Levitt & Sons stop building in Florida

Levitt & Sons, the Fort Lauderdale-based home builder, has stopped construction of homes in all its Florida subdivisions as it attempts to renegotiate its debt.

In a statement released last week, Levitt Corp said it would charge off as much as $170 million in the third quarter due to its decreasing value of its home building inventory.  Levitt & Sons admitted to missing $2.6 million of interest payments it owed to five lenders on October 10.  The company currently owes at least $430 million in debt to various banks including Bank of America and Wachovia.

Read more about Levitt & Sons stopping construction at the Herald Tribune.