Beazer Homes USA, which is being investigated by the FBI, said it had received a grand jury subpoena from the US Justice Department for documents related to the company’s mortgage origination business.

In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said the subpoena from the US Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina was issued upon application of the Office of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General.

Beazer, the sixth biggest housebuilder in the US, said it has been in contact with the US Attorney’s Office and is cooperating with the investigation.

Earlier this week, a representative at the FBI office in Charlotte said the agency was “conducting a potential fraud investigation” into Beazer, which builds houses for many first-time buyers.

Atlanta-based Beazer, whose shares fell more than 8 per cent following the announcement, said it has not received a request for information or documents from the FBI or Internal Revenue Service in this regard.

Daniel Oppenheim, a securities analyst at Bank of America, said in a note: “We believe many buyers entered into aggressive mortgages due to the stretched affordability in many markets, but we think it may be difficult to prove fraud.”

Michael Rehaut, a JP Morgan analyst, said that while it was impossible to determine the outcome of such an investigation, it could ultimately focus on only a few subdivisions and result in only several millions of dollars in fines, which would not be material to the company.

Beazer earlier said that the US Attorney’s Office has made no allegations of wrongdoing by Beazer Homes and that the statements made by an FBI spokesperson about an investigation and the scope of the investigation were unauthorized and should not have been made.

According to an article earlier this week by BusinessWeek, the probe into Beazer stems from a series of articles that appeared in the Charlotte Observer earlier this month. Those stories described questionable lending practices and high foreclosure rates among some Beazer customers.

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