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<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April&nbsp;25,
2008</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Registration No.&nbsp;333-______</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">WASHINGTON, D.C.&#160; 20549</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">FORM&nbsp;S-8</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">REGISTRATION STATEMENT</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">UNDER</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;">THE
RYLAND GROUP, INC.</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

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 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Maryland</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">52-0849948</font></b></p>
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 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(State or other jurisdiction of</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">incorporation or organization)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">24025 Park Sorrento</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Suite&nbsp;400</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Calabasas, California</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">91302</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Address of principal executive offices)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.0%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="49%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:49.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Zip Code)</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

</div>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">THE RYLAND GROUP, INC. 2008 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Full title of plan)</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .15in;text-align:left;text-indent:-.15in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

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  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Timothy J. Geckle</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;">
  <td width="100%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:100.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;">
  <td width="100%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:100.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">The Ryland Group,&nbsp;Inc.</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;">
  <td width="100%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:100.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">24025 Park Sorrento, Suite&nbsp;400</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;">
  <td width="100%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:100.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Calabasas, California 91302</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;">
  <td width="100%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:100.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">818-223-7500</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;">
  <td width="100%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:100.0%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Name, address and telephone</font></p>
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">number of agent for service)</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant
is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or
a smaller reporting company.&#160; (Check
one:)</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<div align="center">

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="24%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:24.04%;">
  <p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Large accelerated filer </font><font face="Wingdings">x</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.04%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="19%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.92%;">
  <p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Accelerated filer </font><font face="Wingdings">o</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.04%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="22%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:22.66%;">
  <p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Non-accelerated filer </font><font face="Wingdings">o</font>  <br>
  (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)</p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.04%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="27%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:27.26%;">
  <p align="center" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Smaller reporting company </font><font face="Wingdings">o</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

</div>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="33%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:33.58%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Title&nbsp;of&nbsp;Securities
  to&nbsp;be<br>
  Registered</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Amount<br>
  to&nbsp;be<br>
  Registered</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Proposed<br>
  Maximum<br>
  Offering<br>
  Price&nbsp;Per&nbsp;Unit&nbsp;(3)</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Proposed<br>
  Maximum<br>
  Aggregate<br>
  Offering&nbsp;Price&nbsp;(3)</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Amount&nbsp;of<br>
  Registration<br>
  Fee</font></b></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-left:none;border-right:none;border-top:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.5%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="1" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;</font></b></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="33%" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:33.58%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 10.0pt;text-align:left;text-indent:-10.0pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Common
  Stock, $1.00 par value (1)(2) <br>
  Shares not previously registered <br>
  Shares registered under Prior Plan</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">1,300,000<br>
  1,688,013</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">$32.81<br>
  N/A (1)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">$42,653,000<br>
  N/A (1)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">$1,676</font></p>
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">N/A (1)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.5%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="33%" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:33.58%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 10.0pt;text-align:left;text-indent:-10.0pt;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">TOTAL</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">2,988,013</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">$32.81</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">$42,653,000</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;border-left:none;border-right:solid windowtext 1.0pt;border-top:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="1%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:1.3%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="13%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:13.38%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">$1,676</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="2%" valign="bottom" style="border:none;border-bottom:double windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:2.5%;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(1)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>Shares to be offered or sold under The Ryland
Group,&nbsp;Inc. 2007 Equity Incentive Plan (the &#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">2008 Plan</i></b>&#148;) include 1,300,000 shares not
previously registered, and 1,688,013 shares previously registered for offer or
sale under The Ryland Group,&nbsp;Inc. 2007 Equity Incentive Plan (the &#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">Prior Plan</i></b>&#148;) that
were not issued under the Prior Plan and that may be offered or sold under the
2008 Plan (the &#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">Carried
Forward Shares</i></b>&#148;).&#160; The
Carried Forward Shares were registered on Form&nbsp;S-8 filed on April&nbsp;27,
2007 (file no. 333-142431) and The Ryland Group,&nbsp;Inc. (&#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">Ryland</i></b>&#148;) paid a total
fee of $2,504, of which $2,348 related to the unissued Carried Forward
Shares.&#160; Pursuant to
Interpretation&nbsp;89 under Section&nbsp;G of the Manual of Publicly Available
Telephone Interpretations of the Division of Corporation Finance of the
Securities and Exchange Commission (July&nbsp;1997) and Instruction E to the
General Instructions to Form&nbsp;S-8, Ryland has carried forward the
registration fee for the Carried Forward Shares.&#160; Ryland is concurrently filing a
Post-Effective Amendment No.&nbsp;1 to the Registration Statement on Form&nbsp;S-8
(file no. 333-142431), registering shares pursuant to the Prior Plan, to
deregister the issuance of unissued shares pursuant to the Prior Plan.</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(2)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>In addition, pursuant to Rule&nbsp;416 under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the &#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">Securities Act</i></b>&#148;), this Registration
Statement also covers an indeterminate number of shares of Common Stock that
may be offered or issued by reason of stock splits, stock dividends or similar
transactions.</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(3)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>Estimated solely for purposes of calculating
the registration fee pursuant to Rule&nbsp;457(c)&nbsp;and (h)&nbsp;of the
Securities Act.&#160; The proposed maximum
offering price per share, proposed maximum aggregate offering price and the
amount of the registration fee are based on the average of the high and low
sale prices of Ryland&#146;s Common Stock reported on the New York Stock Exchange on
April&nbsp;23, 2008 (i.e., $32.81).</p>

