BOSTON

— Federal regulators may try to collect bonus money awarded to the top
executive of Beazer Homes USA Inc. covering periods when the
homebuilder restated financial results.

Beazer Homes said in a
regulatory filing Monday that Securities and Exchange Commission staff
issued a so-called Wells notice to CEO Ian McCarthy, citing an
anti-fraud law provision allowing the government to "claw back"
compensation in some instances.

The notification comes more than
a year after Atlanta-based Beazer settled a Securities and Exchange
Commission investigation into its financial statements.

The
notice disclosed Monday means SEC staff intends to recommend to the
full commission that civil charges be filed against McCarthy. Beazer
said McCarthy intends to respond to the notice, which is not a formal
allegation nor a finding of wrongdoing.

Beazer said SEC staff
recommended action against McCarthy "to collect certain incentive
compensation and other amounts allegedly due" under the clawback
provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The company's filing did
not disclose how much compensation is involved, or other details about
the pay. Beazer spokeswoman Leslie Kratcoski declined to comment.

The company itself is not named in the notice.

Under
Sarbanes-Oxley's Section 304, the government can try to claw back
incentive-based compensation to executives covering periods when a
company restated earnings. The broader law was an attempt to crack down
on corporate America after accounting fraud at companies such as Enron
and WorldCom.

In another case involving the clawback provision,
the SEC in July said it was seeking more than $4 million from the
former CEO of auto parts retailer CSK Auto Corp. That case accuses
Maynard Jenkins of profiting while the Phoenix-based company allegedly
defrauded shareholders. The SEC's lawsuit demands that Jenkins return
the money — which was paid out in bonuses and stock sales — even though
he is not facing fraud charges himself.

Beazer said in Monday's
filing that SEC staff did not allege "any lack of due care" by McCarthy
in connection with the company's financial statements.

Beazer did
not admit or deny wrongdoing in September 2008 when it settled with the
SEC after an investigation into the company's business practices in
handling financial statements. Beazer said the probe focused on topics
that the company's audit committee previously investigated.

According
to Beazer's 2007 annual report, the audit committee's investigation of
the company's mortgage origination business also discovered accounting
and financial reporting errors that required restatements.

The
SEC order instituting the settlement said Beazer "fraudulently
misstated certain of its quarterly and annual net income by
intentionally managing its earnings." The company underreported net
income from about 2000 to 2005, which led to reserves used to smooth
out Beazer's earnings and allow the company to meet Wall Street
expectations in other periods. When the housing market began to decline
in 2006, Beazer began reversing the reserves, the SEC found.

Beazer paid no fines or penalties under the settlement, but consented to a cease-and-desist order requiring future compliance.

In
2007, when the audit committee's investigation was under way, McCarthy
received a compensation package valued at $3.2 million. More than half
of it came from stock awarded to him as part of a bonus for his
performance in 2006.

Shares of Beazer fell 28 cents, or 5.1
percent, to $5.21 in afternoon trading. The stock has ranged from 24
cents to $6.93 over the past year.