Full List of the "Imploded" Builders:

• 2009-02-19: John Laing Homes (WL Homes) - Southwest home builder - story story

  Word has been going around for weeks that John Laing Homes (johnlainghomes.com, owned by 161-year old parent WL Homes, itself a property of Dubai-based Emaar Properties, has been in trouble. Now it's official, WL Homes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (article).

  The company blamed its filing on the collapse of the real estate market, saying its sales last year had fallen by about half from 2007. The company listed assets of more than $1 billion and debt of $500 million to $1 billion in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

  "There has been a sharp fall in both the number of new homes sold in the United States, as well as the prices of new homes sold," Chief Restructuring Officer Bradley D. Sharp said in court papers.

  The California-based builder had been in the news on January 30 for having hired a restructuring consultant, laying off staff and shutting certain projects down.

  The company, which ranked as the 52^nd largest home builder in the country per builderonline.com made nearly a billion dollars in revenues in 2007, and closed on over 1,000 properties. By late 2008, however, the their revenues had fallen to only about $300 million on sales of some 560 homes.

  Further to the article at Bloomberg, the company cites assets of $1.3 bn and liabilities of $1.0 bn. If you have any further details on this bankruptcy filing, please comment below via our Builder Implode Forums or email us.

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• 2009-02-18: Pasquinelli Homes - midwest-centric residential builder - story story story

  Implode Writeup, 2009-02-18

  Pasquinelli has finally relented. According to BigBuilderOnline, they have now halted building and are in negotiations with lenders.

  Privately held Pasquinelli was listed the nation's 24th-largest builder on Builder's 2007 Builder 100 list with 2,974 closings in 2007, a drop of 21% from the previous year. Revenue was reported at $613 million, down from $825 million in 2006.

  Ailing Writeup, 2008-08-27

  We have been hearing rumblings about development foreclosures on Pasquinelli Homes, and noted this August 23rd Courier News article about one of them—Tuscany Woods Phase One, outside Chicago. From the article:

  Village Attorney Mark Schuster said Park National Bank of Oak Park has started "a foreclosure proceeding" in the 16th Circuit Court in Geneva, with the intention of taking over the development. He said a hearing was held Thursday and another has been scheduled for Sept. 19.

  Schuster said bank officials told him they have hired a builder to finish homes that already have been sold but not built, or that are partially finished.

  ...

  The court action applies only to Phase One, which consists of about half of the development's 409 acres and 342 of the total 540 homes and townhomes planned. Phase One had been owned by a corporation named Pasquinelli-Tuscany Woods LLC, a branch of the larger Pasquinelli organization.

  We've also heard rumors similar things are happening to Pasquinelli in Flordia, Texas, and South Carolina, to name a few. No confirmation on thos yet.

  We'll keep an eye on them—if you know anything, drop us a line.

  According to BuilderOnline, Pasquinelli closed 2,974 homes in 2007 and 3,781 in 2006, and is ranked #21 in their 2007 listings.

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• 2009-02-03: Ennis Homes - California home builder - story story

  Porterville, California-based Ennis Homes (ennishomes.com), one of the nation's top 200 home builders per builderonline.com and a company founded nearly four decades ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. CEO Brian Ennis cited the plummeting value of land as causing problems with bank financing. Per an article from fresnobee.com on the filing:

  Chief Executive Officer Brian Ennis said the company was selling houses, but its land holdings fell in value so far so fast that some banks stopped financing development.

  "When the land is collateral supporting a loan and the value drops by 50% or more, it's impossible to adjust to that in a short period of time," Ennis said in a statement.

  In one case, Ennis received a property appraisal in 2006 for $6.6 million, and within two years the value on the same land plunged by 55%.

  An article from ROI Sequoia Valley has more:

  "Although the market is challenging, selling homes is not our key issue," Ennis said. "Our key issue was some of our banks stopped lending money."

  Ennis said of its 12 home-building projects, three have been eliminated including Silver Oaks in Visalia and two other projects in Dinuba and Wasco. . . .

  Ennis said he had 54 contracts ready to start construction in June 2008 when one of its national lenders refused to loan the money to continue building the homes in the projects they financed.

  Ennis said the company works with about seven different lenders, but this particular unnamed lender, who he said received some of the government's bailout money, became difficult to deal with. The situation became the basis for the company's decision to file for protection.

  Two years ago Ennis Homes employed some 130 people. Today the company is down to 32 employees. According to builderonline.com, Ennis Homes built approximately 170 homes in both 2007 and 2006.

  If you have further information on this implosion listing, please let us know by emailing a tip or commenting below.

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• 2009-02-02: St. Lawrence Homes - North Carolina home builder - story story

  Raleigh, North Carolina-based St. Lawrence Homes has filed for Chapater 11 bankrupty protection per the following notice on their website:

  St. Lawrence Homes, Inc., a North Carolina based homebuilder with additional operations in Ohio, has announced that is has filed a Chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Raleigh, NC citing the national weakness of the residential construction and real estate markets. Additionally, the company has been challenged by the tightening of borrowing requirements placed upon it sources of operating credit. St. Lawrence Homes intends to continue its operations through this financial restructuring. St. Lawrence Homes expects to move quickly through the reorganization process and to emerge from its reorganization proceedings better capitalized and financially stronger.

  The News & Observer has published an article on the filing noting that St. Lawrence's filing lists $158 million in assets and $116 million in liabilities. More than 400 liens have been filed against properties owned by St. Lawrence as of December 2008 and the company has reduced employees from over 100 to 25. Regarding the size of St. Lawrence Homes' operations, the News & Observer notes:

  During the 12 months ending Sept. 30, St. Lawrence sold 183 homes throughout the Triangle -- down 27 percent from the same period a year earlier, Market Opportunity Research Enterprises data show.

  St. Lawrence was founded in the late 1980s. If you have any further information on this listing, please comment below or email us.

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• 2009-02-01: Windjammer Homes - Tampa-area high-end - story story

  Smallish Tampa-area luxury home builder Windjammer has succumed to the downturn. Says the first article linked above:

  Far from being an upstart in the business, president Robert Vause founded the company, based in New Port Richey, in the 1980s.

  Sales had been dwindling since peaking in 2006 at $31 million. In 2007, income had dropped to $19 million. Last year sales barely surpassed $7 million.

  Assuming $500k-$1mil per house, we get 30-60 homes closed per year at peak, which qualifies Windjammer as a "tiny" implode for this space.

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• 2009-01-28: Fulton Homes - AZ-based residential - story

  35-year old Fulton Homes, founded by businessman and philanthropist Ira Fulton, has had to file for Chapter 11 protection.

  Court documents show that Fulton Homes owes $100 million to $500 million to more than 100 individual creditors, including lead creditor Bank of America.

  The company's estimated assets are listed as $100 million to $500 million, the documents show.

  The company is scheduled to have its court-mandated meeting with creditors on March 3.

  As for volume:

  Fulton, like many Valley home builders, had a backlog of speculatively built homes from 2005 to '07. It has been aggressively trying to sell those homes and get contracts on new ones by lowering prices, market watchers say. But the builder had started few new homes recently.

  Fulton took out 61 single-family permits to build new Valley homes last year, said RL Brown, a housing-market analyst.

  The builder reported 428 closings or sales, so the numbers suggest that most of those sales came from Fulton's speculative inventory, built in past years.

  Obviously, things have slowed down to the present day -- so the builder likely had significantly more than 428 closings per year at peak.

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• 2009-01-26: Mercedes Homes - Nationwide home builder - story

  One of the largest home builders in the country (Ranked 20 in 2007 per builderonline.com), Mercedes Homes (mercedeshomes.com) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Florida-based builder:

  Mercedes Homes said it hopes to operate normally as it reorganizes. In a statement, the company said it "expects to move quickly through the reorganization process and to emerge from its reorganization proceedings better capitalized and financially stronger."

  The 25-year-old company employs approximately 400 people who sell, and construct, homes in more than 80 communities in Florida, Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina.

  Mercedes Homes closed over 4,200 homes in 2006 and 2,300 homes in 2007. The company seems to have fallen in the wake of the ongoing housing bust. If you have any more information on their listing, please comment below or email us.

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• 2009-01-17: Wall Homes - Texas home builder - story

  Texas-based home builder Wall Homes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to the Fort Worth Business Press. The home builder was featured recently on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, making them one more bankrupt star builder from the hit show. Per the article on the bankruptcy filing:

  In a prepared statement, company president Steve Wall said the decision to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy "should provide Wall Homes with the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet and develop an even more efficient expense structure. This will then position Wall Homes to compete more effectively as we pull out of the housing market downturn."

  The builder will continue to operate, finishing homes scheduled for closing.

  Regarding Wall Homes' size, the article notes:

  Today, Wall Homes sells homes in 50 neighborhoods in Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. According to the Fort Worth Business Press 2008 Book of Lists, Wall Homes ranked as the 12th largest homebuilder and developer in the area. The firm listed revenues of $25.6 million in 2007 with 140 full time employees. In May of 2007 Wall Homes purchased the local assets of Newmark Homes for an undisclosed price.

  We have classified Wall Homes as a "tiny" implosion. If you have any information on Wall Homes, please comment below or email us.

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• 2009-01-12: Tarragon Corp - Nationwide public home builder - story

  Nationwide condo/multifamily home builder Tarragon Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. Per a Jacksonville Business Journal article:

  The estimated number of creditors is between 5,001 and 10,000. Assets have been estimated at about $841 million and liabilities at about $1.035 billion, court records show.

  The three largest unsecured creditors are listed as New York-based Taberna Capital Management ($125.9 million), New Jersey-based AJD Construction Co. ($2.9 million) and Fort Lauderdale-based Omni Boys North Ltd. ($1.03 million).

  Per Tarragon's website (tarragonsite.com), Tarragon is headquartered in New York with offices in Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee and Texas. Their focus was on luxury high-rise towers and "currently has over 14,600 homes under active development and in its development pipeline."

  We do not know how many employees Tarragon's bankruptcy will affect. If you can provide any information on Tarragon, please comment below or email us.

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• 2009-01-08: John Vratsinas Commercial Builders - Nationwide Commercial Construction - story

  John Vratsinas Commercial Builders, A Des Moines, Iowa "nationwide commercial construction service provider, best known for our expertise and innovation in the field of retail construction," has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to the Des Moines Register. On the filing, the Register notes:

  John Vratsinas Commercial Builders Inc., which until last month did business as JVC Builders, filed papers listing $13.1 million in assets and $9.9 million in debts. The company listed nearly $11.2 million in accounts receivable.

  The company was founded in 2000 and had revenues of nearly $40 million in 2008. The company's namesake and CEO John Vratsinas blamed the closure on the general economic slowdown. Specifically, Vratsinas said, "Of the 10 worst-performing companies on the Standard and Poor's 500, four are clients of ours." Ouch!

  Though not a home builder, we're listing JVC Builders as a "tiny" implode — noteworthy even as it is tied to commercial construction.

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• 2009-01-13: Hacienda Builders - Phoenix-area residential - (no MSM story yet)

  A reader alerted us to the shutdown of Hacienda Builders the other day (we aren't exactly sure when they shut down; though we would assume in the last month or two). Their web site now displays the following message on the front page:

  Due to economic conditions Hacienda Builders has ceased day to day operations. If you are a Hacienda homeowner and wish to contact a subcontractor who has worked on your home, you may request subcontractor information by emailing subcontractor@haciendabuilders.com.

  The source describes them as "mid-sized" and estimates upwards of 500 completions a year at peak. Indeed, their Inc5000 page lists 2006 revenue as $210 million, assuming $300k per home, that would be over 700 closings that year.

  The company was founded in 1991 by fraternity brothers David Cohen and Todd Stevens, according to Inc.com. As of the writing of that page, Hacienda had 112 employees.

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• 2009-01-06: Classic Stellar Homes - Arizona Luxury Home Builder - (no MSM story yet)

  Phoenix, Arizona-based Classic Stellar Homes (website: classicstellarhomes.net filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection per notice 9B filed 1/06/09. Classic Stellar describes itself on their website:

  Truly, Classic Stellar is the genuine article. Building super energy-efficient luxury custom homes throughout the Phoenix Metro area since 1990, Classic Stellar Homes are built with a high degree of quality and old-world craftsmanship rarely found in homes today. Ken and Tom Dannenbaum and Steve Hedden, operators of Classic Stellar Homes, say the core of their success lies in the marriage of superior style and unmatched quality with unparalleled energy efficiency.

  Our anonymous tipster supplied the following information regarding Classic Stellar Homes:

  They only build ~50-70 custom and semi-custom homes per year. They are a small but high-end ($1M-$3Million) builder with a fantastic reputation for quality and energy efficient homes. They are a member of the Scottsdale Green Building Program and have been building homes since 1990.

  We are uncertain at this time how many employees will be affected by this filing. If you can provide any additional information regarding Classic Stellar, please comment below or email us.

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• 2009-01-06: Jim Walter Homes - Nationwide home builder - story

  Jim Walter Homes is closing per a press release from their parent company, Walter Industries:

  Walter Industries, Inc. (NYSE: WLT) announced today the closure of its Jim Walter Homes subsidiary. Jim Walter Homes built more than 350,000 homes during its history, but has not been profitable in several years. . . .

  Tampa entrepreneur Jim Walter founded Jim Walter Homes in November 1946, when he used $395 in savings to buy and sell his first "shell" home, for a profit of $300. As a result of the success of Jim Walter Homes, Jim Walter was able to build a Fortune 500 conglomerate with businesses as diverse as mortgage financing, coal mining and ductile iron pipe manufacturing.

  Jim Walter Homes (website: jimwalterhomes.com) was one of the top 50 U.S. home builders in 2006 and 2007 per builderonline.com closing over 2,500 homes in each of those years.

  The closure will affect 230 people, 45 of which are at the Jim Walter Homes headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Further to the press release:

  Those employees affected by this announcement will be eligible for unemployment compensation and are expected to receive severance benefits in line with Company policy.

  The Company stressed that while sales efforts will cease immediately, Jim Walter Homes will meet all of its obligations to customers with homes in progress as the business is wound down. At Dec. 31, 2008, Jim Walter Homes had approximately 150 homes under construction.

  Customers of Jim Walter Homes who have questions or concerns about a home under construction should call 1-800-925-8374, ext. 4444.

  Finally, we obtained an internal memorandum distributed yesterday (Jan 5, 2009) regarding the impending closure of Jim Walters Homes. The memorandum was from Vice Chairman and CFO Vic Patrick. Patrick noted:

  Despite the efforts of Jim Walter Homes' management and employees, including a major restructuring in 2008 that closed nearly half of the Jim Walter Homes' sales centers, challenges to the business remained. Efforts to sell the business were unsuccessful in the face of the unprecedented conditions in the housing industry and tightness in the credit markets. I want you to know that our Board struggled with this decision for some time and evaluated a number of different alternatives before identifying a liquidation of the business as the best path forward.

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• 2008-12-06: Avenue Communities - Arizona condo developer - story

  Arizona-based condo developer Avenue Communities has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to azcentral.com. The filing primarily effects the Centerpoint condo development in Tempe, which remains incomplete. According to the article:

  The developer received about $133 million in financing from Mortgages Ltd. to build the project, which has been under way since 2005.

  The developer was supposed to receive as much as $170 million. However, the lender could not raise enough cash from investors, who supplied most of the money that Mortgages Ltd. lent to developers.

  Discussions between the various constituents in Mortgages Ltd.'s bankruptcy have stalled, Avenue Communities principal Ken Losch said. The developer believes it can gain approval for financing that it says is available for the project more quickly through its own bankruptcy.

  "We're not looking to reduce any liability," he said. "We're looking for the judge to give us the authority to move forward and finish our community."

  In the Chapter 11 petition, the developer said its assets and liabilities are worth between $100 million and $500 million each. The company has between 100 and 200 creditors.

  Losch said his company has received a term sheet from a lending firm that is willing to provide up to $75 million to finish building Centerpoint. He declined to name the lender.

  It seems that Mortgages Ltd.'s own bankruptcy has caused a number of problems not only for Avenue Communities, but also for other projects that were relying on financing from Mortgages Ltd. to be completed.

  If you can provide any additional information regarding Avenue Communities and the Centerpoint development in Tempe, Arizona, please let us know!

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• 2008-11-21: Innovative Communities - California developer - story

  Innovative Communities, a California developer, is expected to file for Chapter 7 liquidation by December 31.

  According to the article:

  Tom Dobron, Innovative Communities founder and CEO, said he was aware as early as 2004 that a housing market collapse was on the way. He said he owned about 8,000 lots in 20 communities around the Southwest at that time, and sold about 2,500 of those at what he said were some handsome prices for the most part, at least until the beginning of last year. Innovative retains about 5,500 lots, but with the liquidation coming next month, it won't have them for long.

  ...

  Dobron, who founded the company 11 years ago, and has spent the past 35 years in the homebuilding business, said his problems happened after City National Bank reportedly declined to renegotiate a $15 million loan when it was due at the end of last year.

  The winddown of Innovative Communities has resulted in numerous lawsuits and recent layoffs of some 85 employees.

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• 2008-11-21: Barratt American - private home builder - story story story

  Update 2008-12-24: Barratt has filed Chapter 11 as of December 24. An article on the filing notes:

  Barratt American and three sister companies, including its mortgage lending arm, sought protection from creditors with a Chapter 11 filing on Christmas Eve. It has a long list of creditors, mostly trade contractors; its top 20 unsecured creditors are owed more than $21 million.

  The company has drastically scaled back operations in the past several months, slashing staff from about 140 employees to about 15. Company President Michael “Mick” Pattinson has been talking openly for a month about the possibility of bankruptcy as the company's troubles mounted.

  Two days before Barratt sought protection, Bank of America foreclosed on seven of Barratt's current subdivisions or condo projects, claiming it was owed nearly $79 million. The bank is taking back four other projects in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

  Implosion 2008-11-21:

  The San Diego Daily has reported that Barratt American's CEO is anticipating entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the end of the year. Per the article:

  Barratt is a homebuilding firm that had 140 employees at its peak earlier in the decade, but is down to 15.

  Barratt currently has about 1,300 lots stretching from San Diego to Los Angeles counties in the process of being foreclosed upon.

  CEO Pattinson said he should be able to hold onto his interest in the 2,500-acre Fanita Ranch in Santee because it is under a separate agreement, but expects to lose most of what else he has.

  Should anyone stumble on Barratt's official bankruptcy filing, please let us know!

  Original Ailing listing - 2008-05-04

  This builder is based in Carlsbad, CA, and has run out of money, as the story linked above details:

  The housing recession appears to have damaged the financial standing of Barratt American, a private builder based in Carlsbad. More than 40 civil lawsuits, many from subcontractors suing over failure to pay, have been filed against the company in the last six months.

