, like homebuilders throughout the country, have encountered shortages of materials and skilled labor during 2021, we believe that because of our size and our builder of choice program, where we work with our trade partners to drive efficiencies, we believe we have been less affected by these shortages than many of our competitors. We generally do not own heavy construction equipment. We finance construction and land development activities primarily with cash generated from operations and historically from proceeds of corporate debt.
Marketing
We offer a diversified line of homes for first-time, move-up, active adult, luxury and multi-generational homebuyers in a variety of locations ranging from urban infill communities to suburban golf course communities. Our Everything’s Included® marketing program enables us to differentiate our homes from those of our competitors by including luxury items as standard features at competitive prices, while reducing construction and overhead costs through a simplified construction process, product standardization and volume purchasing. In addition, we include built in wireless capability, home automation and solar power in many of the homes we sell, which enhances our brand and improves our ability to generate traffic and sales.
We sell our homes primarily from models that we have designed and constructed. We employ new home consultants who are paid salaries, commissions or both to conduct on-site sales of our homes. We also sell homes through independent realtors. We have also made it possible for potential homebuyers to take virtual tours of model homes.
Our marketing strategy has increasingly involved advertising through digital channels including real estate listing sites, paid search, display advertising, social media and e-mail marketing, all of which drive traffic to our website, www.lennar.com. This has allowed us to attract more qualified and knowledgeable homebuyers and has helped us reduce our selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of home sales revenues. However, we also continue to advertise through more traditional media on a limited basis, including newspapers, radio advertisements and other local and regional publications and on billboards where appropriate. We tailor our marketing strategy and message based on the community being advertised and the customers being targeted, such as advertising our active adult communities in areas where prospective active adult homebuyers live or will potentially want to purchase.
Quality Service
We continually strive to improve homeowner customer satisfaction throughout the pre-sale, sale, construction, closing and post-closing periods. We strive to create a quality home buying experience for our customers through the participation of sales associates, on-site construction supervisors and customer care associates, all working in a team effort, as well as use of technology to simplify the homebuying and financing process. We believe this leads to enhanced customer retention and referrals. The quality of our homes is substantially affected by the efforts of on-site management and others engaged in the construction process, by the materials we use in particular homes, and by other similar factors.
We warrant our new homes against defective materials and workmanship for a minimum period of one year after the date of closing. Although we subcontract virtually all segments of construction to others and our contracts call for the subcontractors to repair or replace any deficient items related to their trades, we are primarily responsible to the homebuyers for the correction of any deficiencies.
Local Operating Structure and Centralized Management
We balance a local operating structure with centralized corporate level management. Our local operating structure consists of homebuilding divisions across the country, each of which is usually managed by a division president, a controller and personnel focused on land acquisition, entitlement and development, sales, construction, customer service and purchasing. This local operating structure gives our division presidents and their teams, who generally have significant experience in the homebuilding industry, and in most instances, in their particular markets, the flexibility to make local operating decisions, including land identification, entitlement and development, the management of inventory levels for our current sales volume, community development, home design, construction and marketing of our homes. We centralize at the corporate level decisions related to our overall strategy, acquisitions of land and businesses, risk management, financing, cash management and information systems.
Backlog
Backlog represents the number of homes under sales contracts. Homes are sold using sales contracts, which are generally accompanied by deposits. In some instances, purchasers are permitted to cancel sales contracts if they fail to qualify for financing or under certain other circumstances. We experienced a cancellation rate of 10% in 2021 and 15% in 2020. We do not recognize revenue on homes that are the subject of sales contracts until the sales are closed and title passes to the new homeowners.
The backlog dollar value including unconsolidated entities at November 30, 2021 was $11.4 billion, compared to $7.8 billion at November 30, 2020. We expect that a substantial portion of all homes currently in backlog will be delivered in fiscal year 2022.
During fiscal year 2021, because of the concern about increasing labor and material costs, we, in many instances, deferred entering into contracts to sell homes and committing to the sales price until the costs of the homes were determined, which usually was shortly before construction began. This had the effect of reducing the number of homes subject to sales contracts at any particular time.
Homebuilding Investments in Unconsolidated Entities
We create and participate in joint ventures that acquire and develop land for our homebuilding operations, for sale to third parties or for use in the ventures' own homebuilding operations. Through these joint ventures, we reduce the amount we invest in potential future homesites, thereby reducing risks associated with land acquisitions and improving the return on our investments, and, in some instances, we obtain access to land to which we could not otherwise have obtained access or could not have obtained access on as favorable terms. As of November 30, 2021 and 2020, we had equity investments in 41 and 38 active homebuilding and land unconsolidated entities, respectively, in which we were participating, and our maximum recourse debt exposure related to Homebuilding unconsolidated joint ventures was $5.3 million and $4.9 million, respectively. This is discussed in greater detail in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Report.
Single Family Rental Operations
In the first quarter of 2021, the Company formed the Upward America Venture (“Upward America”), and is managing and participating in Upward America. Upward America is an investment fund that acquires new single-family homes in high growth markets across the United States and rents them to the people who will live in them. Upward America has raised equity commitments totaling $1.25 billion primarily from institutional investors, including $125 million committed by Lennar. By leveraging these equity investments, Upward America will be positioned to acquire over $4.0 billion of new single-family homes and townhomes from Lennar and potentially other homebuilders. During the year ended November 30, 2021, Lennar delivered 1,457 homes to Upward America. Subsequent to November 30, 2021, the equity commitments were increased to $1.6 billion.
FivePoint Holdings LLC
We own an indirect approximately 40% interest in FivePoint Holdings LLC, which is a publicly traded developer of three large master planned mixed-use developments in California (Newhall Ranch, Great Park Neighborhoods, and San Francisco Shipyard/Candlestick Point). We sometimes purchase properties from FivePoint for use in our homebuilding operations. Until recently, we had no role in the management of FivePoint, except that our Executive Chairman was a member of its Board. However, in August 2021, our Executive Chairman became the non-employee Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors (but not the chief executive officer) of FivePoint. As of November 30, 2021, the carrying amount of our investment in FivePoint was $381.6 million.
Financial Services Operations
Residential Mortgage Financing
We offer conforming conventional, FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed residential mortgage loan products and other home mortgage products primarily to buyers of our homes through our financial services subsidiary, Lennar Mortgage, from locations in most of the states in which we have homebuilding operations. In fiscal year 2021, our financial services subsidiaries provided loans to 75% of our homebuyers who obtained mortgage financing in areas where we offered services. Because of the availability of mortgage loans from our financial services subsidiaries, as well as from independent mortgage lenders, we believe almost all creditworthy potential purchasers of our homes have access to financing.
During fiscal year 2021, we originated approximately 38,100 residential mortgage loans totaling $13.2 billion, compared to 40,000 residential mortgage loans totaling $12.9 billion during fiscal year 2020. Substantially all of the residential mortgage loans we originate are sold within a short period in the secondary mortgage market, a majority of them on a servicing released, non-recourse basis. After the loans are sold, we retain potential liability for claims by purchasers that we breached certain limited industry-standard representations and warranties in the loan sale agreements. Occasional claims of this type are a normal incident of loan securitization activities. We do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these claims will have a material adverse effect on our business or financial position.
We finance our mortgage loan activities with borrowings under our financial services warehouse facilities or from our operating funds. At November 30, 2021, Financial Services had four warehouse residential facilities maturing at various dates through fiscal 2022 with a total maximum borrowing capacity of $2.3 billion including an uncommitted amount of $1.1 billion.
