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Basis of Presentation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation

2. BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Upon deregistration as an investment company, the Company's status changed to an operating company from an investment company since it no longer met the assessment of an investment company under the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946 (“ASC 946”). The Company discontinued applying the guidance in ASC 946 and began to account for the change in status prospectively by accounting for its investments in accordance with other U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) topics as of the date of the change in status.

The Company financial statements for the period subsequent to the deregistration are prepared on a consolidated basis to include the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, rather than by the investment company fair valuation approach. This change in status and the concomitant accounting policies affect the comparability of the financial statements for directly presenting corresponding items for 2017 and 2016. As such, the consolidated statements of operations and cash flows have been presented on the Predecessor Basis of accounting as an investment company from January 1, 2016 through January 18, 2016, and on the current basis of accounting as an operating company from January 19, 2016 through March 31, 2016.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company are presented on the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with GAAP for interim financial information, and in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Accordingly, they may not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (including normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.

Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses

Accounts payable and accrued expenses primarily consist of property tax accruals, unearned rental income, and trade payables.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consist of highly liquid investments, and may include money market fund shares, purchased with an original maturity of three months or less. The carrying amount reported on the balance sheet for cash and cash equivalents approximates fair value.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash is comprised of escrowed funds deposited with a bank relating to capital expenditures.

Income Taxes

The Company has elected to be treated as a REIT under the IRC. In order to maintain its qualification as a REIT, among other things, the Company is required to distribute at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders and meet certain tests regarding the nature of its income and assets. As a REIT, the Company is not subject to federal income tax with respect to that portion of its income which meets certain criteria and is distributed annually to stockholders. The Company plans to continue to operate so that it meets the requirements for taxation as a REIT. Many of these requirements, however, are highly technical and complex. If the Company were to fail to meet these requirements, it would be subject to federal income tax. The Company is subject to certain state and local taxes.

The Company recognizes the tax benefits of uncertain tax positions only where the position is “more likely than not” to be sustained assuming examination by tax authorities. The Company has reviewed its tax positions and has concluded that no liability for unrecognized tax benefits should be recorded related to uncertain tax positions taken on federal, state, and local income tax returns for open tax years (2014 – 2016), or is expected to be taken in the Company’s 2017 tax returns.

Investments in Securities

Investments in equity securities that have readily determinable fair values are accounted for as available-for-sale. Available-for-sale securities are measured at fair value. Gains or losses from changes in the fair value of available-for-sale securities are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income, until the investment is sold or otherwise disposed of, or until the investment is determined to be other-than-temporarily impaired, at which time the cumulative gain or loss previously reported in equity is included in income. The specific identification method is used to determine the realized gain or loss on investments sold or otherwise disposed.

Fair value is determined using a valuation hierarchy generally by reference to an active trading market, using quoted closing or bid prices. Judgment is used to ascertain if a formerly active market has become inactive and in determining fair values when markets have become inactive.

Prior to January 19, 2016, gains and losses from the changes in fair value of investment securities were recorded in the Statement of Operations.

Real Estate Assets

Real estate assets are carried at the appreciated value as of January 19, 2016, the effective date of the change in status to an operating company. Purchases subsequent to the effective date of the change in status are carried at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Direct and allowable internal costs associated with the development, construction, renovation, and improvement of real estate assets are capitalized. Property taxes and other costs associated with development incurred during a construction period are capitalized. A construction period begins when expenditures for a real estate asset have been made and activities that are necessary to prepare the asset for its intended use are in progress. A construction period ends when an asset is substantially complete and ready for its intended use.

We allocate the net acquisition cost of acquired operating self-storage facilities to the underlying land, buildings, identified intangible assets, and any noncontrolling interests that remain outstanding based upon their respective individual estimated fair values.  Any difference between the net acquisition cost and the estimated fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired is recorded as goodwill. 

Internal and external transaction costs associated with acquisitions or dispositions of real estate, as well as repairs and maintenance costs, are charged to expense as incurred. Major replacements and betterments that improve or extend the life of the asset are capitalized and depreciated over their estimated useful lives. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the buildings and improvements, which are generally between 5 and 39 years.    

Revenue and Expense Recognition

Revenues from stores, which are primarily composed of rental income earned pursuant to month-to-month leases for storage space, as well as associated late charges and administrative fees, are recognized as earned. Promotional discounts reduce rental income over the promotional period, which is generally one month. Ancillary revenues from sales of merchandise and tenant insurance and other income are recognized when earned.

The Company accrues for property tax expense based upon actual amounts billed and, in some circumstances, estimates and historical trends when bills or assessments have not been received from the taxing authorities or such bills and assessments are in dispute. If these estimates are incorrect, the timing and amount of expense recognition could be incorrect. Cost of operations and general and administrative expense are expensed as incurred.

Credit Risk

Financial assets that are exposed to credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and certain portions of accounts receivable including rents receivable from our tenants. Cash and cash equivalents are on deposit with highly rated commercial banks.