  Barratt American cannot afford to pay off the subcontractors, which include drywall and concrete companies, because of a credit crunch that has left banks unwilling to make loans ---- especially to companies with significant exposure to the housing downturn, said Michael Pattinson, president and one of the company's owners.

  The builder is searching overseas and amongst non-traditional sources to find financing. However, they may find even those sources now hesitant to lend, as most of the Western countries one would borrow from (especially the UK) are now embarking on their own housing downturns, and no hedge fund wants to be the "greater fool".

  The article remarked that Barratt built & sold about 500 homes a year at peak, though when the downturn hit in 2007, it only sold 125. One can see why that would really leave them in a lurch. Assuming 375 homes in inventory at $300k a pop, that is $112 million of expected revenue that did not come in.

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• 2008-11-21: MBD Inc. - California Home Builder - story

  Chico, California-based home builder MBD Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. MBD was founded by Andrew Meghdadi and built nearly 60 homes a year at peak. Per an article on the bankruptcy filing:

  Meghdadi said he anticipates the extension should give him enough time to complete the 191 homes planned. He plans to continue work on Belvedere Heights, located on 20th Street east of Bruce Road. He said 18 homes are currently completed and 173 are left to build.

  A second subdivision called Sierra Vista, on Bruce Road, has four homes built and eight remaining. The builder said he would not build the remaining Sierra Vista homes ahead of time, but will start work on those homes as customer orders come in.

  Meghdadi said he also has 223 lots mapped and ready to go for a subdivision in Red Bluff, but will wait to begin constructing those homes until the market rebounds.

  We can't help but be a bit skeptical regarding these expectations: Meghdadi is only building about one house a month currently.

  If you can provide any further details on MBD's bankruptcy filing, please comment below or email us.

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• 2008-11-15: Land Resource - Developer - story

  Land Resource LLC, a southeastern U.S. developer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy according to the AJC listing liabilities of over $200 million and assets valued at only about half that.

  Per the AJC article:

  "The banks stopped making loans to our customers," Ward said in an e-mail. "It just doesn't seem fair that the banks can put us into bankruptcy because of their failure to lend and then get a federal bailout, but then chase me personally and ruin a very good company and put 250 people out of work and affect thousands of property owners and leave them with uncompleted lots."

  Ward, who is 60, said he will start over.

  The company's assets include 128 unsold lots in Cumberland Harbour in St. Marys, where the largest marina complex on the Georgia coast has been proposed. According to Land Resource, 936 lots have been sold. They asked from $150,000 to $750,000 for lots.

  If you have any further details on this developer implosion, please let us know!

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• 2008-11-13: Wensmann Homes - Minnesota home builder / developer - story

  Minnesota home builder and developer Wensmann Homes (wensmann.com)has "closed its doors on Nov. 7" after some 40 years building homes, reports thisweeklive.com. The builder is one of Minnesota's "largest residential builders and developers."

  Wensmann Homes had been planning a community of nearly 500 mixed-use housing units around the Carriage Hills golf course. However, the project got held up in local bureaucracy leaving the golf course defunct and the Wensmann project on hold.

  At this time, we are unsure how many employees will be affected by this closure. We also have not been able to quantify what Wensmann's peak closings were. If you can provide any of this inforamtion, please comment below or email us.

  For some additional scuttlebutt on this implosion, check out Alex Stenback's blog behindthemortgage.com

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• 2008-11-08: Village Homes of Colorado - Colorado home builder - story

  From the Rocky Mountain News comes the announcement that Village Homes of Colorado (website: villagehomes.com), ranked 118 on the 2007 builderonline.com top 200 list, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection:

  The 24-year-old company blames the credit crisis and the depressed housing market for its filing for reorganization under Chapter 11.

  "There is no question about it," said Garry R. Appel, the attorney for the company, which has built more than 10,000 homes in Colorado since it was founded by John Osborn in 1984. "It is the credit crunch and the downturn in the housing market, which has created this enormous problem for homeowners and home builders across the country.

  Further to the article, the bankruptcy filing cites assets and liabilities both in excess of $100 million, and specifically points to "inappropriate actions" by lenders. However, we see per their bankruptcy filing that their revenues have plummeted from $219 million in 2006 to $184 million in 2007 to only $85 million through October 31, 2008.

  Some of the larger "bagholders" appear to be GMAC Residential Capital (GMAC LLC) and Guaranty Bank (Guaranty Financial Group), the latter of which is cited as having a secured claims of some $86 million (GMAC ResCap has multiple secured loans totalling some $36 million).

  Village Homes of Colorado closed on 412 homes in 2007. Per the Rocky Mountain News, they only expect to close on "about 220 to 225" in 2008.

  We have not been able to determine how many employees this bankruptcy will affect.

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• 2008-11-08: "Stratland" companies (James Bovino) - Developer - story

  We have begun piecing together what appears to be a series of development implosions all tied to one man, James Bovino, who is also the CEO of Stratland Homes (website: stratlandhomes.com). The North Jersey Record recently reported the following:

  Companies that own three apartment buildings in Westwood and one in River Vale, all headed by developer James J. Bovino [Ed. note: listed as CEO], have filed for bankruptcy reorganization, claiming debts of up to $40 million.

  The buildings — The Madison, Coventry Square, and Stanford Court in Westwood, and Village on the Green in River Vale — contain more than 270 apartments. The filing occurred last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark. . . .

  A 2007 court ruling identifies Bovino as CEO of Stratland Homes, Inc. Stratland Homes owns a Web site, which is operated from the Kinderkamack Road address and lists apartments for rent in the four buildings. . . .

  U.S. Bankruptcy Court records in Arizona show that four companies with Stratland in the title, and with a CEO identified as James Bovino, filed for bankruptcy there in July.

  Here is a link on the Stratland website to a page that lists units for rent under "The Stratford Organization" at all four locations mentioned in the bankruptcy filing.

  We still lack certain details as to the total number of companies that have imploded. The article alludes to four companies in Arizona bankruptcy court as well as four in New Jersey.

  As to the size of these companies, we are classifying this implosion as "tiny" until we can better ascertain if a full implosion listing is more appropriate.

  If you can provide further details to help clarify which companies (and how may)linked to James "Jim" Bovino and/or Stratland Homes, or elaborate further as to the size of these operations, please email us or leave a comment below via our forums.

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• 2008-10-31: Ameri-Camp - RV builder - story

  Though not a traditional "home builder", we're making an exception for the Syracuse-based RV maker Ameri-Camp. A "tiny" implosion by way of building RVs rather than brick and mortar homes, the Journal Gazatte reports that Ameri-Camp has "closed its doors":

  Ameri-Camp, a maker of towable RVs in Syracuse, has closed its doors, a trade magazine reported this week.

  No one answered the phones at Ameri-Camp on Thursday.

  Trade magazine RVBusiness reported on Monday that it obtained an Oct. 20 memo from Ameri-Camp President Michael Bajailla. It said the company had closed its doors because it didn’t have the cash to pay unsecured creditors.

  Ameri-Camp apparently had a significant number of employees, having announced plans in 2006 to hire some 250 more employees as part of a $7.1 million expansion.

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• 2008-10-28: Brown Family Communities - Arizona home builder - story story

  Arizona-based Brown Family Communities (website: homebfc.com — site down), founded in 1975 and a Top 100 Builder according to builderonline.com, has shut its doors as of Friday, according to Arizona Republic. From the article:

  Company founder Dave Brown said he was forced to cease operation and lay off all 60 employees because the company's construction lender, which he didn't want to name, was unwilling to extend additional credit to build new homes or finish homes under construction. ...

  The builder's problems escalated early this year when the bank reappraised Brown's land assets at a lower value and ordered the company to pay back a portion of money it had loaned, he said.

  Brown said he had been trying to negotiate a compromise for months, and in the meantime the bank began keeping all of the proceeds from every home sale, cutting off Brown's ability to generate revenue.

  This implosion comes as a shock to many. For example, it seems that Brown Family Communities was "solid" to outside observers, including the Arizona Department of Real Estate, which is maintaining a list of "builders in financial trouble" — Brown Family wasn't on that list.

  Builderonline.com also reported the shutdown. From their write-up on Brown Family Communities, they note:

  But in a conversation last month with BUILDER senior editor John Caulfield, CEO David Brown did indicate that the Phoenix housing market was becoming extremely challenging. Seventeen home building companies in the area have gone bankrupt or closed, he said at the time, noting that Brown Family Communities was one of only two private builders left in the market.

  One major challenge: extremely scarce buyers. "Nothing is selling, and I'm giving away $100,000 to anyone who will buy a house. I'd like to know where all of the buyers that other builders talk about are supposed to be," Brown told BUILDER.

  His numbers reflect that. Brown delivered 522 homes for $156 million in 2007, but he expected to close just 225 homes this year. (In 2006, his company's peak, Brown Family Communities closed 826 homes.)

  Brown was ranked 98 on builderonline.com's 2007 Top 100 Builders list.

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• 2008-10-23: Tripp Trademark - Tampa Bay home builder - story

  The St Petersburg Times reports that Tampa Bay-based home builder Tripp Trademark Homes (website: tripptrademarkhomes.com) has called it quits. Per their write-up on the implosion:

  After an 8-year run as one of the region's best-regarded builders, Tripp Trademark Homes is calling it quits.

  Company founder Doug Tripp, a former Pulte Homes president who branched out on his own in 2000, said he can no longer afford to sell houses at a loss.

  "We're going to walk away from this with our reputation intact," said Tripp, who has spent the past month clearing debts with banks and contractors.

  During Tripp Trademark's eight-year existence, they built some 800 homes. The company has reduced from 22 employees to 6 to sell the 20 remaining homes.

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• 2008-10-09: Concordia Homes - Nevada Home Builder - story

  We first received word that Nevada and Arizona home builder Concordia Homes had shutdown operations via the following tip in our feedback line:

  On Tuesday of this past week, Concordia Homes of Nevada and Arizona (website: concordiahomes.com), the owner Gidget Graham made the announcement to the employees that after 14 years in business in Nevada they were closing this past Friday the 9th.

  All employees were told they had until the end of the day on Friday to clean out their desks as the company would no longer operate after Friday because of the failure to get loans to complete homes, pay subs and employees.

  Concordia Homes of Nevada only two years ago had closed on over 300 homes [per year] and at one point had more than 60 employees.

  On October 15^th, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported that home builder Concordia Homes had elected to shutdown operations due not only to slowing demand, but also to buyers who couldn't get loans. Per the article:

  Concordia Homes of Henderson, Nevada has closed its sales offices and will be refunding deposits on homes that have yet to start construction, an industry source said today.

  The Henderson-based home builder has not gone out business and has not filed for bankruptcy, but it will not be selling any new homes, Home Builders Research principal Dennis Smith said.

  Established in 1977, Concordia Homes has built homes in Las Vegas, Henderson and Pahrump, as well as Bullhead City and Avondale, Ariz. ...

  "This is not strictly about demand," he said. "This is also credit. You've got buyers and you can't get loans approved. What do you do? You close subdivisions."

  We are unclear at this time which narrative regarding Concordia is correct: is it that the company could no longer get loans to complete homes or because home buyers couldn't get the loans necessary to buy them. Perhaps both have some elements of truth. If anyone can better articulate what happened, please let us know.

  Concordia issued the following press release (dated October 15, 2008) by Gidget Graham, President of Concordia Homes, as a follow-up to the LVRJ article:

  Concordia Homes has taken an action that was necessary to reflect the realities of today's homebuilding market. Concordia Homes has decided to suspend the operations at the sales centers for the majority of our subdivisions. The main factors that lead to this decision was the rapid decline in real estate values. Our main office remains open and is still managing customer service operations as normal. Our intention is to reopen our sales centers when market conditions improve.

  As of the time of their shutdown, we believe Concordia was building in six communities in Nevada and one in Arizona with houses ranging in price from approximately $160K to $470k with square footage ranging from approximately 1,350 to 3,400 square feet.

  If anyone can provide further information regarding Concordia Homes, please comment below or use our feedback line.

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• 2008-10-15: Pacific Lifestyle Homes - Northwest home builder - story

  Northwest-based Pacific Lifestyle Homes (website: pacificlifestylehomes.com) has filed for Chapter 11 bankrupty portection according to the Portland Business Journal. Per the PBJ piece:

  The company was the sixth-largest home builder last year as ranked by the Portland Business Journal, with a total value of $64.6 million in inventory.

  The company built 251 homes last year, well below the record 350 it sold during the market’s peak in 2005. It plans to close on just 125 homes this year.

  Pacific Lifestyle Homes has approximately $56 million in bank debt. It stopped paying its subcontractors in the past 60 days.

  Pacific Lifestyle's slowdown in operations has additionally meant a reduction in force of nearly 70 employees (from 91 to 24 peak to current).

  Pacific Lifestyle is the fourth Northwest home builder to make our list (See Legend Homes, Marnella and Renaissance).

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• 2008-10-15: Namwest, LLC - Arizona Developer - story story story

  Arizona builder Namwest, LLC and nine affiliates have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the past few weeks. Cave Creek-based Namwest Palms LLC filed first in late September with its Monticello Estates project in El Mirage. That was followed by Phoenix-based parent Namwest LLC on 2008-10-09 and eight others on 2008-10-10, including Namwest-Glenrosa and 35th Avenue LLC, Namwest-101 Building LLC, Namwest-Brownstone LLC, Namwest-Dobbins LLC, Namwest-Sun City Manor LLC, Namwest-Town Lakes II LLC, Namwest 7th Street and Deer Valley LLC and Namwest Construction and Development LLC according to AZ Central. Principal Michael McBride is quoted as saying, "This is strictly caused by the market and the lack of funding. The capital has dried up, (and) the market and the lending has dried up." It goes on to state the Namwest-Palms filing "has been dismissed, but McBride said the company may refile."

  "Namwest LLC listed its assets and liabilities as being worth $50 million to $100 million. The other firms listed assets and liabilities worth $1 million to $10 million."

  YourWestValley reported on a stalled Sun City development:

  "No homes have been built in Sun City Manor, but walls, streets and some infrastructure were placed in the subdivision next door to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Posse office.

  The 140 homes that are supposed to be featured in Sun City Manor were to range from 1,568- to 1,822-square feet. Some units would have separate casitas and extra space for golf cars in the garage."

  Plans for development in Tempe included "six towers, with condos, offices and retail space."

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• 2008-10-14: Bridgeport Development - Oklahoma-area residential builder - story

  A tipper has forwarded us the above story, about this regional builder shutting down operations. More key details:

  Bridgeport Development and its three home-building divisions — Brookside Homes, LivingstonMeyer Homes and Newhaven Homes — have shut down operations. Jim Meyer, principal, said he is working with lenders, subcontractors and suppliers to sell homes Bridgeport has on the market.

  Brass Brick Homes has cut staff, reorganized and is working with lenders to restructure its debt, said Ashley Christofferson-Cunningham, president.

  "I’m not filing bankruptcy,” she said. "Are we in a cash-flow crunch along with everybody else? We’re in a cash-flow crunch and we’re working with the banks.”

  Credit has dried up for construction subcontractors, with lenders no longer making loans based on accounts receivable, which gives the vendors no leeway in dealing with struggling builders, Christofferson-Cunningham said. That’s one reason for the number of mechanic’s liens filed against Brass Brick homes, she said.

  ... she said the biggest problem lies with Brass Brick, which got credit to build homes based on a 70-percent loan-to-value ratio when it should have been 80 to 90 percent. "That’s our fault,” she said, and the company is asking lenders to restructure its loans at the higher ratio, based on appraised value.

  Leveraged financing is at a standstill, she said, and many builders in Oklahoma City are hurting.

  ...

  Meyer said that by forming a new business structure, with both lenders and vendors having a stake, and selling Bridgeport’s remaining houses on the market, the company can avoid bankruptcy court.

  Some very interesting details in that -- the mechanics of a housing downturn interacting (destructively) with a credit crunch.

  Our source forwarded us the following vitals on Bridgeport (unconfirmed): Founded 1997 / Home Starts (all figures 2006) 120 / Sales Volume 27 Million / Employees 35 / Average home price $230,000.

  That would rank them as a "tiny", though still significant builder.

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• 2008-09-23: Legacy Homes - Michigan home builder - story

  Grand Rapids, Michigan-based home builder Legacy Homes has "closed its doors" according to an article at mlive.com:

  The shuttering of the company, 1971 East Beltline Ave. NE, leaves some homeowners facing liens on their property by unpaid subcontractors. ...

  Wassenaar said the company started as M&W Construction with his grandfather in 1978 and then his father joined.

  "We've tried everything that we can," he said. "I definitely wanted to continue. It wasn't a choice that we made without a lot of thought and advice from CPAs and legal advice, as well."

  Some six people lost their jobs as a result of the 30-year-old company shutting down. The article goes on to note that the closure "means home warranties will not be honored by Legacy."

  Legacy Homes' website is homesbylegacy.com.

  We are classifying Legacy as a "tiny" implosion. If anyone can provide additional information as to their peak size (i.e. homes built, employees), please leave a comment below or email us!

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• 2008-09-23: Classic Southern Homes - Charlotte home builder/renovater - story

  Charlotte-based home buidler Classic Southern Homes (website) has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection according to the Charlotte Business Journal. The CBJ notes the following:

  The company has more than 50 creditors, and its debts are between $1 million and $10 million, the filing states.

  Court documents say Classic Southern has between $100,000 and $500,000 in assets.

  Classic Southern was launched in 1998.

  According to Classic Southern Homes' website, renovation work made up approximately 70% of their business.

  If you have additional information regarding the operations of Classic Southern Homes, please post it in a comment below or email us!

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• 2008-09-21: Pathway Developments - Arizona developer - story

  The Arizona Daily Star reports that Tuscon-based developer Pathway Developments filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on September 21. According to the article:

  Detailed financial information has not yet been submitted to the court, but preliminary filings indicate that the debts of Teufel and his companies could range from $55 million to more than $150 million. The documents also state that there will likely be no funds available for unsecured creditors.

  Sunday's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings included Teufel-led Pathway Developments Inc., Pathway Holdings LLC, Pathway Sabino LLC and Raven Springs LLC as well as a filing by Teufel himself. Last week, two other Pathway-related entities also filed for Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy: Pathway Cerro LLC and Ventana del Cerro LLC.

  Once an acclaimed developer with projects all over Tucson, Pathway has collapsed over the past year. The company has been subject to more than two dozen lawsuits filed by home-buyers, investors, lenders, subcontractors and others as the business fell into ruin.

  In addition to the wake of lawsuits filed against Pathway, which was founded by Michael Teufel (who also has filed for bankruptcy), the article notes that Pathway homeowners have been left with incomplete homes and unpaid construction loans.

  Pathway Developments apparent website, pathwaydevelopments.com appears to be down.