We expect the facilities to be renewed or replaced with other facilities when they mature. If they are not renewed or replaced, we would have to find other sources of funding our mortgage originations, which might include our own funds. We have a corporate risk management policy under which we hedge our interest rate risk on rate-locked loan commitments and loans held-for-sale to mitigate exposure to interest rate fluctuations.
We have been using new technology to automate portions of our mortgage loan origination process. This new technology has made the mortgage financing process easier for homebuyers and improved the customer experience. This new technology has also enabled us to increase the number of digital closings, with digital document signing and where possible digital notarization.
Title, Insurance and Closing Services
We are licensed to provide title insurance and closing services for residential and/or commercial transactions in 38 states to our homebuyers and others. During 2021 and 2020, we closed approximately 67,500 and 61,100 real estate transactions, respectively, in 18 states.
Commercial Mortgage Origination
Our LMF Commercial subsidiary originates and sells into securitizations first mortgage loans, which are secured by income producing commercial properties. The loans generally are between $5 million and $50 million each. LMF Commercial also originates floating rate loans secured by commercial real estate properties, many of which are in transition, undergoing lease-up, sell-out, renovation or repositioning. In order to finance LMF Commercial lending activities, as of November 30, 2021, LMF Commercial had four warehouse repurchase financing agreements maturing between December 2021 and July 2023 with commitments totaling $550 million.
Multifamily Operations
We have been actively involved, primarily through unconsolidated entities, in the development, construction and property management of multifamily rental properties. Our Multifamily segment focuses on developing a geographically diversified portfolio of institutional quality multifamily rental properties in select U.S. markets.
Our Multifamily segment is one of the largest developers of apartment communities across the country. At November 30, 2021, it had interests in 66 communities with development costs of approximately $7.9 billion, of which 43 communities were completed and operating, six communities were partially completed and leasing and 17 communities were under construction. As of November 30, 2021, our Multifamily segment also had a pipeline of potential future projects, which were under contract or had letters of intent, totaling approximately $8.5 billion in anticipated development costs across a number of states that will be developed primarily by unconsolidated entities. Our Multifamily segment had equity investments in 17 and 22 unconsolidated entities (including the Multifamily Ventures, described below) as of November 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Originally, our Multifamily segment focused on building multifamily properties and selling them shortly after they were completed. However, more recently we have focused on creating, participating in and managing ventures that build multifamily properties with the intention of retaining them after they are completed. Our current ventures, Lennar Multifamily Venture Fund I LP ("LMV I") and Lennar Multifamily Venture Fund II LP ("LMV II"), are both long-term multifamily development investment vehicles involved in the development, construction and property management of class-A multifamily rental properties.
For additional information about our investments in and relationships with unconsolidated entities, see Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Report.
Lennar Other
Strategic Technology Investments
We strategically invest in companies involved in technology initiatives that, among other things, help us enhance the homebuying or home ownership experience, reduce our SG&A expenses and help us stay at the forefront of homebuilding innovation. Six of the companies in which we have strategic investments are publicly traded. They are:
•Blend, a company that is a digital lending platform developer simplifying and fast tracking the consumer finance process;
•Doma, a company that built a predictive analytics platform for title insurers;
•Hippo, a company that provides an efficient means of obtaining home insurance;
•Opendoor, a company that uses technology to significantly streamline the homebuying and selling process;
•SmartRent, an enterprise smart home automation company; and
•Sunnova, a leading national residential solar company, to which during 2021 we sold our solar business in return for equity.
Each of the investments listed above, except Doma, is reflected in our financial statements at fair value, with changes to the fair values of those investments generating gains or losses on our quarterly financial statements. Doma is accounted for using the equity method. At November 30, 2021, the book value (including those recorded at fair value) of our investment in strategic technology investments was $1.2 billion and is included in our Lennar Other segment,
Rialto Fund Investments
Until November 30, 2018, we had a group of subsidiaries, including Rialto Capital Management, LLC, that primarily managed real estate related investment funds and other real estate related investment vehicles. We sold the Rialto Management Group on November 30, 2018. However, we retained the right to receive carried interest distributions from some of the funds and other investment vehicles Rialto manages. We also retained limited partner investments in Rialto funds and investment vehicles that totaled $200.6 million as of November 30, 2021, and we are committed to invest as much as an additional $1.2 million in Rialto funds.
Seasonality
We historically have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, variability in quarterly results. Our homebuilding business is seasonal in nature and generally reflects higher levels of new home order activity in our second and third fiscal quarters and increased deliveries in the second half of our fiscal year. However, a variety of factors can alter seasonal patterns. For example, in 2020, the shutdown of large portions of our national economy in March and April due to the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily reduced our home sales, and therefore altered our normal seasonal pattern.
Competition
The residential homebuilding industry is highly competitive. In each of the market regions where we operate, we compete for homebuyers with numerous national, regional and local homebuilders, as well as with resales of existing homes and with the rental housing market. We compete for homebuyers on the basis of a number of interrelated factors including location, price, reputation, amenities, design, quality and financing. In addition to competition for homebuyers, we also compete with other homebuilders for desirable properties, raw materials and access to reliable, skilled labor. We compete with a wide variety of property owners in our efforts to sell land to homebuilders and others. We believe we are competitive in the market regions where we operate primarily due to our:
•Everything’s Included® marketing program, which simplifies the home buying experience by including the most desirable features as standard items;
•Innovative home designs, such as our Next Gen® homes that provide both privacy and togetherness for multi-generational families or a home office to accommodate working from home;
•Inclusion of built-in Wi-Fi, solar power systems and advanced technology in many of our homes;
•Our consumer insight capabilities allows us to continually stay tapped into consumer preferences and feedback so we can continuously evolve and fine-tune our offerings, processes and communications for our Customers;
•Financial position as a result of our ability to finance land purchases and development activities with operating revenues and corporate level borrowing;
•Access to land, particularly in land-constrained markets;
•Pricing to current market conditions;
•Cost efficiencies realized through our national purchasing programs and production of value-engineered homes;
•Quality construction and home warranty programs, which are supported by a responsive customer care team;
•Our builder of choice program through which we maximize the efficiency of our suppliers' dealing with us;
•Size and scale in leading markets; and
•Strategic investments in technology initiatives through our LENX business that help us enhance the homebuying and home ownership experience, and helps us stay at the forefront of homebuilding innovation.
Our residential financial services operations compete with other residential mortgage lenders, including national, regional and local mortgage bankers and brokers, banks, savings and loan associations, non-bank mortgage lenders and other financial institutions, in the origination and sale of residential mortgage loans. Principal competitive factors include interest rates and other features of mortgage loan products available to the consumer. We compete with other title insurance agencies and underwriters for closing services and title insurance. Principal competitive factors include service and price.
Our LMF Commercial subsidiary's commercial mortgage origination and sale business competes with a wide variety of banks and other lenders that offer small and mid-sized mortgage loans to commercial enterprises. Competition is based
primarily on service, price and relationships with mortgage brokers and other referral sources. LMF Commercial is run by highly seasoned managers who have been originating and securitizing loans for over 29 years and can benefit from long-standing relationships with referral sources, as well as being able to leverage Lennar's infrastructure facilities for rapid market entrances and analysis. We believe these factors give LMF Commercial an advantage over many of the lenders with which it competes. Additionally, we believe access to Lennar's local homebuilding teams provides LMF Commercial with a distinct advantage in its evaluation of real estate assets.
