Ownership Submission
FORM 3
 UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
  GENDELL JEFFREY L ET AL
 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year)
04/11/2006		 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
HOVNANIAN ENTERPRISES INC [HOV]
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
55 RAILROAD AVENUE, 3RD FLOOR		 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
_____ Director __X__ 10% Owner
_____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
(Street)

GREENWICH, CT 06830		 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned
(Instr. 4)		 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Common Stock, No par value 4,706,491
I
See Footnotes (1) (2)

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security
(Instr. 4)		 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 5)		 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 5)
Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
Director 10% Owner Officer Other
GENDELL JEFFREY L ET AL
55 RAILROAD AVENUE, 3RD FLOOR
GREENWICH, CT 06830		     X    

Signatures

By: Jeffrey L. Gendell, /s/Jeffrey L. Gendell 04/13/2006
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) The Reporting Person is the managing member of Tontine Management, L.L.C. ("TM"), a Delaware limited liability company, the general partner of Tontine Partners, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership ("TP"). The Reporting Person is also the managing member of Tontine Overseas Associates, L.L.C., a Delaware limited liability company ("TOA"), the investment adviser to Tontine Overseas Fund, Ltd., a Cayman Islands corporation ("TOF").
(2) The Reporting Person directly owns 120,000 shares of Common Stock. TP directly owns 2,604,112 shares of Common Stock. TOF directly owns 1,982,379 shares of Common Stock. All of the foregoing shares of Common Stock may be deemed to be beneficially owned by the Reporting Person. The Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership of the Issuer's securities reported herein for purposes of Section 16(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise, except as to securities directly owned by the Reporting Person or representing the Reporting Person's pro rata interest in, and interest in the profits of, TP, TM, TOA and TOF.

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