NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Aug. 6, 2008--Standard&Poor's Rating Services today lowered its corporate credit ratings assigned to Ashton Woods USA LLC (Ashton Woods) and its subsidiary Ashton Woods Finance Co. to 'B' from 'B+'. At the same time, we lowered our rating on the company's $125 million senior subordinated notes to 'CCC+' from 'B-'. We also placed all of the ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications (see list). The downgrades and CreditWatch listings reflect the strong likelihood that Ashton Woods has tripped the tangible net worth covenant for its $250 million unsecured credit facility, which would require the company to seek a third credit facility amendment. At this difficult point in the housing and credit cycle, seeking