  One real estate website described Pathway Developments as following:

  Pathway Developments Inc. was founded by Michael F. Teufel in 1993 after working alongside several of Tucson's most successful real estate developers. A graduate of the University of Arizona and a native Tucsonan, Mr. Teufel has managed the growth of Pathway from general contractor to developer and asset manager. Pathway's portfolio of properties includes residential, office, and other commercial ventures as well as one of the best custom builder divisions in Southern Arizona. When Mr. Teufel returned his attention to home building, Pathway had already earned the reputation as Tucson's best custom home builder. Today, Mr. Teufel and his team focus on developing Tucson's premier high density residential neighborhoods.

  Based on the listed amount of debt Pathway Developments in their varying bankruptcy filings, we are classifying Pathway as a "major" implosion. However, we could use additional details as to their size including peak annual closings/homes built and employees. If you can provide any of this information, or elaborate on Pathway's closure, please let us know over email or post a comment below or in our forums.

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• 2008-09-03: Homes by Ken Butera Inc. - Atlanta home builder - story

  Winder-based (Atlanta) home builder Homes by Ken Butera Inc. filed for bankruptcy on September 3 according to this Atlanta Business Chronicle article. A search for Ken Butera turns up the following company details per manta.com:

  Year Started: 1986
  State of Incorporation: GA
  URL: N/A
  Location Type: Single Location
  ...
  Est. Annual Sales: $5,400,000
  Est. Employees: 52

  Further details are scarce; as such, we are classifying this implosion as "tiny." If you can provide further details on Homes by Ken Butera, please let us know!

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• 2008-09-04: Quantum Homes - Atlanta home builder - story

  Notice: Note that this entry refers to the Atlanta-area company, not Quantum Homes of Chesapeake Bay. Gordon Gould, their Senior VP, writes n to point out that they are solvent and doing business. End notice.

  An Atlanta Business Chronicle article notes that Atlanta-based home builder Quantum Homes Inc. filed for bankruptcy on Setpember 4 (Affiliates JA Development Inc. and Buy Rite Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy the same day, as well).

  It appears that Quantum Homes' website was www.discoverq.com (See the screenshot here from their apparent web designer. Note: the web address discoverq.com now points to a blog, that appears completely unrelated to Quantum Homes).

  Quantum Homes appears to be a "tiny" implosion though we are lacking enough information to conclusively categorize them as such. If you have any details on Quantum Homes, please let us know.

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• 2008-09-12: Creative Customs LLC - Atlanta home builder - story

  Stone Mountain, Atlanta-based home builder Creative Customs LLC is said to have filed for bankruptcy protection on September 12 according to this Atlanta Business Chronicle article.

  It seems Creative Customs' website was creativecustomsllc.com; however, the site's account has been suspended, which, of course, is never a good sign.

  Our endeavors to nail down additional information about Creative Customs have been fruitless. We are classifying this implosion as "tiny" until further information can be obtained. Any information you have about Creative Customs LLC can be sent to us here

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• 2008-09-16: Copacali Homes Inc. - Atlanta home builder - story

  The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that Canton-based (outside Atlanta) Copacali Homes Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on September 16 (Additionally, affiliates Copacali Homes & Properties LLC and Copacali Communities Inc. also filed at the same time). Searches for additional information on Copacali have turned up no further details about the size of the company, which the ABC describes as "smaller". We are classifying them as a "tiny" implosion, as such.

  Further information on Copacali Homes can be sent to us here.

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• 2008-09-19: Renaissance Homes - Oregon luxury home builder - story

  OregonLive.com has reported that Rnaissance Homes, one of "Oregon's highest profile home builders" is expecting to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week. According to the article:

  Renaissance Homes expects to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy next week. Slow sales have made it impossible for the Lake Oswego company to remain current on any of its $85 million in bank loans, company officials said.

  Renaissance will be the third prominent metro-area home builder to file Chapter 11 since May. Though some in the housing industry initially insisted that the real estate bust would spare Portland due to in-migration and other factors, it now appears that the shrinking home values and stalled sales that hit much of the rest of the country in 2006 and 2007 were simply late in arriving here. ...

  Randy Sebastian, the company's CEO and founder who appears in many of its ads, vowed that Renaissance will survive its brush with insolvency. It has worked out tentative financing arrangements with five banks.

  Apparently, falling land values violated certain loan covenants, which precipitated the need to refinance loans early in the summer. Even after refinancing much of this debt, vendors were not being paid, which resulted in liens being filed against the company and pushing the company to seek bankruptcy protection.

  At peak, Renaissance had some 280 homes in construction at a time, and their highest sales month ever was February of 2007:

  With 48 homes sold and gross sales of $30 million in February,Lake Oswego's Renaissance Homes has announced its best sales month in the history of the 23-year-old company.

  February's sales figures are a 15 percent increase in homes sold and a 20 percent increase in dollar volume over February of 2006, a year when the firm sold 301 homes, double its 2005 figure. Renaissance's old record was $23 million in March of 2006.

  Renaissance was founded in 1984. Please let us know if you have any information with which we can update this post.

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• 2008-05-01: The Macauley Companies - Atlanta home builder - story story

  Back-add (2008-09-23):

  We have learned that Atlanta-based Macauley Companies filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on May 1, and founder Stephen Macauley further filed for personal bankruptcy protection on August 1.

  Per the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

  Stephen H. Macauley, president of The Macauley Companies Inc., has filed for personal bankruptcy, reporting debts of $131 million.

  In recent years Macauley has completed 32 communities with more than 11,000 homes both north and south of Atlanta. ...

  Macauley on May 1 filed for a Chapter 7 liquidation of assets in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta and now lists his occupation as unemployed. He earned $835,000 in 2006 and $434,000 in 2007, according to court documents.

  He says he filed bankruptcy because the value of his assets today is about half of what they were underwritten for, so there was no way for him to pay the debt.

  The Macauley Companies website appears to be down (macauleycompanies.com).

  Despite these setbacks, Stephen Macauley is "very bullish on Atlanta and I want to keep creating great communities and great places for people to live."

  Prior to Macauley Companies shutdown, they had as many as 34 employees.

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• 2008-09-19: Sheridan Homes - DFW Home Builder - story story

  Update 2008-09-23: It has come to our attention that Sheridan is back! Per Big Builder Online:

  It's been roughly six weeks since Sheridan Homes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the Plano, Texas-based builder is already back in business.

  The company first filed for bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Eastern Texas on Aug. 4. However, court documents revealed that Judge Brenda T. Rhoades dismissed the case, effectively allowing the builder to retract its voluntary petition.

  Original listing 2008-09-19:Dallas-Forth-Worth, Texas home builder Sheridan Homes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to the Star-Telegram. According to the Star-Telegram:

  Plano-based Sheridan Homes of Texas is among at least four North Texas home builders to file for bankruptcy protection this year as the housing industry continues to struggle nationwide.

  When it filed for Chapter 11 protection in early August, Sheridan reported 100 vacant lots and 80 finished but unoccupied homes. ...

  The company sold 36 percent fewer homes in April, May and June than the year before.

  We had previously heard from a tipster back in July that Sheridan might be in trouble:

  You should check out Sheridan Homes. They built 300 or so homes a couple years ago, but have recently closed their office, stopped construction on homes in process, and all the model homes are locked up.

  We are unclear at this time as to the size of Sheridan Homes at peak. Their apparent website is sheridanhomes.com. If you have any additional details about Sheridan Homes, please let us know or post a comment below!

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• 2008-09-02: Oriole Homes - Florida Home Builder - story story

  The PalmBeachPost has reported that Boca-Raton, Florida-based Oriole Homes has filed for bankruptcy protection. They report:

  Boca Raton-based Oriole Homes filed for an "assignment for the benefit of creditors," an alternative to bankruptcy, last month in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, said court-appointed assignee Phil von Kahle, managing director of Michael Moecker & Associates in Fort Lauderdale.

  "The goal is to liquidate the company's assets for the benefit of the creditors," von Kahle said.

  According to the Oriole Homes website (oriolehomes.com), they were founded in 1963 and "To date, we have built more than 25,000 homes in over 70 Florida communities."

  They have specifically filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. At this time, we have not received further details as to the remaining assets of Oriole or how many employees their bankruptcy will affect. If you can provide additional details as to their filing, please email us.

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• 2008-08-21: Woodside Homes - nationwide residential builder - story story

  Update, 2008-08-27(2): No thanks to PACER, key documents of the Woodside case have finally become accessible, and key facts have been revealed showing that this is indeed a full Chapter 11 bankruptcy now. A synopsis from our forum:

  Today, 8/27/08 Bankruptcy Judge Carroll signed an order in Case No 6:08-bk-20682-PC which is to be effective in all 185 involuntary bankruptcy cases. That order confirms the binding nature of a stipulation between Woodside Group LLC and its subsidiaries, the 5 insurance companies who filed the involuntary bankruptcy petitions and JP Morgan Chase as agent for the lenders on the senior unsecured notes. That Stipulation, which is Document 17 on the Docket for Case No 6:08-bk-20682-PC, says:

  (1) None of the Woodside entities intends to contest the creditors allegations in the Involuntary Petitions that the 185 entities, including Woodside Group, LLC, Woodside Homes and Pleasant Hill Investments (Woodside's financing arm) are insolvent;

  (2) All 1855entities will file consents with the Bankruptcy Court by September 16, 2008, indicating that they consent to be Chapter 11 Debtors. The "Relief Date" upon which the 185 Woodside entities will become Chapter 11 Debtors will be September 16, 2008. The Bankruptcy Court will issue orders finding that the allegations of insolvency in the Involuntary Petitions are proven by that admission by the debtors.

  (3) From today's date, August 27, 2008, all 183 Woodside entities will operate as if they are Chapter 11 Debtors, e.g. not entering into transactions outside of the ordinary course of business, opening and using new debtor in possession bank accounts at JP Morgan Chase, and doing their accounting under the Bankruptcy Court's accounting rules. They will be able to pay trade creditors in the ordinary course of business through 9/16/08.

  ...

  In light of the above we are retaining our "implode" classification for Woodside.

  Also note the full creditors list:

  • Metropolitan Life - $35,500,000
  • AXA Equitable Life - $40,000,000
  • John Hancock Life - $51,900,000
  • New York Life - $18,500,000
  • Security Life of Denver - $10,000,000
  • JP Morgan Chase, in its capacity as Administrative Agent on a $330,000,000 "non-contingent unsecured debt", joined, for lenders: Bank of America, Wachovia, Guaranty Bank, Washington Mutual, Regions Bank, Bank of the West, Union Bank of California, Wells Fargo, Comerica Bank, Suntrust, Compass Bank, First Commercial Bank, Key Bank and JP Morgan Chase.

  That would be a total of almost $486 million being demanded by some very big names.

  See more excerpts and analysis from the bankruptcy filings at the forum.

  A trusted source also expressed the following thoughts to us on the case:

  All 185 Woodside Homes related debtors against whom involuntary bankruptcy petitions were filed, including the parent company Woodside Group, LLC and the financing arm Pleasant Hill Investments, admitted by way of stipulation today that they are insolvent. They will begin operating as if they are Chapter 11 debtors in possession immediately. The "effective date" of their legal Chapter 11 debtor status will be 9/16/08.

  Apparently, it will take that much time for the 185 debtor entities' consents and admissions to be prepared, and the judge to sign 185 orders finding that the entiites are insolvent and are Chapter 11 debtors.

  The interesting question is whether the $312 Million + $372 Million in unsecured debt held by the lenders who prosecuted the Chapter 11 case is the only debt of the 185 entities, or whether they have A&D loan and construction loan debt as well.

  I cannot see how the 185 debtors can ask the Bankruptcy Court to approve debtor-in-possession financing until after September 16, 2008, so it will be interesting to see if this 2+ week delay will work from a practical point of view.

  The other interesting question which is up in the air is whether any payments made by Woodside entities to trade creditors, in the ordinary course of business during this 2+ week period, will be preferences. Though the parties may think that the payments will not be preferences, based upon their stipulation, the OTHER unsecured creditors of Woodside may think otherwise. I am sure there will be a lot of disruption and hysteria in the conduct of Woodside's business during the next two weeks regardless of the stipulation.

  Interesting questions indeed!

  Update, 2008-08-27: As reported by TheStreet.com, Woodside is not formally in bankruptcy yet as a result of this filing by creditors. They have 20 days from August 20 to respond. Stay tuned. Woodside comments from the article:

  "The company is working with both the note holder and bank groups and will be presenting its position to the judge requesting an orderly resolution on Wednesday," Mercer said. She refuted the Tuesday report from Standard & Poor's LCD News that said Woodside had already filed for Chapter 11.

  Original writeup, 2008-08-26:

  Word has come to us today (8/26) that top-25 builder Woodside Homes has been forced into involuntary bankruptcy (Chapter 11). Assets and liabilities are of yet unknown. The relevant actors are described in this excerpt:

  Woodside Homes Corporation, Filed by Petitioning Creditor(s): Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (attorney Susy Li), Security Life of Denver Insurance Company (attorney Susy Li), AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (attorney Susy Li), John Hancock Life Insurance Company (attorney Susy Li), New York Life Insurance Company (attorney Susy Li). (Attachments: # 1 E-Filing Declaration and Summons)(Li, Susy) (Entered: 08/21/2008)

  That is quite a high-powered roster of irate insurance industry investors.

  From the builder's home page comes a brief description of their history and activities:

  New Homes by Woodside Homes in Utah, Arizona, Utah, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Texas, Florida, Washington DC. Woodside Homes was founded in 1977 with one simple objective in mind: build a new home with lasting value, integrity and quality while providing excellent service.

  As a leading new home builder in each division (Arizona Phoenix Area, California Sacramento Area, Modesto Area, Fresno-Visalia Area, Southern California Area, Colorado Denver Area, Colorado Springs, Florida Jacksonville Area, Daytona Area, West Palm/Treasure Coast Area, Tampa Area, Minnesota Minneapolis/St. Paul Area, Nevada Las Vegas Area, Reno, Texas San Antonio Area, Utah Salt Lake Area, Washington DC Area Virginia, Maryland, Delaware) Woodside Homes has built over 25,000 new homes and is currently building in Arizona, Northern, Central and Southern California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

  The 2007 Builder100 has profile information on Woodside, such as the fact that in 2006 (this appears to have been their peak) they had over 3,300 closings, the CEO is Chip Nelson, and they are considered Northeast-centric (despite the fact their HQ is given as Utah).

  We will seek out more details in the coming days (if you know anything, please contact us). However, this is a disturbing development for those who are once again claiming the market has bottomed. Around here our position for a while has been that the worst of the major builder implodes has not been seen, as creditors have been willing to drag things out till the last minute (or later).

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• 2008-08-18: Charlevoix Homes LLC - Arizona Home Builder - story

  Azcentral.com reports that another Scottsdale-based home builder has filed for bankruptcy protection. Charlevoix Homes LLC was founded by Michael Roberts, who has filed for personal bankruptcy protection listing "up to $50 million in liabilities and more than 100 creditors." Regarding the size and scope of Charlevoix's operations, the article notes:

  Charlevoix started in 2002 and had grown quickly to 32 employees within four years. The Arizona Small Business Association recognized Charlevoix as one of its 50 Arizona Companies to Watch in 2006. It was planning or building communities in Phoenix, Glendale, Chandler and the southwest Valley. ...

  Roberts also told investors during the conference call that Charlevoix Homes had been worth $32 million three years ago but is in debt now with no assets.

  The "no assets" part is no exaggeration. Though many are going after Roberts' for debts owed, it seems he has little in the way of funds even as his $5.5 million house is for sale.

  Charlevoix had set up separate legal entities for different building communities being devloped. At least one of these, Meridian Hills, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy already.

  We have classified this implosion as "tiny"; however, we are still seeking further information to refine our understanding of Charlevoix Homes' peak size. Data we could use include peak closings and number of employees. Please let us know if you have any of this or other informatio you could share.

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• 2008-08-15: Pacific Century Homes - California, Arizona, Texas home builder - story

  Update to status, "Imploded" 2008-08-15:

  We have learned that William "Bill" Lo, Chairman and CEO of Pacific Century Homes, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection per a PACER filing on August 1, 2008.

  Original Ailing write-up 2008-08-15:

  Word has come to us about Pacific Century Homes and Pacific Summit Partners via tips and an article posted on statesman.com. Per the article:

  The California-based development team Pacific Summit Partners entered the Austin market with a bang in 2005, investing more than $100 million in land from Southwest Austin to Liberty Hill in just two years, with plans to build thousands of homes.

  Now financial troubles such as foreclosures and ballooning late payments have jeopardized or erased those plans, as Pacific Summit Partners and its associated partnerships and companies have fallen behind on payments for nearly everything needed to build homes, including land, concrete, shingles, pipes, carpet and blinds.

  ...

  At least 141 of the 326 acres involved in Pacific Summit's highest-profile local project, Lakeline Station near U.S. 183 and RM 620, have been posted for foreclosure after the group failed to make at least one quarterly payment to the landowner, William Savage, according to documents provided by a foreclosure reporting service, RexReport.com.

  About 230 acres near Liberty Hill have already been foreclosed on and are again on the market, listed for sale on a commercial real estate Web site.

  Pacific Century's website (as well as what appears to be the website for Pacific Summit Partners) is currently down (See pacificcenturyhomes.com).

  According to one tipster:

  They were mostly in California but recently expanded into two communities in Arizona. The Savannah community in Litchfield Park, AZ has been abandoned and is scheduled to foreclose in October. Their website seems to be down as well.

  ...

  The most information I have is on the Savannah neighborhood ... They bought 76 already improved lots on 4/18/07 from Standard Pacific for $6,840,000. The came in and built 3 models and 3 specs. They never sold a single house, although they did have 1 new build ordered that still sits at frame. Now IndyMac has filed a trustee's sale notice for $20,565,000 on the property. I wonder where all that money went? It seems to me that $270,592 per lot is more than they ever could have profited actually building the houses. ...

  The Statesman article is dated mid-July. We've not yet seen any further data on Pacific Century or Summit. If you have any information with regard to the size of their operation or their current continuing business operations, please let us know!

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• 2008-08-15: Tailor Made Homes - Wisconsin Home Builder - story

  Pewaukee-based Tailor Made Homes (website: tmhwi.com) has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection according to a Milwaukee Business Journal article. According to the publicly available snippet from the MBJ:

  The filing comes one year after Koob was one of the featured contractors in the Metropolitan Builders Association's 2007 Parade of Homes. It also comes as he is being named in a growing batch of liens and lawsuits filed by suppliers and subcontractors contending they are owed money.

  Koob's Chapter 7 petition for Tailor Made Homes listed assets, including four unsold homes, totaling $2.8 million and liabilities of a little more than $3 million. Included on that list are subcontractors and suppliers who filed a total of 25 liens and lawsuits against Koob through this week.

  Based on Tailor Made Homes' diminuitive operations, we are listing them as a "tiny" implosion. If anyone can provide additional information regarding TMH's size at peak or numbers regarding closings/employees, please email us.

