Lennar 10-K 2023-11-30
Filed 2024-01-26. 24 sections, 511K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown · JSON
Cover and table of contents
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended November 30, 2023
or
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the Transition Period from _______ To _______
Commission file number 1-11749

Lennar Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 95-4337490 | |||||||
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
5505 Waterford District Drive, Miami, Florida 33126
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (305) 559-4000
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
| Class A Common Stock, par value 10¢ | LEN | New York Stock Exchange | ||||||
| Class B Common Stock, par value 10¢ | LEN.B | New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
NONE
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes R No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No R
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes R No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes R No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | R | Accelerated filer | ☐ | Emerging growth company | ☐ | |||||||||||||||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | |||||||||||||||||
| If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.☑ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ¨ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ¨ |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No R
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s Class A and Class B common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant (247,523,484 shares of Class A common stock and 13,731,637 shares of Class B common stock) as of May 31, 2023, based on the closing sale price per share as reported by the New York Stock Exchange on such date, was $27,813,041,884.
As of December 31, 2023, the registrant had outstanding 247,163,402 shares of Class A common stock and 33,657,138 shares of Class B common stock.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
| Related Section | Documents | ||||
| III | Definitive Proxy Statement to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A on or before March 29, 2024. |
Item 1. Business.
Overview of Lennar Corporation
We are one of the largest homebuilders in the United States by deliveries, revenues and net earnings, an originator of residential and commercial mortgage loans, a provider of title insurance and closing services and a developer of multifamily rental properties. In addition, we are a sponsor and manager of funds and joint ventures engaged in development and ownership of multifamily rental properties and a sponsor and manager of a fund engaged in ownership of single-family rental properties. We also have investments in companies that are engaged in applying technology to improve the homebuilding industry and real estate related aspects of the financial services industry.
Our homebuilding operations are the most substantial part of our business, generating $33 billion in revenues, or approximately 95% of consolidated revenues, in fiscal 2023.
As of November 30, 2023, our reportable Homebuilding segments and all Other Homebuilding operations not required to be reported separately have divisions located in:
East: Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina
Central: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia
Texas: Texas
West: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington
Other: Urban divisions and other homebuilding related investments primarily in California, including FivePoint Holdings, LLC ("FivePoint")
Our other reportable segments are Financial Services, Multifamily and Lennar Other. Financial information about our Homebuilding, Financial Services, Multifamily and Lennar Other operations is contained in Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of this Report.
About Our Company
Our company was founded as a local Miami homebuilder in 1954. We completed our initial public offering in 1971 and listed our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. During the 1980s and 1990s, we entered and expanded operations in a number of homebuilding markets, including California, Florida and Texas, through both organic growth and acquisitions, such as Pacific Greystone Corporation in 1997. In 2000, we acquired U.S. Home Corporation, which expanded our operations into New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Minnesota and Colorado and strengthened our position in other states. From 2002 through 2005, we acquired several regional homebuilders, which brought us into new markets and strengthened our position in several existing markets. From 2010 through 2013, we expanded our homebuilding operations into Georgia, Oregon, Washington and Tennessee. In 2017, we acquired WCI Communities, Inc., a homebuilder of luxury single-family and multifamily homes, including a small number of luxury high-rise tower units, in Florida. In 2018, we acquired CalAtlantic Group, Inc. ("CalAtlantic"), a major homebuilder which was building homes across the homebuilding spectrum, from entry level to luxury, in 43 metropolitan statistical areas spanning 19 states, and providing mortgage, title and escrow services.
We are focused on increasing efficiencies in our building process and reducing selling, general and administrative expenses by using technology and innovative strategies to reduce customer acquisition costs. Our construction playbook has three primary areas of focus: lowering construction costs, reducing cycle time and achieving even flow production. We have aimed to maintain strong operating margins by deferring home sale price commitments until construction costs are finalized to protect against cost escalations. In addition, we are continuing our transition to a land light operating model by increasing the percentage of land we control through options or agreements but do not own, which reduces our years’ supply of owned homesites.
Homebuilding Operations
Overview
Our homebuilding operations include the construction and sale of single-family attached and detached homes as well as the purchase, development and sale of residential land directly and through entities in which we have investments. New home deliveries, including deliveries from unconsolidated entities, were 73,087 in fiscal 2023, compared to 66,399 in fiscal 2022 and 59,825 in fiscal 2021. We primarily sell homes in communities targeted to first-time, move-up, active adult, and luxury homebuyers. The average sales price of a Lennar home varies depending on product and geographic location. For fiscal 2023, the average sales price, excluding deliveries from unconsolidated entities, was $446,000, compared to $480,000 in fiscal 2022 and $424,000 in fiscal 2021.
We operate primarily under the Lennar brand name. Our homebuilding mission is focused on the profitable development of residential communities. Key elements of our strategy include:
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Strong Operating Margins - Our purchasing leverage combined with our focus on reducing selling, general and administrative costs by using technology and innovative strategies and reducing interest expense through paydowns of debt has enabled us to achieve strong gross profit and operating margins.
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Everything’s Included® Approach - We are focused on distinguishing our products, including through our Everything’s Included® approach, which maximizes our purchasing power, enables us to include luxury features as standard items in our homes and simplifies our homebuilding operations.
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Innovative Homebuilding - We are constantly innovating the homes we build to create products that better meet our customers' needs and desires. Our Next Gen® home provides what can be a home within a home to accommodate children or parents or can be an office from which to work remotely.
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Flexible Operating Structure - Our local operating structure gives us the flexibility to make operating decisions based on local homebuilding conditions and customer preferences, while our centralized management structure provides strategic oversight for our homebuilding operations.
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Digital Marketing - We are increasingly advertising homes through digital channels, which is significantly increasing the cost effectiveness of our marketing efforts.
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Dynamic pricing model - We match up unsold production as homes progress toward completion, with pricing information from our dynamic pricing model on a community-by-community and home-by-home basis.
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Technology Focused - We partner with and/or invest in technology companies that are looking to improve the homebuilding and financial services industries to increase efficiencies, reduce customer acquisition costs and create a better customer experience.
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Land light strategy - We are focused on reducing our years' supply of owned homesites and increasing the percentage of land we control through options or agreements, including agreements with strategic land banks and joint ventures, rather than ownership.
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Even flow production - We are focused on maintaining consistent starts and sales paces in order to generate increased market share in all the markets we build in.
Diversified Program of Property Acquisition
We generally acquire, or obtain options to acquire, land for development and for the construction of homes that we sell to homebuyers. Land purchases are subject to specified underwriting criteria and are made through our diversified program of property acquisition, which may consist of:
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Acquiring land through option contracts, which generally enables us to control portions of properties owned by land banks and other third parties or entities in which we have investments until we have determined whether to exercise the options;
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Acquiring land directly from individual land owners/developers, or other homebuilders;
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Acquiring local or regional homebuilders that own, or have options to purchase, land in strategic markets;
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Acquiring access to land through joint ventures or partnerships, which among other benefits, limits the amount of our capital invested in land while helping to ensure our access to potential future homesites and allowing us to participate in strategic ventures;
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Investing in regional developers in exchange for preferential land purchase opportunities; and
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Acquiring land in conjunction with our Multifamily business.
For the last several years, we have been reducing our reliance on land we own and increasing our access to land through options and joint ventures, most significantly through our use of land banks which is a critical part of our operating strategy. At November 30, 2023, 76% of our total homesites were controlled through options with land banks, land sellers and joint ventures compared to 69% at November 30, 2022. For additional information about our investments in and relationships with unconsolidated entities, see Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Report.
Construction and Development
We are involved in all phases of planning and building in our residential communities, including land acquisition, site planning, preparation and improvement of land and design, construction and marketing of homes. We use independent subcontractors for most aspects of land development and home construction. At November 30, 2023, we were actively building and marketing homes in 1,260 communities, including five communities being constructed by unconsolidated entities. This was an increase from the 1,208 communities, including eight communities being constructed by unconsolidated entities, in which we were actively building and marketing homes at November 30, 2022. At November 30, 2023 and 2022, we had about 1,200 and 900 completed unsold homes, respectively.
We generally supervise and control the development of land and the design and building of our residential communities with a relatively small labor force. We hire subcontractors for site improvements and virtually all of the work involved in the construction of homes. Arrangements with our subcontractors generally provide that our subcontractors will complete specified work in accordance with price and time schedules and in compliance with applicable building codes and laws. The price schedules may be subject to change to meet changes in labor and material costs or for other reasons. Although we, like homebuilders throughout the country, encountered shortages of materials and skilled labor during 2022, we believe that because of our size and our builder of choice program, where we work with our trade partners to drive efficiencies for them, we were less affected by these shortages than many of our competitors. Most shortages were eliminated due to the supply chain environment catching up to homebuilder demand as well as Lennar’s continued effort to work with our suppliers and manufacturers on the volume and specific products needed to build homes. We generally do not own heavy construction equipment. We finance construction and land development activities primarily with cash generated from operations and historically from proceeds of unsecured corporate debt.
Marketing
We offer a diversified line of homes for first-time, move-up, active adult, luxury and multi-generational homebuyers in a variety of locations ranging from urban infill communities to suburban golf course communities. Our Everything’s Included® marketing program enables us to differentiate our homes from those of our competitors by including luxury items as standard features at competitive prices, while reducing construction and overhead costs through a simplified construction process, product standardization and volume purchasing. In addition, we include built in wireless capability, home automation and solar power in many of the homes we sell, which enhances our brand and improves our ability to generate traffic and sales.
We sell our homes from models that we have designed and constructed. We employ new home consultants who are paid salaries, commissions or both to conduct on-site sales of our homes. We also sell homes through independent realtors. We have made it possible for potential homebuyers to take virtual tours of model homes. During fiscal 2023, even with shifts in macroeconomic factors and adjusting to the recent inflationary environment, we were able to develop, enhance, use, and improve the Lennar machine. Our sales, marketing, and dynamic pricing machine is quickly becoming an advanced digital engine that has materially benefited from aggressive, focused use and engagement while the market was most difficult.
Our marketing strategy has increasingly involved advertising through digital channels including real estate listing sites, paid search, display advertising, social media and e-mail marketing, all of which drive traffic to our website, www.lennar.com. This has allowed us to attract more qualified and knowledgeable homebuyers. However, we also continue to advertise through more traditional media on a limited basis, including newspapers, other local and regional publications, radio and on billboards where appropriate. We tailor our marketing strategy and message based on the community being advertised and the customers being targeted, such as advertising our active adult communities in areas where prospective active adult homebuyers live or will potentially want to purchase. During fiscal 2023, significant increases in interest rates made our homes less affordable to many prospective buyers and led us to reduce prices or increase sales incentives in a number of our communities to maintain sales pace.
Quality Service
We continually strive to improve homeowner customer satisfaction throughout the pre-sale, sale, construction, closing and post-closing periods. We strive to create a quality homebuying experience for our customers through the participation of sales associates, on-site construction supervisors and customer care associates, all working in a team effort, as well as use of technology to simplify the homebuying and financing process. We believe this leads to enhanced customer retention and referrals. The quality of our homes is substantially affected by the efforts of on-site management and others engaged in the construction process, by the materials we use in particular homes, and by other similar factors.
We warrant our new homes against defective materials and workmanship for a minimum period of one year after the date of closing. Although we subcontract virtually all segments of construction to others and our contracts call for the subcontractors to repair or replace any deficient items related to their trades, we are primarily responsible to the homebuyers for the correction of any deficiencies.
Local Operating Structure and Centralized Management
We balance a local operating structure with centralized corporate level management. Our local operating structure consists of homebuilding divisions across the country, each of which is usually managed by a division president, a controller and personnel focused on land acquisition, entitlement and development, sales, construction, customer service and purchasing. This local operating structure gives our division presidents and their teams, who generally have significant experience in the homebuilding industry, and in most instances, in their particular markets, the flexibility to make local operating decisions, including land identification, entitlement and development, the management of inventory levels for our current sales volume, community development, home design, construction and marketing of our homes. We centralize at the corporate level decisions related to our overall strategy, acquisitions and disposition of land and businesses, risk management, financing, cash management and information systems.
