"We believe that many homebuyers were sold loans from Beazer Mortgage that violated North Carolina law," Mark Pearce, N.C. deputy commissioner of banks, told the Charlotte Observer. Beazer allegedly failed to comply with North Carolina's requirement that discount points be bona fide and paid for the purpose of reducing a borrower's interest rate. Through this settlement, however, the homebuilder must provide refunds of these discount points to victimized homeowners. The company, once a major builder in the Charlotte area, left the market last year at the time it ceased mortgage operations, turning over its lending license to the state. Beazer said this month it expects to spend more than $80m to settle a lawsuit and a federal criminal investigation, according to the Observer. The firm said today the $2.5m in restitution is included in the approximately $13m it set aside at first quarter's end for estimated payments related to governmental investigations.