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• 2008-08-19: Royce Homes - Houston-based home builder - story

  Update, 2008-09-05:

  From a reliable source, we hear today that most major title underwriting companies (eg. Stewart Title, First American, Chicago Title, etc.) have sent word to their agents that no transaction involving Royce as Seller that hasn't already closed and funded will be eligible for title insurance. That imposes a serious problem for moving or liquidating any remaining inventory, as the properties will not be acceptable for financing without lender protection of assured clear title.

  This seems likely to be catastrophic for prospects of orderly unwinding for Royce. Our read is that they will need some sort of debtor-in-possession financing to clear up these liens and release the properties, and perhaps their refusal to arrange such has brought about additional turmoil on themselves.

  Implode Entry, 2008-08-19

  Updated to an implode. The Houston Chron has the story, in Royce Builders winding down operations.

  Ailing Entry, 2008-08-15

  Word is that Houston-based Royce Homes (roycebuilders.com), one of the top 100 home builders in the country, may be scaling back operations. A hot forum discussion on Royce (merged to the below) indicates that some news may be breaking any day now regarding layoffs. One forum member who may work at Royce noted:

  ... No Dirt Sales, Spec Only, Corporate Layoffs as well as salary reductions. Vendors are putting us on hold, We are changing vendors to complete homes, Pulling appliances out of completed inventory to close build jobs. The rumor through the company is that a big announcement is coming Friday the 15th.

  Another tipster emailed the following information regarding Royce's operations:

  They've scaled back from their forays into top-ticking other markets ealrier this year... At the peak, in Houston alone, which I believe would be 2006, they were doing about 1700 closings in the Houston MSA... I think I sent you a link from the Houston Chronicle regarding the actual size... They are bigger than WCI in number of closings though WCI is surely larger in dollar volume. I believe they were in AZ, Atlanta, Carolinas, and Dallas... Low-end to first move-up builder with lackluster land positions; primarily low-end though. They were a product of the credit expansion that made your family of websites so successful.

  We note per their website that Royce operates in Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and Charlotte. According to builderonline.com, Royce Homes was ranked as the 47^th largest builder in the country, closing on over 3,000 properties between 2006 and 2007.

  If you hear any information regarding Royce Builders, please be sure to post in our forums or email us here.

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• 2008-08-15: STH 6,8,10,11,13 Inc. - Arizona Land Bank - story

  Azcentral.com reports that another land bank has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankrupt land bank have been named by lawyers — "STH 6,8,10,11,13 Inc."

  "STH", for short, was created in 2005 by Elite Homes Inc. and has "unpaid debts totaling about $10.8 million."

  Though only a blip of an implosion, we wonder what is going on behind the scenes in Arizona, and in particular, with Elite Homes Inc. If you hear anything, please let us know!

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• 2008-08-14: Taro Properties - Arizona Land Bank - story

  Arizona-based "land bank" Taro Properties Arizona LLC (As well as affiliates Taro Properties Arizona I and Texas I) has filed for bankruptcy protection according to an azcentral.com article:

  Taro Properties Arizona LLC and two affiliates, Taro Properties Nevada I and Taro Properties Texas I, filed for protection from creditors Wednesday under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

  In June, Taro Properties Arizona was facing foreclosure on three land holdings, two in Gilbert and the other in Phoenix, totaling 1,251 parcels and $75.3 million in mortgage loans. Its creditors include Bank of America, which initiated foreclosure proceedings on 493 vacant lots owned by Taro inside the Cooley Station North subdivision in Gilbert.

  Taro had contracted with Trend Homes to sell lots to the home builder incrementally, but new-home sales in the area ground to a halt in 2007, and Trend Homes no longer was able to meet its purchase schedule.

  In other words, Taro Properties is a derivative casualty of the Trend Homes implosion, which we noted back on February 1 (See their implosion listing here).

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• 2008-06-20: SimDag-RoBEL LLC - Tampa-centered condo developer - story story story

  Today (August 12th) we retroactively add the implosion of the clumsily-named SimDag-RoBEL, the builder hired by Donald Trump to build the Tampa incarnation of the Trump residential towers. The bankruptcy filing occurred on June 20th.

  SimDag's president, Frank Dagostino, had said in August 2007:

  However, in an interview with the Tampa Bay Business Journal in August 2007, Dagostino laid out what would be his game plan if the bankruptcy courts had to get involved. "The only way to slow [the lawsuits] down would be to do a protection bankruptcy to give us the breathing room so that we could go to a judge and say we're going to sell the property, we need this amount of time."

  For months, Dagostino has said the property where he had intended to build a 52-story, $225 million Trump Tower Tampa is on the market but that he still held out hope of building a revised project that could include both condominium and hotel components.

  Angry buyers started suing Trump and SimDag when the latter failed to complete the complex on schedule (doubtless, falling potential market values was a factor as well). In fact it was someone doing the latter that actually pushed all of SimDag into bankruptcy, lest the plot of land intended for the Tower go up on the auction block.

  Trump also sued SimDag for failure to pay licensing fees (it seems they did not care too much about the failure to build the actual building.).

  We are seeking more details on SimDag; please let us know if you can help. Interestingly, almost all coverage has focused on Trump and there are virtually no details on SimDag-RoBEL.

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• 2008-06-30: Smith Family Homes - Tampa-area luxury residential - story

  In a retroactive addition (today is August 12th), we list Tampa-area Smith Family Homes, for filing chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on July 30th, 2008.

  According to the St. Petersburg Times, Smith Family had been around since 1998, and built luxury homes around and sometimes above the $500k level, including the developments Seven Oaks, Connerton, Wilderness Lakes Preserve and Panther Trace. The president of the company was Ron Smith.

  According to the same article, creditors include SunTrust and Wachovia banks, as well as "dozens of suppliers and contractors." No surprises there.

  If you have more details on Smith Family Homes, please drop us a line.

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• 2008-08-05: Pierce Homes - NC triad-area builder - story story story

  North Carolina-based Pierce is shutting down, after 26 years of operation. From the first article:

  Pierce, which also operates in Charlotte but not in the Triangle, had long been one of the busiest builders in the Greensboro area. According to Triad Business Journal research, the company closed on 240 homes in 2006, and 355 in 2005. The company's projects include Autumn Trace in Alamance County and James Plantation in Guilford County, among others.

  With 240 homes closed in a year at peak, that is close enough to our 250 guideline to classify them as "major", so here they sit on our list.

  The DigiTriad article above has some comments from irate homeowners of Pierce after the minimal communications surrounding their closure:

  "I want to know what is going to happen to the neighborhood," said Hollie MacMullan, who moved into Autumn Trace in April. "What are we going to do with all the empty lots that are just growing up?"

  After a neighbor spotted a moving truck outside the model home in her neighborhood, MacMullan learned that Pierce Homes was no longer in the building business. "It bothers me that they didn't talk to us, or let us know what was going on and set up a meeting before they went out of business," said MacMullan, who has a one year warranty on her home. "Are we just going to be out of luck?"

  A scenario that is playing out all too often across the country.

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• 2008-08-04: WCI Communities - Luxury home and condo builder - story story

  Public home builder WCI Communities, Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. WCI was ranked the 40^th largest home builder in 2007, closing approximately 1,650 houses that year per builderonline.com.

  From WCI's press release on the filing:

  WCI Communities, Inc., a leading developer, builder and seller of luxury homes and tower units, announced today that it and approximately 130 of its wholly-owned subsidiaries had filed voluntary petitions to restructure their debt and capital. Excluded from the filing is the company's Watermark real estate brokerage, which does business as Prudential Florida WCI Realty, as well as its WCI Mortgage business and certain other joint ventures in which WCI is a partner.

  WCI describes itself as a company with "more than 50 years experience". They have operations across the east coast (Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia and Maryland) and employ some 1,800 indiividuals.

  The filing coincides with the replacement of CEO Jerry Starkey with David Fry.

  An article published at Reuters goes into further detail on the causes of WCI's bankruptcy. Specifically, it seems that WCI defaulted on debt covenants pertaining to their revolving credit facility, of which WCI had drawn approximately $760 million (Reuters).

  Interestingly, WCI imploded virtually to the day we expected (see below), based on their convertibles due tomorrow.

  Ailing Writeup, 2008-05-10:

  Someone (Raymond James) has finally come out and said it: WCI is twirling in a death spiral. The company has no hope of profits till well beyond 2009, may have to mark down deferred tax assets, has debt of $1.7B (83.3% of net capitalization), and continues to suffer higher than normal levels of cancellations. WCI has $110M in cash, as of March.

  Further:

  ...lenders are completing appraisals of assets secured under the borrowing base, and management (WCI) acknowledged many of those new property values are likely to come back below current book value," Puryear said.

  The difference in values would reduce borrowing base availability further and could trigger mandatory prepayments, he added in a note to clients.

  A poster on our forums threw in an interesting little tidbit:

  What is not mentioned here is $125 million in convertible debt that has a put date of 8/5/08. They acknowledge that they do not have the money to address this. While they are making an attempt to renegotiate this debt, all of this together is kind of the proverbial snowball rolling down the hill.

  That does indeed seem like the last sort of problem they need.

  WCI was ranked #40 on BuilderOnline's Top 100 for 2006. A provocative excerpt from that article follows:

  There's just no getting around the fact that 2006 was a horrendous year for WCI Communities. With the bulk of its business concentrated in the extremely soft Florida market, the Bonita Springs, Fla.–based builder reported a 95 percent drop in profits over the previous year. Cancellations and defaults resulted in negative net sales in the fourth quarter.

  “When America wakes up from this slump and this fear of buying homes, I think we'll see Florida return to one of the top home building markets in the country, as it has been historically,” CEO Jerry Starkey told industry analysts in its fourth-quarter earnings call.

  Starkey never stopped waiting for "America to wake up" from its irrational fear (also known as realizing that home prices are insanely inflated and disconnected from fundamentals).

  Carl Icahn was kind enough to make a near-$1B, $22/share bid for WCI in early 2007. WCI rejected it—perhaps miffed by the fact that the offer called for the ouster of geniuses like Starkey and a good chunk of the board. In fact, to show their contempt, WCI adopted a poison pill limiting the voting power of large shareholders (Icahn was accumulating a stake of the company at market prices).

  This defense successfully caused the stock to fall to the $7 range within a few months.

  By August, WCI relented, and red-faced, let Icahn (who had assembled a near 15% stake) put three directors on its board, and disabled the poison pill.

  None of this ended up solving the company's problems, which were apparently of a more fundamental nature having to do with... the market (and WCI's exposure to it).

  Incidentally, both Bill Gates and Martin Schwartz also had sizeable stakes in WCI.

  In a near-Shakespearan tragedy, with the stock now around $2, all of the above (billionaires and WCI itself) are looking (and probably feeling) rather foolish.

  Also slaughtered: countless investors who thought throwing money into homebuilders monkey-see-monkey-do after Gates and Icahn was a great idea.

  Call this one an "imminent implode".

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• 2008-07-30: Sullivan Homes - Washington Home Builder - story

  One of Spokane Valley, Washington's "largest" home builders, Sullivan Homes, has sought court protection from "Lawsuits, liens and other legal actions by banks and other creditors", according to the Spokesman Review:

  Sullivan Homes Inc. owes local banks about $16.2 million and has filed a petition in state court to liquidate its assets and pay off those debts. At least $900,000 is owed to other vendors and contractors.

  "This is absolutely a sign of the times," said attorney Nancy Isserlis, who will be appointed as the receiver of Sullivan Homes' assets, which include 32 homes and 72 building lots. The properties have a combined list price of $20.7 million

  Though details remain foggy, we believe Sullivan Homes of Washington was started in 1996. Somewhat confusingly, there is a separate Sullivan Homes of Idaho, which is still in business (See their "history" on sullivanhomes.com). Of note, Sullivan Homes Idaho built a home for Extreme Makeover Home Edition back in November 2005.

  Any details as to Sullivan Homes Washington's peak construction levels (Number of houses built, etc.) or number of employees affected that could be shared with us, would be much appreciated!.

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• 2008-07-25: Bill Mace Home Builders - Tennessee home builder - story story

  A back-add (Today is August 15), Clarksville, Tenn-based Bill Mace Home Builders (website - billmacehomes.com) has apparently filed for bankruptcy according to wsmv.com. Furthermore, there have been apparent allegations of fraud:

  Mace is accused of taking part in a scheme in which checks homeowners wrote intending to pay off Mace's construction loans were instead used to fund his other developments.

  An employee of a title company is accused of working with Mace in the scheme.

  Mace has also filed for bankruptcy, which means there could be a lien on the residents' houses in addition to their mortgages.

  The article goes on to note that Mace's attorney has indicated that the company has enough assets to pay off all debts.

  We are classifying Bill Mace Home Builders as a "tiny" implosion, though apparently they were one of the larger builders in Clarksville. If you can provide further information regarding Billl Mace Home Builders, please let us know!

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• 2008-07-23: Davis Homes - Indiana Home Builder - story

  It appears that Indiana's Davis Homes (davishomes.com) has ceased operations. They have a notice regarding the shutdown posted on their website:

  Davis Homes, one of Central Indiana’s largest neighborhood developers and homebuilders will stop its normal business operations on July 23 due to a severe downturn in the housing market. Started in 1985, the local, family-owned company built more than 12,000 homes in more than 80 neighborhoods across Central Indiana but was hit hard by the deterioration of the housing market that began locally in 2007.

  Unlike some companies that simply closed their doors, Davis has worked hard during the past few months to implement a plan to complete all the homes that were under construction and to pay homebuilding vendors and subcontractors. In addition, Davis invested in warranty insurance plans for all of its homes and homeowners to ensure that future warranty obligations will be met.

  Davis was one of the top 200 builders in the nation (We are eagerly trying to track down this top 200 list!).

  Their notice cites a slowing local economy — specfically, a rapid decline in the housing market of central Indiana. Of note, it appears that housing starts in Indiana have declined from a peak of around 13,000 to only a little more than a third of that peak, with 2008 projected starts in Indiana at about 5,000.

  An article published at IBJ.com regarding Davis' closure notes that in 2001, Davis employed 170 people. As recently as May, that number was down to 30.

  Our own take on their closure: it certainly seems as though Davis is "on top" of their shutdown. Very few builders that have imploded have taken the time to even publish a notice of their closure on their websites, much less invest in warranty insurance plans.

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• 2008-07-22: Lafferty Homes - California Home Builder - story

  Mercury News wire reports that San Ramon, California-based Lafferty Homes has fild for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. According to the article:

  The company listed debt of $100 million to $500 million and assets of $10 million to $50 million, according to its filing yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oakland.

  Lafferty filed under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code, under which a court-appointed trustee sells off assets and winds down a company's operations.

  Further to the article, the company's founder Richard Lafferty also declared personal bankruptcy.

  The Lafferty Homes website (laffertyhomes.com) lists communities under development across California, including Oakdale, Palmdale and Lancaster.

  We have been unable to find out more as to the size of Lafferty at peak. If you have any information regarding their peak building or employee levels, or can provide us with additional details regarding the specific circumstances surrounding Lafferty's implosion, please let us know.

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• 2008-07-09: Whitney Lake LLC - Charleston townhome subdivision development - story

  Whitney Lake, a Charleston, South Carolina building company that created a townhome subdivision by the same name (website whitneylake.com, has filed for Chapter. Whitney Lake was a project of developer John Lisi. Charleston's Post and Courier reports:

  Developer John D. Lisi told residents of the Whitney Lakes subdivision that he plans to reorganize his company through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company plans to file its legal papers by Aug. 1, he said.

  "We are working on a reorganization plan that would basically allow us to move forward with the project," he said. "We do have a very workable plan that addresses the needs of the homeowners and the payments that are due to venders (and) lenders."

  The bankruptcy filing would help Lisi manage his mounting business debts. Since Jan. 1, various construction-related companies have filed liens against the company totaling more than $700,000, according to Charleston County court records.

  Further research into Whitney Lake turned up a thread over at city-data.com. Some interesting tidbits were found.

  One poster recounts Lisi's grand plan for Whitney Lake:

  He put together a super plan to develop Whitney Lake with upscale but affordable parks and amenities like no other development in the area. If you look at the finished first phase anyone can see he does things right. Before construction, he and his family held community meetings for over a year to discuss concerns of Johns Island residents.

  Presale of Phase 1 units sold out almost overnight. Construction activities were slow to start because of permits mostly. When construction activities got a bit off track he hired a Vice President of Construction, and things got moving pretty well... until a few months ago when the subprime thing stopped sales of ALL realestate in the country. John is a trustworthy, dedicated professional who has much of his life involved in making Whitney Lake a great place to live and work. If there is a way out of this quagmire, John surely will find it, I believe. Give him some time to work it out.

  Back on June 9, 2008, Lisi allegedly sent the following notice to residents:

  Over the past few months we have been attempting to work with trade vendors and ourlenders to reach a voluntary workout agreement. This agreement would have resulted in the removal of the liens that have been placed on unclosed units and would have allowed us to move forward to close on these units. Unfortunately, this effort has not come to fruition and as a result we cannot proceed in completing units at this time.

  We are exploring the possibility of a Chapter 11 Reorganization. Through this course of action, we would be afforded a "breathing space" 'to organize a plan for payment of debts owed, once the plan is approved, to hopefully continue with our business operations. While we are working through this situation and evaluating our options, we have decided to close our trailer and sales office at Whitney Lake.

  And of course, we know where this story ends. And below are the observations of one resident who claims that Lisi is starting up another, similar subdivision "just around the corner":

  As it stands now, all development has stopped and 42 houses are standing incomplete, including 8 that have no siding or windows. I also understand that where he promised the pool is land not even owned by him neither is the interior of the lake. He said he had no idea what the buoys were in the lake. I found out later that they mark the property line. There has been no progress for months, no club house, no pool, nothing! The sales office is closed and the construction office has been hauled away. So it appears he is leaving Whitney Lake behind and starting fresh somewhere else, but remains in charge of the HOA. I understand that many of the unfinished houses are in the beginning of the foreclosure process. As mentioned above Whitney Lake LLC is considering bankruptcy. I understand that Mr. Lisi will be starting another subdivision under another business name just around the corner called St. Johns Square. He is advertising all the same items he promised with Whitney Lake, it even has a lake! If you ignore the abandoned houses, Whitey Lake looks good.

  Our take: the story of Whitney Lake is that of a subdivision development big on promises — promises that could only be delivered assuming units were sold and the bustling housing market marched on. Its a tiny implosion, admittedly, but we wonder about how many other developments out there are stagnant. And for homeowners who bought into the belief that these new super-developments would be able to deliver the amenities, what happens when the overhead of maintaining pools and golf courses is too much to maintain at only 30 - 50% capacity?

  In short we expect to see more subdivision bankruptcies in the future. And when they come, existing residents of these developments will have to ask themselves whether they want to wait it out or walk. And when walking leaves them in a better financial situation than throwing money away on an underwater home, its easy to guess what they will do.

