Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure and Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]	Note A – Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of Century Properties Fund XVI (the "Partnership" or the "Registrant") have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8-03 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. The Partnership's general partners are Fox Capital Management Corporation (the "Managing General Partner" or "FCMC") and Fox Realty Investors ("FRI"). The Managing General Partner and the managing general partner of FRI are affiliates of Apartment Investment and Management Company ("Aimco"), a publicly traded real estate investment trust. In the opinion of the Managing General Partner, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring items) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011. The consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2010 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date but does not include all the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Partnership's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010. At September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, the Partnership had outstanding 129,799 limited partnership units. The Partnership’s management evaluated subsequent events through the time this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q was filed.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the organization, consolidation and basis of presentation of financial statements disclosure, and significant accounting policies of the reporting entity. May be provided in more than one note to the financial statements, as long as users are provided with an understanding of (1) the significant judgments and assumptions made by an enterprise in determining whether it must consolidate a VIE and/or disclose information about its involvement with a VIE, (2) the nature of restrictions on a consolidated VIE's assets reported by an enterprise in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets, (3) the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with an enterprise's involvement with the VIE, and (4) how an enterprise's involvement with the VIE affects the enterprise's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. Describes procedure if disclosures are provided in more than one note to the financial statements.

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