S&P Places Beazer Homes USA on CreditWatch Negative List.

NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has put its "BB-" corporate credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Beazer Homes USA Inc. on CreditWatch with negative implications.

The CreditWatch move affects roughly $1.5 billion in rated debt securities and follows the company's recent announcement that its third-quarter 10-Q filing will be delayed, S&P said.

Beazer said the reason for the delay is the discovery (by independent counsel and accountants retained by Beazer's audit committee) of possible inappropriate accounting for overaccruing certain reserves and accrued liabilities related primarily to land development and home construction costs, the rating agency said.

Excess accruals for reserves and other accrued liabilities, if reversed in subsequent accounting periods, could have been used to offset the company's operating expenses by amounts that would not be appropriate under GAAP.

The CreditWatch placements also consider the "pressure and distractions Beazer's management faces on a number of non-operational fronts, including separate pending investigations by the SEC and the U.S. attorney's office in the Western District of North Carolina, during a very challenging period for all homebuilders."

It is unknown at this time whether Beazer will have to restate previous financial results. Beazer has stated that it currently does ...