</div>
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<div style="font-family:Times New Roman;">

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">PART&nbsp;I</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION&nbsp;10(a)&nbsp;PROSPECTUS</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Not required to be included in this Form&nbsp;S-8 Registration
Statement pursuant to introductory Note to Part&nbsp;I of Form&nbsp;S-8.</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">PART&nbsp;II</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 3.</font></b><b><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;">&#160;&#160;&#160; </font></b><b>Incorporation of Documents by Reference.</b></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The following documents which have been filed by Ryland with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the &#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">Commission</i></b>&#148;) are incorporated herein by
reference:</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(a)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>Ryland&#146;s
Annual Report on Form&nbsp;10-K for the fiscal year ended December&nbsp;31,
2007;</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(b)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>All
other reports filed pursuant to Sections&nbsp;13(a)&nbsp;or 15(d)&nbsp;of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (&#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">Exchange Act</i></b>&#148;), since December&nbsp;31,
2007; and</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(c)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>Description
of Ryland&#146;s Common Stock contained or incorporated in the registration
statements filed by Ryland under the Exchange Act, including any amendments or
reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.</p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:left;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">All documents subsequently filed by Ryland with the Commission pursuant
to Sections&nbsp;13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d)&nbsp;of the Exchange Act, prior to
the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities
offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities remaining unsold,
shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration
Statement and to be a part of this Registration Statement from the date of
filing of such documents.</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 4.</font></b><b><font size="1" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&#160;&#160; </font></b><b>Description of Securities.</b></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Not applicable.</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 5.</font></b><b><font size="1" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&#160;&#160; </font></b><b>Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.</b></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Timothy J. Geckle, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
of Ryland, provides the opinion regarding the legal validity of the shares of
Common Stock being registered for issuance under the 2008 Plan.&#160; As of the date of this filing, Mr.&nbsp;Geckle
owns approximately 59,987 shares of Ryland&#146;s Common Stock, has 11,000 unvested
restricted stock units and had the right to purchase up to 200,400 shares of
Ryland&#146;s Common Stock pursuant to outstanding stock options awarded under the
Prior Plan and its predecessor plans.</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">2</font></p>

</div>
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<div style="font-family:Times New Roman;">