Backlog
Backlog represents the number of homes under sales contracts. Homes are sold using sales contracts, which are generally accompanied by deposits. In some instances, purchasers are permitted to cancel sales contracts if they fail to qualify for financing or under certain other circumstances. We experienced a cancellation rate of 16% in 2023 and 17% in 2022. We do not recognize revenue on homes that are the subject of sales contracts until the sales are closed and title passes to the new homeowners.
The backlog dollar value including unconsolidated entities at November 30, 2023 was $6.6 billion, compared to $8.7 billion at November 30, 2022. We expect that a significant portion of all homes currently in backlog will be delivered in fiscal year 2024.
Homebuilding Investments in Unconsolidated Entities
We create and participate in joint ventures that acquire and develop land for our homebuilding operations, for sale to third parties or for use in the ventures' own homebuilding operations. Through these joint ventures, we reduce the amount we invest in potential future homesites, thereby reducing risks associated with land acquisitions and improving the return on our investments, and, in some instances, we obtain access to land to which we could not otherwise have obtained access or could not have obtained access on as favorable terms. As of both November 30, 2023 and 2022, we had equity investments in 48 active homebuilding and land unconsolidated entities, in which we were participating, and our maximum recourse debt exposure related to Homebuilding unconsolidated joint ventures was $42.1 million and $9.1 million, respectively. This is discussed in greater detail in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Report.
Financial Services Operations
Residential Mortgage Financing
We offer conforming conventional, FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed residential mortgage loan products and other home mortgage products primarily to buyers of our homes through our financial services subsidiary, Lennar Mortgage, from locations in most of the states in which we have homebuilding operations. In fiscal year 2023, our financial services subsidiaries provided loans to 81% of our homebuyers who obtained mortgage financing in areas where we offered services. Because of the availability of mortgage loans from our financial services subsidiaries, as well as from independent mortgage lenders, we believe almost all creditworthy potential purchasers of our homes have access to financing.
During fiscal year 2023, we originated approximately 47,000 residential mortgage loans totaling $17.4 billion, compared to 37,700 residential mortgage loans totaling $14.4 billion during fiscal year 2022. Substantially all of the residential mortgage loans we originate are sold within a short period in the secondary mortgage market, a majority of them on a servicing-released, non-recourse basis. After the loans are sold, we retain potential liability for claims by purchasers that we breached certain limited industry-standard representations and warranties in the loan sale agreements. Occasional claims of this type are a normal incident of loan securitization activities. We do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these claims will have a material adverse effect on our business or financial position. During fiscal year 2023, we also locked interest rates on approximately 46,600 residential mortgage loans totaling $17.2 billion, compared to 41,100 residential mortgage loans totaling $15.7 billion during fiscal year 2022.
We finance our mortgage loan activities with borrowings under our financial services warehouse facilities or funds from our operating activities. At November 30, 2023, Financial Services had five warehouse residential facilities maturing at various dates through fiscal 2024 with a total maximum borrowing capacity of $2.5 billion including an uncommitted amount of $750 million. We expect the facilities to be renewed or replaced with other facilities when they mature. If they are not renewed or replaced, we would have to find other sources of funding for our mortgage originations, which might include our own funds. We have a corporate risk management policy under which we hedge our interest rate risk on rate-locked loan commitments and loans held-for-sale to mitigate exposure to interest rate fluctuations.
We have been using new technology to automate portions of our mortgage loan origination process. This new technology has made the mortgage financing process easier for homebuyers and improved the customer experience. This new technology has also enabled us to increase the number of digital closings, with digital document signing and, where legally permitted, digital notarization.
Title, Insurance and Closing Services
We are licensed to provide title insurance, and closing services for residential and/or commercial transactions in 41 states to our homebuyers and others. During fiscal 2023 and 2022, we provided closing services with regard to approximately 74,900 and 68,800 real estate transactions, respectively, in 25 and 20 states, respectively.
Commercial Mortgage Origination
Our LMF Commercial subsidiary originates and sells into securitizations first mortgage loans, which are secured by income producing commercial properties. The loans generally are between $5 million and $50 million each. LMF Commercial also originates floating rate loans secured by commercial real estate properties, many of which are in transition, undergoing lease-up, sell-out, renovation or repositioning. In order to finance LMF Commercial lending activities, as of November 30, 2023, LMF Commercial had three warehouse repurchase financing agreements maturing at various dates from December 2023 through fiscal 2024 with commitments totaling $500 million. This is discussed in greater detail in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Report.
Lennar Other
Strategic Technology Investments
We strategically invest in companies involved in technology initiatives that, among other things, help us enhance the homebuying or home ownership experience, reduce our SG&A expenses and help us stay at the forefront of homebuilding innovation. Seven of the companies in which we have strategic investments are publicly traded. They are:
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Blend Labs, Inc. ("Blend"), a digital lending platform developer simplifying and fast tracking the consumer finance process;
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Doma Holdings, Inc. ("Doma"), a company that built a predictive analytics platform for title insurers;
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Hippo Holdings, Inc. ("Hippo"), a company that provides an efficient means of obtaining home insurance;
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Opendoor Technologies, Inc. ("Opendoor"), a company that uses technology to significantly streamline the homebuying and selling process;
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SmartRent, Inc. ("SmartRent"), an enterprise smart home automation company;
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Sonder Holdings, Inc. ("Sonder"), a company that manages short-term rentals, such as rental hotels; and
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Sunnova Energy International, Inc. ("Sunnova"), a leading national residential solar company, to which during 2021, we sold our solar power business in return for equity.
Each of the investments listed above, except Doma, is reflected in our financial statements at market value, with changes to the fair values of those investments generating gains or losses on our quarterly financial statements. Doma is accounted for using the equity method. At November 30, 2023, the book value of our investment in strategic technology investments (including those recorded at fair value) was $424.7 million and is included in our Lennar Other segment.
For additional information about our investments in strategic technology investments, see Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 of this Report.
Multifamily Operations
Our Multifamily business has been engaged in the development of multifamily communities since 2011. Initially, the Multifamily business almost exclusively participated in shorter-duration joint ventures that built multifamily communities with the intention of selling them soon after they were built, and in most cases after they were substantially occupied. However, the Multifamily business now manages, and owns interests in, longer-duration funds that build multifamily communities with the intention of retaining them as rental income-generating assets. At November 30, 2023, Multifamily had interests in, and was managing, three funds and 22 joint ventures.
From inception through November 30, 2023, the Multifamily business has capitalized and developed 119 multifamily residential communities with approximately 35,900 rental units across 20 states throughout the United States. The communities developed by the Multifamily business include a diversified mix of conventional garden, mid-rise and high-rise multifamily properties in urban and suburban locations near major employment centers. Most communities offer residents a mix of studio, one, two, and three-bedroom homes.
As of November 30, 2023, funds and ventures managed by Multifamily had a pipeline of 48 potential future developments, which were owned, under contract or subject to letters of intent, totaling approximately $6.2 billion in anticipated development costs across several states.
Multifamily has co-investments in all the funds and ventures it manages, and receives returns on these investments. In addition, it has carried interests in the funds or ventures it manages, and receives distributions with regard to those carried interests.
Single-Family Home Rentals
In December 2020, Lennar formed the Upward America Venture, LLC (“Upward America”), which (a) acquires communities of single-family rental properties (including townhomes, duplexes and condominium buildings developed or acquired for rental purposes), and (b) leases and manages homes in those communities. Lennar subsidiaries are the manager and the general partner of Upward America. As of November 30, 2023, institutional investors and Lennar had committed $1.6 billion to Upward America, part of which was used to reduce an initial commitment Lennar had made from $225 million to $125 million. Proceeds of commitments by other investors may be used to redeem more of Lennar’s ownership, but Lennar has agreed not to reduce its ownership below $50 million.
As owner of the general partner of Upward America, Lennar has the right to receive, in addition to distributions regarding its own commitments, distributions based on the amounts by which returns to limited partners exceed specified amounts (i.e., carried interests). As the manager of Upward America, Lennar receives management and acquisition fees. Lennar subsidiaries may also receive fees for property management, leasing, construction management and other services that they render through subcontractors.
At November 30, 2023, Upward America had purchased 4,697 homes in 103 communities across 19 metropolitan statistical areas for a total purchase price of $1.2 billion (an average price of $258,000 per home), of which 4,420 of the homes owned by Upward America had been leased to occupants. The Limited Partnership Agreement of Upward America gives Upward America the right to purchase from Lennar for their appraised value all homes or communities that are purpose built by Lennar for single-family home rental. Upward America also is free to purchase homes from homebuilders other than Lennar or to purchase previously occupied homes. Initially all the homes purchased by Upward America were purchased from Lennar, but subsequently, Upward America began purchasing homes from multiple homebuilders. At both November 30, 2023 and 2022, approximately 6% of the homes owned by Upward America were built by homebuilders other than Lennar.
Five Point Holdings, LLC
We own an indirect approximately 40% interest in FivePoint, which is a publicly traded developer of three large master planned mixed-use developments in California (Newhall Ranch, Great Park Neighborhoods, and San Francisco Shipyard/Candlestick Point). We sometimes purchase properties from FivePoint for use in our homebuilding operations. We have no active role in the management of FivePoint, except that since August 2021 our Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer has been the non-employee Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors (but not the chief executive officer) of FivePoint. As of November 30, 2023, the carrying amount of our investment in FivePoint was $422.2 million.
Rialto Fund Investments
Until November 30, 2018, we had a group of subsidiaries, including Rialto Capital Management, LLC ("Rialto"), that primarily managed real estate related investment funds and other real estate related investment vehicles. We sold the Rialto Management Group on November 30, 2018. However, we retained the right to share in carried interest distributions from some of the funds and other investment vehicles Rialto manages. We also retained limited partner investments in several Rialto funds and investment vehicles that totaled $148.7 million as of November 30, 2023.
Seasonality
We historically have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, variability in quarterly results. Our homebuilding business is seasonal in nature and generally reflects higher levels of new home order activity in our second and third fiscal quarters and increased deliveries in the second half of our fiscal year. However, a variety of factors can alter seasonal patterns. In addition, we are working towards moving to a more even flow production where we start, sell and deliver a similar number of homes each quarter.
Competition
The residential homebuilding industry is highly competitive. In each of the market regions where we operate, we compete for homebuyers with numerous national, regional and local homebuilders, as well as with resales of existing homes and with the rental housing market. We compete for homebuyers on the basis of a number of interrelated factors including location, price, reputation for customer satisfaction, amenities, design, quality and financing. In addition to competition for homebuyers, we also compete with other homebuilders for desirable properties, raw materials and access to reliable, skilled labor. We compete with a wide variety of property owners in our efforts to sell land to homebuilders and others. We believe we are competitive in the market regions where we operate primarily due to our:
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Everything’s Included® marketing program, which simplifies the homebuying experience by including the most desirable features as standard items;
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Innovative home designs, such as our Next Gen® homes that provide both privacy and togetherness for multi-generational families or a home office to accommodate working from home;
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Inclusion of built-in Wi-Fi, solar power systems and advanced technology in many of our homes;
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Consumer insight capabilities, which allow us to continually stay tapped into consumer preferences and feedback so we can continuously evolve and fine-tune our offerings, processes and communications for our customers;
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Financial position as a result of our ability to finance land purchases and development activities with operating revenues and corporate level unsecured borrowing;
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Access to land, particularly in land-constrained markets;
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Pricing to current market conditions;
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Cost efficiencies realized through our national purchasing programs and production of value-engineered homes;
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Quality construction and home warranty programs, which are supported by a responsive customer care team;
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Our builder of choice program through which we maximize the efficiency of our suppliers' dealing with us;
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Size and scale in leading markets;
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Use of digital channels to advertise homes; and
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Strategic investments in technology initiatives through our LENX investments in companies that help us enhance the homebuying and home ownership experience, and help us stay at the forefront of homebuilding innovation.
Our residential financial services operations compete with other residential mortgage lenders, including national, regional and local mortgage bankers and brokers, banks, savings and loan associations, non-bank mortgage lenders and other financial institutions, in the origination and sale of residential mortgage loans. Principal competitive factors include interest rates and other features of mortgage loan products available to the consumer. We compete with other title insurance agencies and underwriters for closing services and title insurance. Principal competitive factors include service and price.