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• 2008-07-07: Heritage Homes - Puget Sound-area residential builder - story

  We don't have much on this company, but apparently they've filed bankruptcy:

  Parry recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is trying to offload the speculative homes in King County that have been his livelihood for the past two decades. The largest claims against his small company from his creditors — including several local banks — total more than $4.5 million, according to bankruptcy filings.

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• 2008-07-04: T.F. Robertson Cos. - residential homes, AZ-based - story

  This Tucson, AZ-based builder has filed for bankruptcy. From the above article:

  Led by its president, Timothy F. Robertson, the company has been building custom and semi-custom homes in the Tucson area since 1989, according to its Web site.

  The company has built more than 300 homes to date, with some of its most recent projects in Starr Pass, the site said.

  The company has estimated assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million, according to court filings. The company is located at 450 N. Sixth Ave. A message left at the company's offices Thursday evening was not immediately returned.

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• 2008-07-01: Robert Harris Homes - residential home builder (GA and FL) - story story

  Implosion, 2008-07-02

  Yesterday Robert Harris officially announced the shutdown of his company, which we (and most observers probably) expected after the sales staff was dismissed last week. From the AJC:

  Robert Harris, founder of Robert Harris Homes, says in a letter to employees that the home builder had to shut down after efforts to restructure its debt failed.

  "We are at an impasse on these negotiations and will seek other avenues of restructuring," Harris' letter says.

  The letter went out July 1st.

  It appears there is an implied intent to attempt to start up again at some point if restructuring is successful, but due to the open-endedness and uncertainty, we consider Robert Harris Homes an "implode". Good luck to everyone who is/was associated with this builder.

  Ailing article, 2008-06-27

  According to the AJC, Robert Harris Homes of Woodstock, GA has laid off its entire sales staff:

  "I got an e-mail to pack up my stuff and leave," said Don Silverberg, a broker at the Arbor Walk subdivision in Acworth, one of about 18 local communities where Robert Harris Homes has built houses. "I'm going to take a little vacation and decide what to do." ...

  Management at Robert Harris Homes did not return phone calls Friday. A phone answering service in Texas said Robert Harris Homes employees there were suspended Thursday. The Florida office has a recording directing questions to Dustin Lough, a director with CRG Partners Group, a turnaround company with an office in Atlanta. Lough did not returns calls.

  The article goes on to say that the builder has failed to pay contractors this year, leading to work stoppages. More background on the company is below:

  Robert Harris Homes was founded in 1994 and grew to be the nation's 135th biggest residential builder last year, according to builderonline.com. Its closings in 2007 numbered 337, down 15 percent from the year before, builderonline says.

  Robert Harris Homes says on its Web site that Builder Magazine recognized the company in 2004 as one of the fastest-growing home builders. Prior to starting his Georgia business, founder Robert Harris had built more than 1,000 homes on the west coast of Florida, the company says.

  No statement from the company was provided regarding their plans to stay afloat (or otherwise), though dismissing the sales staff suggests and intent to wind down. If you know more, please contact us.

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• 2008-06-28: Sierra Pacific Homes LLC - Home Builder - story

  The Arizona Daily Star has reported that Sierra Pacific Homes LLC (website) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. From the article:

  A petition filed with the court provides estimates of $10 million to $50 million for the company's assets and debts. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a company to reorganize and pay off debts while it continues to operate.

  Among the company's largest unsecured creditors are Colorado River Materials Inc., of Marana, which is owed nearly $500,000, Polaris Land Surveying LLC, of Tucson, which is owed about $18,000 and Tucson Patio Walls, of Tucson, which is owed about $12,000.

  According to their website, Sierra Pacific is based out of Tuscon, Arizona, was founded in 1993 and has since built some 500 homes.

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• 2008-06-24: Caruso Homes - upscale residential builder - story

  Caruso Homes, MD/DC/VA-based builder of upscale homes, has entered chapter 11 bankruptcy. The credit crunch and housing bear market are blamed, unsurprisingly. A Baltimore Sun article has details:

  New home sales for the first quarter of 2008 dropped 13 percent from the fourth quarter and have plummeted 33 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

  Caruso's 30 largest consolidated unsecured creditors are owed $2.3 million. The biggest claim, more than $450,000, is held by 84 Lumber.

  ...

  The company listed debt of more than $100 million and assets of less than $100 million in Chapter 11 documents filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore. About 24 affiliates also sought court protection.

  As for the scale of the company, the article gives at least $100 million in annual revenues as a recent figure.

  Caruso plans to keep operating through and after restructuring.

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• 2008-06-19: Barclays North - Developer - story

  The Seattle Times reports that Barclays North is closing up shop on July 4^th. The article notes that at peak, Barclays North had sales revenue of $45 million. Per the article:

  At least one of McCourt's ventures did seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors last week. A real-estate project in Caldwell, Idaho, managed by McCourt, filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Seattle, claiming both assets and liabilities exceeding $10 million.

  Barclays North once controlled thousands of lots in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Texas and South Carolina and had sales of $45.5 million in 2004, according to its Web site. It established more than 150 distinct entities for different projects, with creditors spread from Ohio to Hawaii, court records show.

  The article goes on to note that the company continues to hold a 275-unit condo building in downtown Vegas.

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• 2008-06-18: Oakridge Homes LLC - Home builder - story

  California-based Oakridge Homes LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to an article from the WSJ. Per the article:

  Oakridge Homes didn't state in court papers whether it intends to reorganize or liquidate its assets during its stay in Chapter 11. An attorney for the company didn't return a call seeking comment by Tuesday afternoon. Oakridge, of Valencia, Calif., listed assets and debts in the range of $10 million to $50 million in its bankruptcy petition.

  Details are still sparse and we have yet to confirm if Oakridge Homes had a website. If you can provide us with any information regarding this listing, please let us know.

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• 2008-06-18: M.W. Johnson Construction Inc. - Home builder - story story

  Florida, Minnesota and Wisconsin home builder M.W. Johnson Construction Inc. (mwjohnson.com) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 13^th according to an article from the WSJ. Per the article:

  M.W. Johnson blamed its bankruptcy on the "troubled credit markets and overbuilding" that have caused sales of new homes to decline. The home builder said that not only have these economic conditions forced it into bankruptcy, but they have drained the company of cash. M.W. Johnson is seeking court approval of a $1 million bankruptcy loan to help it liquidate its assets.

  ...

  M.W. Johnson, of Lakeville, Minn., reported assets and debts in the range of $50 million to $100 million in its bankruptcy petition and said it has between 200 and 999 creditors. The home builder's affiliate, M.W. Johnson Construction of Florida Inc., also filed for bankruptcy.

  According to their website, M.W. Johnson had been doing business for 37 years. Further to an article from Finance and Commerce, M.W. Johnson hopes to reorganize:

  MW Johnson, which cracked the top 10 list of Minnesota homebuilders in 2006 as measured by gross revenue, plans to keep its Minnesota and Florida operations open while it restructures to meet operating expenses.

  The article goes on to note that in 2006, M.W. Johnson closed on over 400 housing units.

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• 2008-06-11: Mayer-Luce Development - Developer, home builder - story

  Desert Hot Springs, California-based Mayer-Luce Development has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection according to this article from The Press-Enterprise. Mayer-Luce was owned by Robert Mayer and Walter Luce, who are seeking the bankruptcy protection. Per the article:

  In court filings, Mayer said he had $2 million in assets and $86.4 million in debts. Of his $5,616.66 monthly income, $3,000 is from a family trust. His father, H.M. Mayer, founder of the Oscar Mayer bologna empire, died in April 2007.

  Luce reported personal assets of $708,278 and $85.4 million in debts.

  The duo's three business entities based in Desert Hot Springs -- Mayer-Luce Development Group Inc., Mayer-Luce Builders Inc. and LTV Builders Inc. -- also filed for liquidation.

  One entity claims no assets or debts. Another claims $2,022 in assets and $20,000 in debts. LTV Builders Inc. reportedly has $8.7 million in assets consisting of eight residential lots in Oakland and $10.1 million in debts.

  Apparently, Mayer-Luce had promised to build a golf course before the property fell to foreclosure. The course was to be a part of a billion dollar project replete with a "high end hotel". These plans are now shot, and some homeowners are suing Mayer-Luce for "shoddy construction". Randomly, Robert Mayer's father founded the Oscar Mayer bologna brand.

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• 2008-06-09: LandSource Communities Development - Real Estate Partnership - story

  LandSource Communities Development has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. LandSource was partilly owned by national public home builder Lennar Corp. Per the Sacremento Business Journal:

  LandSource's assets include the Newhall Land and Farming Co., which owns 15,000 acres of land north of Los Angeles. The California Public Employees' Retirement System is the partnership's main investor.

  Miami-based homebuilder Lennar and LNR each have a 16 percent stake in the partnership, which operates in Arizona, California, Florida, New Jersey, Nevada and Texas. Lennar is a major builder in the Sacramento region.

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• 2008-06-04: Legend Homes - Home builder - story story

  It seems that despite insisting to the contrary, Legend Homes was in danger of bankrupty: they filed for Chapater 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, according to this article from the Portland Business Journal

  According to the article:

  The company's senior managers decided to file bankruptcy to protect their home building operations from margin calls on land holdings by their lenders. Margin calls result when properties drop in value, pushing loan ratios beyond the terms of the original loan.

  The company expanded into California and Bend with projects that failed.

  Legend Homes reported between $100 million and $500 million in both assets and liabilities in court papers. It owes creditors $90.6 million, according to the bankruptcy filing.

  Legend Homes was founded in 1965.

  Original post to ailing, 2008-06-04:

  The Oregonian reports that Lgend Homes Corporation stopped paying some 60 subcontractors in May after their major source of funding, KeyBank, turned off the spigot.

  Though the company is saying they are in no danger of bankruptcy, they apparetnly have hired a turnaround specialist.

  Further to the article, "Legend Homes is the fifth largest home builder in the Salem and Portland area" per the Construction Monitor. The company has been in business for 42 years. According to Legend's website (legendhomes.com):

  Started in Portland, Oregon, in 1965, Legend Homes and Matrix Development have developed, designed and built approximately 12,500 homesites, homes, townhomes and condominiums.

  If you can provide us any updates as to the status of Legend Homes, their ability to pay bills, or their ability to continue operating as a going concern, please let us know!

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• 2008-06-09: Taylor-Morley Homes, Inc. - St. Louis-area residential builder - story

  From the above Bizjournals article:

  Taylor-Morley Homes Inc., once one of the largest home builders in the St. Louis area, ceased operations May 30 after 56 years in business.

  ...

  Taylor told the Business Journalin November that his company got caught in the trap that ensnared some other home builders across the nation. He said his company is sitting on too much land, which it had acquired over the past few years with millions of dollars in loans in anticipation that the housing boom would keep rolling.

  ...

  Taylor-Morley's problems came to a head in late October 2007, when Southwest Bank of St. Louis filed a lawsuit to seize control of more than 300 vacant and partially built lots at five of its developments in St. Louis and St. Charles counties. About the same time, Bank of America foreclosed on more than 170 lots at five other developments. A month before, the company voluntarily surrendered title on 19 lots at another development in south St. Louis County to Commerce Bank.

  Bizjournals also reported Taylor-Morley had $74.7 million in revenue in 2006, down from $114.7 million in 2005, $108.4 million in 2004 and $100.2 million in 2003.

  But at least Taylor-Morley went out like good guys:

  Bill Taylor, head of the Chesterfield, Mo.-based home builder, said his company waited to shut down the business until each home was built for the nearly 80 contracts Taylor-Morley had in backlog as of early last year when the company stopped accepting new home contracts. The last home the company committed to build closed last week.

  "We made commitments to everyone involved to uphold our name, reputation and legacy that my father built over the years to get those homes built," Taylor said. "We did everything possible to get that done," including cutting a staff that was 100 in 2006 to less than 10 as of last week to reduce costs.

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• 2008-05-23: Sixells LLC - Condo developer - story

  The Sacremento Business Journal reports that condo developer Sixells LLC will be "shutting down". The closure comes amidst a Sixells employee pleading "no-contest" to forgery. Regarding the shape of Sixells business prior to closure, the article states:

  Sixells had 13 projects in various states of development when the housing market began to decline in 2006. Its most prominent project is near The Pavilions on Fair Oaks Boulevard, originally planned for $750,000 to $1 million condos. But after only 11 of 60 condos sold, the project has been assumed by partner Ravel Rasmussen Properties.

  If you hear further details that may be helpful to readers, please let us know.

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• 2008-05-21: Obra Homes - low-cost residential builder, south-TX - story

  This regional yet prolific builder of sub-$100k homes appears to have seen the writing on the wall and is rather efficiently winding down business. The Brownsville Herald has more:

  The Rio Grande Valley-founded home builder has shut its doors locally and sold its remaining properties to a partner. The company is no longer building homes here, and calls to its local phone number yield messages indicating the line is no longer in service.

  The company is still selling homes in the Houston area, but its presence in the Valley is now limited to a storefront sign on an empty showroom off Business 83. Messages at a Houston number were unreturned.

  ...

  EZ Home Club purchased all 109 of Obra's local homes, many in Edinburg, and is selling the properties. Most of those homes were built without owners, or buyers backed out before the homes were completed. The company is also still offering to build in one subdivision in Edinburg.

  EZ Home Club kept all 15 of Obra's Valley employees, Garza said.

  David O. Rogers III, son of the chairman of Edinburg-based First National Bank, founded Obra Homes in 1997. Rogers could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

  As for characterizing the company's size, the article states:

  At its peak in 2005, the company was the largest Valley-based home builder, putting up more than 500 homes here that year. In 2006, it ranked as the 70th largest home builder in the United States, with $135 million in revenue, according to Builder Online.

  That is nothing to sneeze at. What is interesting is that the low-price end of the market is hurting so badly, even though one might think more activity would move from the $200k region down, as prices and loan approval amounts fall. Perhaps the factors of reverse-migration and much more stringent lending standards overshadow even price declines as deciding factors.

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• 2008-05-09: EnCap Golf Holdings - Developer / Home builder - story

  EnCap Golf Holdings a New Jersey company that was set to build "thousands of homes" and golf courses above entombed landfills filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing came a day after the Meadowlands Commission, a New Jersey regulatory agency, determined to sever ties with EnCap. Per NJ.com:

  The company was supposed to clean up landfills and build a golf course, hotel and 2,600 homes in Rutherford and Lyndhurst, but the project got bogged down in cost overruns, delays and environmental violations.

  It was not clear yesterday whether taxpayer money would be lost as a result of EnCap's filing.

  The state Department of Environmental Protection arranged $215 million in loans for EnCap. About $51 million was not backed by repayment guarantees.

  Also, the Bergen County Improvement Authority arranged $103 million in loans. A spokesman for the authority said a group of banks led by Wachovia guaranteed the funds, so taxpayers are not at risk.

  The article goes on to note that EnCap lists liabilities/assetse in a range between $100 to $500 million.

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• 2008-05-05: Adam Stearns Homes - High-end builder - story

  Custom, high-end home builder Adam Sterns Homes (site down: adamsternhomes.com) has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection according to this article from the Tennessean. Per the article:

  "I think it was more a realization that we had been … rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," said Joe Rusnak, Adam Stern's lawyer. "Rather than increasing the risk to the subcontractors, and further increasing the amount owed to subcontractors, (Adam Stern) called each and every one of them, and said don't deliver lumber, don't do any more landscaping. I'm pulling the plug."

  The article notes that Adam Sterns Homes was a competitor with previously imploded Corinthian Homes (imploded 2008-02-16).

  With only about $4 mm worth of properties incomplete and only about $3 mm in liabilities, we consider Adam Sterns Homes a "tiny" implosion. However, having been in business for some sixteen years, we still find it noteworthy.

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• 2008-05-01: Denmark Homes - Home builder - story

  North Carolina-based DenMark Homes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to this article from the Triangle Business Journal. Per the article:

  "Wake and Granville County and the area up north of Raleigh, it's going gangbusters," Stubbs says. "They're selling houses up there just as well as they ever did. But the market has slowed substantially in South Carolina."

  DenMark Homes' sales were around $45 million in 2007. The company has both a residential development arm as well as a construction unit.

  Major creditors include Wachovia, SunTrust, Stock Building Supply and Capital Bank. The company's assets are about $92 million, with liabilities of $73 million.

  Citing the troubles in South Carolina, DenMark is seeking bankruptcy protection as it works on a plan to pay back creditors.

  We are still putting together the detail of DenMark Homes' implosion; if you have any information regarding their ongoing restructuring, please let us know!

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• 2008-04-30: Tony Marnella, Inc. et al - Home builder - story

  A "tiny" implosion, Tony Marnella's Oregon-based home building companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The companies seeking protection are Landing Development LLC, 550 Investments LLC, Tony Marnella Inc, and Tony Marnella, himself, according to The Oregonian.

  We are unsure as to whether Marnella Homes LLC (marnellahomes.com) is involved though it is another company owned by Tony Marnella.

  Per The Oregonian:

  [The three companies seeking protection] collectively owe about $24 million, the bulk of it to two lenders - Sterling Savings Bank and MW Housing Partners III LP, an affiliate of timber giant Weyerhaeuser.

  Susan Ford, Marnella's bankruptcy attorney, said slow sales at a Happy Valley townhome development were primarily responsible for the bankruptcy. Marnella unveiled his Volare at Eagles Crest, a 115-lot development, last July, just as the mortgage crisis worsened the already slowing real estate market.

  Landing Development has built more than 25 homes at Volare. The rest remain empty lots.

  Happy Valley is generally recognized as one of the most overbuilt communities in the metro area, along with parts of Clark County, Wash. The Clackamas County town has proven difficult territory for more than one developer due to super-heated growth in recent years.

  We were able to find what appears to be Tony Marnella's blog (tonymarnella.wordpress.com). The last post was a week ago on April 23, 2008. Therein, Tony sounds upbeat about real estate generally. An optimist until the end?

  If you have any further details on these implosions, please let us know.

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• 2008-04-29: Empire Land - Land development - story story

  The LA Times has reproted that Ontario, California-based Empire Land has fild for bankruptcy protection:

  Empire Land, an Ontario-based land development company, has filed for bankruptcy protection, joining at least a dozen home builders that sought protection from creditors in the last 10 months as home sales and prices slumped.

  "A severe tightening or loss of financing for the entitling and development of land, and the resulting pressures that were placed on the debtors' cash flows," helped prompt the bankruptcy filing, Chief Financial Officer Neil Miller said in a statement filed Friday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Riverside.

  The article goes on to note that Empire had assets/liabilities of $100 to $500 million (Quite a range, if anyone can narrow this down, please let us know).

  Big Builder Online described Empire's 2006 operations as follows:

  In 2006, the company had 7,500 units planned in its two largest communities, controlled 13,500 lots, and had another 5,000 lots in various stages of acquisition.