Our multifamily operations and the funds they manage compete with other multifamily apartment developers and operators, including REITs, across the United States. In addition, our multifamily operations compete with a variety of investment vehicles in securing capital, partners and equity, and compete in securing tenants with the large supply of already existing rental apartments, as well as with sellers of homes. Principal competitive factors include location, rental price and quality, and management of the apartment buildings.
Our single family home rental fund competes with other single family home rental developers and operators, including REITs, across the United States. In addition, our single family home rental operations compete with a variety of investment vehicles in securing capital, partners and equity, and compete in securing tenants with the large supply of already existing single family rental homes as well as with sellers of homes. Principal competitive factors include location, rental price and quality, and management of the homes.
Regulation
The residential communities and multifamily apartment developments that we build are subject to a large variety of local, state and federal statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations relating to, among other things, zoning, construction permits or entitlements, construction materials, density, building design and property elevation, building codes and handling of waste. These include laws requiring the use of construction materials that reduce the need for energy-consuming heating and cooling systems. These laws and regulations are subject to frequent change and often increase construction costs. For example, the California Energy Commission recently adopted a requirement that most newly built homes in California must have rooftop solar panels. In some instances, we must comply with laws that require commitments from us to provide roads and other offsite infrastructure, and may require them to be in place prior to the commencement of new home construction. These laws and regulations are usually administered by counties and municipalities and may result in fees and assessments or building moratoriums. In addition, certain new development projects are subject to assessments for schools, parks, streets and highways and other public improvements, the costs of which can be substantial. Also, some states are attempting to make homebuilders responsible for violations of wage and other labor laws by their subcontractors. The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down the approval process in many government offices, which has in many instances delayed our being able to begin constructing homes in particular communities.
Residential homebuilding and apartment development are also subject to a variety of local, state and federal statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations concerning the protection of health and the environment. These environmental laws include such subjects as storm water and surface water management, soil, groundwater and wetlands protection, subsurface conditions and air quality protection and enhancement. Environmental laws may result in delays, may cause us to incur substantial compliance and other costs and may prohibit or severely restrict homebuilding activity in environmentally sensitive regions or areas.
Over the years, several cities and counties in which we have developments have submitted to voters "slow growth" initiatives and other ballot measures that could impact the affordability and availability of land suitable for residential development within those localities. Although many of these initiatives have been defeated, if similar initiatives were approved, residential construction by us and others within certain cities or counties could be seriously impacted.
In order to make it possible for some of our homebuyers to obtain FHA-insured or VA-guaranteed mortgages, we must construct the homes they buy in compliance with regulations promulgated by those agencies. Various states have statutory disclosure requirements relating to the marketing and sale of new homes. These disclosure requirements vary widely from state-to-state. In some states, we are required to be registered as a licensed contractor and comply with applicable rules and regulations. In various states, our new home consultants are required to be registered as licensed real estate agents and to adhere to the laws governing the practices of real estate agents.
Our mortgage and title subsidiaries must comply with applicable real estate, lending and insurance laws and regulations. The subsidiaries are licensed in the states in which they do business and must comply with laws and regulations in those states. These laws and regulations include provisions regarding capitalization, operating procedures, investments, lending and privacy disclosures, forms of policies and premiums. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains a number of requirements relating to mortgage lending and securitizations. These include, among others, minimum standards for lender practices, limitations on certain fees and a requirement that the originator of loans that are securitized retain a portion of the risk, either directly or by holding interests in the securitizations.
Several federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and ordinances, including, but not limited to, the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") and the Federal Trade Commission Act and comparable state statutes, regulate consumer debt collection activity. Although, for a variety of reasons, we may not be specifically subject to the FDCPA or to some state statutes that govern debt collectors, it is our policy to comply with applicable laws in our collection activities. To the extent that some or all of these laws apply to our collection activities, our failure to comply with such laws could have a material adverse effect on us. We are also subject to regulations promulgated by the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding residential mortgage loans.
Environment
We are focused on creating environmentally sustainable products, and our purchasing power enables us to include green features in our homes. Each new home we build is healthier and more energy efficient, and has less impact on the environment, than prior generations of homes as a result of features like:
•Low-VOC paint that reduces pollution;
• WaterSense® faucets that reduce water flow without sacrificing performance;
• Low-E windows that reduce infrared and ultraviolet light coming into the home; and
• Energy Star® appliances that reduce energy consumption.
In addition, our home design and engineering work optimizes efficiency of building materials and reduces construction waste.
We also believe in the value of clean energy from solar power, which is why we formed our own captive solar power company in 2013. In 2021, we sold our SunStreet solar operations to Sunnova Energy International, a leading national residential solar company, in exchange for stock in the company. We believe Sunnova will be better able than us at maximizing the potential of the SunStreet solar operations. We are also partnering with Sunnova for it to be our exclusive solar and battery storage provider, and we are working with Sunnova on the development of community solar microgrids.
Human Capital
Our associates are our most valuable asset, and we are committed to supporting each associate’s (i.e., employee's) unique career journey. We believe having an inclusive work environment, where everyone has a sense of belonging, not only drives engagement but fosters innovation, which is critical to driving growth. Our “Everyone’s Included” mantra anchors our unique culture. Our success starts and ends with having the best talent, and, as a result, we are focused on attracting, developing, engaging and retaining our associates. We understand the importance of balance, and offer associates a competitive and comprehensive benefits package, including paid parental leave and resources for whole-self well-being (physical, social, and financial).
We are committed to the health and safety of our associates and trade partners. During fiscal 2020 and continuing through fiscal 2021, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented additional safety protocols to protect our associates, trade partners and homebuyers, including protocols regarding social distancing, daily health checks and working remotely. Our experienced teams adapted quickly to the changes and have managed our business successfully during this challenging time. We are also committed to worker safety and regulatory compliance. Our worker safety metrics are measured and reviewed by our Board of Directors so we can ensure that we are successfully managing and improving our safety program.
Although we subcontract the land development and construction aspects of our homebuilding activities, we are highly dependent on our skilled employees for critical aspects of what we do. That includes senior executives who are responsible for our operational strategies and for approving significant land acquisitions and other major investments we make. It also includes the people who head our homebuilding divisions and non-homebuilding segments. And it includes the many people who are involved in design, construction oversight, marketing and other aspects of our homebuilding business and in carrying out our other activities.
At November 30, 2021, we employed 10,753 individuals of whom 8,323 were involved in the Homebuilding operations, 1,688 were involved in the Financial Services operations and 742 were involved in the Multifamily operations, compared to November 30, 2020, when we employed 9,495 individuals of whom 7,309 were involved in the Homebuilding operations, 1,545 were involved in the Financial Services operations and 641 were involved in the Multifamily operations. We do not have collective bargaining agreements relating to any of our associates. However, we subcontract many phases of our homebuilding operations and some of the subcontractors we use have employees who are represented by labor unions.
We have policies that prohibit us from discriminating in employment opportunities on the basis of race or gender, and we take active steps to afford employment opportunities to under-represented ethnic groups.
NYSE Certification
On April 8, 2021, we submitted our Annual CEO Certification to the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") in accordance with NYSE's listing standards. The certification was not qualified in any respect.
