LEN, §1A diff (2016 → 2017)

Item 1A. Risk Factors. The following are what we believe to be the principal risks that could materially affect us and our businesses. Market and Economic Risks The homebuilding recovery has continued its progression; however, a downturn or decline in economic conditions could adversely affect our operations. In fiscal 2017, we continued to experience a steadily improving housing market, and we saw increases in new sales contracts signed and homes delivered compared with the prior year. However, demand for new homes is sensitive to changes in economic conditions such as the level of employment, consumer confidence, consumer income, the availability of financing and interest rate levels. The prior economic downturn severely affected both the numbers of homes we could sell and the prices for which we could sell them. We cannot predict whether the recovery in the housing market will continue. If the recovery were to slow or stop, or there were another economic downturn, the resulting decline in demand for new homes would negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. During the prior economic downturn, we had to take significant write-downs on the carrying values of land we owned and of option values. A future decline in land values could result in similar write-downs. Inventory risks are substantial for our homebuilding business. There are risks inherent in controlling, owning and developing land and if housing demand declines, we may own land or homesites we acquired at costs we will not be able to recover fully, or on which we cannot build and sell homes profitably. This is particularly true when entitled land becomes increasingly scarce, as it has recently, and the cost of purchasing such land may be relatively high. Also, there can be significant fluctuations in the value of our owned undeveloped land, building lots and housing inventories related to changes in market conditions. As a result, our deposits for building lots controlled under option or similar contracts may be put at risk, we may have to sell homes or land for lower than anticipated profit margins or we may have to record inventory impairment charges with regard to our developed and undeveloped land and lots. When demand for homes fell during the most recent 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, even though that 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 with regard to our land inventory, which would decrease the asset values reflected on our balance sheet and adversely affect our earnings and our stockholders' equity. Inflation may adversely affect us by increasing costs beyond what we can recover through price increases. Inflation can adversely affect us by increasing costs of land, materials and labor. In addition, significant inflation is often accompanied by higher interest rates, which have a negative impact on demand for our homes. In an inflationary environment, depending on homebuilding industry and other economic conditions, we may be unable to raise home prices enough to keep up with the rate of inflation, which would reduce our profit margins. Although the rate of inflation has been low for the last several years, we currently are experiencing increases in the prices of labor and materials above the general inflation rate. Homebuilding, mortgage lending, real estate asset investing and multifamily rentals are very competitive industries, and competitive conditions could adversely affect our business or financial results. Homebuilding. The homebuilding industry is highly competitive. Homebuilders compete not only for homebuyers, but also for desirable land, financing, raw materials, skilled management and labor resources. We compete in each of our markets with numerous national, regional and local homebuilders. We also compete with sellers of existing homes, including foreclosed homes, and with rental housing. These competitive conditions can reduce the number of homes we deliver, negatively impact our selling prices, reduce our profit margins, and cause impairments in the value of our inventory or other assets. Competition can also affect our ability to acquire suitable land, raw materials and skilled labor at acceptable prices or other terms. Lennar Financial Services. Our Lennar Financial Services business competes with other 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. Rialto. There are many firms and investment funds that compete with Rialto in trying to acquire mortgage portfolios and other real estate related assets. At least some of the firms with which Rialto competes, or will compete, for investment opportunities have a cost of funds or targeted investment returns that are lower than those of Rialto or the funds it manages, and therefore those firms may be able to pay more for investment opportunities than would be prudent for Rialto or the funds it manages. Our RMF business competes with national and regional banks as well as smaller community banks within the various markets in which it operates and with non-bank lenders, many of which are far larger than RMF or have access to lower cost funds than does RMF. Lennar Multifamily. Our multifamily rental business competes with other multifamily apartment developers and operators at locations across the U.S. where we have investments in rental properties. We also compete in securing partners, equity capital and debt financing, and we compete for tenants with the large supply of already existing or newly built rental apartments, as well as with sellers of homes. These competitive conditions could negatively impact the ability of the ventures in which we are participating to find renters for the apartments they are building or the prices for which those apartments can be rented. Operational Risks We may be subject to significant potential liabilities as a result of warranty and liability claims made against us. 