Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Investments in Unconsolidated Entities

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Investments in Unconsolidated Entities
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]  
INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED ENTITIES
NOTE 4 — INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED ENTITIES

In the past, we have entered into land development joint ventures as a means of accessing larger parcels of land, expanding our market opportunities, managing our risk profile and leveraging our capital base. While purchasing land through a joint venture can be beneficial, currently we do not view them as critical to the success of our homebuilding operations and have not entered into any new land joint ventures since 2008. Based on the structure of these joint ventures, they may or may not be consolidated into our results. Our joint venture partners generally are other homebuilders, land sellers or other real estate investors. We generally do not have a controlling interest in these ventures, which means our joint venture partners could cause the venture to take actions we disagree with, or fail to take actions we believe should be undertaken, including the sale of the underlying property to repay debt or recoup all or part of the partners' investments. As of March 31, 2014, we had two active equity-method land development ventures.
For land development joint ventures, we, and in some cases our joint venture partners, usually receive an option or other similar arrangement to purchase portions of the land held by the joint venture. Option prices are generally negotiated prices that approximate market value when we enter into the option contract or similar arrangement. For these ventures, our share of the joint venture profit relating to lots we purchase from the joint ventures is deferred until homes are delivered by us and title passes to a homebuyer. Therefore, we allocate the portion of such joint venture profit to the land acquired by us as a reduction in the basis of the property.
In connection with our land development joint ventures, we may also provide certain types of guarantees to lenders financing the joint ventures. These guarantees can be classified into two categories: Repayment Guarantees and Completion Guarantees, described in more detail below. Additionally, we have classified separately a guarantee related to our minority ownership in the South Edge joint venture, as there is pending litigation with the venture’s lender group and other venture partners regarding that guarantee.
(In thousands)
At March 31, 2014
 
At December 31, 2013
Repayment guarantees
$
—

 
$
—

Completion guarantees (1)
—

 
—

South Edge guarantee (2)
13,243

 
13,243

Total guarantees
$
13,243

 
$
13,243

 
(1)
As our completion guarantees are typically backed by funding from a third party, we do not believe these guarantees represent a potential cash obligation for us, as they require only non-financial performance.
(2)
See Note 13 regarding outstanding litigation related to a joint venture project known as “South Edge” or "Inspirada" and the corresponding reserves and charges we have recorded relating thereto.
Repayment Guarantees. We and/or our land development joint venture partners occasionally provide limited repayment guarantees on a pro rata basis on the debt of land development joint ventures. If such a guarantee were ever to be called or triggered, the maximum exposure to Meritage would generally be only our pro-rata share of the amount of debt outstanding that was in excess of the fair value of the underlying land securing the debt. Our share of these limited pro rata repayment guarantees as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013 is presented in the table above (excluding any potential recoveries from the joint venture’s land assets).
Completion Guarantees. If there is development work to be completed, we and our joint venture partners are also typically obligated to the project lender(s) to complete construction of the land development improvements if the joint venture does not perform the required development. Provided we and the other joint venture partners are in compliance with these completion obligations, the project lenders are generally obligated to fund these improvements through any financing commitments available under the applicable joint venture development and construction loans. In addition, we and our joint venture partners have from time to time provided unsecured indemnities to joint venture project lenders. These indemnities generally obligate us to reimburse the project lenders only for claims and losses related to matters for which such lenders are held responsible and our exposure under these indemnities is limited to specific matters such as environmental claims. A part of our project acquisition due diligence process is to determine potential environmental risks and generally we or the joint venture entity obtain an independent environmental review. Per the guidance of ASC 460-10, Guarantees, we believe these guarantees are either not applicable or not material to our financial results.
Surety Bonds. We and our joint venture partners also indemnify third party surety providers with respect to performance bonds issued on behalf of certain of our joint ventures. If a joint venture does not perform its obligations, the surety bond could be called. If these surety bonds are called and the joint venture fails to reimburse the surety, we and our joint venture partners may be obligated to make such payments. These surety indemnity arrangements are generally joint and several obligations with our joint venture partners. Although a majority of the required work may have been performed, these bonds are typically not released until all development specifications under the bond have been met. None of these bonds have been called to date and we believe it is unlikely that any of these bonds will be called or if called, that any such amounts would be material to us. See the table in Note 1 for more information on our surety bonds.
The joint venture obligations, guarantees and indemnities discussed above are generally provided by us or our subsidiaries. In joint ventures involving other homebuilders or developers, support for these obligations is generally provided by the parent companies of the joint venture partners. Upon the occurrence of specific events, we may accrue for any such commitments where we believe our obligation to pay is probable and can be reasonably estimated. In such situations, our accrual represents the portion of the total joint venture obligation related to our relative ownership percentage. Except as noted above and in Note 13 to these unaudited consolidated financial statements, as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, we did not have any such reserves.
We also participate in one mortgage joint venture and are currently winding down operations in our last remaining title business joint venture. The mortgage joint venture is engaged in mortgage activities and provides services to both our homebuyers as well as other buyers. The wind-down of the title joint venture is in conjunction with the continued roll out of Carefree Title operations, as discussed earlier. Our investments in mortgage and title joint ventures as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013 were $1.2 million and $2.9 million, respectively.
The joint venture financial information below represent the most recent information available to us.
Summarized condensed financial information related to unconsolidated joint ventures that are accounted for using the equity method was as follows (in thousands):
 
At March 31, 2014
 
At December 31, 2013
Assets:
 
 
 
Cash
$
3,986

 
$
7,299

Real estate
34,966

 
34,949

Other assets
1,782

 
3,067

Total assets
$
40,734

 
$
45,315

Liabilities and equity:
 
 
 
Accounts payable and other liabilities
$
3,188

 
$
2,889

Notes and mortgages payable
13,453

 
13,453

Equity of:
 
 
 
Meritage (1)
7,817

 
10,332

Other
16,276

 
18,641

Total liabilities and equity
$
40,734

 
$
45,315


 
 
Three Months Ended March 31,
 
2014
 
2013
Revenue
$
5,309

 
$
6,404

Costs and expenses
(2,753
)
 
(2,377
)
Net earnings of unconsolidated entities
$
2,556

 
$
4,027

Meritage’s share of pre-tax earnings (1)(2)
$
2,032

 
$
2,634

 
(1)
Balance represents Meritage’s interest, as reflected in the financial records of the respective joint ventures. This balance may differ from the balance reflected in our consolidated financial statements due to the following reconciling items: (i) timing differences for revenue and distributions recognition, (ii) step-up basis and corresponding amortization, (iii) income deferrals as discussed in Note (2) below and (iv) the cessation of allocation of losses from joint ventures in which we have previously written down our investment balance to zero and where we have no commitment to fund additional losses.
(2)
Our share of pre-tax earnings is recorded in “Earnings from financial services unconsolidated entities and other, net” and “Loss from other unconsolidated entities, net” on our consolidated income statements and excludes joint venture profit related to lots we purchased from the joint ventures. Such profit is deferred until homes are delivered by us and title passes to a homebuyer.
Our investments in unconsolidated entities include $0.6 million at both March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, related to the difference between the amounts at which our investments are carried and the amount of our portion of the venture’s equity. These amounts are amortized as the assets of the respective joint ventures are sold. No amortization was recorded for these assets in the three months ended March 31, 2014 with a de minimus amount of amortization recorded for the same period in 2013.
The joint venture assets and liabilities noted in the table above primarily represent two active land ventures, one mortgage venture and various inactive ventures in which we have a total investment of $9.8 million. As of March 31, 2014, we believe these ventures are in compliance with their respective debt agreements, if applicable, and such debt is non-recourse to us.