Available Information
This Report on Form 10-K and all other reports and amendments we file with or furnish to the SEC are publicly available free of charge on the investor relations section of the Lennar website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such materials with, or furnish them to, the SEC. Our website is www.lennar.com. We caution you that the information on our website is not part of this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This annual report on Form 10-K contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements concern expectations, beliefs, projections, plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements typically include the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “objective,” “plan,” “predict,” “projection,” “seek,” “strategy,” “target,” “will” or other words of similar meaning. Some of them are opinions formed based upon general observations, anecdotal evidence and industry experience, but that are not supported by specific investigation or analysis.
These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We wish to caution readers that certain important factors may have affected and could in the future affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ significantly from what is anticipated by our forward-looking statements. The most important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the potential negative impact to our business of the ongoing coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the duration, impact and severity of which is highly uncertain; continuation of supply shortages and increased costs related to construction materials and labor; cost increases related to real estate taxes and insurance; reduced availability of mortgage financing, increased interest rates and increased competition in the mortgage industry; reductions in the market value of our investments in public companies; an extended slowdown in the real estate markets across the nation, including a slowdown in either the market for single family homes or the multifamily rental market; our inability to successfully execute our strategies, including our land lighter strategy and our strategy to monetize non-core assets; changes in general economic and financial conditions that reduce demand for our products and services, lower our profit margins or reduce our access to credit; our inability to acquire land at anticipated prices; the possibility that we will incur nonrecurring costs that affect earnings in one or more reporting periods; decreased demand for our homes or Multifamily rental properties; the possibility that the benefit from our increasing use of technology will not justify its cost; increased competition for home sales from other sellers of new and resale homes; our inability to pay down debt; government actions or other factors that might force us to terminate our program of repurchasing our stock; a decline in the value of our land inventories and resulting write-downs of the carrying value of our real estate assets; the failure of the participants in various joint ventures to honor their commitments; difficulty obtaining land-use entitlements or construction financing; natural disasters and other unforeseen events for which our insurance does not provide adequate coverage; new laws or regulatory changes that adversely affect the profitability of our businesses; our inability to refinance our debt on terms that are as favorable as our current arrangements; and changes in accounting conventions that adversely affect our reported earnings.
Please see "Item 1A-Risk Factors" of this Annual Report for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties which could affect our future results. We undertake no obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of those statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, except to the extent we are legally required to disclose certain matters in SEC filings or otherwise.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The following are what we believe to be the principal risks that could materially affect us and our businesses.
Market and Economic Risks
Demand for homes we build may be adversely affected by a variety of macroeconomic factors beyond our control.
Demand for our homes is dependent on a variety of macroeconomic factors, such as employment levels, interest rates, changes in stock market valuations, consumer confidence, housing demand, availability of financing for home buyers, availability and prices of new homes compared to existing inventory, and demographic trends. These factors, in particular consumer confidence, can be significantly adversely affected by a variety of factors beyond our control.
Negative publicity could negatively impact our reputation, which could cause our revenues or results of operations to decline.
Our business success is dependent upon the reputation of the Lennar brand and its association with quality and integrity. If we are unable to maintain the position of the Lennar brand, our business may be adversely affected, which could result in lower sales and earnings. Unfavorable media or investor and analyst reports related to our industry, company, brand, marketing, personnel, operations, business performance, or prospects may affect our stock price and the performance of our business, regardless of its accuracy or inaccuracy. Furthermore, the speed at which negative publicity is disseminated has
increased dramatically through the use of electronic communication, including social media outlets, websites and other digital platforms. Our success in maintaining and enhancing our brand depends on our ability to adapt to this rapidly changing media environment. Adverse publicity or negative commentary from media outlets could damage our reputation and reduce the demand for our homes, which would adversely affect our business.
An announced spin off of some of our businesses may not achieve its goals.
We have announced our intention to transfer some of our non-core businesses into a newly formed company and to distribute at least most of the stock of that company to our stockholders. Our hope is that doing that will result in the combined market value of our stock and the stock of the new company exceeding what the market value of our stock would be if we continued to conduct the businesses that we will transfer to the new company. However, there is no assurance that that will occur. Among other things, making the new company a self-standing entity will lose some synergies the businesses it will own currently benefit from. Therefore, it is possible that after the separation, the combined market value of our stock and the stock of the new company will be less, not more, than what the market value of our stock would be if we did not move some of our non-core businesses into a new company
Our business strategies for our homebuilding and mortgage finance businesses may not increase our value.
We cannot assure you that our strategies for our core homebuilding and mortgage finance businesses, and any related initiatives or actions, will be successful. Principal among our current strategies is continuing to reduce our inventory of land we own (i.e., to become a land lighter company). We cannot provide any assurance that this strategy, or other strategies we will follow, will increase our value. It is possible that the land lighter or other strategies will reduce, rather than increase, the value and profitability of our core businesses.
A downturn in the homebuilding market could adversely affect our operations.
We saw the homebuilding industry stall from mid-March through April of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after that, demand for new homes grew steadily through the remainder of 2020 and throughout 2021. While the homebuilding industry only paused for a relatively brief period in 2020, a prior economic downturn in 2007-2010 severely affected for more than two years both the number of homes we could sell and the prices for which we could sell them. That required us to write down the carrying value of our land inventory and write off costs of land purchase options. It is possible that another downturn resulting from a health pandemic or other factors would result in a decline in demand for new homes for a significant period which would negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Supply shortages and continuing cost increases could adversely affect our operations.
During fiscal 2021, we experienced a significantly stressed supply of both labor and materials, and we expect this to continue well into fiscal 2022. The time it takes to build a home has increased as a result of supply issues, which has led to delayed home deliveries. In addition, the costs of construction materials and other components of homes, lumber in particular, and the costs of labor have been rising. We have been actively managing our sales pace so we do not sell homes until construction is ready to start, in order to avoid the possibility of costs increasing after we have committed to the prices at which we will sell homes. While we will continue to focus on cost controls, we may not be able to maintain our current level of direct construction costs as a percentage of average sales price. We continue to operate in a labor constrained market and we cannot predict future inflationary pressures or increases in tariffs on imported building materials. Any inability to pass on future increased costs to homebuyers would put downward pressure on our operating margins in 2022 and subsequent years.
An increase in mortgage interest rates could reduce potential buyers’ ability or desire to obtain financing with which to buy homes.
Mortgage rates are very low as compared to most historical periods. However, they could increase in the future, particularly if the Federal Reserve Board raises its benchmark rate. When interest rates increase, the cost of owning a new home increases, which usually reduces the number of potential buyers who can afford, or are willing, to purchase homes we build.
A decline in prices of new homes could require us to write down the carrying value of land we own and to write off option costs.
We are constantly purchasing land, or entering into arrangements to purchase land, for use in our homebuilding operations. The value of land suitable for residential development fluctuates depending on local and national market conditions and other factors that affect demand for new homes. When demand for homes fell during the 2007-2010 recession, we were required to take significant write-downs of the carrying value of our land inventory and we elected not to exercise many options to purchase land, which required us to forfeit deposits and write-off pre-acquisition costs. Although we have reduced our exposure to costs of that type, a certain amount of exposure is inherent in our homebuilding business. If market conditions were to deteriorate significantly in the future, we could again be required to make significant write-downs of the carrying value of our land inventory and costs relating to land purchase options.
Our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected by public health issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting governmental actions.