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 coverage offered and the availability of general liability insurance for construction defects are currently limited and policies that can be obtained are costly and often include exclusions based upon past losses those insurers suffered as a result of use of defective products in homes we and many other homebuilders built. As a result, an increasing number of our subcontractors are unable to obtain insurance, and we have in many cases had to waive our customary insurance requirements, which increases our and our insurers’ exposure to claims and increases the possibility that our insurance will not be adequate to protect us against all the costs we incur. 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 what the subcontractors already did. Supply shortages and risks related to the demand for skilled labor and building materials could increase costs and delay deliveries. Increased costs or shortages of skilled labor and/or lumber, framing, concrete, steel and other building materials could cause increases in construction costs and construction delays. During 2017, we experienced increases in the prices of some building materials and shortages of skilled labor in some areas. We generally are unable to pass on increases in construction costs to customers who have already entered into purchase contracts, as those contracts generally fix the price of the homes at the time the contracts are signed, which may be well in advance of the construction of the homes. Sustained increases in construction costs may, over time, erode our margins, particularly if pricing competition or weak demand restricts our ability to pass additional costs of materials and labor on to homebuyers. Reduced numbers of home sales 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, taxes and other costs related to ownership of the land on which we plan to build homes. If the rate at which we sell and deliver homes slows, or if we delay the opening of new home communities, we may incur additional pre-construction costs and it may take longer for us to recover our costs. Increased demand for homes could require us to increase our corporate credit line, and our inability to do that could limit our ability to take full advantage of market opportunities. Our business requires that we be able to finance the development of our residential communities. One of the ways we do this is with bank borrowings. At November 30, 2017, we had a $2.0 billion revolving credit facility with a group of banks (the "Credit Facility"), which includes a $403 million accordion feature, subject in part to additional commitments. If market conditions strengthen to the point that we need additional funding but we are not able to increase our Credit Facility or obtain funds from other types of financings, that could prevent us from taking full advantage of the enhanced market opportunities. Failure to comply with the covenants and conditions imposed by our credit 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 Lennar Financial Services segment has warehouse facilities to finance its lending activities and our Rialto segment has warehouse facilities to finance its mortgage origination activities. If we default under the Credit Agreement or our warehouse facilities, the lenders will have the right to terminate their commitments to lend and to require immediate repayment of all outstanding borrowings. This could reduce our available funds at a time when we are having difficulty generating all the funds we need from our operations, in capital markets or otherwise, and restrict our ability to obtain financing in the future. Further, Rialto's 7.00% senior notes due 2018 (the "7.00% Senior Notes") contain restrictive covenants imposing operational and financial restrictions on our Rialto segment, including restrictions that may limit Rialto’s ability to sell assets, pay dividends or make other distributions, enter into transactions with affiliates or incur additional indebtedness. 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 have a material adverse impact on 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, 2017, our consolidated debt, net of debt issuance costs, and excluding amounts outstanding under our credit facilities, was $6.9 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. Our substantial level of indebtedness increases the possibility that we may be unable to generate cash sufficient to pay the principal, interest or other amounts due on our indebtedness. Further, the expected acquisition of CalAtlantic will make us responsible for CalAtlantic debt, which was $3.8 billion as of September 30, 2017. Our reliance on debt to help support our operations exposes us to a number of risks, including: • we may be more vulnerable to general adverse economic and homebuilding industry conditions; • we may have to pay higher interest rates upon refinancing indebtedness if interest rates rise, thereby reducing our earnings and cash flows; • we may find it difficult, or may be unable to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate requirements that would be in our best long-term interests; • we may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on our debt, reducing the cash flow available to fund operations and investments; • we may have reduced flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our businesses or the industries in which they are conducted; • we may have a competitive disadvantage relative to other companies in our industry that are less leveraged; and • we may be required to sell debt or equity securities or sell some of our core assets, possibly on unfavorable terms, in order to meet payment obligations. Our inability to obtain performance bonds could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows. We often are required to provide surety bonds to secure our performance or obligations under construction contracts, development agreements and other arrangements. At November 30, 2017, we had outstanding surety bonds of $1.3 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 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. The 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 