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 6.</font></b><b><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;font-weight:bold;">&#160;&#160;&#160; </font></b><b>Indemnification of Directors and Officers.</b></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">As permitted by the Maryland
General Corporation Law (&#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">MGCL</i></b>&#148;),
Article&nbsp;Eighth, Paragraph&nbsp;(8)&nbsp;of Ryland&#146;s Articles of
Restatement (the &#147;<b><i style="font-weight:bold;">Charter</i></b>&#148;)
provides for indemnification of directors and officers of Ryland, as follows:</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(8)&nbsp;
The Corporation shall indemnify its directors and officers, in all capacities
in which such directors and officers serve the Corporation, to the full extent
required or permitted by the General Laws of the State of Maryland now or
hereafter in force, including the advance of expenses under the procedures and
to the full extent permitted by law.&#160; The
Corporation shall indemnify other employees and agents, in all capacities in
which such employees and agents serve the Corporation, to such extent as shall
be authorized by the Board of Directors or the By-laws and be permitted by
law.&#160; The foregoing shall not limit in
any manner the authority of the Corporation to indemnify directors, officers,
employees or agents of the Corporation to the extent authorized by the Board of
Directors or the stockholders and permitted by law.&#160; The Board of Directors may take such action
as is necessary to carry out these provisions and is expressly empowered to
adopt, approve and amend from time to time such By-laws, resolutions or
contracts implementing these provisions or such further indemnification
arrangements as may be permitted by law.&#160;
No amendment or repeal of this Article&nbsp;EIGHTH, paragraph 8 of the
Corporation&#146;s Charter shall apply to or have any effect on any right to
indemnification provided hereunder with respect to acts or omissions occurring
prior to such amendment or repeal.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The
MGCL permits a corporation to indemnify its directors and officers (which
include any person who, while a director of a corporation is or was, serving at
the request of the corporation as a director, officer, partner, trustee,
employee, or agent of another foreign or domestic corporation, partnership, joint
venture, trust, other enterprise or employee benefit plan), among others,
against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses
actually incurred by them in connection with any proceedings to which they may
be a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities, unless it
is established that (a)&nbsp;the act or omission of the director or officer was
material to the matter giving rise to such proceedings and (i)&nbsp;was
committed in bad faith or (ii)&nbsp;was the result of active and deliberate
dishonesty, (b)&nbsp;the director or officer actually received an improper
personal benefit in money, property or services, or (c)&nbsp;in the case of any
criminal proceedings, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe
that the action or omission was unlawful.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">As permitted by the MGCL, Article&nbsp;Ninth
of the Charter provides for limitation of liability of directors and officers
of Ryland, as follows:</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">To
the fullest extent permitted by Maryland statutory or decisional law, as
amended or interpreted, no director or officer of this Corporation shall be
personally liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for money
damages.&#160; No amendment of the Charter of
the Corporation or repeal of any of its provisions shall limit or eliminate the
benefits provided to directors and officers under this provision with respect
to any act or omission which occurred prior to such amendment or repeal.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The MGCL permits the charter
of a Maryland corporation to include a provision limiting the liability of its
directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money
damages, except to the extent that (i)&nbsp;the person actually received an
improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (ii)&nbsp;a
judgment or other final adjudication is entered in a proceeding based on a
finding that the person&#146;s action, or failure to act, was the result of active
and deliberate dishonesty and was material to the cause of action adjudicated
in the proceeding.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">As permitted under Section&nbsp;2-418(k)&nbsp;of
the MGCL, Ryland has purchased and maintains insurance on behalf of its
directors and officers against any liability asserted against such directors
and officers in their capacities as such, whether or not Ryland would have the
power to indemnify such persons under the provisions of Maryland law governing
indemnification.</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">3</font></p>

</div>
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<div style="font-family:Times New Roman;">