The United States has experienced, and may experience in the future, outbreaks of contagious diseases that affect public health and public perception of health risk. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the shutdown of large portions of our national economy. With the exception of a period in March and April of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the economy has not adversely affected our home sales. However, this may not continue to be the case. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our results will depend on future developments, which cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the continuing severity of COVID-19, whether there are additional outbreaks of COVID-19 or other contagious diseases, and the actions taken to contain them or their impact. If COVID-19 continues to cause, or another contagious disease causes, significant negative impacts to economic conditions or consumer confidence, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely impacted.
Operational Risks
Homebuilding, mortgage lending and multifamily rentals are very competitive industries, and competitive conditions could adversely affect our business or financial results.
Homebuilding. The homebuilding industry is highly competitive. Homebuilders compete not only for homebuyers, but also for desirable land, financing, raw materials, skilled management and labor resources. We compete in each of our markets with numerous national, regional and local homebuilders. We also compete with sellers of existing homes, including foreclosed homes, and with rental housing. These competitive conditions can reduce the number of homes we deliver, negatively impact our selling prices, reduce our profit margins, and cause impairments in the value of our inventory or other assets. Competition can also affect our ability to acquire suitable land, raw materials and skilled labor at acceptable prices or other terms.
Financial Services. Our Financial Services residential and commercial lending businesses compete with other residential and commercial mortgage lenders, including national, regional and local banks and other financial institutions. Mortgage lenders who have greater access to low cost funds, superior technologies or different lending criteria than we do may be able to offer more attractive financing to potential customers than we can.
Multifamily. Our multifamily rental business competes with other multifamily apartment developers and operators at locations across the U.S. where we have investments in multifamily rental properties. We also compete in securing partners, equity capital and debt financing, and we compete for tenants with the large supply of already existing or newly built rental apartments, as well as with sellers of homes. These competitive conditions could negatively impact the ability of the ventures in which we are participating to find renters for the apartments they are building or the prices for which those apartments can be rented.
We may be subject to costs of warranty and liability claims in excess of the insurance coverage we can purchase.
As a homebuilder, we are subject in the ordinary course of our business to warranty and construction defect claims. We are also subject to claims for injuries that occur in the course of construction activities. We record warranty and other reserves for the homes we sell based on historical experience in our markets and our judgment of the qualitative risks associated with the types of homes we build. We have, and many of our subcontractors have, general liability, property, workers' compensation and other business insurance. These insurance policies are intended to protect us against risk of loss from claims, subject to self-insured retentions, deductibles and coverage limits. However, it is possible that this insurance will not be adequate to address all warranty, construction defect and liability claims to which we are subject.
Additionally, the cost of insurance has increased significantly in recent years. Also, the coverage offered and the availability of general liability insurance for construction defects are currently limited and policies that can be obtained often include exclusions based upon past losses those insurers suffered as a result of use of defective products in homes we and many other homebuilders built. As a result, an increasing number of our subcontractors are unable to obtain insurance, and we have in many cases had to waive our customary insurance requirements, which increases our and our insurers’ exposure to claims and increases the possibility that our insurance will not be adequate to protect us against all the costs we incur. This increase in cost and limitation in coverage has also increased our self-insured retentions and decreased our total coverage. It is possible in the future that insurance would not be available at commercially reasonable rates, which may cause us to reduce or eliminate general liability insurance.
Excessive Health and safety incidents relating to our operations could be costly to us.
Land development and construction are inherently dangerous. While safety is a priority on our land development and construction sites, we cannot always control the way work is performed by subcontractors, including whether they comply with laws and regulations designed to maximize the safety of construction workers. Any failure in health and safety performance may result in penalties for non-compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, may result in our subcontractors having difficulty attracting the workers they need and may result in a negative impact to our reputation.
Products supplied to us and work done by subcontractors can expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business.
We rely on subcontractors to perform the actual construction of our homes, and in many cases, to select and obtain building materials. Despite our detailed specifications and quality control procedures, in some cases, subcontractors may use improper construction processes or defective materials. Defective products widely used by the homebuilding industry can result in the need to perform extensive repairs to large numbers of homes. The cost of complying with our warranty obligations may be significant if we are unable to recover the cost of repairs from subcontractors, materials suppliers and insurers.
We also can suffer damage to our reputation, and may be exposed to possible liability, if subcontractors fail to comply with applicable laws, including laws involving things that are not within our control. When we learn about possibly improper practices by subcontractors, we try to cause the subcontractors to discontinue them. However, we may not always be able to do that, and even when we can, it may not avoid claims against us relating to work the subcontractors already performed.
A reduced number of home sales would extend the time it takes us to recover land purchase and property development costs.
We incur many costs even before we begin to build homes in a community. Depending on the stage of development a land parcel is in when we acquire it, these may include costs of preparing land, finishing and entitling lots, installing roads, sewers, water systems and other utilities, and taxes and other costs related to ownership of the land on which we plan to build homes. If the rate at which we sell and deliver homes slows, or if we delay the opening of new home communities, we may incur additional pre-construction costs and it may take longer for us to recover our costs.
Increased interest rates would increase the cost of the homes we build.
Our business requires us to finance much of the cost of developing our residential communities. One of the ways we do this is with bank borrowings. At November 30, 2021, we had a $2.5 billion revolving credit facility with a group of banks
(the "Credit Facility") maturing in 2024. It has a $300 million accordion feature, subject to additional commitments, thus the maximum borrowings could be $2.8 billion. We also had warehouse borrowing facilities totaling $2.3 billion to support our mortgage lending activities. The interest on borrowings under the Credit Facility is at rates based on prevailing short term rates from time to time. At November 30, 2021, we had no borrowings under the Credit Facility. However, if in the future we have a need for significant borrowings under the Credit Facility and interest rates increase, that would increase the cost of the homes we build, which either would make those homes more expensive for homebuyers, which is likely to reduce demand, or would lower our operating margins, or both.
Increases in the rate of cancellations of home sale agreements could have an adverse effect on our business.
Our backlog reflects agreements of sale with our homebuyers for homes that have not yet been delivered. We usually have received a deposit from our home buyer for each home reflected in our backlog, and generally we have the right to retain the deposit if the homebuyer does not complete the purchase. In some cases, however, a homebuyer may cancel the agreement of sale and receive a complete or partial refund of the deposit for reasons such as state and local laws, the homebuyer’s inability to obtain mortgage financing, their inability to sell their current home or our inability to complete and deliver the home within the specified time. If there is a downturn in the housing market, or if mortgage financing becomes less available than it currently is, more homebuyers may cancel their agreements of sale with us, which would have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our success to a substantial extent depends on our ability to acquire land that is suitable for residential homebuilding and meets our land investment criteria.
There is strong competition among homebuilders for land that is suitable for residential development. The future availability of finished and partially finished developed lots and undeveloped land that meet our internal criteria depends on a number of factors outside our control, including land availability in general, competition with other homebuilders and land buyers for desirable property, inflation in land prices, zoning, allowable housing density, and other regulatory requirements. Should suitable lots or land become less available, the number of homes we could build and sell could be reduced, and the cost of land could be increased, perhaps substantially, which could adversely impact our results of operations.
We could be hurt by refusals of owners of land to honor options or contracts to sell the land to us.
We have made a strategic decision to increase the portion of our potential land inventory that we control through options or contracts and reduce the portion we own. This substantially reduces our investment in land. However, if landowners who are parties to the options or contracts were to refuse to honor them, we could lose access to land at the time we want to use it in our homebuilding activities.
The loss of the services of members of our senior management or a significant number of our operating employees could negatively affect our business.
Our success depends to a significant extent upon the performance and active participation of our senior management, many of whom have been with us for 20 or more years. If we were to lose members of our senior management, we might not be
able to find appropriate replacements on a timely basis and our operations could be negatively affected. Also, the loss of a significant number of operating employees and our inability to hire qualified replacements could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Natural disasters and severe weather conditions could delay deliveries and increase costs of new homes in affected areas, which could harm our sales and results of operations.
Many of our homebuilding operations are conducted in areas that are subject to natural disasters, including hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, floods, wildfires and severe weather. The occurrence of natural disasters or severe weather conditions can delay new home deliveries, increase costs by damaging inventories and lead to shortages of labor and materials in areas affected by the disasters, and can negatively impact the demand for new homes in affected areas. Our insurance may not cover business interruptions or losses resulting from these events and our results of operations could be adversely affected by these events.
If our homebuyers are not able to obtain suitable financing, that would reduce demand for our homes and our home sales revenues.
Most purchasers of our homes obtain mortgage loans to finance a substantial portion of the purchase price of the homes they purchase. While the majority of our homebuyers obtain their mortgage financing from our Financial Services segment, others obtain mortgage financing from banks and other independent lenders. Disruptions in the mortgage markets and increased government regulation could adversely affect the ability of potential homebuyers to obtain financing for home purchases, making it difficult for them to purchase our homes. Among other things, changes made by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and FHA/VA to sponsored mortgage programs, as well as changes made in recent years by private mortgage insurance companies, have reduced the ability of a number of potential homebuyers to qualify for mortgages. Principal among these are higher income requirements, larger required down payments, increased reserves and higher required credit scores. In addition, there has been uncertainty regarding the future of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, including proposals that they reduce or terminate their role as the principal sources of liquidity in the secondary market for mortgage loans. It is not clear how, if Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae were to curtail their secondary market mortgage loan purchases, the liquidity they provide would be replaced. There is a substantial possibility that substituting an alternate source of liquidity would increase mortgage interest rates, which would increase the buyers' effective costs of paying for the homes we sell, and therefore could reduce demand for our homes and adversely affect our results of operations.
Our Financial Services segment can be adversely affected by reduced demand for our homes.
Approximately 97% of the residential mortgage loans made by our Financial Services segment in 2021 were made to buyers of homes we built. Therefore, a decrease in the demand for our homes would adversely affect the revenues of this aspect of our business.
If our ability to sell mortgages into the secondary market is impaired, that could significantly reduce our ability to sell homes unless we are willing to become a long-term investor in loans we originate.
Substantially all of the residential mortgage loans we originate are sold within a short period in the secondary mortgage market on a servicing released, non-recourse basis. If we became unable to sell residential mortgage loans into the secondary mortgage market or directly to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, we would have to either curtail our origination of residential mortgage loans, which among other things, could significantly reduce our ability to sell homes, or commit our own funds to long term investments in mortgage loans, which, in addition to requiring us to deploy substantial amounts of our own funds, could delay the time when we recognize revenues from home sales on our statements of operations.
We may be liable for certain limited representations and warranties we make in connection with the sale of loans.
While substantially all of the residential mortgage loans we originate are sold within a short period in the secondary mortgage market on a servicing released, non-recourse basis, we remain responsible for certain industry standard limited representations and warranties we make in connection with such sales. Mortgage investors sometimes seek to have us buy back mortgage loans or compensate them for losses incurred on mortgage loans that we have sold based on claims that we breached our limited representations and warranties. In addition, when LMF Commercial sells loans to securitization trusts or other purchasers, it gives limited industry standard representations and warranties about the loans, which, if incorrect, may require it to repurchase the loans, replace them with substitute loans or indemnify persons for losses or expenses incurred as a result of breaches of representations and warranties. If we have significant liabilities with respect to such claims, it could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, and possibly our financial condition.
Financing Risks
Failure to comply with the covenants and conditions imposed by our borrowing facilities could restrict future borrowing or cause our debt to become immediately due and payable.
The agreement governing our Credit Facility (the "Credit Agreement") makes it a default if we fail to pay principal or interest when it is due (subject in some instances to grace periods) or to comply with various covenants, including covenants regarding financial ratios. In addition, our Financial Services residential mortgage companies have warehouse facilities to finance their mortgage lending activities and our LMF Commercial lending group has warehouse facilities to finance its mortgage origination activities. If we default under the Credit Agreement or our warehouse facilities, the lenders will have the right to terminate their commitments to lend and to require immediate repayment of all outstanding borrowings. This could reduce our available funds at a time when we are having difficulty generating all the funds we need from our operations, in capital markets or otherwise, and restrict our ability to obtain financing in the future. In addition, if we default under the Credit Agreement or our warehouse facilities, it could cause the amounts outstanding under our senior notes to become immediately due and payable, which would seriously adversely impact our consolidated financial condition.
We have a substantial level of indebtedness, which may have an adverse effect on our business or limit our ability to take advantage of business, strategic or financing opportunities.
As of November 30, 2021, we had outstanding senior notes which we had sold into the capital markets over a number of years totaling $4.2 billion. The indentures governing our senior notes do not restrict our incurrence of future secured or unsecured debt, and the agreement governing our Credit Facility allows us to incur a substantial amount of future unsecured debt. We reduced our outstanding senior notes during fiscal 2021 by $1.2 billion, but we still have a significant amount outstanding. Sales of senior debt into the capital markets has, until recently, been a significant source of funding for our operations and acquisitions. Our use of capital markets debt to help support our operations exposes us to a number of risks, including:
•we may be more vulnerable to general adverse economic and homebuilding industry conditions;
•we may have to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing indebtedness if interest rates rise, thereby reducing our earnings and cash flows;
•we may find it difficult, or may be unable, to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate requirements that would be in our best long-term interests;
•we may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on our debt, reducing the cash flow available to fund operations and investments and reducing the amount we can return to our stockholders;
•we may have reduced flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our businesses or the industries in which they are conducted;
•[we may have a competitive disadvantage relative to other companies in our industry that are less leveraged]; and
•we may be required to sell debt or equity securities or sell some of our core assets, possibly on unfavorable terms, in order to meet payment obligations.
Our access to capital and our ability to obtain additional financing could be affected by any downgrade of our credit ratings.
Our corporate credit rating and ratings of our senior notes affect, among other things, our ability to access new capital, especially debt, and the costs of that new capital. For a number of years, a substantial portion of our access to capital has been through the issuance of senior notes, of which we have approximately $4.2 billion outstanding, net of debt issuance costs, as of November 30, 2021. Among other things, we have often relied on proceeds of debt issuances to pay the principal of existing senior notes when they mature. Negative changes in the ratings of our senior notes could make it difficult for us to sell senior notes in the future and could result in more stringent covenants and higher interest rates with regard to new senior notes we issue.
Our Financial Services segment, including LMF Commercial, has warehouse facilities that mature in fiscal year 2022, and if we could not renew or replace these facilities, we probably would have to reduce our mortgage lending and origination activities.
During fiscal year 2022, we will have to replace or renew a total of $2.9 billion of warehouse lines used by Financial Services, including LMF Commercial, as they mature. We expect these facilities to be renewed or replaced with other facilities when they mature. If we were unable to renew or replace these facilities on favorable terms or at all when they mature, that could seriously impede the activities of our Financial Services segment, which would have a material adverse impact on our financial results.
An inability to obtain performance bonds or post letters of credit could adversely affect our operations.
We often are required to provide surety bonds to secure our performance of obligations under construction contracts, development agreements and other arrangements. At November 30, 2021, we had outstanding surety bonds of $3.6 billion including performance surety bonds related to site improvements at various projects (including certain projects of our joint ventures) and financial surety bonds. Although significant development and construction activities have been completed related to these site improvements, these bonds are generally not released until all development and construction activities to which they relate are completed. Our ability to obtain surety bonds primarily depends upon our credit rating, financial condition, past performance and similar factors, the capacity of the surety market and the underwriting practices of surety bond issuers. Our ability to obtain surety bonds also can be impacted by the willingness of insurance companies to issue performance bonds for construction and development activities. If we were unable to obtain surety bonds when required, our operations could be adversely affected.
We conduct some of our operations through joint ventures with independent third parties and we can be adversely impacted by our joint venture partners' failures to fulfill their obligations or decisions to act contrary to our wishes.
In our Homebuilding and Multifamily segments, we participate in joint ventures in order to help us acquire attractive land positions, to manage our risk profile and to leverage our capital base. In certain circumstances, joint venture participants, including us, are required to provide guarantees of obligations relating to the joint ventures, such as completion and environmental guarantees. If a joint venture partner does not perform its obligations, we may be required to bear more than our proportional share of the cost of fulfilling the joint venture’s obligations. For example, in connection with our Multifamily business, and its joint ventures, we and the other venture participants have guaranteed obligations to complete construction of multifamily residential buildings at agreed upon costs, which could make us and the other venture participants responsible for cost over-runs. Although all the participants in a venture are normally responsible for sharing the costs of fulfilling obligations of that type, if some of the venture participants are unable or unwilling to meet their share of the obligations, we may be held responsible for some or all of the defaulted payments. In addition, because we do not have a controlling interest in most of the joint ventures in which we participate, we may not be able to cause joint ventures to sell assets, return invested capital or take other actions when such actions might be in our best interest.
Several of the joint ventures in which we participate will in the relatively near future be required to repay, refinance, renegotiate or extend their borrowings. If any of those joint ventures are unable to do this, we could be required to provide at least a portion of the funds the joint ventures need to be able to repay the borrowings and to finance the activities for which they were incurred, which could adversely impact our financial position.
Regulatory Risks
Changes in U.S. trade policies and retaliatory responses from other countries may substantially increase the costs or limit supplies of building materials and products used in our homes.
During the past several years, the U.S. government has imposed new, or increased existing, tariffs on an array of imported materials and products that are used in the homes we build, including lumber, steel, aluminum, solar panels and washing machines, which increases the costs of those items. The tariffs that have been imposed or increased have impacted our construction costs and caused disruptions in our supply chains, and new or increased tariffs could result in further cost increases. These cost increases will either require us to increase prices or negatively impact our profit margins. New or increased tariffs could also negatively affect U.S. national or regional economies, which could affect the demand for the homes we build.
We may be adversely impacted by legal and regulatory changes.
We are subject with regard to almost all of our activities to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations. Laws and regulations, and policies under or interpretations of existing laws and regulations, change frequently. Our businesses could be adversely affected by changes in laws, regulations, policies or interpretations or by our inability to comply with them without making significant changes in our businesses.
Governmental regulations regarding land use and environmental matters could increase the cost and limit the availability of our development and homebuilding projects and adversely affect our business or financial results.
We are subject to extensive and complex laws and regulations that affect land development, homebuilding and apartment development processes, including laws and regulations related to zoning, permitted land uses, levels of density, building design, elevation of properties, water and waste disposal and use of open spaces. These regulations often provide broad discretion to the administering governmental authorities as to the conditions that must be met prior to development or construction being approved, if they are approved at all. We are also subject to determinations by governmental authorities as to the adequacy of water or sewage facilities, roads and other local services with regard to particular residential communities. New housing developments may also be subject to various assessments for schools, parks, streets and other public improvements. In
addition, in many markets government authorities have implemented no growth or growth control initiatives. Any of these can limit, delay, or increase the costs of land development or home construction. Government restrictions, standards, or regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or potential climate change impacts are likely to result in restrictions on land development in certain areas and may increase energy, transportation, or raw material costs, which could reduce our profit margins and adversely affect our results of operations. This is a particular concern in the western United States, where some of the most extensive and stringent environmental laws and residential building construction standards in the country have been enacted, and where we have substantial homebuilding and multifamily operations.
We are also subject to a variety of local, state and federal laws and regulations concerning protection of the environment. In some of the markets where we operate, we are required by law to pay environmental impact fees, use energy-saving construction materials and give commitments to municipalities to provide infrastructure such as roads and sewage systems. We generally are required to obtain permits, entitlements and approvals from local authorities to commence and carry out residential development or home construction. These permits, entitlements and approvals sometimes are opposed or challenged by local governments, environmental advocacy groups, neighboring property owners or other possibly interested parties, adding delays, costs and risks of non-approval to the process. Violations of environmental laws and regulations can result in injunctions, civil penalties, remediation expenses, and other costs. In addition, some environmental laws impose strict liability, which means that we may be held liable for unlawful environmental conditions on property we own which we did not create.
We are also subject to laws and regulations related to workers' health and safety, and there are efforts to subject homebuilders like us to other labor related laws or rules, some of which may make us responsible for things done by our subcontractors over which we have little or no control.
In addition, our residential mortgage subsidiary is subject to various state and federal statutes, rules and regulations, including those that relate to lending operations and other areas of mortgage origination and loan servicing. The impact of those statutes, rules and regulations can increase our homebuyers’ costs of financing, and our cost of doing business, as well as restricting our homebuyers’ access to some types of loans.
Our obligation to comply with the laws and regulations under which we operate, and our need to ensure that our associates, subcontractors and other agents comply with these laws and regulations, could result in delays in construction and land development, cause us to incur substantial costs and prohibit or restrict land development and homebuilding activity in certain areas in which we operate. Budget reductions by state and local governmental agencies may increase the time it takes to obtain required approvals and therefore may aggravate the delays we encounter. Shutdowns of government offices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have further delayed the time it is taking to obtain required approvals. Government agencies also routinely initiate audits, reviews or investigations of our business practices to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, which can cause us to incur costs or create other disruptions in our businesses that can be significant.
We can be injured by improper acts of persons over whom we do not have control.
Although we expect all of our associates (i.e., employees), officers and directors to comply at all times with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, there may be instances in which subcontractors or others through whom we do business engage in practices that do not comply with applicable laws, regulations or governmental guidelines. When we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws or regulations, including practices relating to homes, buildings or multifamily rental properties we build or finance, we move actively to stop the non-complying practices as soon as possible and we have taken disciplinary action with regard to associates of ours who were aware of non-complying practices and did not take steps to address them, including in some instances terminating their employment. However, regardless of the steps we take after we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws or regulations, we can in some instances be subject to fines or other governmental penalties, and our reputation can be injured, due to the practices having taken place.
We could be held responsible for obligations of, and labor law violations by, our subcontractors and other contract parties.