are unable to obtain surety bonds when required, our results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected. Our Lennar Financial Services segment and RMF have warehouse facilities that mature between 2018 and 2019, and if we cannot renew or replace these facilities, we may have to reduce our mortgage lending and origination activities. Our Lennar Financial Services segment has committed and uncommitted amounts under four warehouse repurchase credit facilities that totaled $1.5 billion as of November 30, 2017, all of which will mature between December 2017 and December 2018. Subsequent to November 30, 2017, the warehouse repurchase credit facility due December 2017 was extended to December 2018. Our Lennar Financial Services segment uses these facilities to finance its mortgage lending activities until the mortgage loans it originates are sold to investors. In addition, RMF, the commercial mortgage lender in our Rialto segment, has committed amounts under five warehouse repurchase credit facilities that totaled $1.2 billion as of November 30, 2017, all of which will mature between December 2017 and November 2018. Subsequent to November 30, 2017, the warehouse credit facilities due December 2017 and January 2018 were extended to December 2019 and December 2018, respectively. RMF uses these facilities primarily to finance its mortgage origination activities. 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 Lennar Financial Services segment and RMF, as applicable, which would have a material adverse impact on our financial results. 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 Lennar 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 them. For example, in connection with our Lennar Multifamily business, and its joint ventures, we and the other venture participants have guaranteed certain 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 conduct the activities for which they were formed, which could adversely affect our financial position. 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 the Company for a significant number of years. If we were to lose members of our senior management, we might not be able to find appropriate replacements on a timely basis and our operations could be negatively affected. Also, the loss of a significant number of operating employees and our inability to hire qualified replacements could have a material adverse effect on our business. Our access to capital and our ability to obtain additional financing could be affected by any downgrade of our credit ratings. Our corporate credit rating and ratings of our senior notes affect, among other things, our ability to access new capital, especially debt, and the costs of that new capital. A substantial portion of our access to capital is through the issuance of senior notes, of which we have more than $6.0 billion outstanding, net of debt issuance costs, and excluding Rialto's 7.00% Senior Notes, as of November 30, 2017. Further, the expected acquisition of CalAtlantic will make us responsible for CalAtlantic debt, which was $3.8 billion as of September 30, 2017. Among other things, we rely 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. We will have to replace a substantial amount of debt in fiscal year 2018. We have a substantial amount of debt that matures in fiscal year 2018. We have $250 million of senior notes that mature in June 2018 and we will have to replace or renew a total of $2.6 billion of warehouse lines used by Lennar Financial Services and RMF as they mature. In addition, assuming we complete the acquisition of CalAtlantic, based on balances as of September 30, 2017, CalAtlantic will have to offer to repurchase $258 million of convertible senior notes that otherwise will mature in 2019. CalAtlantic also has $575 million of senior notes and $223 million of convertible senior notes as of September 30, 2017 that mature in May 2018 (although the convertible senior notes are likely to be converted before they mature). Additionally, we will have to replace a $750 million revolving credit facility currently maintained by CalAtlantic. We (including CalAtlantic) might have to raise as much as an additional $1.9 billion by December 2018 to replace the senior notes that will become due on or before that date. In January 2018, we commenced offers to exchange any and all of the outstanding $3.0 billion aggregate principal amount of senior notes of CalAtlantic for up to the same aggregate principal amount of new notes issued by Lennar. This includes the notes due in 2018. The new Lennar notes will have the same maturities as the CalAtlantic notes for which they are exchanged, and therefore will not change the maturities of debt that will have to be repaid. 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. If our insurance does not fully cover business interruptions or losses resulting from these events, our results of operations could be adversely affected. In the third and fourth quarters of 2017, our homebuilding operation was disrupted due to impacts from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, which caused delays of 550 home deliveries that were pushed into fiscal 2018. 