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Guarantees and Indemnification
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Guarantees and Indemnification [Abstract] 
Guarantees [Text Block]
Guarantees and Indemnifications

Warranty

The Company offers a limited warranty program in conjunction with a thirty-year transferable structural limited warranty on homes closed after September 30, 2007. This warranty program covers construction defects and certain damage resulting from construction defects for a statutory period based on geographic market and state law (currently ranging from five to ten years for the states in which the Company operates) and includes a mandatory arbitration clause. Prior to this warranty program, the Company provided up to a two-year limited warranty on materials and workmanship and a twenty-year (for homes closed between September 1, 1989 and April 24, 1998) and a thirty-year (for homes closed after April 24, 1998) transferable limited warranty against major structural defects. Warranty expense is accrued as the home sale is recognized and is intended to cover estimated material and outside labor costs to be incurred during the warranty period.

The accrual amounts are based upon historical experience and geographic location. Our warranty accruals are included in Other liabilities in the Company's Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. A summary of warranty activity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 is as follows:
 
Three Months Ended September 30,
 
Nine Months Ended September 30,
(In thousands)
2011
 
2010
 
2011
 
2010
Warranty accrual, beginning of period
$
7,835

 
$
8,478

 
$
8,335

 
$
8,657

Warranty expense on homes delivered during the period
1,131

 
1,073

 
3,100

 
3,792

Changes in estimates for pre-existing warranties
1,021

 
159

 
921

 
139

Settlements made during the period
(1,771
)
 
(1,596
)
 
(4,140
)
 
(4,474
)
Warranty accrual, end of period
$
8,216

 
$
8,114

 
$
8,216

 
$
8,114


Guarantees

In the ordinary course of business, M/I Financial Corp. (“M/I Financial”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of M/I Homes, Inc., enters into agreements that guarantee certain purchasers of its mortgage loans that M/I Financial will repurchase a loan if certain conditions occur, primarily if the mortgagor does not meet those conditions of the loan within the first six months after the sale of the loan.  Loans totaling approximately $81.5 million and $142.2 million were covered under the above guarantees as of September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively.  A portion of the revenue paid to M/I Financial for providing the guarantees on the above loans was deferred at September 30, 2011, and will be recognized in income as M/I Financial is released from its obligation under the guarantees.  M/I Financial has not repurchased any loans under the above agreements in 2011, but has received inquiries concerning underwriting matters from third party investors concerning certain loans.  The total of these loans was approximately $4.8 million and $3.6 million at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively.  The risk associated with the guarantees above is offset by the value of the underlying assets.  The Company has accrued management’s best estimate of the probable loss on the above loans.

M/I Financial has also guaranteed the collectability of certain loans to third-party insurers of those loans for periods ranging from five to thirty years. The maximum potential amount of future payments is equal to the outstanding loan value less the value of the underlying asset plus administrative costs incurred related to foreclosure on the loans, should this event occur. The total of these costs are estimated to be $1.4 million as of both September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010. The Company has accrued management's best estimate of the probable loss on the above loans.

The Company has recorded a liability relating to the guarantees described above totaling $2.6 million and $2.0 million at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively, which is management's best estimate of the Company's liability.

At September 30, 2011, the Company had outstanding $41.4 million of 6.875% Senior Notes due 2012 (the “2012 Senior Notes”), which are fully and unconditionally guaranteed jointly and severally by all of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries. At September 30, 2011, the Company also had outstanding $200 million aggregate principal amount of 8.625% Senior Notes due 2018 (the "2018 Senior Notes"). The Company's obligations under both the 2018 Senior Notes and the Credit Facility are guaranteed by all of the Company's subsidiaries, with the exception of subsidiaries that are primarily engaged in the business of mortgage financing, the origination of mortgages for resale, title insurance or similar financial businesses relating to the homebuilding and home sales business and certain subsidiaries that are not wholly-owned by the Company or another subsidiary.