Our LMF Commercial subsidiary's commercial mortgage origination and sale business competes with a wide variety of banks and other lenders that offer small and mid-sized mortgage loans to commercial enterprises. Competition is based primarily on service, price and relationships with mortgage brokers and other referral sources. LMF Commercial is run by highly seasoned managers who have been originating and securitizing loans for over 30 years and benefit from long-standing relationships with referral sources, as well as being able to leverage Lennar's infrastructure facilities for rapid market entrances and analysis. We believe these factors give LMF Commercial an advantage over many of the lenders with which it competes. Additionally, we believe access to Lennar's local homebuilding teams provides LMF Commercial with a distinct advantage in its evaluation of real estate assets.
In each region where we develop and operate multifamily properties, there is competition for residents with other owners of residential real estate (whether for-rent or for-sale). In addition, when capital raising, we compete with a wide variety of other investment opportunities that are being marketed by other firms, related both to real estate and to a variety of other investment products. We also compete for developable land with other developers of real estate for a variety of uses.
In each region where our funds offer single-family homes for rent, there is competition for residents with other owners of residential real estate (whether for-rent or for-sale). In addition, in seeking investors to acquire interests in funds we form, we will be competing with a wide variety of investment opportunities, related both to real estate and to a variety of other investment products. Also, in seeking to acquire single-family homes that our funds can hold as rental properties, our funds will be competing with other persons who plan to hold them as rental properties as well as persons who might want to purchase those homes to live in them.
Regulation
The residential communities and multifamily apartment developments that we build are subject to a large variety of local, state and federal statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations relating to, among other things, zoning, construction permits
or entitlements, construction materials, density, building design and property elevation, building codes and handling of waste. These include laws requiring the use of construction materials that reduce the need for energy-consuming heating and cooling systems. These laws and regulations are subject to frequent change and often increase construction costs. For example, the California Energy Commission has adopted a requirement that most newly built homes in California must have rooftop solar panels. In some instances, we must comply with laws that require commitments from us to provide roads and other offsite infrastructure, and may require them to be in place prior to the commencement of new home construction. These laws and regulations are usually administered by counties and municipalities and may result in fees and assessments or building moratoriums. In addition, many new development projects are subject to assessments for schools, parks, streets and highways and other public improvements, the costs of which can be substantial. Also, some governmental agencies are attempting to make homebuilders responsible for violations of wage and other labor laws by their subcontractors.
Residential homebuilding and apartment development are also subject to a variety of local, state and federal statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations concerning the protection of health and the environment. These environmental laws include such subjects as storm water and surface water management, soil, groundwater and wetlands protection, subsurface conditions and air quality protection and enhancement. Environmental laws may result in delays in developing properties, may cause us to incur substantial compliance and other costs and may prohibit or severely restrict homebuilding activity in environmentally sensitive regions or areas.
Over the years, several cities and counties in which we have developments have submitted to voters "slow growth" initiatives and other ballot measures that could impact the affordability and availability of land suitable for residential development within those localities. Although many of these initiatives have been defeated, if similar initiatives were approved, residential construction by us and others within certain cities or counties could be seriously impacted.
In order to make it possible for some of our homebuyers to obtain FHA-insured or VA-guaranteed mortgages, we must construct the homes they buy in compliance with regulations promulgated by those agencies. Various states have statutory disclosure requirements relating to the marketing and sale of new homes. These disclosure requirements vary widely from state-to-state. In some states, we are required to be registered as a licensed contractor and comply with applicable rules and regulations. In various states, our new home consultants are required to be registered as licensed real estate agents and to adhere to the laws governing the practices of real estate agents.
Our mortgage and title subsidiaries must comply with applicable real estate, lending and insurance laws and regulations. The subsidiaries are licensed in the states in which they do business and must comply with laws and regulations in those states. These laws and regulations include provisions regarding capitalization, operating procedures, investments, lending and privacy disclosures, forms of policies and premiums. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act contains a number of requirements relating to mortgage lending and securitizations. These include, among others, minimum standards for lender practices, limitations on certain fees and a requirement that the originator of loans that are securitized retain a portion of the risk, either directly or by holding interests in the securitizations.
Several federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and ordinances, including, but not limited to, the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") and the Federal Trade Commission Act and comparable state statutes, regulate consumer debt collection activity. Although, for a variety of reasons, we may not be specifically subject to the FDCPA or to some state statutes that govern debt collectors, it is our policy to comply with applicable laws in our collection activities. To the extent that some or all of these laws apply to our collection activities, our failure to comply with such laws could have a material adverse effect on us. We are also subject to regulations promulgated by the Federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding residential mortgage loans.
Environment
We are focused on creating environmentally sustainable products, and our purchasing power enables us to include green features in our homes. Each new home we build is healthier and more energy efficient, and has less impact on the environment, than prior generations of homes as a result of features like:
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Low-VOC paint that reduces pollution;
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WaterSense® faucets that reduce water flow without sacrificing performance;
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Low-E windows that reduce infrared and ultraviolet light coming into the home; and
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Energy Star® appliances that reduce energy consumption.
In addition, our home design and engineering work optimizes efficient use of building materials and reduces construction waste.
We also believe in the value of clean energy from solar power, which is why we formed our own captive solar power company in 2013. In 2021, we sold our SunStreet solar operations to Sunnova, a leading national residential solar company, in exchange for stock in the company. We believe Sunnova will be better able than us at maximizing the potential of the SunStreet solar operations. We are also partnering with Sunnova for it to be our exclusive residential home solar and battery storage provider, and we are working with Sunnova on the development of community solar microgrids.
Human Capital Management
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Talent and Development
Our associates (i.e., employees) are our most valuable asset, and we are committed to supporting each associate’s unique career journey. We were built on a culture of inclusivity and a conscious focus on the associate experience, bringing together the best talent to drive success as part of our “Lennar family.” We believe having an inclusive work environment, where everyone has a sense of belonging, not only drives engagement but fosters innovation, which is critical to driving growth. Our “Everyone’s Included” mantra relative to inclusion and diversity within our company anchors our unique culture.
Our success starts and ends with having the best talent, and, as a result, we are focused on attracting, developing, engaging and retaining our associates. We understand the importance of balance, and offer associates a competitive and comprehensive benefits package, including paid parental leave and resources for whole-self well-being (physical, social, and financial).
Health and Safety
We are committed to the health and safety of our associates and trade partners. We hired a full-time Chief Medical Officer in early 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our experienced teams adapted quickly to changes in safety protocols to protect our associates, trade partners and homebuyers, and we have continued these protocols even after the COVID-19 pandemic receded. We are also committed to worker safety and regulatory compliance, and among other things, require that office associates with oversight of construction and associates who work in the field take additional safety courses. Our Board of Directors and its Audit Committee regularly review the results of OSHA visits and other safety-related information to ensure that we are successfully managing and improving our safety program.
Employees and Labor Relations
Although we subcontract the land development and construction aspects of our homebuilding activities, we are highly dependent on our skilled employees for critical aspects of what we do. That includes senior executives who are responsible for our operational strategies and for approving significant land acquisitions and other major investments we make. It also includes the people who head our homebuilding divisions and non-homebuilding segments. And it includes the many people who are involved in design, construction oversight, marketing and other aspects of our homebuilding business and in carrying out our other activities.
At November 30, 2023, we employed 12,284 individuals of whom 9,622 were involved in the Homebuilding operations, 1,792 were involved in the Financial Services operations and 870 were involved in the Multifamily operations, compared to November 30, 2022, when we employed 12,012 individuals of whom 9,357 were involved in the Homebuilding operations, 1,748 were involved in the Financial Services operations and 907 were involved in the Multifamily operations. We do not have collective bargaining agreements relating to any of our associates. However, we subcontract many phases of our homebuilding operations and some of the subcontractors we use have employees who are represented by labor unions. We believe our overall relations with our workforce are healthy.
We have policies that prohibit us from discriminating in employment opportunities on the basis of race or gender, and we take active steps to offer employment opportunities to members of under-represented ethnic groups.
Available Information
This Report on Form 10-K and all other reports and amendments we file with or furnish to the SEC are publicly available free of charge on the investor relations section of the Lennar website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such materials with, or furnish them to, the SEC. Our website is www.lennar.com. We caution you that the information on our website is not incorporated herein and is not a part of this or any other report we file with, or furnish to, the SEC. In addition, the SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, where you may obtain a copy of all of the materials we file publicly with the SEC. The SEC website address is www.sec.gov.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This annual report on Form 10-K contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements concern expectations, beliefs, projections, plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements typically include the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “consider,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “objective,” “plan,” “predict,” “projection,” “seek,” “strategy,” “target,” “will”, "may" or other words of similar meaning. Some of them are opinions formed based upon general observations, anecdotal evidence and industry experience, but that are not supported by specific investigation or analysis.
These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We wish to caution readers that certain important factors may have affected and could in the future affect our
actual results and could cause actual results to differ significantly from what is anticipated by our forward-looking statements. The most important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: slowdowns in real estate markets in regions where we have significant Homebuilding or Multifamily development activities or own a substantial number of single-family homes for rent; decreased demand for our homes, either for sale or for rent, or Multifamily rental apartments; the potential impact of inflation; the impact of increased cost of mortgage financing for homebuyers, increased interest rates or increased competition in the mortgage industry; supply shortages and increased costs related to construction materials and labor; cost increases related to real estate taxes and insurance; the effect of increased interest rates with regard to our funds' borrowings on the willingness of the funds to invest in new projects; reductions in the market value of the Company's investments in public companies; natural disasters or catastrophic events for which our insurance may not provide adequate coverage; our inability to successfully execute our strategies, including our land lighter strategy and our planned spin-off of certain businesses; a decline in the value of the land and home inventories we maintain and resulting possible future write downs of the carrying value of our real estate assets; the forfeiture of deposits related to land purchase options we decide not to exercise; the potential negative impact to our business of public health issues, including the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; possible unfavorable outcomes in legal proceedings; changes in general economic and financial conditions that reduce demand for our products and services, lower our profit margins or reduce our access to credit; our inability to acquire land at anticipated prices; the possibility that we will incur nonrecurring costs that affect earnings in one or more reporting periods; the possibility that the benefit from our increasing use of technology will not justify its cost; increased competition for home sales from other sellers of new and resale homes; becoming unable to pay down debt; government actions or other factors that might force us to terminate our program of repurchasing our stock; the failure of the participants in various joint ventures to honor their commitments; difficulty obtaining land-use entitlements or construction financing; new laws or regulatory changes that adversely affect the profitability of our businesses (including changes in tax laws or liabilities); our inability to refinance our debt on terms that are as favorable as our current arrangements; and changes in accounting conventions that adversely affect our reported earnings.
Please see Item 1A-Risk Factors and Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and results of Operations of this Report for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties which could affect our future results. We undertake no obligation to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of those statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events, except to the extent we are legally required to disclose certain matters in SEC filings or otherwise.
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The following risks, which should be considered carefully with the information provided elsewhere in this Report, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Market and Economic Risks
Demand for homes we build may be adversely affected by a variety of macroeconomic factors beyond our control.
Demand for our homes is dependent on a variety of macroeconomic factors, such as employment levels, interest rates, changes in stock market valuations, consumer confidence, housing demand, availability and cost of financing for homebuyers, availability and prices of new homes compared to those of previously occupied homes, and demographic trends. These factors can be significantly adversely affected by a variety of factors beyond our control. Currently, potential purchasers of our homes are being affected by inflation and increased interest rates, both of which increase what homebuyers have to pay for new homes.
Negative publicity could hurt our reputation, which could cause our revenues or results of operations to decline.
Our business success is dependent upon the reputation of the Lennar brand and its association with quality and integrity. If we are unable to maintain the position of the Lennar brand, our business may be adversely affected, which could result in lower sales and earnings. Unfavorable media or investor and analyst reports related to our industry, company, brand, marketing, personnel, operations, business performance, or prospects may affect our stock price and the performance of our business, regardless of its accuracy or inaccuracy. We could be subject to knowingly false statements made for the purpose of impairing our reputation. These statements, even if totally untrue, can spread rapidly through the use of electronic communication, including social media outlets, websites and other digital platforms. Our success in maintaining and enhancing our brand depends on our ability to adapt to this rapidly changing media environment. Adverse publicity or negative commentary from media outlets could damage our reputation and reduce the demand for our homes, which would adversely affect our business.