Evaluation of Asset Impairment

The Company evaluates its real estate assets, intangible assets consisting of in-place leases, and goodwill for impairment annually.  If there are indicators of impairment and we determine that an asset is not recoverable from future undiscounted cash flows to be received through the asset’s remaining life (or, if earlier, the expected disposal date), we record an impairment charge to the extent the carrying amount exceeds the asset’s estimated fair value or net proceeds from expected disposal.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could materially differ from management’s estimates.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

In February 2017, as part of the new revenue standard, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-05 – Other Income – Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Subtopic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance, which focuses on recognizing gains and losses from the transfer of nonfinancial assets in contracts with non-customers. Specifically, the new guidance defines “in substance nonfinancial asset”, unifies guidance related to partial sales of nonfinancial assets, eliminates rules specifically addressing sales of real estate, removes exceptions to the financial asset derecognition model, and clarifies the accounting for contributions of nonfinancial assets to joint ventures. The new guidance is effective at the same time an entity adopts the new revenue standard. Upon adoption, the Company expects that the majority of its sale transactions will be treated as dispositions of nonfinancial assets rather than dispositions of a business given the FASB’s recently revised definition of a business (see ASU No. 2017-01 below). Additionally, in partial sale transactions where the Company sells a controlling interest in real estate but retains a noncontrolling interest, the Company will now fully recognize a gain or loss on the fair value measurement of the retained interest as the new guidance eliminates the partial profit recognition model.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01 - Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business, which changes the definition of a business to include an input and a substantive process that together significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs. A framework is provided to evaluate when an input and a substantive process are present.  The new guidance also narrows the definition of outputs, which are defined as the results of inputs and substantive processes that provide goods or services to customers, other revenue, or investment income. The standard is effective on January 1, 2018, however early adoption is permitted. Upon adoption of the new guidance, the Company expects that the majority of future property acquisitions will now be considered asset acquisitions, resulting in the capitalization of acquisition related costs incurred in connection with these transactions and the allocation of purchase price and acquisition related costs to the assets acquired based on their relative fair values.

In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18 - Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash, which requires the statement of cash flows to explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. The new guidance also requires entities to reconcile such total to amounts on the balance sheet and disclose the nature of the restrictions. The standard is effective on January 1, 2018, however early adoption is permitted. The standard requires the use of the retrospective transition method. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-15 - Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which is intended to reduce diversity in practice in how certain transactions are classified in the statement of cash flows. The eight items that the ASU provides classification guidance on include (1) debt prepayment and extinguishment costs, (2) settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments, (3) contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, (4) proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, (5) proceeds from the settlement of corporate-owned life insurance policies, including bank-owned life insurance policies, (6) distributions received from equity method investments, (7) beneficial interests in securitization transactions, and (8) separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The standard is effective on January 1, 2018, however early adoption is permitted. The standard requires the use of the retrospective transition method. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which is intended to simplify various aspects related to how share-based payments are accounted for and presented in the financial statements. The new guidance allows for entities to make an entity-wide accounting policy election to either estimate the number of awards that are expected to vest or account for forfeitures when they occur. In addition, the guidance allows employers to withhold shares to satisfy minimum statutory tax withholding requirements up to the employees’ maximum individual tax rate without causing the award to be classified as a liability. The guidance also stipulates that cash paid by an employer to a taxing authority when directly withholding shares for tax-withholding purposes should be classified as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows. The standard is effective on January 1, 2017, however early adoption is permitted.  The adoption of this guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations as the Company does not have a stock compensation plan.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02 - Leases (Topic 842), which sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract (i.e., lessees and lessors). The new standard requires lessees to apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either financing or operating leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase by the lessee. This classification will determine whether lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method or on a straight line basis over the term of the lease, respectively. A lessee is also required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months regardless of their classification. Leases with a term of 12 months or less will be accounted for similar to existing guidance for operating leases today. The new standard requires lessors to account for leases using an approach that is substantially equivalent to existing guidance for sales-type leases, direct financing leases and operating leases. The standard is effective on January 1, 2019, however early adoption is permitted. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of this new guidance.

In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-16, Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments, which amends the current business combination guidance to require that an acquirer recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined, as opposed to having to revise prior period information. The standard also requires additional disclosure about the impact on current-period income statement line items of adjustments that would have been recognized in prior periods if prior period information had been revised. The new standard became effective for the Company on January 1, 2016. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations as there have been no measurement-period adjustments recorded.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, an update to the accounting standard relating to the presentation of debt issuance costs. Under the new guidance, debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability will be presented on the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the debt liability. In the event that there is not an associated debt liability recorded in the consolidated financial statements, the debt issuance costs will continue to be recorded on the consolidated balance sheet as an asset until the debt liability is recorded. The new standard became effective for the Company on January 1, 2016. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations as the update only related to changes in financial statement presentation.

In August, 2014, the FASB issued new accounting guidance, which is intended to define management's responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an organization's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. This guidance is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016 and interim periods within annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016.  Early adoption is permitted.  The Company anticipates no impact upon adoption of the new accounting guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-02, Consolidation – Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis, which amends the current consolidation guidance affecting both the variable interest entity (“VIE”) and voting interest entity (“VOE”) consolidation models. The standard does not add or remove any of the characteristics in determining if an entity is a VIE or VOE, but rather enhances the way the Company assesses some of these characteristics. The new standard became effective for the Company on January 1, 2016. As discussed under Basis of Presentation above, the adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations as none of its existing consolidation conclusions were changed.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled for the transfer of promised goods or services to customers. The ASU will replace most existing revenue recognition guidance under GAAP when it becomes effective. The new standard will be effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2018, however early application beginning on January 1, 2017 is permitted. The standard permits the use of either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. The Company has not yet selected a transition method nor has it determined the effect of the standard on its financial statements and related disclosures.