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 7.</font></b><b><font size="1" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&#160;&#160; </font></b><b>Exemption from Registration Claimed.</b></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Not applicable.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 8.</font></b><b><font size="1" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&#160;&#160; </font></b><b>Exhibits.</b></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">A list of exhibits is set forth on the Exhibit&nbsp;Index which
immediately precedes the exhibits and which is incorporated by reference
herein.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">Item 9.</font></b><b><font size="1" style="font-size:8.0pt;font-weight:bold;">&#160;&#160; </font></b><b>Undertakings.</b></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(1)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>To file, during any period in which offers or
sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration
Statement:</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(i)&nbsp;To include any prospectus required by Section&nbsp;10(a)(3)&nbsp;of
the Securities Act;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(ii)&nbsp;To reflect in the prospectus any facts or
events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the
most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
Registration Statement; and</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(iii)&nbsp;To include any material information with
respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration
Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration
Statement;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt 1.0in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-1.0in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><i><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-style:italic;">provided, however</font></i>, that: Paragraphs (l)(i)&nbsp;and (l)(ii)&nbsp;above
do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective
amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or
furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section&nbsp;13 or Section&nbsp;15(d)&nbsp;of
the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement.</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(2)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>That, for the purpose of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be
deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered
therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
the initial <i>bona fide</i> offering
thereof.</p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(3)</font><font size="1" style="font-size:8.5pt;">&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; </font>To remove from registration by means of a
post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain
unsold at the termination of the offering.</p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt .5in;text-align:left;text-indent:-.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
Registrant&#146;s annual report pursuant to Section&nbsp;13(a)&nbsp;or 15(d)&nbsp;of
the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit
plan&#146;s annual report pursuant to Section&nbsp;15(d)&nbsp;of the Exchange Act)
that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed
to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein,
and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the
initial <i>bona fide</i> offering
thereof.</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities
Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the
Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant
has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is
against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore,
unenforceable.&#160; In the event that a claim
for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in
the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">4</font></p>

</div>
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<div>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">SIGNATURES</font></b></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form&nbsp;S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Calabasas, State of California, on the 25<sup>th</sup>
day of April, 2008.</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="52%" colspan="2" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:52.34%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">THE RYLAND GROUP, INC.</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="52%" colspan="2" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:52.34%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="52%" colspan="2" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:52.34%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="3%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:3.84%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">By:</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="48%" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:48.5%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;/s/ Timothy J. Geckle</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="3%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:3.84%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="48%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:48.5%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;Timothy J. Geckle</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="3%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:3.84%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="48%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:48.5%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;Senior Vice President, General Counsel and</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="3%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:3.84%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="48%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:48.5%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;Secretary</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="47%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:47.66%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="3%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:3.84%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="48%" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:48.5%;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Form&nbsp;S-8
Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Signature</font></u></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;"><font style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;</font></font></u></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Title</font></u></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;"><font style="text-decoration:none;">&nbsp;</font></font></u></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Date</font></u></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">R. Chad Dreier</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr height="15" style="height:11.25pt;">
  <td width="141" height="15" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;height:11.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">/s/ R. Chad Dreier</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" height="15" valign="bottom" style="height:11.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" height="15" valign="top" style="height:11.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chairman of the Board, President and</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" height="15" valign="bottom" style="height:11.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" height="15" valign="top" style="height:11.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">April&nbsp;25, 2008</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">R. Chad Dreier</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chief Executive Officer</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Principal Executive Officer)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">Gordon A. Milne</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">April&nbsp;25, 2008</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">/s/ Gordon A. Milne</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">Executive Vice President and</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Gordon A. Milne</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chief Financial Officer</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Principal Financial Officer)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">David L. Fristoe</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">April&nbsp;25, 2008</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">/s/ David L. Fristoe</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">Senior Vice President, Controller and</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">David L. Fristoe</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">Chief Accounting Officer</font>  </font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">(Principal Accounting Officer)</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="720" colspan="5" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:7.5in;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">A
  majority of the Board of Directors:</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="720" colspan="5" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:7.5in;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Leslie
  M. Fr&#233;con, Roland A. Hernandez, William L. Jews, Ned Mansour, Robert E.
  Mellor, Norman J. Metcalfe and Charlotte St. Martin</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">/s/ Timothy J. Geckle</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">As Attorney-in-Fact</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="right" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:right;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">April&nbsp;25, 2008</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="141" valign="top" style="border:none;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:105.95pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Timothy J. Geckle</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="26" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:19.35pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="396" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:297.35pt;">
  <p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="76" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:57.2pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="80" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:60.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:1.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">5</font></p>

</div>
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<br clear="all" style="page-break-before:always;">