Our business strategies for our homebuilding and mortgage finance businesses may not increase our value.
Our strategies for our core homebuilding and mortgage finance businesses, and any related initiatives or actions, may not be successful. Principal among our current strategies is continuing to reduce the inventory of land we own (i.e., to become a land lighter company), and to control a greater portion of the land we expect to use through options or other contractual arrangements. We cannot provide assurance that this strategy, or other strategies we will follow, will increase our value. It is
possible that the land lighter or other strategies will reduce, rather than increase, the value and profitability of our core businesses.
The market for new homes is cyclical, and a continuing downturn in the homebuilding market could adversely affect our operations.
The residential homebuilding industry is sensitive to changes in economic conditions and other factors, such as the level of employment, consumer confidence, consumer income, product affordability, availability of financing, inflation, and interest rate levels. As a result, over the years, demand for new homes has been cyclical, with multi-year periods of high demand followed by multi-year periods of low demand. During fiscal 2022 and 2023, the housing market weakened throughout the country in response to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive increase in interest rates in an effort to curtail inflation. A number of our markets experienced significant market softening that required us to make substantial price reductions. It is possible that a continued downturn could result in a further decline in demand for new homes with resulting write downs in the carrying value of our land inventory and write offs of costs of land purchase options we decide not to exercise.
Inflation could adversely affect our profitability.
Weak demand may preclude us from raising home prices enough to keep up with the rate of inflation, which could reduce our profit margins. In addition, in an inflationary environment, our cost of capital, labor and materials can increase and the purchasing power of our cash resources can decline, which can have an adverse impact on our business or financial results. During fiscal 2023, we experienced an increase in the inflation rate. Even with shifts in macroeconomic factors in the current fiscal year and adjusting to the recent inflationary environment, as a result of our production volume, an increase in deliveries, and by applying stringent cost controls, we were able to achieve satisfactory margins. However, declining demand for new homes as the year progressed often required us to reduce, rather than increase, prices. On the other hand, it is beginning to relieve supply shortages. We are taking steps that we expect will enable us to maintain acceptable operating margins despite the inability to raise prices. However, it is possible that those steps will not be successful, and that the combination of inflation and reduced demand for new homes will adversely affect our profitability.
Further increase in mortgage interest rates could reduce potential buyers’ ability or desire to obtain financing with which to buy homes.
Housing has been considerably impacted by the more than doubling of mortgage interest rates in 2022, and continued increases in 2023. When interest rates increase, the cost of owning a new home increases, which usually reduces the number of potential buyers who can afford, or are willing, to purchase homes we build.
A decline in prices of new homes could require us to write down the carrying value of land we own and to write off option costs.
We are constantly purchasing land, or entering into arrangements to purchase land, for use in our homebuilding operations. The value of land suitable for residential development fluctuates depending on local and national market conditions and other factors that affect demand for new homes. When demand for homes fell during the 2007-2010 recession, we were required to take significant write-downs of the carrying value of our land inventory and we elected not to exercise many options to purchase land, which required us to forfeit deposits and write-off pre-acquisition costs. Although we have reduced our exposure to costs of that type, a certain amount of exposure is inherent in our homebuilding business. If market conditions were to deteriorate significantly in the future, we could again be required to make significant write-downs of the carrying value of our land inventory and incur costs relating to decisions not to exercise land purchase options.
Our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected by public health issues, and resulting governmental actions.
The United States has experienced, and may experience in the future, outbreaks of contagious diseases that affect public health and public perception of health risk. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the shutdown of large portions of our national economy. With the exception of a period in March and April of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on the economy did not adversely affect our home sales. However, this may not be the case with any future public health issues. The extent to which public health issues impact our results will depend on future developments, which cannot be predicted. If a contagious disease causes significant negative impacts to economic conditions or consumer confidence, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely impacted.
Current and threatened conflicts could affect demand for the homes we build.
There currently are ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. While we do not acquire essential components of the homes we build from either of those countries and while as of November 30, 2023, neither of these conflicts has had a material direct impact on our consolidated financial performance, the conflicts are still ongoing, and there are many risks and uncertainties in relation to those conflicts that are outside of our control. For example, these conflicts have already led and could lead to further market disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions. In addition, the closure of or limitation on the use of significant shipping routes as a result of these conflicts may result in interruptions to the supply of certain key raw materials worldwide, thereby, among other things,
increasing their cost. If either or both conflicts escalate further or if additional countries join either conflict, that may lead potential homebuyers to decide not to invest in new homes at this time, which could have a material impact on our business operations and financial performance.
Operational Risks
Homebuilding, mortgage lending and home rentals are very competitive industries, and competitive conditions could adversely affect our business or financial results.
Homebuilding. The homebuilding industry is highly competitive. Homebuilders compete not only for homebuyers, but also for desirable land, financing, raw materials, skilled management and labor resources. We compete in each of our markets with numerous national, regional and local homebuilders. We also compete with sellers of existing homes, including foreclosed homes, and with rental housing. These competitive conditions can reduce the number of homes we deliver, negatively impact our selling prices, reduce our profit margins, and cause impairments in the value of our inventory or other assets. Competition can also affect our ability to acquire suitable land, raw materials and skilled labor at acceptable prices or other terms.
Financial Services. Our Financial Services residential and commercial lending businesses compete with other residential and commercial mortgage lenders, including national, regional and local banks and other financial institutions. Mortgage lenders who have greater access to low cost funds, superior technologies or different lending criteria than we do may be able to offer more attractive financing to potential customers than we can.
Multifamily. Our multifamily rental business competes with other developers and operators of multifamily apartment communities at locations across the U.S. where we have investments in multifamily rental properties. We also compete in securing partners, equity capital and debt financing, and we compete for tenants with the large supply of already existing or newly built rental apartments, as well as with sellers and renters of single-family homes. These competitive conditions could negatively impact the ability of the funds and ventures we manage to find renters for the apartments they are building or the prices for which those apartments can be rented.
Single-Family Home Rentals. In each region where our funds offer single-family homes for rent, there will be competition for residents with other owners of residential real estate (whether for-rent or for-sale). In addition, in seeking investors to acquire interests in funds we form, we will be competing with a wide variety of investment opportunities, related both to real estate and to a variety of other investment products. Also, in seeking to acquire single-family homes that our funds can hold as rental properties, our funds will be competing with other persons who plan to hold them as rental properties as well as persons who might want to purchase those homes to live in them.
We may be subject to costs of warranty and liability claims in excess of the insurance coverage we can purchase.
As a homebuilder, we are subject in the ordinary course of our business to warranty and construction defect claims. We are also subject to claims for injuries that occur in the course of construction activities. We record warranty and other reserves for the homes we sell based on historical experience in our markets and our judgment of the qualitative risks associated with the types of homes we build. We have, and many of our subcontractors have, general liability, property, workers' compensation and other business insurance. These insurance policies are intended to protect us against risk of loss from claims, subject to self-insured retentions, deductibles and coverage limits. However, it is possible that this insurance will not be adequate to address all warranty, construction defect and liability claims to which we are subject.
Additionally, the cost of insurance has increased significantly in recent years. Also, the coverage offered and the availability of general liability insurance for construction defects is currently limited and policies that can be obtained often include exclusions based upon past losses those insurers suffered as a result of use of defective materials in homes we and many other homebuilders built. As a result, an increasing number of our subcontractors are unable to obtain insurance, and we have in many cases had to waive our customary insurance requirements, which increases our and our insurers’ exposure to claims and increases the possibility that our insurance will not be adequate to protect us against all the costs we incur. This increase in cost and limitation in coverage has also increased our self-insured retentions and decreased our total coverage. It is possible in the future that insurance would not be available at commercially reasonable rates, which may cause us to reduce or eliminate general liability insurance.
Excessive health and safety incidents relating to our operations could be costly to us.
Land development and construction are inherently dangerous. While safety is a priority on our land development and construction sites, we cannot always control the way work is performed by subcontractors, including whether they comply with laws and regulations designed to maximize the safety of construction workers. Failures in health and safety performance on our worksites may result in penalties for non-compliance with relevant regulatory requirements in our subcontractors having difficulty attracting the workers they need and in a negative impact to our reputation.
Products supplied to us and work done by subcontractors can expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business.
We rely on subcontractors to perform the actual construction of our homes, and in many cases, to select and obtain building materials. Despite our detailed specifications and quality control procedures, in some cases, subcontractors may use
improper construction processes or defective materials. Defective products widely used by the homebuilding industry can result in the need to perform extensive repairs to large numbers of homes. The cost of complying with our warranty obligations may be significant if we are unable to recover the cost of repairs from subcontractors, materials suppliers and insurers.
We also can suffer damage to our reputation, and may be exposed to possible liability, if subcontractors fail to comply with applicable laws, including laws involving things that are not within our control. When we learn about possibly improper practices by subcontractors, we try to cause the subcontractors to discontinue them. However, we may not always be able to do that, and even when we can, it may not avoid claims against us relating to work the subcontractors already performed.
A reduced number of home sales would extend the time it takes us to recover land purchase and property development costs.
We incur many costs even before we begin to build homes in a community. Depending on the stage of development a land parcel is in when we acquire it, these may include costs of preparing land, finishing and entitling lots, installing roads, sewers, water systems and other utilities, and taxes and other costs related to ownership of the land on which we plan to build homes. If the rate at which we sell and deliver homes slows, or if we delay the opening of new home communities, we may incur increased pre-construction costs and it may take longer for us to recover those costs.
Increased interest rates could increase our cost of building homes.
Our business requires us to finance much of the cost of developing our residential communities. One of the ways we do this is with bank borrowings. At November 30, 2023, we had a $2.6 billion revolving credit facility with a group of banks (the "Credit Facility"), which had an accordion feature that could increase it to $3 billion. We also had warehouse borrowing facilities totaling $3.7 billion to support our residential and commercial mortgage lending activities. The interest on borrowings under the Credit Facility is at rates based on prevailing short-term rates from time to time. In 2022 and 2023, the Federal Reserve steadily raised benchmark interest rates. At November 30, 2023, we had no borrowings under our Credit Facility. However, if in the future we have a need for significant borrowings under our Credit Facility and interest rates continue be high, that would increase the cost of the homes we build, which either would make those homes more expensive for homebuyers, which is likely to reduce demand, or would lower our operating margins, or both.
Increases in the rate of cancellations of home sale agreements could have an adverse effect on our business.
Our backlog reflects agreements of sale with our homebuyers for homes that have not yet been delivered. We usually have received a deposit from our homebuyer for each home reflected in our backlog, and generally we have the right to retain the deposit if the homebuyer does not complete the purchase. In some cases, however, a homebuyer may cancel the agreement of sale and receive a complete or partial refund of the deposit for reasons such as state and local laws, the homebuyer’s inability to obtain mortgage financing, the homebuyer's inability to sell their current home or our inability to complete and deliver the home within the specified time. With the increase in interest rates, we have experienced an increase in cancellation rates. If there is a weakening of the housing market, or if mortgage financing becomes less available or more expensive than it currently is, more homebuyers may cancel their agreements of sale with us, which would have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Our success to a substantial extent depends on our ability to acquire land that is suitable for residential homebuilding and meets our land investment criteria.
There is strong competition among homebuilders for land that is suitable for residential development. The future availability of finished and partially finished developed lots and undeveloped land that meet our internal criteria depends on a number of factors outside our control, including land availability in general, competition with other homebuilders and land buyers for desirable property, inflation in land prices, zoning, allowable housing density, and other regulatory requirements. Should suitable lots or land become less available, the number of homes we could build and sell could be reduced, and the cost of land could be increased, perhaps substantially, which could adversely impact our results of operations.
We could be hurt if land banks are not able to raise necessary investor funds or if we are unable to create and maintain relationships with land banks.