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 Lennar Financial Services, others obtain mortgage financing from banks and other independent lenders. The uncertainties in the mortgage markets and increased government regulation could adversely affect the ability of potential homebuyers to obtain financing for home purchases, thus preventing them from purchasing our homes. Among other things, changes made by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA/VA to sponsored mortgage programs, as well as changes made by private mortgage insurance companies, have reduced the ability of many 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 and Freddie Mac, 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 and Freddie Mac were to curtail their secondary market mortgage loan purchases, the liquidity they provide would be replaced. There is a substantial possibility that substituting an alternate source of liquidity would increase mortgage interest rates, which would increase the buyers' effective costs of paying for the homes we sell, and therefore could reduce demand for our homes and adversely affect our results of operations. Our Lennar Financial Services segment can be adversely affected by reduced demand for our homes or by a slowdown in mortgage refinancings. Approximately 61% of the mortgage loans made by our Lennar Financial Services segment in 2017 were made to buyers of homes we built. Therefore, a decrease in the demand for our homes would adversely affect the revenues of this segment of our business. In addition, the revenues of our Lennar Financial Services segment would be adversely affected by a continued decrease in refinance transactions, if mortgage interest rates continue to rise. 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 loans into the secondary mortgage market or directly to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, 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 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 limited representations and warranties we make in connection with such sales. Mortgage investors currently are seeking 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 or warranties. In addition, when our Rialto segment 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. If real estate Rialto acquires through foreclosures is not properly valued when it is acquired, we could be required to take valuation charge-offs, which would reduce our earnings. When a loan is foreclosed upon and we take title to the property, we obtain a valuation of the property and base its book value on that valuation. The book value of the foreclosed property is periodically compared to its updated market value (or its updated market value less estimated selling costs if the foreclosed property is classified as held-for-sale), and a charge-off is recorded for any excess of the property's book value over its fair value. If the revised valuation we establish for a property proves to be too high, we may have to record additional charge-offs in subsequent periods. Material charge-offs could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, and possibly even on our financial condition. Regulatory Risks 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. We may be adversely impacted by laws and regulations directed at the financial industry. New or modified regulations and related regulatory guidance focused on the financial industry may have adverse effects on aspects of our businesses. For example, in October 2014, final rules were promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act that require mortgage lenders or third-party B-piece buyers to retain a portion of the credit risk related to securitized loans. We have determined that the rules do not affect our residential mortgage lending operations at this time; however, the rules may adversely impact our RMF subsidiary’s commercial mortgage lending operations. The rules have been in effect for over a year; however, their long term impact is still undetermined. If, in the future, the rules cause a decrease the price of CMBS and/or a decrease in the overall volume of CMBS related loan purchases in the industry, this could negatively impact the financial results of our RMF business. In addition, if our residential mortgage lending operations became subject to these rules in the future, that would substantially increase the amount we would have to invest in our mortgage lending operations and increase our risks with regard to loans we originate and sell in the secondary mortgage market. 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 the land development, homebuilding and apartment development process, 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 we must meet 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. 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 may, from time-to-time, be 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 could encounter. Government agencies also routinely initiate audits, reviews or investigations of our business practices to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, which can cause us to incur costs or create other disruptions in our businesses that can be significant. We can be injured by improper acts of persons over whom we do not have control. Although we expect all of our associates (i.e., employees), officers and directors to comply at all times with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, there may be instances in which subcontractors or others through whom we do business engage in practices that do not comply with applicable laws, regulations or governmental guidelines. When we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws or regulations, including practices relating to homes, buildings or multifamily rental properties we build or finance, we move actively to stop the non-complying practices as soon as possible and we have taken disciplinary action with regard to associates of ours who were aware of non-complying practices and did not take steps to address them, including in some instances terminating their employment. However, regardless of the steps we take after we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws or regulations, we can in some instances be subject to fines or other governmental penalties, and our reputation can be injured, due to the practices' having taken place. We could be hurt by efforts to impose liabilities or obligations on persons with regard to labor law violations by other persons whose employees perform contracted services. 