After several federal agencies settled a two-year investigation against Beazer Homes USA on July 1, Big Builder Online wanted to know what its readers thought about the settlement and Beazer's future.
An overwhelming majority of respondents--96.2%--said they did not believe that Beazer was the only home builder who bent accounting and mortgage lending rules during the industry's heyday. Only 1.9% of the respondents said Beazer was the only company involved in this type of activity, while 1.9% said they were unsure.
Almost half of the respondents--48.1%--said they thought Beazer's settlement with the federal agencies was not fair. However, 28.8% said they believed the settlement to be fair, and 23.1% said they were uncertain. "Probably fair for the company to continue moving on and avoid bankruptcy, but is it fair to the home buyers that bought the toxic mortgages? Probably not," noted one respondent.
Response was mixed about how the settlement will impact Beazer's future.One respondent said it will have a positive impact: "It should allow them to focus on their core business of home building, not litigation."
However, others said they believe there could be a tough road ahead for Beazer. "I think people will be less likely to purchase a home from Beazer, unless they can come up with a marketing strategy that can convince the public that they have changed their ways," said another respondent.
