Ryland Homes

The Ryland Group, Inc. was a company engaged in home construction based in Westlake Village, California. As of 2015, it was the 5th largest homebuilder in the United States.[2] In October 2015, the company merged with Standard Pacific Homes to form CalAtlantic Homes.

The Ryland Group, Inc.
IndustryHome construction
FateMerged into CalAtlantic Homes
Founded1967 (1967)
HeadquartersWestlake Village, California
Key people
Larry T. Nicholson, President & CEO
Revenue $2.615 billion (2018)
$0.176 billion (2018)
Total assets $3.052 billion (2018)
Total equity $1.085 billion (2018)
Number of employees
1,502 (2014)
Footnotes / references
[1]

In addition to homebuilding, Ryland provided financial services such as consumer mortgage loans, title, and escrow services.[1]

The company was generally not engaged in land development; it bought finished land lots ready for building, or entered into land development joint ventures with partners. This strategy minimized risk and made it one of the few homebuilders to be profitable during the early 1990s recession.[3]

History

James P. Ryan left Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Ryan Homes in 1967 to form the James P. Ryan Company in Columbia, Maryland. In 1968, the company built 220 homes at an average price of $30,000.[4]

In 1970, Ryan noticed a "Maryland" sign with the initial "M" and "A" covered, and shortly thereafter the company changed its name to The Ryland Group, Inc.[4]

In 1971, the company expanded to Atlanta and became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $4.6 million.[4]

In 1977, the company built its 10,000th home.[4]

In 1978, Ryland acquired Crest Communities, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, a company led by James Ryan's younger brother William Ryan, thereby entering the mortgage loan business.[4]

In 1986, the company acquired M.J. Brock and Sons of California for $85 million and became the first homebuilder to have operations on both the East Coast of the United States and the West Coast of the United States.[4][5]

In 1987, Jim Ryan retired from the company.[4]

In 1998, it sold 9,430 houses in 252 communities in 18 states, at an average price of $182,000. That year it acquired Regency Communities of Tampa and exited the markets of Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City, and the Delaware Valley.[6]

In July 2012, the company acquired the Charlotte and Raleigh operations and assets of Timberstone Homes.[7]

In July 2013, the company acquired Cornell Homes, one of the largest private homebuilders in the Philadelphia market.[8]

In October 2015, the company merged with Standard Pacific Homes to form CalAtlantic Homes.[9] CalAtlantic was acquired by Lennar Corporation in 2018.[10]

Criticism

Requirement to use the company for mortgages

In 2007, the company was sued in federal court in Atlanta for allegedly forcing buyers to obtain mortgages through the company or pay an additional material fee to use an outside mortgage provider.[11]

Failure to disclose land use history

In 2011, the company paid $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the company failed to disclose that 118 homes in the Newport subdivision, near Orlando, Florida, were built on or near the former Pinecastle Jeep bombing range. The plaintiffs alleged that their property values declined when live bombs were found on site.[12]

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References
  1. "The Ryland Group, Inc. 2014 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. "The Top 100: 2015". Hanley Wood.
  3. "Even as Profits Fall, Home Builder Plans to Gain". The New York Times. August 24, 1990.
  4. "Ryland 2002 Annual Report" (PDF).
  5. "Ryland to Buy Brock". The New York Times. November 29, 1986.
  6. "THE WASHINGTON POST'S TOP 200 COMPANIES". The Washington Post. April 26, 1999.
  7. "Ryland Homes Announces the Completion of the Acquisition of the Operations of Timberstone Homes in Charlotte and Raleigh" (Press release). Business Wire. July 3, 2012.
  8. "Ryland Homes Announces the Acquisition of the Operations of Cornell Homes in the Philadelphia, PA Market" (Press release). Business Wire. July 19, 2013.
  9. "Standard Pacific Corp. and The Ryland Group, Inc. Merge to Create CalAtlantic Group, Inc., America's Fourth Largest Homebuilding Company" (Press release). PR Newswire. October 1, 2015.
  10. "Lennar Completes Strategic Combination with CalAtlantic" (Press release). PR Newswire. February 12, 2018.
  11. Schoolcraft, Lisa R. (July 16, 2007). "Suit claims home builder violated mortgage law". American City Business Journals.
  12. González, Eloísa Ruano (February 17, 2011). "Homeowners near former bombing range settle suit for $1.2 million". Orlando Sentinel.
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