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 are trying to hold contract parties like us responsible for violations of wage and hour laws and other work related laws by firms whose employees are performing contracted for services. A recent National Labor Relations Board ruling held that for labor law purposes a firm could under some circumstances be responsible as a joint employer of its contractors' employees. That ruling has been withdrawn. If it had not been withdrawn and had been upheld on appeal, it could have made us 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. Our ability to collect upon mortgage loans may be limited by the application of state laws. Our mortgage loans typically permit us to accelerate the debt upon default by the borrower. The courts of all states will enforce acceleration clauses in the event of a material payment default, subject in some cases to a right of the court to revoke the acceleration and reinstate the mortgage loan if a payment default is cured. The equity courts of a state, however, may refuse to allow the foreclosure of a mortgage or to permit the acceleration of the indebtedness in instances in which they decide that the exercise of those remedies would be inequitable or unjust or the circumstances would render an acceleration unconscionable. Further, the ability to collect upon mortgage loans may be limited by the application of state and federal laws. For example, Nevada has enacted a law providing that if the amount an assignee of a mortgage note paid to acquire the note is less than the face amount of the note, the assignee cannot recover more through a deficiency action than the amount it paid for the note. If the Nevada law is upheld, or similar laws are enacted in other jurisdictions, it could materially and adversely affect our ability and the ability of funds we manage to profit from purchases of distressed debt. Other Risks 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 persons. We establish reserves against legal claims and we believe that, in general, 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 a material adverse effect on our results of operations for the periods when we are required to make the payments. During fiscal 2017, we were required to make a significant payment, and make a significant charge against earnings, as a result of a litigation against us in a contract suit. 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 interruptions, including, but not limited to, natural disasters, telecommunications failures, hackers, and other security issues. Moreover, our computer systems, like those of most companies, are subjected to computer viruses or other malicious codes, and to cyber or phishing-attacks. Although we have implemented administrative and technical controls and taken other actions to minimize the risk of cyber incidents and protect our information technology, computer intrusion efforts are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and even the enhanced controls we have installed might be breached. If our IT systems cease to function properly, we could suffer interruptions in our operations. If our cyber-security is breached, unauthorized persons may gain access to proprietary or confidential information, including information about purchasers of our homes or borrowers from our mortgage lending subsidiaries. This could damage our reputation, expose us to claims, and require us to incur significant costs to repair or restore the security of our computer systems. 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 have received a deposit from our home buyer for each home reflected in our backlog, and generally we have the right to retain the deposit if the homebuyer does not complete the purchase. In some cases, however, a homebuyer may cancel the agreement of sale and receive a complete or partial refund of the deposit for reasons such as state and local laws, the homebuyer’s inability to obtain mortgage financing, his or her inability to sell his or her current home or our inability to complete and deliver the home within the specified time. If there is a downturn in the housing market, or if mortgage financing becomes even less available than it currently is, more homebuyers may cancel their agreements of sale with us, which would have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations. Our success depends on our ability to acquire land suitable for residential homebuilding at reasonable prices, in accordance with 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. Our expected acquisition of CalAtlantic will substantially increase our supply of land that is suitable for residential development, but it will also substantially increase the rate at which we are building homes. Expansion of our services and investments into international markets through our Rialto segment subjects us to risks inherent in international operations. Fund II, of which our Rialto segment owns an interest and for which it performs asset management services, owns an interest in a joint venture which holds real estate assets in Spain. Expansion of our services and investments in Spain and any expansion into other international markets in the future, could result in operational problems not typically experienced in the United States. Our activities outside the United States are subject to risks associated with doing business internationally, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates, the implementation of currency controls, material changes in a specific country’s or region’s political or economic conditions, differences in the legal and regulatory systems, reputational risks and cultural differences which may lead to competitive disadvantages, particularly due to our need to comply with U.S. anti-corruption laws. There also are tax consequences of doing business outside the U.S., both under U.S. tax laws and under the tax laws of the countries in which we do business. We could suffer adverse tax and other financial consequences if we are unable to utilize our net operating loss ("NOL") carryforwards. At November 30, 2017, we had state tax NOL carryforwards totaling $66.2 million that will expire between 2018 and 2036. At November 30, 2017, we had a valuation allowance of $6.4 million, primarily related to state NOL carryforwards that are not more likely than not to be utilized