As part of our land acquisition strategy, we have refined our relationships with strategic land banks with a view toward using land banks to gain future access to land without having to own it. If we are unable to identify or to develop and maintain the necessary relationships with suitable land banks in the future, we will not be able to fully implement our strategy. Most land banks are funds that use financial investor capital to finance land acquisitions. If returns to investors in land banks are not sufficient to attract investor funds and land banks are not able to identify alternative sources of funding, we would no longer have access to land banks and instead might have to purchase our land directly from landowners. This would significantly impair our ability to carry out our strategy of reducing our inventory of owned land.
We could be hurt by refusals of owners of land to honor options or contracts to sell land to us.
We have made a strategic decision to increase the portion of our potential land inventory that we control through options or contracts and reduce the portion we own. This substantially reduces our investment in land. However, if landowners who are parties to the options or contracts, possibly including land banks, were to refuse to honor them, we could lose access to land at the time we want to use it in our homebuilding activities.
The loss of the services of members of our senior management or a significant number of our operating employees could negatively affect our business.
Our success depends to a significant extent upon the performance and active participation of our senior management, many of whom have been with us for 20 or more years. If we were to lose members of our senior management, we might not be able to find appropriate replacements on a timely basis and our operations could be negatively affected. Also, the loss of a significant number of key operating employees and our inability to hire qualified replacements could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Natural disasters and severe weather conditions could delay deliveries and increase costs of new homes in affected areas, which could harm our sales and results of operations.
Many of our homebuilding operations are conducted in areas that are subject to natural disasters, including hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, floods, wildfires and severe weather. The occurrence of natural disasters or severe weather conditions can delay new home deliveries, increase costs by damaging inventories and lead to shortages of labor and materials in areas affected by the disasters, and can negatively impact the demand for new homes in affected areas. Our insurance may not cover business interruptions or losses resulting from these events and our results of operations could be adversely affected by these events.
If our homebuyers are not able to obtain suitable financing, that would reduce demand for our homes and our home sales revenues.
Most purchasers of our homes obtain mortgage loans to finance a substantial portion of the purchase price of the homes they purchase. While the majority of our homebuyers obtain their mortgage financing from our Financial Services segment, others obtain mortgage financing from banks and other independent lenders. Disruptions in the mortgage markets or increased government regulation could adversely affect the ability of potential homebuyers to obtain financing for home purchases, making it difficult for them to purchase our homes. Among other things, changes made by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and FHA/VA to sponsored mortgage programs, as well as changes made in recent years by private mortgage insurance companies, have reduced the ability of a number of potential homebuyers to qualify for mortgages. Principal among these are higher income requirements, larger required down payments, increased reserves and higher required credit scores. In addition, there has been uncertainty regarding the future of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, including proposals that they reduce or terminate their role as the principal sources of liquidity in the secondary market for mortgage loans. It is not clear how, if Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae were to curtail their secondary market mortgage loan purchases, the liquidity they provide would be replaced. There is a substantial possibility that substituting an alternate source of liquidity would increase mortgage interest rates, which would increase the buyers' effective costs of paying for the homes we sell, and therefore could reduce demand for our homes and adversely affect our results of operations.
Changes in tax laws could increase the cost of owning a home.
Currently, there are significant income tax benefits from owning a home, including deductibility of interest on mortgage loans incurred to finance home purchases. If federal or state tax laws are changed to eliminate or reduce any of these income tax benefits or if personal income tax rates were to increase, the after-tax cost of homeownership could measurably increase and diminish consumer interest in buying a home, with a resulting adverse effect on our revenues.
Our Financial Services segment can be adversely affected by reduced demand for our homes.
100% of the residential mortgage loans made by our Financial Services segment in 2023 were made to buyers of homes we built. Therefore, a decrease in the demand for our homes or an increase in cash used by homebuyers would adversely affect the revenues of this aspect of our business.
If our ability to sell mortgages into the secondary market is impaired, that could significantly reduce our ability to sell homes unless we are willing to become a long-term investor in loans we originate.
Substantially all of the residential mortgage loans we originate are sold within a short period in the secondary mortgage market on a servicing-released, non-recourse basis. If we became unable to sell residential mortgage loans into the secondary mortgage market or directly to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, we would have to either curtail our origination of residential mortgage loans, which among other things, could significantly reduce our ability to sell homes, or commit our own funds to long-term investments in mortgage loans, which, in addition to requiring us to deploy substantial amounts of our own funds, could delay the time when we recognize revenues from home sales on our statements of operations.
We may be liable for certain limited representations and warranties we make in connection with the sale of loans.
While substantially all of the residential mortgage loans we originate are sold within a short period in the secondary mortgage market on a servicing-released, non-recourse basis, we remain responsible for certain industry standard limited representations and warranties we make in connection with such sales. Mortgage investors sometimes seek to have us buy back mortgage loans or compensate them for losses incurred on mortgage loans that we have sold based on claims that we breached our limited representations and warranties. In addition, when LMF Commercial sells loans to securitization trusts or other purchasers, it gives limited industry standard representations and warranties about the loans, which, if incorrect, may require it to repurchase the loans, replace them with substitute loans or indemnify persons for losses or expenses incurred as a result of breaches of representations and warranties. If we have significant liabilities with respect to such claims, it could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, and possibly our financial condition.
Financing Risks
Failure to comply with the covenants and conditions imposed by our borrowing facilities could restrict future borrowing or cause our debt to become immediately due and payable.
The agreement governing our Credit Facility (the "Credit Agreement") makes it a default if we fail to pay principal or interest when it is due (subject, in some instances, to grace periods) or to comply with various covenants, including covenants regarding financial ratios. In addition, our Financial Services residential mortgage companies and our LMF Commercial mortgage lending group have warehouse facilities to finance their mortgage lending. If we default under the Credit Agreement or our warehouse facilities, the lenders will have the right to terminate their commitments to lend and to require immediate repayment of all outstanding borrowings. This could reduce our available funds at a time when we are having difficulty generating all the funds we need from our operations, in capital markets or otherwise, and restrict our ability to obtain financing in the future. In addition, if we default under the Credit Agreement or our warehouse facilities, it could cause the amounts outstanding under our senior notes to become immediately due and payable, which would seriously adversely impact our consolidated financial condition.
We have a substantial level of indebtedness, which may have an adverse effect on our business or limit our ability to take advantage of business, strategic or financing opportunities.
As of November 30, 2023, we had outstanding senior notes which we had sold into the capital markets over a number of years totaling $2.5 billion. The indentures governing our senior notes do not restrict our incurrence of future secured or unsecured debt, and the agreement governing our Credit Facility allows us to incur a substantial amount of future unsecured debt. We reduced our outstanding senior notes during fiscal 2023 by $1.1 billion, but we still have a significant amount outstanding. Sales of senior debt into the capital markets has, until recently, been a significant source of funding for our operations and acquisitions. Our use of capital markets debt to help support our operations exposes us to a number of risks, including:
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We may be more vulnerable to general adverse economic and homebuilding industry conditions;
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We may have to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing indebtedness as a result of the increase in market interest rates, thereby reducing our earnings and cash flows;
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We may find it difficult, or may be unable, to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate requirements that would be in our best long-term interests;
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We may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on our debt, reducing the cash flow available to fund operations and investments and reducing the amount we can return to our stockholders;
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We may have reduced flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our businesses or the industries in which they are conducted;
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We may have a competitive disadvantage relative to other companies in our industry, if any, that are less leveraged; and
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We may be required to sell debt or equity securities or sell some of our core assets, possibly on unfavorable terms, in order to meet debt payment obligations.
Our access to capital and our ability to obtain additional financing could be affected if there was a downgrade of our credit ratings.
Our corporate credit rating and ratings of our senior notes affect, among other things, our ability to access new capital, especially debt, and the costs of that new capital. For a number of years, a substantial portion of our access to capital has been through the issuance of senior notes, of which we have approximately $2.5 billion outstanding, net of debt issuance costs, as of November 30, 2023. Among other things, we have often relied on proceeds of debt issuances to pay the principal of existing
senior notes when they mature. Negative changes in the ratings of our senior notes could make it difficult for us to sell senior notes in the future and could result in more stringent covenants and higher interest rates with regard to new senior notes we issue.
During 2024, we will have to replace or renew a total of $3.7 billion of warehouse lines used by Financial Services, including LMF Commercial, as they mature. We expect these facilities to be renewed or replaced with other facilities when they mature. If we were unable to renew or replace these facilities on favorable terms or at all when they mature, that could seriously impede the activities of our Financial Services segment, which would have an impact on our financial results.
An inability to obtain performance bonds or post letters of credit could adversely affect our operations.
We often are required to provide surety bonds to secure our performance of obligations under construction contracts, development agreements and other arrangements. At November 30, 2023, we had outstanding surety bonds of $4.5 billion including performance surety bonds related to site improvements at various projects (including certain projects of our joint ventures) and financial surety bonds. Although significant development and construction activities have been completed related to these site improvements, these bonds are generally not released until all development and construction activities to which they relate are completed. Our ability to obtain surety bonds primarily depends upon our credit rating, financial condition, past performance and similar factors, the capacity of the surety market and the underwriting practices of surety bond issuers. Our ability to obtain surety bonds also can be impacted by the willingness of insurance companies to issue performance bonds for construction and development activities. If we were unable to obtain surety bonds when required, our operations could be adversely affected.
We conduct some of our operations through joint ventures with independent third parties and we can be adversely impacted by our joint venture partners' failures to fulfill their obligations or decisions to act contrary to our wishes.
In our Homebuilding and Multifamily segments, we participate in joint ventures in order to help us acquire attractive land positions, to manage our risk profile and to leverage our capital base. In certain circumstances, joint venture participants, including us, are required to provide guarantees of obligations relating to the joint ventures, such as completion and environmental guarantees. If a joint venture partner does not perform its obligations, we may be required to bear more than our proportional share of the cost of fulfilling the joint venture’s obligations. For example, in connection with our Multifamily business, and its joint ventures, we and the other venture participants have guaranteed obligations to complete construction of multifamily residential buildings at agreed-upon costs, which could make us and the other venture participants responsible for cost over-runs. Although all the participants in a venture are normally responsible for sharing the costs of fulfilling obligations of that type, if some of the venture participants are unable or unwilling to meet their share of the obligations, we may be held responsible for some or all of the defaulted payments. In addition, because we do not have a controlling interest in most of the joint ventures in which we participate, we may not be able to cause joint ventures to sell assets, return invested capital or take other actions when such actions might be in our best interest.
Several of the joint ventures in which we participate will in the relatively near future be required to repay, refinance, renegotiate or extend their borrowings. If any of those joint ventures are unable to do this, we could be required to provide at least a portion of the funds the joint ventures need to be able to repay the borrowings and to finance the activities for which they were incurred, which could adversely impact our financial position.
Regulatory Risks
Changes in U.S. trade policies and retaliatory responses from other countries may substantially increase the costs or limit supplies of building materials and products used in our homes.
During the past several years, the U.S. government has imposed new, or increased existing, tariffs on an array of imported materials and products that are used in the homes we build, including lumber, steel, aluminum, solar panels and washing machines, which increases the costs of those items. The tariffs that have been imposed or increased have impacted our construction costs and caused disruptions in our supply chains, and new or increased tariffs could result in further cost increases. These cost increases will either require us to increase prices or negatively impact our profit margins. New or increased tariffs could also negatively affect U.S. national or regional economies, which could affect the demand for the homes we build.
We may be adversely impacted by legal and regulatory changes.
We are subject with regard to almost all of our activities to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations. Laws and regulations, and policies under or interpretations of existing laws and regulations, change frequently. Our businesses could be adversely affected by changes in laws, regulations, policies or interpretations or by our inability to comply with them without making significant changes in our businesses.
Governmental regulations regarding land use and environmental matters could increase the cost and limit the availability of our development and homebuilding projects and adversely affect our business or financial results.
We are subject to extensive and complex laws and regulations that affect land development, homebuilding and apartment development processes, including laws and regulations related to zoning, permitted land uses, levels of density, building design, elevation of properties, water and waste disposal and use of open spaces. These regulations often provide broad discretion to the administering governmental authorities as to the conditions that must be met prior to development or construction being approved, if they are approved at all. We are also subject to determinations by governmental authorities as to the adequacy of water or sewage facilities, roads and other local services with regard to particular residential communities. New housing developments may also be subject to various assessments for schools, parks, streets and other public improvements. In addition, in many markets government authorities have implemented no growth or growth control initiatives. Any of these can limit, delay, or increase the costs of land development or home construction. Government restrictions, standards, or regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or potential climate change impacts are likely to result in restrictions on land development in certain areas and may increase energy, transportation, or raw material costs, which could reduce our profit margins and adversely affect our results of operations. This is a particular concern in the western United States, where some of the most extensive and stringent environmental laws and residential building construction standards in the country have been enacted, and where we have substantial homebuilding and multifamily operations.
