Homebuilder faces lending deadline

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Upscale homebuilder WCI Communities Inc. (NYSE:WCI) could learn Wednesday whether it will receive new terms on credit and loans that it needs to avoid bankruptcy.WCI has received at least three loan extensions from two banks and seeks new terms giving it more flexibility to pay interest on its debt.If the two banks, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) and KeyCorp's (NYSE:KEY PRA) (NYSE:KEY PRB) (NYSE:KEY) KeyBank, cannot agree to new terms, WCI may lose its ability to draw more money from its loans and force it to declare bankruptcy.The banks had extended a temporary agreement that expires Wednesday, when WCI's stock rose 32 cents, or 15.1 percent, to $2.44. The stock has plunged from a 52-week high of $24.20 last February.Bonita Springs-based WCI and Bank of America representatives did not return calls seeking comment. A KeyBank spokeswoman declined comment, citing privacy regulations.Representatives for billionaire investor Carl Icahn, one of WCI's largest shareholders, also declined to comment Wednesday morning. In September, WCI named Icahn chairman after he attempted to take over the board and force the sale of the company.WCI is the nation's 33rd largest homebuilder, according to 2006 sales. The company builds tower residences and traditional homes in upscale communities in the mid-Atlantic, Northeast U.S., and in Florida.Even with new terms for its loans, WCI is not guaranteeing that it will survive.'This amendment will be expensive and there can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the amended covenants and other requirements,' WCI said in a statement issued Jan. 7.For months, WCI has watched buyers back away from contracts to buy condos, part of the larger problem of home loan defaults and falling house prices. As a result, the number of unsold homes has increased, forcing homebuilders to cut prices and lose money.Florida -- where the company focuses on second homes -- is among the regions hardest hit by the decline.If WCI files for bankruptcy, it would join two other builders who have gone into Chapter 11 protection in the past few months.The first, Neumann Homes Inc., a large privately-held homebuilder in the Midwest and Colorado, filed in October. The second, Levitt and Sons, a unit of Florida-based Levitt Corp. (NYSE:LEV) , filed in November, citing 'unprecedented conditions,' particularly in Florida and the Southeast U.S.