Beazer Homes USA, Inc. is a

home construction Home construction or residential construction is the process of constructing a house, apartment building, or similar residential building generally referred to as a 'home' when giving consideration to the people who might now or someday reside th ...

company based in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. In 2016, the company was the 11th largest home builder in the United States based on the number of homes closed. The company operates in 13 states. As of December 31, 2016, the company had 161 active communities.

History

Beazer Homes USA was established in 1985 when

Beazer Beazer was a family business for six generationsC.H.Beazer (Holdings) Prospectus, July 1973 before expanding in the 1980s into international housebuilding, construction and building materials group. After becoming overburdened with debt it was r ...

, a British home construction company led by Brian Beazer, acquired Cohn Communities, an

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

-based home construction company. In 1986, the company acquired Gifford-Hill, a construction materials company. In 1988, it acquired

Koppers Koppers is a global chemical and materials company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States in an art-deco 1920s skyscraper, the Koppers Tower. Structure Koppers is an integrated global producer of carbon compounds, chemicals, and trea ...

in a hostile

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

. In 1991, the British parent company was acquired by

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ba ...

. In 1994, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. In 1997, the company acquired the assets of Calton Homes of Florida for $16.7 million. In 2002, the company acquired Crossman Communities for $489.7 million in cash and stock. In 2004, the company acquired and started development on 242 home sites on

Polk County, Florida Polk County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 census. Its county seat is Bartow, and its largest city is Lakeland. Polk County comprises the Lakeland–Winter Ha ...

. In 2006, the company acquired 86 town home sites in

Seminole County, Florida Seminole County (, ) is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 470,856. Its county seat and largest city is Sanford. Seminole County is part of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sa ...

. In 2018, Beazer Homes announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Venture Homes, a leading private homebuilder in Atlanta, for approximately $65 million. The transaction also includes substantial construction work in process as well as 51 homes in backlog.

Controversies

Predatory lending and violations in mortgage servicing business

In March 2007, the company received a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

from the

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

's Office in the

United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina (in case citations, W.D.N.C.) is a federal district court which covers the western third of North Carolina. Appeals from the Western District of North Carolina are take ...

seeking documents related to its mortgage

loan origination Loan origination is the process by which a borrower applies for a new loan, and a lender processes that application. Origination generally includes all the steps from taking a loan application up to disbursal of funds (or declining the application ...

services. The investigation followed articles in ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

'' which noted that the company's aggressive sales tactics led to an unusually high foreclosure rate in its developments.

Alleged violations of securities laws

In July 2007, the company was investigated by the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

after Chief Accounting Officer Michael T. Rand was fired for violating ethics policies by attempting to destroy documents related to the company's mortgage origination services. In 2014, Rand was found guilty of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

and

obstruction of justice Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...

charges.

$50 million settlement

On July 1, 2009, the company reached a $50 million

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...

with several government agencies and admitted to fraudulent mortgage practices including retaining mortgage points that should have been used to lower interest rates charged, misinforming buyers that they were receiving down payment help when instead the price of the home was increased, circumventing HUD watch list programs, and ignoring borrower incomes when originating loans.

Settlement of captive title insurance kickback allegations

On October 30, 2007, the company agreed to pay $261,000 as part of a $1.4 million

by 6 home construction companies to resolve allegations by the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

that

title insurance Title insurance is a form of indemnity insurance predominantly found in the United States and Canada which insures against financial loss from defects in title to real property and from the invalidity or unenforceability of mortgage loans. Unlike ...

companies paid kickbacks to the builders in exchange for referrals. The companies denied wrongdoing and said that they settled to avoid legal expenses.

References

External links

* {{authority control Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States Home builders Companies based in Atlanta 1994 initial public offerings