We are also subject to a variety of local, state and federal laws and regulations concerning protection of the environment. In some of the markets where we operate, we are required by law to pay environmental impact fees, use energy-saving construction materials and give commitments to municipalities to provide infrastructure such as roads and sewage systems. We generally are required to obtain permits, entitlements and approvals from local authorities to commence and carry out residential development or home construction. These permits, entitlements and approvals sometimes are opposed or challenged by local governments, environmental advocacy groups, neighboring property owners or other possibly interested parties, adding delays, costs and risks of non-approval to the process. Violations of environmental laws and regulations can result in injunctions, civil penalties, remediation expenses, and other costs. In addition, some environmental laws impose strict liability, which means that we may be held liable for unlawful environmental conditions on property we own which we did not create.
We are also subject to laws and regulations related to workers' health and safety, and there are efforts to subject homebuilders like us to other labor related laws or rules, some of which may make us responsible for things done by our subcontractors over which we have little or no control.
In addition, our residential mortgage subsidiary is subject to various state and federal statutes, rules and regulations, including those that relate to lending operations and other areas of mortgage origination and loan servicing. The impact of those statutes, rules and regulations can increase our homebuyers’ costs of financing, and our cost of doing business, as well as restricting our homebuyers’ access to some types of loans.
Our obligation to comply with the laws and regulations under which we operate, and our need to ensure that our associates, subcontractors and other agents comply with these laws and regulations, could result in delays in construction and land development, cause us to incur substantial costs and prohibit or restrict land development and homebuilding activity in certain areas in which we operate. Budget reductions by state and local governmental agencies may increase the time it takes to obtain required approvals and therefore may aggravate the delays we encounter. In 2020 and 2021, shutdowns of government offices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic often delayed the time it took to obtain required approvals. Government agencies also routinely initiate audits, reviews or investigations of our business practices to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, which can cause us to incur costs or create other disruptions in our businesses that can be significant.
We can be injured by improper acts of persons over whom we do not have control.
Although we expect all of our associates, officers and directors to comply at all times with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, there may be instances in which subcontractors or others through whom we do business engage in practices that do not comply with applicable laws, regulations or governmental guidelines. When we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws or regulations, including practices relating to homes, buildings or multifamily rental properties we build or finance, we move actively to stop the non-complying practices as soon as possible and we have taken disciplinary action with regard to associates of ours who were aware of non-complying practices and did not take steps to address them, including in some instances terminating their employment. However, regardless of the steps we take after we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws or regulations, we can in certain cases be subject to fines or other governmental penalties, and our reputation can be injured, due to the practices having taken place.
We could be held responsible for obligations of, and labor law violations by, our subcontractors and other contract parties.
The homes we sell are built by employees of subcontractors and other contract parties. We do not have the ability to control what these contract parties pay their employees or the work rules they impose on their employees. However, various governmental agencies have sought, and in the future may seek, to hold contract parties like us responsible for violations of
wage and hour laws, workers’ compensation and other work-related laws by firms whose employees are performing contracted for services. While the future of joint employer liability remains uncertain, if we were deemed to be a joint employer of our subcontractors’ employees, we could become responsible for collective bargaining obligations of, and labor law violations by, our subcontractors. Governmental rulings that make us responsible for labor practices by our subcontractors could create substantial exposures for us in situations that are not within our control.
Risk Related to Planned Spin-Off
Our previously announced spin-off of some of our businesses may not occur within any particular time period or at all.
We previously announced that we planned to transfer some of our non-homebuilding businesses to a subsidiary, Quarterra Group, Inc. (“Quarterra”), which had been formed for that purpose, and, subject to market conditions, to distribute the stock of Quarterra to our stockholders. However, the timing of this spin-off is currently uncertain and will depend upon general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. As a result, we may not be able to consummate this transaction within any particular time period or at all.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Stock
We have a stockholder who can exercise significant influence over matters that are brought to a vote of our stockholders.
Stuart Miller, our Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, through family and personal holdings of Class B, and to a lesser extent Class A, common stock, has the power to cast approximately 36% of the votes that can be cast by the holders of all our outstanding Class A and Class B common stock combined. This gives Mr. Miller substantial influence regarding the election of our directors and the approval of most other matters that are presented to our stockholders. Mr. Miller's voting power might discourage someone from making a significant equity investment in us, even if we needed the investment to meet our obligations or to operate our business. Also, because of his voting power, Mr. Miller may be able to cause our stockholders to approve actions that are contrary to many of our other stockholders' desires.
Our Class B common stock is less liquid than and has traded at a price substantially lower than that of our Class A common stock.
The only significant difference between our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock is that the Class B common stock entitles the holders to ten votes per share, while the Class A common stock entitles holders to only one vote per share. However, for many years, the trading price of the Class B common stock on the NYSE has been substantially lower than the NYSE trading price of our Class A common stock. We believe this is because only a relatively small number of shares of Class B common stock are available for trading, which reduces the liquidity of the market for our Class B common stock to a point where many large investors are reluctant to invest in it. The limited liquidity could make it difficult for a holder of even a relatively small number of shares of our Class B common stock to dispose of the stock without materially reducing the trading price of the Class B common stock.
Other Risks
We have substantial investments in real estate related funds and businesses in which we are a minority investor.
We have investments in funds and other investment vehicles managed by Rialto Capital Management, a company we sold in November 2018, investments in a number of companies that are applying technology to various aspects of building and marketing homes and real estate related aspects of the financial services industry, and investments in Five Point Holdings, LLC, a publicly traded company that has ownership interests in, and is managing the development of, three large multi-use master planned communities in California. As a minority investor, we have little or no influence over decisions made with regard to these funds and businesses. However, we could suffer significant losses of our investments as a result of decisions that are made by the funds and businesses.
Our results of operations could be adversely affected if legal claims against us are not resolved in our favor.
In the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to legal claims by homebuyers, borrowers against whom we have instituted foreclosure proceedings, persons with whom we have land purchase contracts and a variety of other claimants. We establish reserves against legal claims and we believe that, in general, the outcome of legal claims will not have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition. However, if the amounts we are required to pay as a result of claims against us substantially exceed the sums anticipated by our reserves, the need to pay those amounts could have an adverse effect on our results of operations for the periods when we are required to make the payments.
We could be subject to unexpected tax liabilities.
We have provisions and reserves for taxes that we believe are sufficient to reflect our future tax obligations. However, it is possible that a taxing authority will successfully assert that we owe taxes that we do not believe that we owe and for which
we do not have a provision or reserves. If the additional taxes are material, they could adversely affect our income tax provision in the period in which such determination is made and, consequently, our operating results and financial condition.
Information technology failures and data security breaches could harm our business.
We rely extensively on information technology ("IT") systems, including Internet sites, data hosting facilities and other hardware and software platforms, some of which are hosted by third parties, to assist in conducting our businesses. Our IT systems, like those of most companies, may be vulnerable to a variety of disruptions, including, but not limited to, those caused by natural disasters, telecommunications failures, hackers, and other security issues. Moreover, our computer systems, like those of most companies, are subject to the possibility of computer viruses or other malicious codes, and to cyber or phishing-attacks. We have installed and continually upgrade an array of protections against cyber-intrusions. The risk of cyber-intrusion is one of the areas of risk as to which there are regular periodic presentations to our Board. However, cyber intrusion efforts are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and it is possible that the controls we have installed could at some time be breached in a material respect. While, to date, we have not had a cybersecurity breach or attack that had a material impact on our business or results of operations, if we were to be subject to a material successful cyber-intrusion, that could result in remediation or service restoration costs, increased cyber protection costs, lost revenues or loss of customers, litigation or regulatory actions by governmental authorities, increased insurance premiums, reputational damage and damage to our competitiveness, our stock price and our long-term stockholder value.
Failure to maintain the security of personally identifiable information could adversely affect us**.**
In connection with our business we collect and retain personally identifiable information (e.g., information regarding our customers, suppliers and employees), and our customers, suppliers and employees have an expectation that we will adequately protect that information. The U.S. regulatory environment surrounding information security and privacy is increasingly demanding. A significant theft, loss or fraudulent use of the personally identifiable information we maintain, or of our data, by cyber-criminals or otherwise could adversely impact our reputation and could result in significant costs, fines and litigation.
International activities subject us to risks inherent in international operations.
We historically have sold significant numbers of homes in communities in the United States to people who are not residents of the United States, and some large investors in our multifamily development and single-family rental funds and ventures are located outside the United States. Dealings with people or institutions located outside the United States create risks related to currencies and to political affairs in various countries. In some instances, the government may review the possible effects of investments by non-U.S. entities on U.S. national security. We must also be careful to comply with U.S. anti-corruption laws. Also, we have to be aware of tax issues involved in doing business outside the United States or with people who are not residents of the United States, both under U.S. tax laws and under the tax laws of the countries in which we do business or in which the non-residents reside.
We experience variability in our operating results on a quarterly basis.
Our homebuilding business is seasonal in nature and generally reflects higher levels of new home order activity in our second fiscal quarter and increased deliveries in the second half of our fiscal year. However, a variety of factors can change seasonal patterns. Our quarterly results of operations may continue to fluctuate in the future as a result of a variety of factors, including, among others, seasonal homebuying patterns, the timing of home closings and land sales and weather-related problems.
We could suffer significant losses if there are reductions in the market value of our investments in publicly traded companies.
We have made investments in companies that are engaged in applying technology to improve the homebuilding industry and real estate related aspects of the financial services industry. Our investments in Blend, Hippo, Opendoor, SmartRent, Sonder, and Sunnova, all of which have publicly traded shares of common stock are carried on our books at their fair values, which will change depending on the value of the Company’s shareholdings on the last day of each quarter. As a result, the Company’s net earnings could be significantly affected by mark-to-market gains or losses on the Company’s investments.
Changes in global or regional environmental conditions and governmental actions in response to such changes may adversely affect us by increasing the costs of or restricting our planned or future growth activities.
There is growing concern from many members of the scientific community and the general public that an increase in global average temperatures due to emissions of greenhouse gases and other human activities have caused, or will cause, significant changes in weather patterns and increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters. Government mandates, standards or regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or projected climate change impacts have resulted, and are likely to continue to result, in restrictions on land development in certain areas and increased energy, transportation and raw
material costs. We have tried to reduce the effect of the homes we build on the climate by installing solar power systems and other energy saving devices in many of those homes. Nonetheless, governmental requirements directed at reducing effects on climate could cause us to incur expenses that we cannot recover or that will require us to increase the price of homes we sell to the point that it affects demand for those homes.
General Risk Factors
The risk factors described above are those that we think may be material with regard to an investment in us that are not applicable generally to all business enterprises. However, we are subject to the many risks that affect all or most business enterprises in the United States or internationally, and our business or financial condition could be materially affected by those risks.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
Not applicable.
Information about our Executive Officers
The following individuals are our executive officers as of January 26, 2024:
| Name | Position | Age | ||||||
| Stuart Miller | Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer | 66 | ||||||
| Jonathan M. Jaffe | Co-Chief Executive Officer and President | 64 | ||||||
| Diane J. Bessette | Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer | 63 | ||||||
| Mark Sustana | Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary | 62 | ||||||
| David M. Collins | Vice President and Controller | 54 | ||||||
| Jeff J. McCall | Executive Vice President | 52 |
Mr. Miller has served as our Executive Chairman since April 2018 and as our Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer since September 2023. Mr. Miller served as our Chief Executive Officer from 1997 to April 2018 and as our President from 1997 to April 2011. Before 1997, Mr. Miller held various executive positions with us. Mr. Miller also serves as non-employee Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Five Point Holdings, LLC and a member of the Board of Directors of Doma Holdings, Inc.