<div style="font-family:Times New Roman;">

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><b><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-weight:bold;">EXHIBIT INDEX</font></b></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.0%;">
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="font-size:10.0pt;margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-size:10.0pt;">EXHIBIT</font>  <br>
  </font><u>NUMBER</u></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="bottom" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><u><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">DESCRIPTION</font></u></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">4.1</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The
  Ryland Group,&nbsp;Inc. Articles of Restatement (incorporated by reference
  from Form&nbsp;10-Q for the quarter ended March&nbsp;31, 2005)</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">4.2</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">By-laws
  of The Ryland Group,&nbsp;Inc., as amended (incorporated by reference from
  Form&nbsp;10-K for the year ended December&nbsp;31, 1996)</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">5.1*</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Opinion
  of Timothy J. Geckle, counsel for The Ryland Group,&nbsp;Inc., regarding the
  legal validity of the shares of Common Stock being registered for issuance
  under the Plan</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">10.1*</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">The
  Ryland Group,&nbsp;Inc. 2008 Equity Incentive Plan</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">23.1*</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Consent
  of Counsel (contained in Exhibit&nbsp;5.1)</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">23.2*</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Consent
  of Ernst&nbsp;&amp; Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">&nbsp;</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
  <td width="132" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:99.15pt;">
  <p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">24.1*</font></p>
  </td>
  <td width="588" valign="top" style="padding:0in 0in 0in 0in;width:440.85pt;">
  <p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Powers
  of Attorney</font></p>
  </td>
 </tr>
</table>

<p style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:justify;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">------------</font></p>

<p align="left" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:left;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">* Filed herewith.</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p>

<p align="center" style="margin:0in 0in .0001pt;text-align:center;"><font size="2" face="Times New Roman" style="font-size:10.0pt;">6</font></p>