The homes we sell are built by employees of subcontractors and other contract parties. We do not have the ability to control what these contract parties pay their employees or the work rules they impose on their employees. However, various governmental agencies have sought, and in the future may seek, to hold contract parties like us responsible for violations of wage and hour laws, workers’ compensation and other work-related laws by firms whose employees are performing contracted for services. While the future of joint employer liability remains uncertain, if we were deemed to be a joint employer of our subcontractors’ employees, we could become responsible for collective bargaining obligations of, and labor law violations by, our subcontractors. Governmental rulings that make us responsible for labor practices by our subcontractors could create substantial exposures for us in situations that are not within our control.
Other Risks
We have substantial investments in real estate related businesses in which we are a minority investor.
We have investments in funds and other investment vehicles managed by Rialto Capital Management, a company we sold in November 2018, investments in a number of companies that are applying technology to various aspects of building and marketing homes and real estate related aspects of the financial services industry, and investments in FivePoint Holdings, a publicly traded company that has ownership interests in, and is managing the development of, three large multi-use master planned communities in California. As a minority investor, we have limited influence over decisions made with regard to these funds and businesses. However, we could suffer significant losses of our investments as a result of decisions that are made by the funds and businesses.
Our results of operations could be adversely affected if legal claims against us are not resolved in our favor.
In the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to legal claims by homebuyers, borrowers against whom we have instituted foreclosure proceedings, persons with whom we have land purchase contracts and a variety of other claimants. We establish reserves against legal claims and we believe that, in general, the outcome of legal claims will not have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition. However, if the amounts we are required to pay as a result of claims against us substantially exceed the sums anticipated by our reserves, the need to pay those amounts could have an adverse effect on our results of operations for the periods when we are required to make the payments.
Information technology failures and data security breaches could harm our business.
We rely extensively on information technology ("IT") systems, including Internet sites, data hosting facilities and other hardware and software platforms, some of which are hosted by third parties, to assist in conducting our businesses. Our IT systems, like those of most companies, may be vulnerable to a variety of disruptions, including, but not limited to, those caused by natural disasters, telecommunications failures, hackers, and other security issues. Moreover, our computer systems, like those of most companies, are subject to the possibility of computer viruses or other malicious codes, and to cyber or phishing-attacks. We have installed and continually upgrade an array of protections against cyber intrusions. The risk of cyber intrusion is one of the areas of risk as to which there are regular periodic presentations to our Board. However, cyber intrusion efforts are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and it is possible that the controls we have installed could at some time be breached in a material respect. Further, there has been a surge in widespread cyber-attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in the frequency and scope of cyber-attacks during the pandemic exacerbates data security risks. Our increased use of remote work environments and virtual platforms in response to COVID-19 may also increase our risk of cyber-attack or data security breaches. While, to date, we have not had a significant cybersecurity breach or attack that had a material impact on our business or results of operations, if we were to be subject to a material successful cyber intrusion, that could result in remediation or service restoration costs, increased cyber protection costs, lost revenues or loss of customers, litigation or regulatory actions by governmental authorities, increased insurance premiums, reputational damage and damage to our competitiveness, our stock price and our long-term stockholder value.
Failure to maintain the security of personally identifiable information could adversely affect us.
In connection with our business we collect and retain personally identifiable information (e.g., information regarding our customers, suppliers and employees), and there is an expectation that we will adequately protect that information. The U.S. regulatory environment surrounding information security and privacy is increasingly demanding. A significant theft, loss or fraudulent use of the personally identifiable information we maintain, or of our data, by cyber-criminals or otherwise could adversely impact our reputation and could result in significant costs, fines and litigation.
International activities subject us to risks inherent in international operations.
While there has been a pause as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, we historically have sold significant numbers of homes in communities in the United States to people who are not residents of the United States, and some large investors in our multifamily development and single-family rental ventures are located outside the United States. Dealings with people or institutions located outside the United States create risks related to currencies and to political affairs in various countries. In some instances, the government may review the possible effects of investments by non-U.S. entities on U.S. national security. We must also be careful to comply with U.S. anti-corruption laws. Also, we have to be aware of tax issues involved in doing business outside the United States or with people who are not residents of the United States, both under U.S. tax laws and under the tax laws of the countries in which we do business.
We experience variability in our operating results on a quarterly basis.
Our homebuilding business is seasonal in nature and generally reflects higher levels of new home order activity in our second fiscal quarter and increased deliveries in the second half of our fiscal year. However, a variety of factors, such as the shutdown of large portions of our national economy in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, can change seasonal patterns. Our quarterly results of operations may continue to fluctuate in the future as a result of a variety of
factors, including, among others, seasonal home buying patterns, the timing of home closings and land sales and weather-related problems.
We could suffer significant losses if there are reductions in the market value of our investments in publicly traded companies.
We have made investments in companies that are engaged in applying technology to improve the homebuilding industry and real estate related aspects of the financial services industry. Our investments in Opendoor Technologies, Inc. ("Opendoor"), Sunnova, Hippo Holdings, Inc. ("Hippo"), SmartRent, Inc. ("SmartRent") and Blend Labs, Inc. ("Blend") are carried on our books at their fair values, which will change depending on the value of the Company’s share holdings on the last day of each quarter. As a result, the Company’s net earnings could be significantly affected by mark to market gains or losses on the Company’s investments.
Changes in global or regional environmental conditions and governmental actions in response to such changes may adversely affect us by increasing the costs of or restricting our planned or future growth activities.
There is growing concern from many members of the scientific community and the general public that an increase in global average temperatures due to emissions of greenhouse gases and other human activities have caused, or will cause, significant changes in weather patterns and increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Government mandates, standards or regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or projected climate change impacts have resulted, and are likely to continue to result, in restrictions on land development in certain areas and increased energy, transportation and raw material costs. We have tried to reduce the effect of the homes we build on the climate by installing solar power systems and other energy saving devices in many of those homes. Nonetheless, governmental requirements directed at reducing effects on climate could cause us to incur expenses that we cannot recover or that will require us to increase the price of homes we sell to the point that it affects demand for those homes.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Stock
We have a stockholder who can exercise significant influence over matters that are brought to a vote of our stockholders.
Stuart Miller, our Executive Chairman, through family and personal holdings of Class B, and to a lesser extent Class A, common stock, has the power to cast approximately 35% of the votes that can be cast by the holders of all our outstanding Class A and Class B common stock combined. This gives Mr. Miller substantial influence regarding the election of our directors and the approval of most other matters that are presented to our stockholders. Mr. Miller's voting power might discourage someone from making a significant equity investment in us, even if we needed the investment to meet our obligations or to operate our business. Also, because of his voting power, Mr. Miller may be able to cause our stockholders to approve actions that are contrary to many of our other stockholders' desires.
The trading price of our Class B common stock has been substantially lower than that of our Class A common stock.
The only significant difference between our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock is that the Class B common stock entitles the holders to ten votes per share, while the Class A common stock entitles holders to only one vote per share. However, for many years, the trading price of the Class B common stock on the NYSE has been substantially lower than the NYSE trading price of our Class A common stock. We believe this is because only a relatively small number of shares of Class B common stock are available for trading, which reduces the liquidity of the market for our Class B common stock to a point where many large investors are reluctant to invest in it. The limited liquidity could make it difficult for a holder of even a relatively small number of shares of our Class B common stock to dispose of the stock without materially reducing the trading price of the Class B common stock.
General Risk Factors
The risk factors described above are those that we think may be material with regard to an investment in us that are not applicable generally to all business enterprises. However, we are subject to the many risks that affect all or most business enterprises in the United States or internationally, and our business or financial condition could be materially affected by those risks.