due to an inability to carry back these losses in most states and short carryforward periods that exist in certain states. If we are unable to use our NOLs, we may have to record charges or reduce our deferred tax assets, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. There have been substantial changes to the Internal Revenue Code, some of which could have an adverse effect on our business. On December 22, 2017, the President signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which contains substantial changes to the Internal Revenue Code, effective January 1, 2018, some of which could have an adverse effect on our business. Among the possible changes that could make purchasing homes less attractive are (i) limitations on the ability of our homebuyers to deduct property taxes, (ii) limitations on the ability of our homebuyers to deduct mortgage interest, and (iii) limitations on the ability of our homebuyers to deduct state and local income taxes. Although the rate at which we pay federal income tax will be reduced, this will require us to write down our deferred tax assets by approximately $70 million, which will negatively impact our results of operations in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018. Lastly, the new law eliminates the ability to carry back any future NOLs and only allows for carryforwards, the utilization of which is limited to 80% of taxable income in a given carryforward year. This could affect the timing of our ability to utilize net operating losses in the future. We experience variability in our operating results on a quarterly basis and, as a result, our historical performance may not be a meaningful indicator of future results. We historically have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, variability in quarterly results. As a result of such variability, our short-term performance may not be a meaningful indicator of future results. 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. Our quarterly results of operations may continue to fluctuate in the future as a result of a variety of factors, including, among others, seasonal home buying patterns, the timing of home closings and land sales and weather-related problems. We have a stockholder who can exercise significant influence over matters that are brought to a vote of our stockholders. Stuart Miller, our Chief Executive Officer and a Director, has voting control, through personal holdings and holdings by family-owned entities, of Class B, and to a lesser extent Class A, common stock that enables Mr. Miller to cast approximately 39.0% of the votes that can be cast by the holders of all our outstanding Class A and Class B common stock combined. This percentage will be reduced to 33.1% by the issuance of shares in connection with the expected merger with CalAtlantic, but even that reduced percentage probably gives Mr. Miller the power to control the election of our directors and the approval of matters that are presented to our stockholders. Mr. Miller's voting power might discourage someone from seeking to acquire us or 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 could be able to cause our stockholders to approve actions that are contrary to our other stockholders' desires. The trading price of our Class B common stock normally is 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, the trading price of the Class B common stock on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") normally is 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 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. 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, or cause us to incur compliance expenses that we will be unable fully to recover, which could reduce our housing gross profit margins and adversely affect our results of operations. Risks relating to the Merger of CalAtlantic Lennar has never done an acquisition as large as the expected merger with CalAtlantic Although Lennar has acquired a number of homebuilders through the years, and as recently as February 2017 it completed the acquisition of WCI, a New York Stock Exchange listed homebuilder, Lennar has never acquired a homebuilder, or any other type of company, as large as CalAtlantic. It is possible that techniques Lennar has used in the past to integrate operations of acquired companies and to realize cost savings and other operating and administrative benefits with regard to them, will not be as effective with regard to CalAtlantic as they were with regard to smaller companies. The Merger is subject to closing conditions and may not be completed on a timely basis, or at all. Failure to complete the combination could have a significant adverse effect on us. Completion of the Merger that will make CalAtlantic a wholly owned subsidiary of ours is subject to a number of conditions, including (i) the approval by our stockholders of the issuance of our Class A and Class B common stock as part of the Merger consideration, and (ii) approval by the CalAtlantic stockholders of a proposal to adopt the Merger Agreement. This makes the timing of completion of the Merger, or whether it will be completed at all, uncertain. Either we or CalAtlantic can terminate the Merger Agreement if the Merger is not consummated by May 31, 2018 (which can be extended under some circumstances to August 31, 2018). In addition, either the CalAtlantic board of directors or our board of directors can withdraw its recommendation that stockholders vote in favor of the Merger if it determines that, because of an intervening event, failure to do so would be inconsistent with its fiduciary obligations, and CalAtlantic can in any event terminate the Merger Agreement in order to accept what its board determines to be a superior proposal that we do not at least match. If our board withdraws or negatively modifies its recommendation, CalAtlantic can terminate the Merger Agreement, in which case we would be required to pay CalAtlantic a termination fee of $178.7 million. In addition, if our stockholders fail to give