Contingent Liabilities and Commitments

Repurchase Commitments

Generally, manufacturers in the RV industry enter into repurchase agreements with lending institutions which have provided wholesale floorplan financing to dealers. Most dealers' RVs are financed on a "floorplan" basis under which a bank or finance company lends the dealer all, or substantially all, of the purchase price, collateralized by a security interest in the RVs purchased.

Our repurchase agreements provide that, in the event of default by the dealer on the agreement to pay the lending institution, we will repurchase the financed merchandise. The terms of these agreements, which generally can last up to 18 months, provide that our liability will be the lesser of remaining principal owed by the dealer or dealer invoice less periodic reductions based on the time since the date of the original invoice. Our contingent liability on these repurchase agreements was approximately $169.0 million and $133.4 million at February 25, 2012 and August 27, 2011, respectively.

In certain instances, we also repurchase inventory from our dealers due to state law or regulatory requirements that govern voluntary or involuntary relationship terminations. Although laws vary from state to state, some states have laws in place that require manufacturers of RVs to repurchase current inventory if a dealership exits the business. Incremental repurchase exposure beyond existing repurchase agreements, related to dealer inventory in states that we have had historical experience of repurchasing inventory, totaled $8.7 million and $5.7 million at February 25, 2012 and August 27, 2011, respectively.

Based on these repurchase agreements, we establish an associated loss reserve which is disclosed separately in the balance sheets. Repurchased sales are not recorded as revenue transactions, but the net difference between the original repurchase price and the resale price are recorded against the loss reserve, which is a deduction from gross revenue. Our loss reserve for repurchase commitments contains uncertainties because the calculation requires management to make assumptions and apply judgment regarding a number of factors. There are two significant assumptions associated with establishing our loss reserve for repurchase commitments: (1) the percentage of dealer inventory that we will be required to repurchase as a result of defaults by the dealer, and (2) the loss that will be incurred, if any, when repurchased inventory is resold. These key assumptions are affected by a number of factors, such as macro-market conditions, current retail demand of our product, age of product in dealer inventory, physical condition of the product, location of the dealer, and the financing source. To the extent that dealers are increasing or decreasing their inventories, our overall exposure under repurchase agreements is likewise impacted. The percentage of dealer inventory we estimate we will repurchase (which has ranged in recent years from 5% to 11% on a weighted average basis) and the associated estimated loss (which has ranged in recent years from 7% to 16% on a weighted average basis) is based on historical information, current trends and an analysis of dealer inventory aging for all dealers with inventory subject to this obligation. In periods where there is increasing retail demand for our product at our dealerships, the lower end of our estimated range of assumptions will be more appropriate and in periods of decreasing retail demand, the opposite will be true.

Based on the repurchase exposure as previously described, we established an associated loss reserve of $906,000 as of February 25, 2012 and $1.2 million as of August 27, 2011. The inventory repurchased and the associated losses on the inventory resold presented in the table below during the first six months of Fiscal 2012 relates to two dealers, one of which was a towable dealer. These losses resulted in a reduction to our repurchase loss reserve during the first quarter of Fiscal 2012, as we had previously reserved for these specific units in Fiscal 2011.

A summary of repurchase activity is as follows:



	Quarter Ended				Six Months Ended
(Dollars in thousands)	February 25, 2012		February 26, 2011		February 25, 2012		February 26, 2011
Inventory repurchased
Units	—		4		17		5
Dollars	$	—	$	84	$	1,249	$	150
Inventory resold
Units	5		4		17		5
Cash collected	$	60	$	65	$	1,103	$	126
Loss recognized	$	29	$	19	$	146	$	25

We do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the future estimates or assumptions we use to calculate our loss reserve for repurchase commitments. A hypothetical change of a 10% increase or decrease in our significant repurchase commitment assumptions at February 25, 2012 would have affected pre-tax income by approximately $265,000.

Litigation

We are involved in various legal proceedings which are ordinary routine litigation incidental to our business, some of which are covered in whole or in part by insurance. While it is impossible to estimate with certainty the ultimate legal and financial liability with respect to this litigation, we believe that while the final resolution of any such litigation may have an impact on our results for a particular reporting period, the ultimate disposition of such litigation will not have any material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity.