Derivative Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Derivative Financial Instruments [Abstract]

Derivative Financial Instruments

12. Derivative Financial Instruments

The Trust has exposure to fluctuations in market interest rates. The Trust seeks to limit its risk to interest rate fluctuations through match financing on its assets as well as through hedging transactions.

The Trust’s objective in using interest rate derivatives is to add stability to interest expense and to manage its exposure to interest rate movements. To accomplish this objective, the Trust primarily uses interest rate caps and interest rate swaps as part of its interest rate risk management strategy relating to certain of its variable rate debt instruments.

The effective portion of changes in fair value of derivatives designated and that qualify as cash flow hedges is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income and is subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged forecasted transaction affects earnings. The ineffective portion of the change, if any, in fair value of the derivatives is recognized directly in earnings. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2012, interest rate caps were used to hedge the variable cash flows associated with existing variable-rate debt. The Trust also assesses, both at its inception and on an ongoing basis, whether the hedging instrument is highly effective in achieving offsetting changes in the cash flows attributable to the hedged item. The Trust has recorded changes in fair value related to the effective portion of its interest rate hedges designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges totaling $42,000 and ($29,000) of comprehensive loss (income) for the twelve months ended December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.

The table below presents information about the Trust’s interest rate caps that are included on the consolidated balance sheet that were designated as cash flow hedges of interest rate risk at December 31, 2012 (dollars in thousands):

Maturity	Strike Rate			Notional Amount of Hedge		Cost of Hedge		Estimated Fair Value of Cap  in Other Comprehensive Income			Unrealized Gain on Settled Cap in Other Comprehensive Income		Change in Cap Valuations Included in Other Comprehensive Income for the  Year Ended December 31,
Aug 2014		0.5	%	$	13,408	$	22	$	(4	)	$	—	$	(4	)

The table below presents information about the Trust’s interest rate caps that were not designated as cash flow hedges at December 31, 2012 (in thousands):

Maturity	Strike Rate			Notional Amount of Hedge		Cost of Hedge		Estimated Fair Value		Change in Cap Valuations  Included in Interest Expense for the Year Ended December 31, 2012
Oct 2014		1.00	%	$	5,753	$	174	$	1	$	121
May 2013		1.25	%		51,982		196		—		19
May 2014		1.75	%		51,982		434		—		49