  In January 2006, Previti transferred his home building assets to son Jim Previti Jr.'s Frontier Homes. Empire has several communities in California and Arizona. Plans for Seguoro Springs in Tucson, Ariz., included 2,500 homes, with roughly 25% designated as active adult.

  If you have any further detail as to Empire's bankruptcy proceedings or could elaborate on any broader implications of their closure, please let us know.

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• 2008-04-28: Regency - Iowa-based builder - story

  Regency Cos., Iowa's largest home builder, has completely siezed up and the situation looks terminal. From the Des Moines Register:

  Regency Cos. of Des Moines, has laid off the entire staff of its home building business and left behind 300 homes that lenders and buyers will now have to sell or finish.

  Jamie Myers, president of Regency, told 103 people working at Regency Homes offices in West Des Moines and Cedar Rapids on Friday afternoon that their jobs had been eliminated and that construction would halt. Myers said it became impossible for the company to continue after a lending agreement with Wells Fargo & Co. ended in December without a renewal.

  "We don't have the cash flow to pay them," he said of employees.

  Myers said it's hoped that enough money will be generated from the sale of homes already built to pay lenders and contractors.

  Myers didn't rule out a bankruptcy for the company, which concentrates in the Ames, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Iowa City areas.

  We are considering this an implosion due to the layoffs and cessation of business, as well as strong possibility of bankruptcy.

  As far as the size of the company and scale of the atrophy:

  Regency closed the sale of 958 homes in 2005, its best year But the company has struggled for months, and predicted in January that sales would fall to 550 homes this year.

  Regency laid off 27 people at the start of the year and hired an executive to help restructure the company. In the previous two years, the company had used attrition to cut its home-building staff by 40 people.

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• 2008-04-24: Kimball Hill - Residential, Chicago-area - story story story story

  Implosion, 2008-04-23:

  Kimball Hill has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In statement posted on its web site Kimball Hill said:

  While its asset base remains strong, the Company has been impacted by many of the factors which have adversely impacted the homebuilding industry over the last 18 months. These factors have included the downturn in the housing market, severe challenges in the credit and mortgage markets, diminished consumer confidence, increased foreclosures and higher cancellation rates.

  "Today's decision was difficult to make, but we believe it is in the best interests of all of our stakeholders," said Ken Love, president and CEO. "Filing for Chapter 11 will allow us to restructure our debt and other obligations, bringing our capital structure in line with current market realities."

  Mr. Love noted that in response to the challenging housing market, Kimball Hill has already successfully implemented a number of initiatives aimed at improving operating performance, including reducing overhead costs and the recent decision to exit the Florida market by the end of 2008.

  "Our issues are financial, not operational. The next step in our restructuring is to strengthen our capital structure and position our company to weather the current storm that has hit the housing and capital markets. We have had significant discussions with potential plan sponsors and our senior lenders already, and we hope to agree on a reorganization plan in the next 90 days," said Mr. Love. "We will continue to sell, build and deliver homes without interruption."

  "Financial, not operational"—that about says it all. Very telling regarding the nature of the current crisis.

  We wish the best to all employees and customers of Kimball Hill and hope this will be resolved for them with a minimum of pain and dislocation.

  Ailing Post, 2008-02-17:

  Kimball Hill, while a Chicago-centric builder, appears to have grown too aggressively with developments and joint ventures around the country in an attempt to opportunistically "ride the bubble". That business decision has now burned them badly. Quoting from the first article above:

  A key developer of several Northwest and West Chicago suburbs, including Rolling Meadows, Kimball Hill has been laboring under the weight of a $500 million line of credit and a simultaneous housing depression. After expanding nationally in recent years to hot housing markets in California, Florida, Nevada and Texas, those same markets are now suffering the most in the worst housing downturn in years.

  Kimball Hill also revealed in this week's filings it is in a joint venture in Nevada for two tracts of land on which it now maintains significant debt. The joint agreement calls for additional financial transactions in the coming weeks, involving additional debt, which could result in the default of that agreement, too.

  At least one observer with experience in corporate turnarounds is quite bearish on the company:

  "They are all going to fall very shortly," said Brandt, chief executive officer of DSI, an international turnaround consulting firm.

  Brandt predicted Friday Kimball Hill will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection within weeks.

  "Their reorganization potential is not good," said Brandt, who has handled complicated home developer bankruptcies in the past.

  Kimball Hill is another unfortunate case of company which is so longstanding as to nearly be an institution, today being done in (or "doing itself in") through historic credit bubble excess.

  The company was not incorporated until 1969, but actually began in 1953 when a lawyer named Kimball Hill bought up land ear marked to be a golf course. On the would-be greens and fairways he built what they don't build today: community. Conducting business in stark contrast to the Countrywide shark sellers of today, Hill built homes that

  '..., were affordable and if the family couldn't pay the 10 percent down, $10 or $25 would do'

  Returning WWII vets and generations thereafter came to thrive in the booming suburb built by Kimball Hill—"Rolling Meadows." It would be fair to say Hill poured his self into the town he built, and that it is reflected in ways not measured on the balance sheet or metrics seen by analysts and rating agencies.

  Hill's influence went beyond subdivision planning. He extended streets and then paved and named them -- mostly after birds.

  He was the driving force behind the incorporation of Rolling Meadows, and the only reason the town wasn't named for him was because he didn't want it.'

  Hill's son David took over the helm in 1969 and has since guided the ship steady. In 2005 the company reported record margins and seemed well prepared to weather another impending housing downturn. As recently as January 2006 the company was seemingly in control of its fate:

  'With quick wits and fast feet, Kimball Hill Homes Chairman David K. Hill survived the crash of housing markets in California, Nevada, Florida and Illinois during 2006. Now he's gathering his energy to deliver a knockout blow in 2007.'

  But the first sign something was going wrong in the above is that the company apparently thought that what happened in 2006 was "the crash". Now we know that was not the case. Later the company admitted that in the first quarter of 2006, the first counter-punch was in fact delivered:

  ' "Our wake-up call came in January 2006," he says now. "We were lulled to sleep during our first quarter of fiscal 2006 (October through December 2005) because we had the best margin closings in the history of the company. When we looked at declining sales, it was easy to attribute them to seasonal factors. "But in January, we saw the handwriting on the wall. '

  And into year-end 2007 the reeling builder, pinned against the ropes with no way out, hemmoraged $221 million. But there was one more blow delt:

  '...,its net worth fell below levels for one of the covenants in its senior credit facility. Being in violation of that covenant limits the company's access to an estimated $100 million within that $500 million credit facility, which is why Standard & Poor's and Moody's last week downgraded their respective credit ratings of Kimball Hill, and S&P placed the builder on Credit Watch. " '

  These sort of events sealed the downward-spiral dynamic for Kimball Hill, from which it has found no reprieve, as every indication is that the market is nowhere near bottom.

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• 2008-04-23: Reynen & Bardis Communities Inc. - Home Builder - story story Update 2008-10-15

  Apparently, Christo Bardis has followed his partner Reynan and filed for personal bankruptcy protection.

  Original posting 2008-04-23

  John Reynen, co-founder of 35-year-old, Sacramento-based home builder Reynen & Bardis Communities Inc. filed for personal bankruptcy protection after Bank of the West took steps to recover his personal assets. The Sacramento Business Journal reports:

  Reynen had personally guaranteed money lent to the development and home-building company he founded with Christo Bardis and secured those loans with his personal property. Bank of the West had been pursuing recovery of those personal assets. A window that would allow a bankruptcy court to set aside attachments on that property -- presumably for the benefit of all the company's creditors -- was set to expire Thursday.

  The article goes on to note that, "The company, which has been pounded by the housing downturn, said it will be 'unaffected' by the filing."

  Given that at least one bank is taking steps to be made whole on company debt guaranteed by John Reynen, the ability of Reynen & Bardis Communities Inc. has been brought into question. Indeed, the SBJ article notes that, "[the company is] clearly dependent on the cooperation and goodwill' of creditors to restructure loan agreements."

  Such dependence coupled with Reynen's personal steps to seek bankruptcy protection make for a sufficient basis for implosion.

  At peak, Reynen & Bardis Communities was one of the 100 largest builders in the country and completed over 700 homes in 2005 (See here). If you have any updates on John Reynen's bankruptcy proceedings or can elaborate upon Reynen & Bardis Communities' ongoing credit negotiations and/or status, please let us know.

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• 2008-03-22: Nohl Crest Homes - luxury homes; Tampa, FL-area - story

  Nohl Crest Homes' 23 years of home building has spanned the housing slumps of the 80's, the savings and loan farce of the 1990s and the dot bomb induced real estate bust in 2000. But the builder will be flattened like a beach hut in a tsunmi by the back lash of this housing bubble burst:

  "Will we be here a year from today? I don't think so. That's not going to happen."

  That statement by Nohl Crest co-founder and president Kenneth Emery, straightforward as it is, actually belies the severity of this crash. With nearly 2300 homes to its credit Nohl Crest employed 68 people as late as 2006, the height of the housing bubble, but now only six remaining executives and salespeople according to Emery. Two years ago Nohl Crest sold 150 homes last year the number was 30.

  Unfortunately for Emery, homes in the $500,000 to $700,000 range just are not selling these days. "People just don't qualify for those sorts of homes anymore." The problem is of course that they never did, but the lenders lent and the builders built anyway -- Nohl Crest Homes along with them -- until overbuilding pumped the bubble up, then defaulting mortgages punctured it. The ensuing implosion has crushed even powerful national builders like TOUSA and Lennar, leaving the smaller builders like Nohl Crest with virtually no chance. The Nohl Crest name will never heard of again, but for now they exist and say will honor commitments to remaining customers, so we list them here as an "imminent implode".

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• 2008-03-04: Kurlemann Builders Inc. - Home builder - story story story

  Kurlemann Builders Inc. filed filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on March 3. The builders Inc. is one of sixteen seperate homebuilding companies owned by Bernie Kurlemann. Kurlemann Builders Inc. is a subsidiary of the Kurlemann Custom Building Group. According to Bernard Kurlemann, that group is reorganizing and shutting down the high end builder.

  "Essentially, (Kurlemann Builders, Inc.) was not building any more and there was no reason to keep the company in business," Kurlemann said. "The solvency of the other building companies is totally intact ... I think some would like to hear that this is all about the aftermath of the subprime lending problems, but really this is about certain products and certain companies go through their own lifecycles."

  Coincidentaly the move kills the lawsuits of two Mason residents who sued him for shoddy work will likely only get a fraction of their money. In addition to just "not building any more" Kurlemann Builders may not have been interested in paying their debt anymore:

  ...claiming $61,907 in assets and $1.85 million in debt. According to court records, at least $1.5 million of the debt is associated with two lawsuits filed in Warren County — most was for the $1.15 million award a jury decided and $281,525 was for Kurlemann's own law firm, Thompson Hine, LLP.

  Link. Why would a builder own 16 building companies? Maybe the chapter 7 filing for Kurlemann Builders Inc. answers that question. In this case the lawsuits are restricted to just one of the companies and while the debtors pick over the bones of Kurlemann Builders Inc. the other companies are "buzzing right along,"

  So let's say good by to Kurlemann Builders Inc. and hello to our new ailing member Kurlemann Custom Building Group.

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• 2008-02-27: Randall Martin Home - Home Builder - story story story

  When you begin home building at the peak of the housing bubble there is nowhere to go but down and down is where local builder Randall Martin went until it predictably hit bottom in the wake of the housing crash. RMH argins were squeezed due to competition from bigger builders. After completion of less than 500 houses the builder just walked away from its vacant property and unsold homes:

  A Valley builder is foreclosing on 400 vacant lots in four of its master planned communities.

  Randall Martin Home has subdivisions in Chandler, Gilbert, Surprise, and Avondale.

  CEO Randy Bury blames the decision on the downturn in the real estate market.

  The company is not filing bankruptcy, but is restructuring its finances and hopes to be in business again in the future when the market turns and is committed to finishing work on the homes for which it has contracts.

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• 2008-02-27: American Standard Building Systems - Residential prefab building - story

  American Standard, which has been described as "One of the nation's oldest and largest manufacturers of framing components and new home building systems", has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

  The Martinsville, VA-based company (founded in 1968), already mired in debt and rescued from bankruptcy once before in 1996, was done in this time by the squeeze of the all-encompassing home building bust:

  American Standard closed Jan. 25, citing the nation’s housing slowdown and the company’s inability to borrow additional money. It employed 57 full-time employees and 23 temporary workers at the time.

  Customers and employees may lose some or all money they are owed. CEO Jamie Lester stated:

  Obviously, economic conditions were beyond my control; so was the bank’s decision. Perhaps I should have closed the business earlier, but jobs were at stake in my hometown and some customers had made deposits. I hoped conditions would change; obviously, they have not. Sadly, the market continues to deteriorate,” he wrote. “I am truly sorry for the losses by employees and customers.”

  Perhaps Lester listened to too many upbeat forecasts by major builder CEOs and the NAR. We hope such people will think twice about putting out these kinds of lies in the future, even if they are palatable. It just causes more people to get hurt later.

  We suspect the reliance on fiancing programmes contributed to American Standard's demise due to its own inability to borrow (linked from the same 2005 article as above):

  Through relationships with the nation's leading construction lending institutions, Owner Builder Solutions offers 100% construction financing for every aspect of the home building project. In most situations, out of pocket expenses total only $800 to $1200. Additionally, homeowners may not have to make construction loan payments while their new home is being built. The Systems Building process is especially popular with financial institutions because its small margin of error significantly enhances the customer's chances of success.

  That sales pitch is downright cringe-worthy in retrospect, after the mortgage lending collapse. And so yet another company learns that there is a downside to financing customers that otherwise could not buy the product being sold. It's really too bad, because the prefab "systems approach" to building looks like it brought lots of efficiency and cost savings. We wish the best of luck to everyone at or otherwise impacted by the closure of this company.

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• 2008-02-27: Ollanik Construction Co. - Residential construction/custom home building - story

  All we presently know about this builder comes from the one story linked above. Ollanik was apparently Tucson, AZ-based, and is in Chapter 7 (converted from Chapter 11 on Feb 15.). Quoting a bit more from that brief article:

  In filings, Ollanik Construction indicated that it had between 100 and 200 creditors and assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million.

  Owned by David Ollanik, the company started out as a commercial builder, but later moved into custom home-building and other residential construction in the 1990s.

  There is probably much more to tell; if you can do so, please drop us a line.

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• 2008-02-18: Kennedy Homes - Home Builder - story story

  Chicago's Daily Herald has reported that the "South Barrington-based Kennedy Homes confirmed Monday it laid off 20 of its 32 employees on Friday and said it is unsure of its ability to start new home construction on undeveloped land." Kennedy Homes' website is now "under construction" (kennedyhomebuilders.com).

  Regarding the size of the Illinois / Wisconsin home builder, the article notes:

  Cross estimates Kennedy Homes has been building about 150 homes a year in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin.

  Kennedy Homes generated $214 million in sales in 2006 and was the area's 11th largest home builder, according to a listing of developers by Crain's Chicago Business.

  Subsequent to the above report, the Chicago Tribune has reported that Kennedy Homes is suing their bank, Harris Bank, a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal. Kennedy Homes alleges that accounting errors by Harris Bank resulted in Kennedy overdrawing their account by some $11 million.

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• 2008-02-16: Corinthian Custom Homes, Inc. - Custom Home Builder - story

  The Tennessean has (dated Feb. 16) the news that this Franklin-based builder has filed for bankruptcy protection. Apparently the slowdown in business did them in: with a drop from about 150 homes in "normal" years to 70 last year.

  A bit more on the bankruptcy circumstance:

  The filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Nashville put the company's assets and liabilities at more than $1 million each.

  Fifth Third Bank, American Security Bank & Trust, Bank of America, First Tennessee Bank, Colonial Bank, Green Bank and Community First Bank are key lenders that provided financing for construction, acquisitions and development.

  Corinthian wants to reorganize, and continue as a smaller interest.

  More on the company, from the article:

  Corinthian has built homes in Davidson, Williamson, Wilson, Rutherford and Maury counties, Psillas said. Its Web site lists St. Regis Place in Brentwood and The Woods of West Meade among its communities.

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• 2008-02-15: Buescher Homes - Home Builder - story

  Update, 2008-05-12: An update on Buescher can be found here (Abandoned homes, some lots bought up, some vandalized, weeds aplenty).

  Update, 2008-03-11: A reader (who bought a house from Buescher but now cannot get in touch with them) sent us an informative set of links related to Buescher:

  • Buescher Company profile on Manta.com. Notes estimated employees of 60 and annual sales of $63M.
  • Buescher's BBB record
  • James Buescher Sponsorship of "Extreme Build For Youth", an apparent foray into charity (or is that promotion?)
  • A BMW Z8 for sale by one Dean & Sherry Buescher (out of Dallas). Looks like someone is trying to raise cash...

  A number of people also pointed out that Buescher apparently holds a high percentage (1/5-1/4) of vacant homes in Tarrant county. See this screenshot someone sent in for an example, and also check out the Collin Central Appraisal link below for more.

  Update 2008-03-10: We have received word that Buescher Homes has filed for bankruptcy. Here is the relevant information: Buescher Homes - US Bankruptcy Court District of Northern District of Texas Case # 08-30781-sgj11.

  One tipster pointed us in the direction of the Collin Central Appraisal District where a search of Buescher properties turned up 281 results.

  We have received word from various tipsters that Dallas/Fort Worth-based Buescher Homes (buescherhomes.com — site down - archive) has put "ALL BUSINESS OPERATIONS ARE CURRENTLY ON HOLD." From one email, apparently sent from a Buescher Homes email address:

  Unfortunately, as of Friday, February 15, 2008, Buescher Homes is undergoing a reorganization. At this time, we cannot anticipate when operations will return to normal.

  ALL BUSINESS OPERATIONS ARE CURRENTLY ON HOLD. Mechanical warranty work will be honored by the company who originally performed the installation on the home.

  We recieved further, separate correspondence regarding Buescher Homes indicating closure. From one such tipster:

  I beleive Buecher Homes in Dallas/Fort Worth are in trouble. They have pulled out of the Fort Worth Market with 15-20 lots under purchase contracts that they cannot move. Additional they have 3 homes in Fort Worth they have sold but cannot complete contstruction on because they are on credit freeze with their Suppliers and contractors. I have also been told they are holding $20 million worth of property in Collin County which would be a 10 year build out for them.

  I have not seen any articles about them because they are a family owned and closely held company. But for a home builder to take 150 days to get houses to the sheet rock stage and have them sit for 45-60 days at a time with no work being done there is something wrong.

  Regarding Buescher's size, another informant has indicated they close as many as 250 homes a year.

  Finally, another tipster has speculated that Buescher was forced into bankruptcy. However, we have as of February 29, 2008, been unable to corroborate this rumor:

  It looks like they were forced into filing Chapter 7 liquidation by some of their subs on 2/15/08. Most of the homes built within the past year have mechanic liens on them.