the required stockholder approval or approvals, we will be required to reimburse CalAtlantic for its costs related to the Merger up to $30 million. Although we would be entitled to a $178.7 million termination fee if CalAtlantic’s Board withdraws or negatively modifies its recommendation or reimbursement of costs up to $30 million if CalAtlantic’s stockholders fail to give the required stockholder approvals, our loss of anticipated benefits deriving from the Merger is likely to be far greater than the termination fee or expense reimbursement we may receive. If the Merger is not completed by August 31, 2018, we will be required to redeem $1.2 billion of senior notes we sold in November 2017. In November 2017, we sold a total of $1.2 billion of senior notes to raise funds with which, among other things, to pay the more than $1.16 billion that CalAtlantic stockholders will receive as Merger consideration. If (x) consummation of the CalAtlantic Merger does not occur on or before August 31, 2018, or (y) prior to August 31, 2018 we notify the trustee for the noteholders that we will not pursue consummation of the Merger, we will be required to redeem all the outstanding senior notes for 101% of their principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest. We may not realize the expected benefits of the Merger because of integration difficulties and other challenges. The success of the CalAtlantic Merger will depend in large part on our successfully integrating its and our personnel, operations, strategies, technologies and other components of the two companies’ businesses following the completion of the CalAtlantic merger. We may fail to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits of the Merger if the integration process takes longer than expected or is more costly than expected. In any event, we anticipate that the overall integration of CalAtlantic will be a time consuming and expensive process that, without proper planning and effective and timely implementation, could significantly disrupt our business. Any delay in completing the Merger may reduce the benefits from the Merger. The CalAtlantic merger is subject to a number of conditions that may prevent or delay its completion. A delay in completing the Merger would delay the time when we would begin to realize the benefits of the synergies that we expect the Merger to produce. The Merger will significantly increase the ratio of our homebuilding debt to our total capital net of cash. We will incur or become subject to a substantial amount of additional debt as a result of the Merger. We have sold $1.2 billion of debt securities primarily to finance the more than $1.16 billion we will pay to CalAtlantic stockholders who exercise (or are deemed to exercise) an option to elect to receive cash instead of our stock as a result of the Merger. In addition, the surviving corporation, which will be our wholly owned subsidiary, will become subject to CalAtlantic’s debt, which at September 30, 2017 totaled $3.8 billion. We estimate that the Merger will increase the ratio of our consolidated homebuilding debt to total capital, net of cash, from its November 30, 2017 level of 34.4% to a pro forma level of 45.5%. We anticipate being able to reduce the ratio to its pre-merger level by the end of fiscal 2019. However, to the extent cash flows of the combined companies are less than anticipated, we may not be able to reduce the ratio of our consolidated homebuilding debt to total capital, net of cash, to its pre-merger level until well after the end of fiscal 2019, if we are ever able to do that. The Merger will add a substantial amount of goodwill to our balance sheet. Since the price we will be deemed to have paid for the net assets of CalAtlantic for accounting purposes will depend on the value of our Class A and Class B common stock when the Merger takes place, and neither those stock prices nor the value of the CalAtlantic assets we will acquire in the CalAtlantic Merger will be known until the Merger takes place, we will not know until after the Merger takes place the amount by which for accounting purposes we are deemed to pay will exceed the net value of the assets we receive and the liabilities our subsidiary assumes in the Merger (i.e., the portion of the deemed purchase price that will be treated as goodwill). However, we estimate that if the value of our Class A common stock at the time of the Merger is $62.36 per share and the value of our Class B common stock at the time of the Merger is $49.47 per share, the respective closing prices of those shares on December 18, 2017, the Merger would result in our adding approximately $3.4 billion to the goodwill carried on our balance sheet. If it is determined in the future that the profits generated by the assets acquired in the Merger are not sufficient to justify that goodwill, we will have to write off some or all of it, and to charge the amount written off against our earnings. The amount of the Merger consideration we agreed to pay was influenced by our assumption that we will be able to achieve significant cost savings as a result of the Merger. Our willingness to agree to the equity consideration and cash consideration reflected in the Merger Agreement was based in substantial part on an analysis by our management which concluded, among other things, that we would be able to accomplish substantial annual savings in selling, general and administrative costs and in operating costs following the CalAtlantic Merger. Although our management was previously able to achieve its anticipated cost savings with regard to homebuilding activities of WCI, which we acquired in February 2017, CalAtlantic is much larger than WCI or any other company we have ever acquired. If we are not able to accomplish significant cost savings with regard to development of the CalAtlantic properties, and with regard to some of the properties or companies we already own, we may not be able to generate sufficient merger-related profits to justify the cost of the Merger to us. Item 1B.