</div>
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</body>

</html>
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "filename": "a08-12280_1s8.htm", "description": "S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 101242}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "RYLAND GROUP INC", "cik": "0000085974", "assigned-sic": "1531", "irs-number": "520849948", "state-of-incorporation": "MD", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-150465", "film-number": "08778677"}, "business-address": {"street1": "24025 PARK SORRENTO", "street2": "SUITE 400", "city": "CALABASAS", "state": "CA", "zip": "91302", "phone": "8182237500"}, "former-company": {"former-conformed-name": "RYAN JAMES P CO", "date-changed": "19720414"}}
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 25,
2008
Registration No. 333-______
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C.  20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
THE
RYLAND GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Maryland
52-0849948
(State or other jurisdiction of
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
incorporation or organization)
24025 Park Sorrento
Suite 400
Calabasas, California
91302
(Address of principal executive offices)
(Zip Code)
THE RYLAND GROUP, INC. 2008 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
(Full title of plan)
Timothy J. Geckle
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
The Ryland Group, Inc.
24025 Park Sorrento, Suite 400
Calabasas, California 91302
818-223-7500
(Name, address and telephone
number of agent for service)
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant
is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or
a smaller reporting company.  (Check
one:)
Large accelerated filer
x
Accelerated filer
o
Non-accelerated filer
o
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
Smaller reporting company
o
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Title of Securities
  to be
Registered
Amount
to be
Registered
Proposed
Maximum
Offering
Price Per Unit (3)
Proposed
Maximum
Aggregate
Offering Price (3)
Amount of
Registration
Fee
Common
  Stock, $1.00 par value (1)(2)
Shares not previously registered
Shares registered under Prior Plan
1,300,000
1,688,013
$32.81
N/A (1)
$42,653,000
N/A (1)
$1,676
N/A (1)
TOTAL
2,988,013
$32.81
$42,653,000
$1,676
(1)
Shares to be offered or sold under The Ryland
Group, Inc. 2007 Equity Incentive Plan (the "
2008 Plan
") include 1,300,000 shares not
previously registered, and 1,688,013 shares previously registered for offer or
sale under The Ryland Group, Inc. 2007 Equity Incentive Plan (the "
Prior Plan
") that
were not issued under the Prior Plan and that may be offered or sold under the
2008 Plan (the "
Carried
Forward Shares
").  The
Carried Forward Shares were registered on Form S-8 filed on April 27,
2007 (file no. 333-142431) and The Ryland Group, Inc. ("
Ryland
") paid a total
fee of $2,504, of which $2,348 related to the unissued Carried Forward
Shares.  Pursuant to
Interpretation 89 under Section G of the Manual of Publicly Available
Telephone Interpretations of the Division of Corporation Finance of the
Securities and Exchange Commission (July 1997) and Instruction E to the
General Instructions to Form S-8, Ryland has carried forward the
registration fee for the Carried Forward Shares.  Ryland is concurrently filing a
Post-Effective Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-8
(file no. 333-142431), registering shares pursuant to the Prior Plan, to
deregister the issuance of unissued shares pursuant to the Prior Plan.
(2)
In addition, pursuant to Rule 416 under
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "
Securities Act
"), this Registration
Statement also covers an indeterminate number of shares of Common Stock that
may be offered or issued by reason of stock splits, stock dividends or similar
transactions.
(3)
Estimated solely for purposes of calculating
the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(c) and (h) of the
Securities Act.  The proposed maximum
offering price per share, proposed maximum aggregate offering price and the
amount of the registration fee are based on the average of the high and low
sale prices of Ryland's Common Stock reported on the New York Stock Exchange on
April 23, 2008 (i.e., $32.81).
PART I
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS
Not required to be included in this Form S-8 Registration
Statement pursuant to introductory Note to Part I of Form S-8.
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3.
Incorporation of Documents by Reference.
The following documents which have been filed by Ryland with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "
Commission
") are incorporated herein by
reference:
(a)
Ryland's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2007;
(b)
All
other reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("
Exchange Act
"), since December 31,
2007; and
(c)
Description
of Ryland's Common Stock contained or incorporated in the registration
statements filed by Ryland under the Exchange Act, including any amendments or
reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.
All documents subsequently filed by Ryland with the Commission pursuant
to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to
the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities
offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities remaining unsold,
shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration
Statement and to be a part of this Registration Statement from the date of
filing of such documents.
Item 4.
Description of Securities.
Not applicable.
Item 5.
Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.
Timothy J. Geckle, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
of Ryland, provides the opinion regarding the legal validity of the shares of
Common Stock being registered for issuance under the 2008 Plan.  As of the date of this filing, Mr. Geckle
owns approximately 59,987 shares of Ryland's Common Stock, has 11,000 unvested
restricted stock units and had the right to purchase up to 200,400 shares of
Ryland's Common Stock pursuant to outstanding stock options awarded under the
Prior Plan and its predecessor plans.
2
Item 6.
Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
As permitted by the Maryland
General Corporation Law ("
MGCL
"),
Article Eighth, Paragraph (8) of Ryland's Articles of
Restatement (the "
Charter
")
provides for indemnification of directors and officers of Ryland, as follows:
(8) 
The Corporation shall indemnify its directors and officers, in all capacities
in which such directors and officers serve the Corporation, to the full extent
required or permitted by the General Laws of the State of Maryland now or
hereafter in force, including the advance of expenses under the procedures and
to the full extent permitted by law.  The
Corporation shall indemnify other employees and agents, in all capacities in
which such employees and agents serve the Corporation, to such extent as shall
be authorized by the Board of Directors or the By-laws and be permitted by
law.  The foregoing shall not limit in
any manner the authority of the Corporation to indemnify directors, officers,
employees or agents of the Corporation to the extent authorized by the Board of
Directors or the stockholders and permitted by law.  The Board of Directors may take such action
as is necessary to carry out these provisions and is expressly empowered to