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• 2008-02-06: Goff Homes - Residential - (no MSM story yet)

  We have received word that Carrollton, Texas-based Goff Homes (goffhomes.com - website down at this time) has recently "closed their doors." Per a tipster:

  Goff homes Let their employees go and closed their doors Friday a week ago. The[y] cleaned out their model homes that weekend. There are a number of homeowners in my subdivision that have their first year end repair requests and no one that we can send them to. We can not find anyone that knows anything about their present status.

  According to housingzone.com, Goff Homes had revenus of approximately $56 mm in 2007, with over 200 new residential closings. A write-up on Goff Homes at Weaver and Tidwell noted that:

  . Goff Homes, which has enjoyed annual revenues of around $33 million over the last five years, has had an exceptionally good year in 2005 and expects about $40 million in revenues.

  We are still trying to flesh out the details regarding this implosion. If you have any information regarding Goff Homes, please let us know.

  Goff Homes Homeowner reports:

  From one anonymous source comes this story of ongoing troubles regarding trying to get ahold of someone at Goff Homes (portions deleted to protect anonymity):

  My husband and I built our home in XXX. We had a great building experience and still love our home and our neighborhood. However, during our first year, as was expected we ran into some "new construction" issues. We took a running account of things that would come up and at the end of the year we contacted Goff numerous times for our one year walk-through inspection. (We had been told that they would contact us, but when that didn't happen we contacted them.) I emailed so many people at the Goff office trying to get in contact with the right person, as the site manager position seemed to have changed occupants so often I couldn't keep up with it. First it was XXX (who we felt did a superb job during the building process), then it was XXX, then it was XXX, then it was XXX. None of these people followed up. None of our warranty issues were addressed.

  As it stands now, we have several issues with our home that never got handled during the two year warranty period. None of these are "huge" issues but are issues that, were we buying a home on the market, we would have expected the sellers to handle before we closed. Now, since we are in our home we really have no recourse it seems.

  We do however have a new issue that IS a big one. [Issue omitted to protect anonymity].

  I can't reach anyone with Goff Homes and their website will not load. So here we are, in our $200K home that we love, wondering what to do next.

  Anyway, I saw your website while playing another round of "Where's Goff?" I also found this http://www.hobb.org/content/view/947/442/ which I thought I'd share, in case you haven't seen it.

  Needless to say I am discouraged.

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• 2008-02-04: Gateway Homes Inc. - Residential - story story

  Omaha, Nebraska-based Gateway Homes filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection according to the Omaha World-Herald.

  Gateway said in court papers that it owes a total of $3.28 million in unsecured claims to its 20 largest creditors.

  Court documents show Gateway's estimated assets are $0 to $10,000, but Ginn said that amount was mistakenly reported.

  "If that box was checked, it would be checked in error," Ginn said, "because the total assets would be in the $1 million to $10 million range."

  Ginn said Gateway's total inventory consists of eight custom homes under construction and 19 spec homes, which are homes without a specific buyer built on speculation that they will sell. Of the spec homes, some are completed and are models that prospective buyers can tour, while others were still under construction, Ginn said. Most are nearly finished, he said.

  Gateway was a builder of homes priced between $250 and $400K. Per the World-Herald, Gateway actually shut their doors on January 22^nd of this year.

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• 2008-02-01: Trend Homes - Residential - story

  In a deal not unlike the implosion of Dunmore Homes, Inc., Trend Homes has been purchased by private investment firm Najafi Cos. only to file immediately for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

  The Builder Online News Service reports:

  According to a Najafi Cos. press release, the investment firm plans to buy Trend Homes for $65 million, but the deal is subject to a U.S. bankruptcy court approving a Chapter 11 reorganization plan submitted by Trend Homes.

  ...

  Trend Homes was listed as No. 85 in the 2006 BUILDER 100, with $303 million in revenues and 926 closings.

  The article notes that Trend Homes listed between $100 to $500 million in assets and a like amount in liabilities.

  If you have any further infomration regarding the sale and subsequent bankruptcy filing of Trend Homes, please let us know.

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• 2008-01-29: Technical Olympic USA (TOUSA), Inc. - Residential Home Builder - story story story story story story story story story

  After a spectacular year-long swan dive, TOUSA has formally filed for bankruptcy. Bloomberg writes:

  The company, based in Hollywood, Florida, listed assets of $2.3 billion and debt of $1.8 billion in a Chapter 11 petition filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There were 37 affiliates that also filed today.

  Tousa, the largest builder by assets and debts in bankruptcy and at least the 14th to file since June, missed three interest payments this month as home sales and prices fell in Florida, where the company does most of its business. The builder never recovered from the August 2005 purchase of Transeastern Properties Inc., a closely held Coral Springs, Florida-based homebuilder, said Robert Curran, a managing director at Fitch Ratings in New York who covers builders.

  Gross revenue for TOUSA was $2.6 billion in 2006, according to BuilderOnline. The company ranked 13th on that list; making it our largest implosion to date.

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• 2007-12-31: Turner & Associates - Luxury Home Builder - story

  Though too small to make our headline list, the implosion of Turner & Associates, a Marlboro, Washington-based home builder, is still notable in that it seems to have been spurred by the county blocking the builder from devoloping approximately 50 acres into a subdivision. Per a cached version of a Washington Business Journal article:

  In early 2005, citing a strain on infrastructure and services in the rural tier, the county limited to 25 the number of building permits issued that year in that area, which covers about 51,000 acres and where Turner and other builders own property. The legislation also placed a minimum lot size of two acres for each new residential dwelling, in order to discourage subdivision development.

  At a hearing leading up to the vote in late 2004, Ingrid Turner of Turner & Associates was among several builders who spoke up against the bill. "My company has invested a lot in properties in the rural tier," she said at the time. "This bill would bankrupt us."

  Ingrid Turner wasn't kidding. Turner & Associates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection sometime in late December.

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• 2007-12-28: First Dartmouth Homes - Condos - story story

  First Dartmouth Homes, a Tampa condo-builder owned by Frank Maggio, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 28, 2007. Per a Tampa Bay Business Journal article:

  First Dartmouth owner Frank Maggio originally had planned for a pair of 19-story towers surrounded by single-family homes for what some consider to be a blighted part of town. Maggio purchased properties ahead of approval from the City Council, spending nearly $30 million, but later scaled back much of his project, turning the towers to a maximum of 14 stories and changing single-family homes into multi-tenant units.

  The City Council is expected to vote on the project overall Sept. 13, but city officials said the project can't move forward without the right-of-way approvals, which the project failed to get Wednesday night.

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• 2007-12-14: Nouveau Homes, Inc. - Residential - story

  Per the Sacremento Business Journal, Rocklin-based Nouveau Homes, Inc., filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. A "tiny" implosion, Nouveau Homes' business was characterized as:

  Nouveau Homes sold just three homes last year and had four sales this year, putting it at the bottom of the list of Sacramento builders, in company with dozens of builders and developers who haven't managed more than a handful of sales through the slump.

  Company president and sole owner Robert Nelson could not be reached for comment. According to the filing, the company had total sales revenue of $15.4 million in 2005 and 2006.

  The Journal notes that Nouveau had debts of approximately $18 million and assets of less than $100,000.

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• 2007-12-10: Ralph Angelucci Builder, Inc. - Residential - story

  Lexington, Kentucky home builder Ralph Angelucci Builder, Inc., filed for bankruptcy. Per an article from the Herald-Leader (Cached):

  Angelucci, who has served as president of the Home Builders Association of Lexington, formed his first company, Ralph Angelucci Homes Inc., in 1974, according to filings with the Kentucky Secretary of State. The present organization and a sister company, Lakewood Building Co. Inc., were organized in 1989.

  Most of the company's assets are in seven houses, including four that are under construction. The properties are worth a total of $678,900, according to the filing.

  The company reported sales of $3.12 million for 2005, $1.43 million for 2006 when the housing market began softening and $936,308 for about 11 months of 2007.

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• 2007-12-05: British American Homes - Homes, Townhomes - story

  An alleged townhome and home builder from South Florida, British American Homes, filed for Chapter 11 bankrupty protection only to get pushed into Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Per the Orlando Business Journal:

  Court filings say the South Florida builder got nearly $1 million in deposits during the last two years, but did not come through on its promises to develop its Chelsea's Landing and Elliott's Landing communities in Osceola and Polk counties.

  The 33-acre Chelsea's Landing was to have 160 townhomes in Polk County and the 124-acre Eliott's Landing was to have 243 homes in Osceola County. But the builder never bought the land in Polk, says Phil D'Aniello, an Orlando attorney with Fassett, Anthony & Taylor law firm who represented the owner of the land in Polk County.

  Further to the article, all forms of contact with British American Homes have been disconnected. Was British American actually a builder; in other words, did they do anything other than merely accept the deposits of would-be homebuyers? If you have any further information, please let us know.

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• 2007-11-18: Colonnade Homes - DFW Home Builder - (no MSM story yet)

  (Back-add, 09-23-08) A tipster has alerted us that Dallas-Fort-Worth home builder Colonnade Homes (site downcolonnadehomesdfw.com) "closed it's doors November 18, 2007." Further to the tip, Colonnade was founded in 1991, running for some eighteen years and built approximately 300 or more homes per year in the DFW area as well as Shreveport, Lousiana.

  We obtained a pamphlet from Colonnade that disclosed the following details about the company:

  Bill Wait & Doyle Nix, founders of Colonnade Homes have a combined experience of building homes for over 50 years. Their expertise, professional manner and industry knowledge grants a sense of ease and confidence that each and every home is designed and built with the customers expectations in mind. With a reputation built on honesty, integrity and attention to detail, their desire to build high quality affordable homes is shown in every aspect of construction. This involvement has lead to other successful opportunities in real estate including land development, an amenity center business, and our luxury division Avington Homes. Colonnade and its companies have built over 3,000 homes in the Texas and Louisiana.

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• 2007-11-11: Henson Homes - Residential - story

  Henson Homes, Bowling Green, Kentucky's largest home builder, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to the Bowling Green Daily News:

  The company, which will give up its practice of building speculative homes - 90 to 95 percent of what it has historically done - is an example of what happens when a builder is overinvested in the market, according to owners Mike and Todd Henson, the 20-year veterans of the construction market who organized Henson Homes in 2000.

  ...

  Following the reorganization, the business will also focus on custom homes - but only after completing the sale of the remaining 28 or so "spec" houses they have on the market in Warren County, Nashville and parts of Gulf Shores, Ala. From 2000 to 2005, Henson Homes dominated and built up the local speculative housing market ...

  The article goes on to note that Henson Homes employeed approximately 40 people and had "anywhere from 50 to 60 homes under construction at any given time".

  The article indicates that Henson Homes plans on continuing business after emerging from bankruptcy. If you have any information regarding Henson, please let us know.

  (permalink)

• 2007-11-08: Dunmore Homes, Inc. - Residential - story story story

  Update 2008-03-07:

  More on the Dunmore Homes family-ties debacle, from the NY Times.

  Update 2008-02-29:

  From Sacbee.com comes an update on Dunmore Homes bankruptcy/liquidation:

  Bankrupt Granite Bay home builder Dunmore Homes appears headed for the scrapheap after more than a half century of building homes in the Sacramento area.

  The firm's lawyers say Dunmore "is currently winding down its business and liquidating its assets." The statement stands in contrast to others last year that the builder hoped to emerge intact from its financial struggle and eventually resume building.

  Sacremento-based Dunmore Homes, Inc., a multi-million dollar family-run home builder originally established in 1954, was sold for a mere $500 to Comstock Mortgage senior loan officer Michael Kane. A month after the completion of the sale on September 10, 2007, Dunmore Homes under Kane's ownership filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (Nov. 7). It's all a bit confusing, so please reread (And also refer to the helpful timeline below).

  The Sacremento Business Journal reports:

  After two years of declining sales, all of Dunmore Homes' assets were sold two months ago to Michael Kane, a senior loan officer with Comstock Mortgage who also has experience in land acquisition and development with Warren Moore Development.

  In exchange for $500, Kane picked up a company with assets worth $280 million and liabilities of $250 million, Dunmore Homes said in court documents. Kane also received a $250,000 payment from former president Sidney B. Dunmore and the promise of a loan, according to court documents.

  With assets that outweigh liabilities, the company appears solvent on paper. But it's extremely low on cash. The builder had just $119,000 on hand at the end of September.

  The Journal goes on to report that one of the major creditors of Dunmore Homes, RBC Centura, filed suit on November 7^th, which was subsequent to the sale but prior to the bankruptcy filing. RBC Centura alleged "that the sale of all the assets for a mere $500 wasn't adequate and was done to 'hinder, delay and defraud the creditors,' including RBC. The bank also alleges that Dunmore Homes and Kane 'lack sufficient expertise and funds to carry on the business.'"

  Having reported revenues of approximately a quarter billion dollars in 2004, Dunmore Homes had assets totaling approximately $280 million at the time of the sale to Kane. Dunmore owes a "combined total of $196 million on Dunmore Homes' 26 new-home communities."

  The Sacremento Business Journal article included the following helpful timeline of the events at Dunmore Homes:

  Aug. 2: Dunmore Homes lender RBC Centura Bank alleges builder is in default on loans for four new-home projects worth tens of millions.

  Aug. 8: Dunmore Homes says it has stopped construction on all its projects. Sales offices later close.

  Sept. 10: President Sidney B. Dunmore dissolves Dunmore Homes Inc., a California corporation, and changes its name to DHI; he sells all assets of the corporation to Comstock Mortgage loan officer Michael Kane for $500. The new Dunmore Homes Inc. is incorporated in New York state.

  Sept. 30: The company has 37 employees, down from 132 a year earlier, and cash is down to $119,000. At its peak in 2004, the company had $250 million in gross sales, closing 776 home sales.

  Nov. 7: RBC files suit in Fresno County Superior Court against Dunmore Homes, Kane and Sidney B. Dunmore, alleging the sale to Kane was fraudulent.

  Nov. 8: Dunmore Homes Inc. files for bankruptcy reorganization in New York City, claiming assets of $280 million and debts of $250 million.

  We are unsure at this time whether Dunmore Homes will emerge from bankruptcy to build again. If you have any further information, please let us know.

  (permalink)

• 2007-11-02: C.V. Perry - Residential - story story story

  Update 2007-04-03:

  The Columbus Dispatch has provided us with this update regarding the liquidation of C.V. Perry's assets:

  Fifty C.V. Perry & Co. homes will be sold Friday morning, according to the receiver for the failed custom homebuilder.

  Martin Management Services will offer condos, single-family homes and land with opening bids ranging from about $66,000 to more than $1.6 million. The sale begins at 10 a.m. at the German Village Meeting Haus, 588 S. Third St.

  A.C. Strip, a lawyer working with the receiver, said a future sale will include 40 properties from the homebuilder’s inventory.

  Original Posting:

  Some sixty years after being founded by Carlyle Perry Sr. in 1947 and going on to being run by both Sr. and son, Carlyle Jr., C.V. Perry "has gone out of business", according to The Columbus Dispatch. Both father and son died within weeks of each other back in 2004, and the business, which went on to be operated by a trust, never recovered.

  Per The Dispatch:

  The company shut down operations yesterday, said Tom Hart, a lawyer brought on this year by C.V. Perry to help settle debts. C.V. Perry encountered financial problems three years after the deaths of founder Carlyle V. Perry Sr. and his son Carlyle V. Perry Jr., who ran the company for years.

  "It's a difficult, sad day in general because they've been a stalwart in the community for 60 years," said Jim Hilz, executive director of the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio. "Carlyle Perry Sr. and Jr. were both icons in the industry.

  Only a few months prior to the writing of this article, the Dispatch had an article on C.V. Perry titled, Homebuilder C.V. Perry says it's in business to stay. That article had described how C.V. Perry had recently hired a new CEO, Terry Andrews, to replace the trust as operating manager.

  Regarding Andrews attempts at getting C.V. Perry back on track, The Dispatch notes:

  In [a company-wide memo], [Andrews] acknowledged that running the company through the trust had been "a very difficult and restrictive format." He also said the company would make some changes because of the "current unpredictable and challenging housing market."

  "As a result, I would ask for some continued patience for my staff and myself during this time of transition," the letter read in part.

  ...

  Andrews said C.V. Perry plans to build 30 to 50 homes per year. He said the company wants to de-emphasize home remodeling, a business it had gotten into recently.

  If you have any further information on C.V. Perry's closure, please let us know.

  (permalink)

• 2007-11-02: Prime Development Inc. - Developer - story

  The St. Louis Business Journal reports that home builder / developer Prime Development Inc. was forced into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Prime Development was the devloper of a 149-lot subdivision among other projects. The bankruptcy bid came on the heels of liens that were placed on the company some nine months prior. According to the article:

  Landreth Lumber Co. and Chapman Excavating & Concrete Co., both of Bunker Hill; South Roxana-based River Bend Contractors Inc.; and Mayfield Bros. Inc. of Staunton filed a joint petition Oct. 16, seeking to put Prime Development Inc. in Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In the filing, made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis, Landreth Lumber states it's owed nearly $978,000; Chapman Excavating, $35,000; River Bend, more than $60,000; and Mayfield Bros., about $8,500.

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• 2007-11-09: Levitt and Sons - Residential Home Builder - story story story story

  Update, 2008-06-28

  On Friday Levitt filed to liquidate the company, dashing hopes for a reorg. The Sun-Sentinel has more:

  The builder, which filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors last fall, revealed in court papers late Friday that it plans to wind down operations. A bankruptcy judgestill must approve its liquidation plan.

  "It's abundantly clear and fair to say that Levitt and Sons will not reorganize," said Paul Singerman, the builder's bankruptcy lawyer. "It's just an awful market for residential developers."

  ...

  "These pricing pressures are expected to continue for the foreseeable future as there is no indication that market conditions will improve ..." the builder wrote in its court filing.

  ...

  The liquidation plan could be approved by a judge in Fort Lauderdale in a few months, Singerman said. Even after that process is complete, the builder may continue operating on a limited basis during the next 12 months as part of a deal it reached with lender Wachovia Bank last year.

  Wachovia agreed to provide Levitt and Sons with as much as $10 million to complete and sell between 80 and 350 homes in northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

  Original Writeup

  From this article comes a suitable introduction to Levitt, a storied company of over 60 years:

  Levitt and Sons, based in Fort Lauderdale, was one of the largest home builders in the Southeast and the developer of one of America's first suburbs, New York's Levittown.

  In an inglorious end, Levitt filed for Chapter 11 protection on Nov. 9, 2007, done in by the housing market decline. It listed assets of $411 million and liabilities of about $499 million. Major creditors include Wachovia, Key Bank, Regions Bank, AmTrust, and Bank of America, which together are owed $233.7 million by the builder.

  Levitt's gross revenue for 2005 was $505 million, according to BuilderOnline.