Mr. Jaffe is one of our Directors and has served as our Co-Chief Executive Officer and President since September 2023. Prior to that, Mr. Jaffe served as our Co-Chief Executive Officer and Co-President from November 2020 to September 2023. Mr. Jaffe previously served as our President from April 2018 to November 2020 and as our Chief Operating Officer from December 2004 to January 2019. Mr. Jaffe served as a Vice President from 1994 to April 2018 and prior to that, served as a Regional President in our Homebuilding operations.
Ms. Bessette has served as our Chief Financial Officer since April 2018, our Treasurer since February 2008, and as a Vice President since 2000. Ms. Bessette initially joined us in 1995 and served as our Controller from 1997 to 2008. Ms. Bessette is a member of the Board of the Miami Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Mr. Sustana has served as Vice President since April 2018, and as our Secretary and General Counsel since 2005.
Mr. Collins joined us in 1998 and has served as a Vice President since January 2021, and as our Controller since February 2008.
Mr. McCall has served as our Executive Vice President since January 2020. Prior to that, Mr. McCall served as our Senior Vice President from February 2018 to January 2020. From June 2011 to February 2018, Mr. McCall served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of CalAtlantic Group, Inc., which we acquired in 2018, or a predecessor.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity.
Not applicable.
Item 2. Properties.
We maintain our corporate headquarters in an office building in Miami, Florida. In December 2023, we purchased this office building, in which we had previously leased office space for our corporate headquarters. This building contains approximately 213,200 square feet of office space, of which we lease approximately 53,000 square feet of unused office space to other tenants. Our homebuilding, financial services and multifamily offices are located in the markets where we conduct
business, primarily in leased spaces. We believe that our existing facilities are adequate for our current and planned levels of operation.
Because of the nature of our homebuilding operations, we hold significant amounts of property as inventory in connection with our homebuilding business. We discuss these properties in the discussion of our homebuilding operations in Items 1 and 7 of this Report.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are party to various claims and lawsuits relating to homes we sold which arise in the ordinary course of business, but we do not consider the volume of our claims and lawsuits unusual given the number of homes we deliver and the fact that the lawsuits often relate to homes delivered several years before the lawsuits are commenced. Although the specific allegations in the lawsuits differ, they most commonly involve claims that we failed to construct homes in particular communities in accordance with plans and specifications or applicable construction codes and seek reimbursement for sums allegedly needed to remedy the alleged deficiencies, assert contract issues or relate to personal injuries. Lawsuits of these types are common within the homebuilding industry. We are a plaintiff in a number of cases in which we seek contribution from our subcontractors for home repair costs. The costs incurred by us in construction defect lawsuits may be offset by warranty reserves, our third-party insurers, subcontractor insurers or indemnity contributions from subcontractors. From time to time, we are also a party to lawsuits involving purchases and sales of real property. These lawsuits often include claims regarding representations and warranties made in connection with the transfer of the property and disputes regarding the obligation to purchase or sell the property. From time-to-time, we also receive notices from environmental agencies or other regulators regarding alleged violations of environmental or other laws. We typically settle all of the foregoing matters before they reach litigation for amounts that are not material to us.
We do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these claims or lawsuits will have a material adverse effect on our business or financial position. However, the financial effect of litigation concerning purchases and sales of property may depend upon the value of the subject property, which may have changed from the time the agreement for purchase or sale was entered into.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Our Class A and Class B common stock are listed on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the symbols "LEN" and "LEN.B," respectively. As of December 31, 2023, the last reported sale price of our Class A and Class B common stock on the NYSE was $149.04 and $134.05, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, there were approximately 1,518 and 803 holders of record of our Class A and Class B common stock, respectively.
On January 9, 2024, our Board of Directors increased our annual dividend to $2.00 per share from $1.50 per share, resulting in a quarterly cash dividend of $0.50 per share on both our Class A and Class B common stock. The dividend is payable on February 7, 2024 to holders of record at the close of business on January 24, 2024.
The following table provides information about our repurchases of common stock during the three months ended November 30, 2023:
| Period: | Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) | Average Price Paid Per Share | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (2) | Maximum Number of Shares that may yet be Purchased under the Plans or Programs (2) | |||||||||||||||||||
| September 1 to September 30, 2023 | 1,020,797 | $ | 112.26 | 1,020,000 | 17,584,347 | ||||||||||||||||||
| October 1 to October 31, 2023 | 980,000 | $ | 108.38 | 980,000 | 16,604,347 | ||||||||||||||||||
| November 1 to November 30, 2023 | 1,000,468 | $ | 116.76 | 1,000,000 | 15,604,347 |
(1)Includes shares of Class A and Class B common stock withheld by us to cover withholding taxes due with market value approximating the amount of withholding taxes due.
(2)In March 2022, our Board of Directors approved an authorization for us to repurchase up to the lesser of $2.0 billion in value, or 30 million in shares, of our outstanding Class A or Class B common stock. The repurchase authorization has no expiration date. This authorization was in addition to what was remaining of our October 2021 stock repurchase program. Subsequent to November 30, 2023, our Board of Directors authorized an increase to our stock repurchase program to enable us to repurchase up to an additional $5 billion in value of our outstanding Class A or Class B common stock. Repurchases are authorized to be made in open-market or private transactions. The repurchase authorization has no expiration date.
The information required by Item 201(d) of Regulation S-K relating to equity compensation plans is provided in Item 12 of this Report.
Performance Graph
The following graph compares the five-year cumulative total return of our Class A common stock with the Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index. The graph assumes $100 invested on November 30, 2018 in our Class A common stock, the Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index, and the reinvestment of all dividends.

| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lennar Corporation | $ | 100 | 140 | 179 | 251 | 213 | 314 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index | $ | 100 | 146 | 178 | 250 | 203 | 315 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index | $ | 100 | 102 | 120 | 153 | 135 | 153 |
Item 6. Reserved.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Report. It also should be read in conjunction with the disclosure under “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in Part I of this Form 10-K.
Outlook
We effectively executed our operating plan in fiscal 2023 and as a result we have never been better positioned, both by our balance sheet and with our operating strategy, to address market conditions in 2024. Higher interest rates during 2023 constrained homebuilding consumers’ ability to purchase new homes, but consumers were employed and buyers that could purchase homes did so. There has been a very short supply of affordable homes and very strong demand for those affordable homes. That is partly because the market for existing homes has been quiet, as current homeowners are reluctant to lose the benefit of their low interest rate mortgages.
Throughout 2023, our consistent operating strategy was
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reduce our land assets while growing our business,
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drive strong and consistent earnings while concurrently generating net cash flow,
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reduce the time it takes us to build a home while increasing the rate at which we absorb inventory, and
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enhance our return on equity and our return on inventory by focusing on allocation of cash and other liquid assets.
As other homebuilders pulled back, we grew the pace at which we produced and sold homes, using pricing and incentives to keep our homes affordable, with reduced margins absorbing the cost of doing this. The strategic benefits of driving volume resulted in advantages that both were immediately valuable and will have durable benefits.
- By driving volume, particularly in a difficult interest rate environment, we:
◦Increased our market position in many core markets as we moved forward when some others pulled back.
◦Refined relationships with strategic land banks. The ability to use land banks to gain future access to land without having to own it is an invaluable tool in our current approach to land acquisition.
◦Improved our sales, marketing and dynamic pricing machine into what has become an advanced digital engine that is helping us price offerings in various markets and generate sales at the rate necessary to match our sales pace to the pace at which we are producing homes.
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We enhanced our position as builder of choice for existing and new trade partners, as our strategy of maintaining volume made us a dependable and consistent source of work. Our relationships with trade partners in local markets improved the efficiency of our operations, reduced the time it takes us to build homes and helped our inventory absorption.
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We positioned ourselves with land and new communities for strong volume in all of our operating markets. As we drove volume and delivered homes, we optioned new land and started additional communities for next year’s deliveries. We continued to option land to replace communities, especially when others walked away. Owners and developers of critical land assets saw us as a consistent market participant, even when market conditions became more tenuous. Our variable land pricing tool enables home site values to move up or down as a percentage of the sale price of a home as markets move up and down.
While market conditions have been challenging, we have consistently found ways to address market needs. Demand is strong and there is a chronic housing supply shortage that needs to be filled. We will continue to drive production to meet that housing shortage. And, if interest rates subside, we will be well prepared to meet the resulting release of pent up demand.
We have continued our land light strategy of seeking land purchase options and purchasing primarily finished homesites on which we are ready to start, or have already started, building homes. At the end of 2023, 76% of our homesites were controlled through options or other contracts, rather than owned. The years supply of homesites we owned improved during 2023 to end the year with a 1.4 years owned supply, compared with a 1.9 years owned supply in the prior year.
We delivered over 73,000 homes in 2023, which represents a 10% increase over 2022. Our net earnings and diluted earnings per share were $3.9 billion, and $13.73 per share, respectively. We also delivered substantially increased homebuilding cash flow. We are well-positioned with land and community count to expect to deliver 80,000 homes in 2024, which would be a 10% increase over 2023.
We expect to begin fiscal 2024 with strong starts, sales and closings. We are expecting to deliver between 16,500 and 17,000 homes in the first quarter of 2024, with a margin of 21.00% to 21.25% as lower margin sales from the fourth quarter of 2023 when interest rates spiked get delivered. Margins should increase as the year progresses. At the end of our 2023 year, we had 1,260 active communities. We expect our community count to increase during 2024 by mid-to-high single digits.
Our balance sheet has never been stronger. We ended 2023 with $6.3 billion of homebuilding cash and no outstanding borrowings under our $2.6 billion revolving credit facility. We did this while spending $1.1 billion to redeem/repurchase homebuilding senior notes and an additional $1.1 billion to repurchase 10 million shares of our stock. At the end of 2023, our cash substantially exceeded our total homebuilding debt by $3.5 billion.
Based on the strength of our balance sheet and our ability to thrive even under adverse market conditions, we are confident that in 2024, Lennar will continue to grow and will achieve new levels of performance.
Results of Operations
Overview
Our net earnings attributable to Lennar were $3.9 billion, or $13.73 per diluted and basic share in 2023 and $4.6 billion, or $15.72 per diluted share ($15.74 per basic share) in 2022.
Financial information relating to our operations was as follows:
| Year ended November 30, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | Homebuilding | Financial Services | Multifamily | Lennar Other | Corporate | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales of homes | $ | 32,459,129 | — | — | — | — | 32,459,129 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales of land | 109,963 | — | — | — | — | 109,963 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other revenues | 91,895 | 976,859 | 573,485 | 22,035 | — | 1,664,274 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total revenues | 32,660,987 | 976,859 | 573,485 | 22,035 | — | 34,233,366 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Costs and expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Costs of homes sold | 24,900,470 | — | — | — | — | 24,900,470 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Costs o |
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
We are exposed to a number of market risks in the ordinary course of business. Our primary market risk exposure relates to fluctuations in interest rates on our investments, loans held-for-sale, loans held-for-investment and outstanding variable rate debt.
For fixed rate debt, such as our senior notes, changes in interest rates generally affect the fair value of the debt instrument, but not our earnings or cash flows. For variable rate debt such as our unsecured revolving credit facility and Financial Services’ and LMF Commercial’s warehouse repurchase facilities, changes in interest rates generally do not affect the fair value of the outstanding borrowings on the debt facilities but do affect our earnings and cash flows.
In our Financial Services operations, we utilize mortgage backed securities forward commitments, option contracts and investor commitments to protect the value of rate-locked commitments and loans held-for-sale from fluctuations in mortgage-related interest rates.
To mitigate interest risk associated with LMF Commercial's loans held-for-sale, we use derivative financial instruments to hedge our exposure to risk from the time a borrower locks a loan until the time the loan is securitized. We hedge our interest rate exposure through entering into interest rate swap futures. We also manage a portion of our credit exposure by buying protection within the CMBX and CDX markets.
We do not enter into or hold derivatives for trading or speculative purposes.
The table below provides information at November 30, 2023 about our significant instruments that are sensitive to changes in interest rates. For loans held-for-investment, net and investments held-to-maturity, senior notes and other debts payable and notes and other debts payable, the table presents principal cash flows and related weighted average effective interest rates by expected maturity dates and estimated fair values at November 30, 2023. Weighted average variable interest rates are based on the variable interest rates at November 30, 2023.
See Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 and Notes 1 and 7 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 for a further discussion of these items and our strategy of mitigating our interest rate risk.
Information Regarding Interest Rate Sensitivity
Principal (Notional) Amount by
Expected Maturity and Average Interest Rate
November 30, 2023
| Years Ending November 30, | Fair Value at November 30, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Dollars in millions) | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | Thereafter | Total | 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ASSETS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Financial Services: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investments held-to-maturity: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed rate | $ | — | — | — | — | — | 140.7 | 140.7 | 139.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | — | — | — | — | — | 3.6 | % | 3.6 | % | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loans held-for-investment, net: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed rate | $ | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 46.1 | 52.7 | 52.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | 4.0 | % | 4.0 | % | 4.0 | % | 4.0 | % | 4.0 | % | 4.0 | % | 4.0 | % | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Variable rate | $ | — | — | — | 0.1 | 0.1 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | — | — | — | 4.9 | % | 4.9 | % | 4.9 | % | 4.9 | % | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LIABILITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Homebuilding: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior notes and other debts payable: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed rate | $ | 483.4 | 673.9 | 455.9 | 1,165.0 | 4.0 | 33.4 | 2,815.6 | 2,785.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | 4.5 | % | 4.7 | % | 5.1 | % | 4.8 | % | 3.0 | % | 5.9 | % | 4.8 | % | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Financial Services: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes and other debts payable: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed rate | $ | — | — | — | — | — | 131.1 | 131.1 | 131.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | — | — | — | — | — | 3.4 | % | 3.4 | % | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Variable rate | $ | 2,032.7 | — | — | — | — | — | 2,032.7 | 2,032.7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | 7.1 | % | — | — | — | — | — | 7.1 | % | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Multifamily: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes and other debts payable: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed rate | $ | 0.2 | — | — | — | — | — | 0.2 | 0.2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | 0.0 | % | — | — | — | — | — | 0.0 | % | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Variable rate | $ | 3.5 | — | — | — | — | — | 3.5 | 3.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average interest rate | 3.6 | % | — | — | — | — | — | 3.6 | % | — |
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of Lennar Corporation
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Lennar Corporation and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of November 30, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss), stockholders' equity, and cash flows, for each of the three years in the period ended November 30, 2023, and the related notes and the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15 (collectively referred to as the "consolidated financial statements"). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of November 30, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended November 30, 2023 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of November 30, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated January 26, 2024, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Lennar Homebuilding and Lennar Multifamily Investments in Unconsolidated Entities - Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities - Refer to Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Variable Interest Entities)****, and Note 8, Variable Interest Entities**, to the Consolidated financial statements**
Critical Audit Matter Description
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP’’) requires the assessment of whether an entity is a Variable interest entity (“VIE”) and, if so, if the Company is the primary beneficiary at the inception of the entity or at a reconsideration event. Additionally, GAAP requires the consolidation of VIEs in which an enterprise has a controlling financial interest. A controlling financial interest will have both of the following characteristics: (a) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance and (b) the obligation to absorb losses of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE.
Certain of the Company’s investments in unconsolidated entities within their Homebuilding and Multifamily segments need to be evaluated for consolidation, including determining whether the joint venture is a VIE, and if so, whether the Company is the primary beneficiary. This assessment is performed at the formation of the joint venture and upon the occurrence of reconsideration events. This determination requires significant judgment by management.
We identified the consolidation and primary beneficiary assessment upon formation and the occurrence of reconsideration events of certain of the Company’s VIE’s as a critical audit matter given the significant judgment required by management.
This required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of audit effort due to the complexity of the entity structures and agreements.
How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit
Our audit procedures related to the accounting determination for the above mentioned joint ventures included the following, among others:
-
We tested the design and operating effectiveness of the investment consolidation controls over the initial accounting assessment of joint ventures and the continuous reassessment for reconsideration events, as required by the accounting framework.
-
We selected a sample of unconsolidated and consolidated joint ventures and evaluated the appropriateness of the Company’s accounting conclusions upon formation and reconsideration events by:
◦Reading the joint venture agreements and other related documents and evaluating the structure and terms of the agreement as well as any reconsideration events which took place during the year to determine if the joint venture should be classified as a VIE.
◦If an entity is determined to be a VIE, considering whether the Company appropriately determined the primary beneficiary by evaluating the contractual arrangements of the entity to determine if the Company has the power to direct activities that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance, and if the Company has the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could be significant to the VIE.
◦For consolidated joint ventures, evaluated whether any reconsideration events occurred during the year that would result in deconsolidation, and if so, verified that deconsolidation occurred properly.
◦Evaluating the evidence obtained in other areas of the audit to determine if there were additional reconsideration events that had not been identified by the Company, including, among others, reading joint venture board minutes and agreeing the terms of certain joint venture agreements and side agreements, if any.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Miami, Florida
January 26, 2024
We have served as the Company's auditor since 1994.
LENNAR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
November 30, 2023 and 2022
| **20 |
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Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
Not applicable.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, our Co-Chief Executive Officer and President (together "Co-CEOs") and Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") participated in an evaluation by our management of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on their participation in that evaluation, our Co-CEOs and CFO concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of November 30, 2023 to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms, and to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or furnished under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, is accumulated and communicated to our management, including both of our Co-CEOs and CFO, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.
Both of our Co-CEOs and CFO also participated in an evaluation by our management of any changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended November 30, 2023. That evaluation did not identify any changes that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting and the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm obtained from Deloitte & Touche LLP relating to the effectiveness of Lennar Corporation’s internal control over financial reporting are included elsewhere in this document.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including both of our Co-CEOs and CFO, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our evaluation under the framework in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013), our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of November 30, 2023. The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of November 30, 2023 has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their attestation report which is included herein.
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of Lennar Corporation
Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Lennar Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of November 30, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of November 30, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.
We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended November 30, 2023, of the Company and our report dated January 26, 2024 expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
| /s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP | ||
| Miami, Florida | ||
| January 26, 2024 |
Item 9B. Other Information.
Not applicable.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.
Not applicable.
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
The information required by this item for executive officers is set forth under the heading "Executive Officers of Lennar Corporation" in Part I. We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to each of our Co-Chief Executive Officers and President, our Chief Financial Officer and our Chief Accounting Officer. The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is located on our internet web site at www.lennar.com under "Investor Relations – Governance." We intend to provide disclosure of any amendments or waivers of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on our website within four business days following the date of the amendment or waiver. The other information called for by this item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than March 29, 2024 (120 days after the end of our fiscal year).
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than March 29, 2024 (120 days after the end of our fiscal year).
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than March 29, 2024 (120 days after the end of our fiscal year), except for the information required by Item 201(d) of Regulation S-K, which is provided below.
The following table summarizes our equity compensation plans as of November 30, 2023:
| Plan category | Number of shares to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights (a) | Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants and rights | Number of shares remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding shares reflected in column (a)) (1) | ||||||||||||||
| Equity compensation plans approved by stockholders | 162,338 | $ | 100.00 | 11,581,811 | |||||||||||||
| Equity compensation plans not approved by stockholders | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 162,338 | $ | 100.00 | 11,581,811 |
(1)Both shares of Class A and Class B common stock may be issued.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than March 29, 2024 (120 days after the end of our fiscal year).
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than March 29, 2024 (120 days after the end of our fiscal year).
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules.
(a)Documents filed as part of this Report.
1.The following financial statements are contained in Item 8:
2.The following financial statement schedule is included in this Report:
| Financial Statement Schedule | Page in this Report | ||||
| Schedule II—Valuation and Qualifying Accounts | 89 |
Information required by other schedules has either been incorporated in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes or is not applicable to us.
3.The following exhibits are filed with this Report or incorporated by reference:
| 21** | List of subsidiaries. | ||||
| 22.1** | List of guarantor subsidiaries. | ||||
| 23** | Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. | ||||
| 31.1** | Rule 13a-14a/15d-14(a) Certification of Stuart Miller. | ||||
| 31.2** | Rule 13a-14a/15d-14(a) Certification of Jonathan M. Jaffe. | ||||
| 31.3** | Rule 13a-14a/15d-14(a) Certification of Diane Bessette. | ||||
| 32*** | Section 1350 Certifications of Stuart Miller, Jonathan M. Jaffe and Diane Bessette. | ||||
| 101 | The following financial statements from Lennar Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 30, 2023, filed on January 26, 2024, formatted in iXBRL (Inline Extensible Business Reporting Language); (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets, (ii) Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss), (iii) Consolidated Statements of Equity (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and (v) the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. | ||||
| 101.INS** | iXBRL Instance Document. | ||||
| 101.SCH** | iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document. | ||||
| 101.CAL** | iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document. | ||||
| 101.DEF** | iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition. | ||||
| 101.LAB** | iXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document. | ||||
| 101.PRE** | iXBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document. | ||||
| 104*** | The cover page from Lennar Corporation's fiscal year Report on Form 10-K for the year ended November 30, 2023 was formatted in iXBRL. | ||||
- Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
** Filed herewith.
*** Furnished herewith.
**** Included in Exhibit 101.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
None.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| LENNAR CORPORATION | ||||||||
| /S/ STUART MILLER | ||||||||
| Stuart Miller | ||||||||
| Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 |
| LENNAR CORPORATION | ||||||||
| /S/ JONATHAN M. JAFFE | ||||||||
| Jonathan M. Jaffe | ||||||||
| Co-Chief Executive Officer and President | ||||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated:
| Principal Executive Officer: | ||||||||
| Stuart Miller | /S/ STUART MILLER | |||||||
| Executive Chairman, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director | Date: | January 26, 2024 | ||||||
| Jonathan M. Jaffe | /S/ JONATHAN M. JAFFE | |||||||
| Co-Chief Executive Officer, President and Director | Date: | January 26, 2024 | ||||||
| Principal Financial Officer: | ||||||||
| Diane Bessette | /S/ DIANE BESSETTE | |||||||
| Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer | Date: | January 26, 2024 | ||||||
| Principal Accounting Officer: | ||||||||
| David Collins | /S/ DAVID COLLINS | |||||||
| Vice President and Controller | Date: | January 26, 2024 | ||||||
| Directors: | ||||||||
| Amy Banse | /S/ AMY BANSE | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Theron I. ("Tig") Gilliam, Jr. | /S/ THERON I. ("TIG") GILLIAM, JR. | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Sherrill W. Hudson | /S/ SHERRILL W. HUDSON | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Sidney Lapidus | /S/ SIDNEY LAPIDUS | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Teri McClure | /S/ TERI MCCLURE | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Armando Olivera | /S/ ARMANDO OLIVERA | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Dacona Smith | /S/ DACONA SMITH | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Jeffrey Sonnenfeld | /S/ JEFFREY SONNENFELD | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
| Serena Wolfe | /S/ SERENA WOLFE | |||||||
| Date: | January 26, 2024 | |||||||
LENNAR CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
Schedule II—Valuation and Qualifying Accounts
Years Ended November 30, 2023, 2022 and 2021
| Additions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (In thousands) | Beginning balance | Charged to costs and expenses | Charged (credited) to other accounts | Deductions | Ending balance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended November 30, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowances deducted from assets to which they apply: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for credit losses against notes and other receivables | $ | 2,179 | 274 | (79) | — | 2,374 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for loan losses against loans receivable | $ | 11,130 | 5,419 | — | (1,135) | 15,414 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance against net deferred tax assets | $ | 2,903 | 89 | — | (659) | 2,333 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended November 30, 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowances deducted from assets to which they apply: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for credit losses against notes and other receivables | $ | 2,531 | 145 | (497) | — | 2,179 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for loan losses against loans receivable | $ | 2,091 | 9,127 | — | (88) | 11,130 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance against net deferred tax assets | $ | 2,693 | 784 | — | (574) | 2,903 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year ended November 30, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowances deducted from assets to which they apply: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for credit losses against notes and other receivables | $ | 2,394 | 79 | 59 | (1) | 2,531 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance for loan losses against loans receivable | $ | 4,012 | — | (31) | (1,890) | 2,091 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allowance against net deferred tax assets | $ | 4,411 | — | (1,556) | (162) | 2,693 |