adopt, approve and amend from time to time such By-laws, resolutions or
contracts implementing these provisions or such further indemnification
arrangements as may be permitted by law. 
No amendment or repeal of this Article EIGHTH, paragraph 8 of the
Corporation's Charter shall apply to or have any effect on any right to
indemnification provided hereunder with respect to acts or omissions occurring
prior to such amendment or repeal.
The
MGCL permits a corporation to indemnify its directors and officers (which
include any person who, while a director of a corporation is or was, serving at
the request of the corporation as a director, officer, partner, trustee,
employee, or agent of another foreign or domestic corporation, partnership, joint
venture, trust, other enterprise or employee benefit plan), among others,
against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses
actually incurred by them in connection with any proceedings to which they may
be a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities, unless it
is established that (a) the act or omission of the director or officer was
material to the matter giving rise to such proceedings and (i) was
committed in bad faith or (ii) was the result of active and deliberate
dishonesty, (b) the director or officer actually received an improper
personal benefit in money, property or services, or (c) in the case of any
criminal proceedings, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe
that the action or omission was unlawful.
As permitted by the MGCL, Article Ninth
of the Charter provides for limitation of liability of directors and officers
of Ryland, as follows:
To
the fullest extent permitted by Maryland statutory or decisional law, as
amended or interpreted, no director or officer of this Corporation shall be
personally liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for money
damages.  No amendment of the Charter of
the Corporation or repeal of any of its provisions shall limit or eliminate the
benefits provided to directors and officers under this provision with respect
to any act or omission which occurred prior to such amendment or repeal.
The MGCL permits the charter
of a Maryland corporation to include a provision limiting the liability of its
directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money
damages, except to the extent that (i) the person actually received an
improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (ii) a
judgment or other final adjudication is entered in a proceeding based on a
finding that the person's action, or failure to act, was the result of active
and deliberate dishonesty and was material to the cause of action adjudicated
in the proceeding.
As permitted under Section 2-418(k) of
the MGCL, Ryland has purchased and maintains insurance on behalf of its
directors and officers against any liability asserted against such directors
and officers in their capacities as such, whether or not Ryland would have the
power to indemnify such persons under the provisions of Maryland law governing
indemnification.
3
Item 7.
Exemption from Registration Claimed.
Not applicable.
Item 8.
Exhibits.
A list of exhibits is set forth on the Exhibit Index which
immediately precedes the exhibits and which is incorporated by reference
herein.
Item 9.
Undertakings.
The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1)
To file, during any period in which offers or
sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration
Statement:
(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
the Securities Act;
(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or
events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the
most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the
Registration Statement; and
(iii) To include any material information with
respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration
Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration
Statement;
provided, however
, that: Paragraphs (l)(i) and (l)(ii) above
do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective
amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or
furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of
the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration
Statement.
(2)
That, for the purpose of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be
deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered
therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be
the initial
bona fide
offering
thereof.
(3)
To remove from registration by means of a
post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain
unsold at the termination of the offering.
The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of
the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit
plan's annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act)
that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed
to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein,
and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the
initial
bona fide
offering
thereof.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities
Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the
Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant
has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is
against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore,
unenforceable.  In the event that a claim
for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in
the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
4
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the Registrant
certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the
requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Calabasas, State of California, on the 25
th
day of April, 2008.
THE RYLAND GROUP, INC.
By:
/s/ Timothy J. Geckle
Timothy J. Geckle
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and
Secretary
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Form S-8
Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature
Title
Date
R. Chad Dreier
/s/ R. Chad Dreier
Chairman of the Board, President and
April 25, 2008
R. Chad Dreier
Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)
Gordon A. Milne
April 25, 2008
/s/ Gordon A. Milne
Executive Vice President and
Gordon A. Milne
Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial Officer)
David L. Fristoe
April 25, 2008
/s/ David L. Fristoe
Senior Vice President, Controller and
David L. Fristoe
Chief Accounting Officer
(Principal Accounting Officer)
A
  majority of the Board of Directors:
Leslie
  M. Frécon, Roland A. Hernandez, William L. Jews, Ned Mansour, Robert E.
  Mellor, Norman J. Metcalfe and Charlotte St. Martin
/s/ Timothy J. Geckle
As Attorney-in-Fact
April 25, 2008
Timothy J. Geckle
5
EXHIBIT INDEX
EXHIBIT
NUMBER
DESCRIPTION
4.1
The
  Ryland Group, Inc. Articles of Restatement (incorporated by reference
  from Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2005)
4.2
By-laws
  of The Ryland Group, Inc., as amended (incorporated by reference from
  Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1996)
5.1*
Opinion
  of Timothy J. Geckle, counsel for The Ryland Group, Inc., regarding the
  legal validity of the shares of Common Stock being registered for issuance
  under the Plan
10.1*
The
  Ryland Group, Inc. 2008 Equity Incentive Plan
23.1*
Consent
  of Counsel (contained in Exhibit 5.1)
23.2*
Consent
  of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
24.1*
Powers
  of Attorney
------------
* Filed herewith.
6