  The company which, by many accounts, created the modern suburban subdivision, and which had weathered so many housing bear markets, couldn't take this one. Perhaps then it is fitting Levitt has gone to sleep permanently—a fate the sprawled suburb itself may repeat, as gas and oil prices continue to rise relentlessly.

  (permalink)

• 2007-11-01: Neumann Homes - Residential Home Builder - story story story

  On November 1, 2007, Neumann Homes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In the Chapter 11 petition Neumann, said has assets and debt of more than $100 million each, with as many as 5,000 creditors.

  Neumann lost $60 million in the past two years which the company blamed on "inadequate funding and drops in building of 50 percent to 80 percent in Chicago, Denver and Detroit, its three largest markets".

  By seeking chapter 11 Neumann leaves many people in a lurch. For example, One woman, Lynn Michelau, discovered a lein on her home, for an 8-thousand dollar drywall bill that Neumann didn't pay. In all Neumann's creditors are seeking $286.9 million.

  Neumann has said it stands ready to pay refunds and have Homes finished " Company CEO Kenneth Neumann said in an interview that within days he expects permission to return about $875,000 in earnest money to about 120 customers for homes that hadn't broken ground at the time of the bankruptcy filing on Nov. 1."

  Neumann had 130 employees when it entered bankruptcy, 110 of whom were immediately dismissed.

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• 2007-10-26: Matthews Brothers Builders LLC - Residential Home Builder - story story story

  Matthews Brothers Builders LLC, one of the largest builders in Shelby County (Tenn. - includes Memphis), "may be heading toward bankruptcy as lawsuits, foreclosures and liens against the company, its affiliates and its principals are mounting." according to the Memphis Business Journal. The Journal article goes on to note that:

  According to real estate research firm Chandler Reports, Matthews Brothers has an inventory of 111 unsold houses in Shelby County. Potential proceeds from the sale of this inventory are about $28 million based on Matthews Brothers' average 2006 home price of $251,000. According to the Shelby County Assessor of Property, there are more than 500 lots -- occupied and vacant -- owned by Mark Matthews, Michael Matthews and their companies. So far this year, Matthews Brothers has sold 93 homes compared with 356 during the full year of 2006 ...

  Banks and creditors are starting to pile on the lawsuits. More than 100 liens have been filed against the company. Further to the Journal, "Dec. 1 has been rumored to be a possible date for a bankruptcy filing".

  Another Journal article wrote previously on the size of Matthews Brothers noting that Matthews Brothers had homes in 13 neighborhood communities, was founded in 1998 and sold over 400 homes in 2005, which made it the second largest builder in Shelby County.

  A Lexis Nexis article writes about Matthews Brothers ongoing troubles noting that their offices were sold in foreclosure in November. It would seem that Matthews Brothers homeowners are unable to reach anyone at the company. It would seem that some of these homeowners live in incomplete communities:

  Instead of being in a stable, growing community filled with upper-middle class homes, Daniel is surrounded by undeveloped lots, empty houses and half-built homes.

  "I love the house, I just wish I could pick it up and put it someplace else," said Daniel. "I've got snakes coming in my house and rodents coming in my house from the empty lots and from the garbage not being picked up because Matthews would not pay for the garbage collection."

  We await confirmation that Matthews Brothers has filed for bankruptcy. If you have any information regarding Matthews Brothers, please let us know.

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• 2007-06-29: McDonald Homes - Residential - story

  McDonald Homes of Casper, Wyoming, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on June 29, 2007. The Wyoming builder owed in excess of $6 million according to the Casper Star-Tribune.

  According to the Star-Tribune, McDonald's CFO had embezzled some $300,000 and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

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• 2007-06-10: Elliot Building Group - Residential - story story

  Elliot Building Group, a Pennsylvania-based home builder, filed for Chapter 11 on June 10, 2007. Elliot went from making revenues of $60 million plus in 2005 and 2006 to losing $5 million in 2007. Per the Bloomberg article reporting on their bankruptcy filing:

  Elliott blamed the filing on "the slowing housing industry" and "the majority of secured lenders" who stopped funding construction draws. A court filing says that creditors were threatening to file an involuntary bankruptcy petition while more than 40 collections actions were proceeding in different locales.

  Elliott said on its web site that it sold 181 homes in 2005. A court filing said Elliott has an order backlog of 77 homes. The company's two owners are Bradford Elliott and John DiPasquale.

  An October 2007 article from Builder Online gave an update on the liquidation of Elliot Group's assets and remaining liabilities. Per Builder Online:

  The builder's debt is estimated to be $88 million.

  ... While the company was attempting to reorganize after filing bankruptcy, the credit crunch hit. Elliott approached 20 finance groups since June but said he was "unable to put any deals together."

  ...

  When asked if there are plans to reform the company after the auction, Elliott said, "There are plans for me to move forward but the Elliott Building Group will cease to exist."

  If you have any further information with regard to Elliot Group's bankruptcy proceedings or the causes leading up to their filing, please let us know!

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• 2007-06-04: Meyer-Sutton Homes, Inc. - Residential - story

  Georgia home builder Meyer-Sutton Homes Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 4^th of 2007. Per an AP article on their filing:

  Meyer-Sutton, of Fayetteville, Ga., listed total assets of about $44 million and debts of $40 million in its bankruptcy petition. Meyer-Sutton Homes and affiliate Meyer-Sutton Land Acquisition Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection. Both companies are owned by James W. Buchanan.

  "The housing market has suffered a dramatic decline in demand with the result problems of excess inventory and compressed profit margins," Buchanan said in court papers.

  According to its bankruptcy filing, the company has cut new construction starts to two per month from 25 per month.

  The article goes on to note that Meyer-Sutton was founded in 1994 and had $36 million in revenue in 2006. They intend to remain open throughout the bankruptcy proceedings.

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• 2007-05-07: Ideal Homes - Residential - story

  A small home builder in Punta Gorda, Florida, "Ideal Homes" has proven to be anything but (Couldn't resist). According to the southwest Florida Herald Tribune, Ideal Homes left about five homes incomplete, and was subsequently sold by its original owners. However, the old and new owners are now in a legal battle as to who is to blame.

  The following account sums up the debacle, including the account of one of the would-be homeowners:

  Meadow had planned to move to Florida to go into business and to build his retirement dream home, a 3,215-square-foot, three-bedroom house in Punta Gorda. But he is mired in the worst financial crisis of his life. He said he would file civil suits against Ideal but cannot afford the retainer. He does plan to file a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

  Meadow's house is only 70 percent complete. Ideal has five buildings worth about $3 million under construction in the city, with more than 54 liens attached to them, Cole said.

  Ten of those liens, totaling $58,000, hit Meadow, who said he was unaware that Rossey and Oben had bought Ideal from Martin and Adamo. "I knew nothing about the sale," Meadow said.

  Rossey has subsequently indicated that he is closing Ideal, and the new and former owners have filed lawsuits against each other. None of the partners could be reached for comment, but Thomas Valentine, Martin and Adamo's lawyer, blames the new owners for the problems.

  After buying Ideal, the new owners took in $1.3 million without paying subcontractors or suppliers, Valentine said.

  "They looted the company," he said.

  Court records show that in Wisconsin, Rossey was a defendant in about 50 housing-related court cases since 1993.

  If you have any updates on the Ideal Homes court case fiasco, feel free to let us know.

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• 2007-05-03: Burcaw Development Group - Land acquisition - story story story

  The Tampa-based Burcaw Development Group, which specialized in land acquisition/sales, created in 2001 by sisters Laurie and Amy Burcaw, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 3, 2007. According to one Tampa Bay Business Journal article:

  The company, which is headed by Laurie Burcaw, has debts between $1 million and $100 million, according to a May 3 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida.

  Laurie Burcaw is listed as the firm's largest unsecured creditor, with a $15 million claim. Other unsecured creditors listed in the filing are SunAmerica Investments, with four claims totaling $8.4 million; Regions Bank, with two claims totaling $5.9 million; Florida Capital, with three claims totaling $1.8 million; M&I Marshall and Ilsley Bank, with a $1.6 million claim; Wachovia with two claims totaling $1.2 million; and BB&T, with two claims totaling $925,000.

  The Burcaw sisters had a number of businesses related to home building and development. According to this earlier Tampa Bay Business Journal article:

  "We kept developing more and more contacts through the surveying and permitting businesses, and the longer we worked with them the more they wanted us to help them in finding appropriate land," said Laurie Burcaw. "In response to our clients, we wanted to be able to offer them another service rather than have to hand them off to someone else to handle their needs."

  In the beginning of 2003, Amy Burcaw began collecting commercial property and by the end of the year, which the sisters consider to be July, Burcaw Development had collected 1,600 units. In the first month of its second year, August, an additional 1,000 units were added.

  We are uncertain at this time as to how the bankruptcy of Burcaw Development Group has affected the other Burcaw businesses. If you have any further information regarding this implosion listing, please let us know.

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• 2007-04-29: Evergreen Homes LLC - Resdiential - story story story

  According to highbeam.com, Akron, Ohio-based Evergreen Homes LLC filed for bankruptcy in late April of 2007. Evergreen Homes was related parties with Evergreen Investment Corp and Evergreen Builders. Evergreen Investment Corp's CEO David Willan "is charged with multiple first-degree felonies in a 147-count Summit County indictment alleging widespread Akron-area mortgage fraud" according to an Ohio.com article. An article from The-Review.com:

  The recent indictment in Akron of individuals alleged to be involved in a mortgage fraud scheme has a connection to Stark County.

  "These individuals were caught cheating hundreds of people in a complex mortgage fraud system," said Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh Thursday at a press conference. "They schemed and lied to more than 500 individuals who were the most vulnerable -- such as seniors and individuals least able to afford the dream of buying a home."

  Authorities say Evergreen Investment, Evergreen Homes and Carnation Banc had been involved in the alleged schemes since 2002.

  Apparently, Evergreen had some 93 proprties in Stark County, Ohio.

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• 2007-04-22: Townsend Construction - Residential - story

  One-time Senate candidate Elsie Townsend's Townsend Construction, a home builder in Arizona, filed for bankruptcy after having their license revoked by the Arizona Reigstrar of Contractors, according to sbcindustry.com. Further to the article, the bankruptcy filing listed approximately $35 million in both assets and liabilities, respectively.

  Regarding the size of Townsend Construction, the SBCIndustry article notes:

  Townsend said she went from selling 151 homes in 2005 to fewer than a dozen this past year. She's stuck with 37 she can't sell right now. At least a half-dozen are not finished and the values have dropped 20 percent to 30 percent.

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• 2007-04-20: Calumet Homes - Residential - story

  Calumet Homes of northern Kentucky filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April. According to this web article on the bankruptcy filing:

  The April 16 filing lists assets of $5.8 million and liabilities of $5.6 million.

  It also says there are more than 200 creditors involved.

  "Due to the downturn in the new housing market that has been experienced across the nation, Calumet Homes found it was sitting on too many houses and did not have enough cash available," read a statement issued by company attorney Stuart Brown of O'Hara, Rubert, Taylor, Sloan and Sergent of Crestview Hills.

  The article further notes that the owner of Calumet Homes had suffered a stroke in late March..

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• 2007-04-20: Panitz Signature Homes - Luxury Residential - story story

  Florida-based luxury home builder Panitz Signature Homes closed its doors -- a casualty of the weakening housing market. Panitz had operated in northern Florida for some 27 years. Per the Times-Union:

  About 10 employees were laid off as a result of the closure.

  "I don't think there's a builder out there who's not having problems right now," [Sandra Panitz, vice president of sales and marketing,] said.

  Instead, much of Panitz Signature Homes' assets, which include more than a dozen homes and nearly 60 home and townhome sites, will go to auction on May 19.

  Panitz had been a custom home builder producing some 50 homes per year.

  Builder Online provided an update on Panitz Homes' liquidation process noting that Panitz was required to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection after failing to sell the remainder of its inventory. Per the Builder Online article:

  The luxury builder listed $18.4 million in assets, $16.5 million in debts and Branch Banking & Trust Co., which is owed $3.8 million, as the major debtor.

  ...

  At a May 19 auction, the builder was unable to sell any of its 11 homes, 25 home sites, or 32 townhome sites. The company was started by husband and wife team Lee and Sandra Panitz.

  The closure affected approximately ten company employees. If you have any further information regarding this implosion listing, please let us know!

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• 2007-04-12: Americabuilt Communities, Inc. - Residential - story

  AmericaBuilt Construction Inc. (Affiliate AmericaBuilt Communities, Inc.) filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on April 12, 2007. According to the Arizona Daily Star:

  The companies, which made $12 million in sales last year, are reorganizing in response to the housing market downturn, which has resulted in fewer people getting financing for new homes, said Eric Slocum Sparks, company attorney.

  The filings list as creditors numerous contractors owed as much as $238,000 for their work, as well as individuals who have paid deposits of up to $351,000 for homes under construction.

  ...

  AmericaBuilt Communities has about $8 million to $9 million in secured debts — that is, debts to banks and financial institutions — and if AmericaBuilt Construction were to liquidate all its existing lots without developing them, the company could pretty much break even, Sparks said.

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• 2007-04-03: Construction Compliance Inc. (CCI) - Residential - story story story

  Construction Compliance Inc., a St. Petersburg, Florida-based home builder filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 3, 2007. The Southwest Florida Herald Tribune reported that, "the troubled home builder listed total assets of $8,932,458.12 against total debts of $10,951,811.77."

  Further to the Tribune's article, CCI left nearly 500 homes either "uncompelted or unstarted".

  An article from the St. Petersburg Times noted the following regarding CCI's peak operations:

  At the peak of the housing boom in 2005, CCI reported $63.1-million in income. But in recent months, CCI has sold its St. Petersburg headquarters and fired most of its 60 employees.

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• 2006-12-19: Avalon Homes - Residential - story story story

  North Port (Southwest Florida) home builder, Avalon Homes was reported to have left their offices "unfurnished, unlocked and deserted" according to a Southwest Florida Herald Tribune article written in December of 2006. Further to the article:

  ... the small builder has 56 open permits with the city of North Port and officials there have been in touch with Venice-based contractor James Leake -- who qualified the Avalon homes for permits -- to try to get the houses finished.

  Avalon's owner/manager Joseph Pufta may have been engaging in certain illicit activities. According to a Tribue article written in April of 2007:

  The former head of now-defunct Avalon Homes is charged with 20 felony counts of misapplication of construction funds and one felony count of grand theft.

  ...

  Pufta's grand theft charge stems from a case where police say a New Jersey woman wrote Avalon Homes a check for $42,180, yet no work was done.

  A further Tribue article tells a bit more of the story; apparently, Pufta was relying on funds from new customers to complete the homes of prior customers. Though this seems like a Ponzi scheme at first blush, apparently, Pufta was pumping in his own money to try and keep the business afloat, "It wasn't like he was taking their money and spending it" said Pufta's lawyer. Regardless of the criminal outcome of this case, Pufta is clearly guilty of mismanaging the finances of his company, which has hurt many would-be homeowners.

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• 2006-10-05: Kara Homes, Inc. - Residential Home Builder - story story story

  The East Brunswick, NJ-based Kara homes declared bankruptcy on October 5, 2006, after a slowdown in the housing market quickly starved the company of cash.

  From this article comes more background:

  Kara Homes was founded in 1999 by its president, Zudi Karagiozi, whose goal was to build more than 20 luxury developments, many designed exclusively for residents 55 years of age or older, throughout New Jersey.

  As far as size, this article has more:

  By 2002, Kara Homes' had earned a spot on BUILDER magazine's Fast Track list for its explosive growth. And by 2005, the company was closing on 590 homes a year and pulling in gross revenues of $288 million.

  Kara went down so early in the downturn, some commentators were even denying the downturn had anything to do with it. However it appears Kara was simply a "canary in the coal mine" because its practices were measurably more imprudent than most (according to the above article):

  But because competition with market leaders such as K. Hovnanian, Toll Brothers, and Ryan Homes was ferocious, Karagjozi tried to box out the big boys by outbidding them for lots. He quickly became “infamously known for overpaying for land,” says one local source.

  However, since the market has deteriorated, Karagjozi's brash moves now are exposed as imprudent. The builder's sales pace has slowed in the past six months, buoyed sporadically by incentives and deep discounts ranging to $246,000 for spec homes.

  When absorption rates or home sale prices fall in a community, the price paid for land is called into question, especially if a lender provided a majority of the debt needed to acquire the land.

  In a poignant illustration of the kind of corporate propaganda that ruled the housing bubble, Mike Shedlock points out how Kara went from boasting of record profits to filing bankruptcy in the span of less than a month.

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• 2006-08-18: Turner-Dunn - Residential - story

  Turner-Dunn, a Phoenix-Arizona home builder, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to The Arizona Republic. At the time of their filing, Turner-Dunn left some 200 homes unfinished and approximately 450 housing lots. Regarding Turner-Dunn's liabilities, the Republic notes:

  Total debts of at least $22 million were listed to about 100 creditors, including lenders, subcontractors and other businesses, through bankruptcy filings for five Turner-Dunn companies owned or controlled by Marcus Dunn and involved in the Pinal County construction projects.

  ...

  The Arizona Department of Real Estate and the Registrar of Contractors are investigating Dunn's companies. Unpaid subcontractors have claimed they're owed millions of dollars and slapped liens on Turner-Dunn's housing lots and in some cases on new homes that buyers moved into a few months ago.

  Dunn's attorney, Alan Meda, said the company stalled out because of a cash shortage.

  "No one knows how that occurred," said Meda, adding that problems didn't surface until after former partner and President Louis Turner left the company.

  In an unrelated note, apparently Turner-Dunn was fined $11 million by the National Indian Gaming Commission for "for managing the Quapaw Tribe's Oklahoma casino for four years without an approved management contract."

  Strange.

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• 2006-08-09: Jade Homes - Residential - story story

  Sarasota, Florida home builder Jade Homes shut ddown operations in early August of 2006. Southwest Florida's Herald Tribune reported that Jade Homes "laid off half of its 16-person purchasing and administrative staff and effectively shuttered its main offic and suspended telephone contact."

  Further to the Tribue article, at the time of the closure Jade Homes had some 75 homes in varying stages of construction. Regarding the size of Jade Homes, they were founded in 1997 and had built more than 500 homes, including over 100 in 2005.

  An article from biz 941 details how Jade's president, Andrew Coles, took efforts to complete many of the aforementioned homes. Per the aforementioned article, which was penned in November of 2007, Jade Homes managed to finish 57 of the 75 homes:

  Of the 75 homes either under construction or under contract at the time of the shutdown, 57 have been finished as of this month. Of the remaining 18 homes, seven had not been started and the homeowners decided not to build, seven were being finished by the homeowners, and four were inventory homes that are now completed and for sale.

  We are unclear at this time if Jade Homes is still winding up operations or whether they have managed to start up officially again. If you have any information, please let us know.

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