Meritage Homes Donates Brand New Mortgage-Free Home to Operation Homefront

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH), a leading U.S. homebuilder, has again renewed its partnership with Operation Homefront, a leading national charity building strong, stable, and secure military families. Together the companies will place a military family into a brand new, mortgage-free, and energy-efficient Meritage home through the Homes on the Homefront program.

This is the fifth year Meritage Homes has built and donated new homes to Operation Homefront. This fall, Meritage will award a new home in Dallas, Texas, to a military family.

The 2,038 square-foot, three-bedroom home in Dallas will include ENERGY STAR® appliances, a two-car garage, private study, and covered outdoor living area. It will also include an array of money-saving features, such as spray-foam insulation and energy-efficient windows, that cut heating and cooling costs by as much as 50 percent.

Operation Homefront will select the recipient for the new home and announce their name on September 11, with keys to be awarded on Veterans Day.

“We are proud to partner with Operation Homefront to help a military family realize their own American dream of owning a home,” said Steven J. Hilton, chairman and CEO of Meritage Homes. “They have helped to secure the freedoms we all enjoy, and as they transition back into civilian life, we hope that a safe, secure and mortgage-free home will make that transition easier.”

Army Staff Sergeant Joseph Moncrief, his wife, and their two daughters received a new home last year in Phoenix, Arizona. “I was floored by what Meritage Homes provides for veterans and military families. It’s a dream that we have been wanting for a long time,” he said. “We no longer have to move constantly or worry about where we are going next. It’s also financial freedom, which is going to be good for us. As a veteran, it makes me feel good that there are people out there that care.”

The Homes on the Homefront program began in 2012. Since inception, Operation Homefront has placed nearly 600 military families with mortgage-free homes, and provided well over $48 million in deeded value.

“We are grateful to be partnering with Meritage Homes for the fifth year to place another deserving military family in a mortgage-free and energy-efficient home,” said Brig. Gen. (ret.) Robert Thomas, chief operating officer for Operation Homefront. “This is an incredible donation from Meritage, which shares our mission and commitment to build strong, stable, and secure military families so they can thrive – not simply struggle to get by - in the communities they have worked so hard to protect.”

For more information about the program, please visit www.homesonthehomefront.org.

About Meritage Homes Corporation:
Meritage Homes is the eighth-largest public homebuilder in the United States, based on homes closed in 2016. Meritage Homes builds and sells single-family homes for first- time, move-up, luxury and active adult buyers across the Western, Southern and Southeastern United States. Meritage Homes builds in markets including Sacramento, San Francisco Bay area, southern coastal and Inland Empire markets in California; Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Green Valley and Tucson, Arizona; Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado; Orlando, Tampa and south Florida; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville-Spartanburg and York County, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Meritage Homes has designed and built over 100,000 homes in its 31-year history, and has a reputation for its distinctive style, quality construction, and positive customer experience. Meritage Homes is the industry leader in energy-efficient homebuilding and has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence Award every year since 2013 for innovation and industry leadership in energy efficient homebuilding. For more information, visit www.meritagehomes.com.

About Operation Homefront:
Founded in 2002, Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive – not simply struggle to get by – in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year. Operation Homefront provides critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support from thousands of volunteers, Operation Homefront proudly serves America’s military families.

For more information, visit OperationHomefront.org.

MEDIA INQUIRIES:  

Jason E. Moody
Housing Programs Communications Manager, Operation Homefront
Jason.Moody@OperationHomefront.org
210.243.1657

Lauren Hendeles, Meritage Homes Corporation
media@meritagehomes.com
602.750.5934

Released May 25, 2017