ORGANIZATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

ORGANIZATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES

NOTE 1 – ORGANIZATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES

UMH Properties, Inc. (“we”, “our”, “us” or “the Company”) owns and operates forty-one manufactured home communities containing approximately 9,000 developed homesites. The communities are located in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Indiana. The Company, through its wholly-owned taxable subsidiary, UMH Sales and Finance, Inc. (S&F), conducts manufactured home sales in its communities. S&F was established to enhance the occupancy of the communities.  The consolidated financial statements of the Company include S&F and all of its other wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company also invests in securities of other REITs.

The Company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) under Sections 856-860 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code), and intends to maintain its qualification as a REIT in the future. As a qualified REIT, with limited exceptions, the Company will not be taxed under Federal and certain state income tax laws at the corporate level on taxable income that it distributes to its shareholders. For special tax provisions applicable to REITs, refer to Sections 856-860 of the Code. The Company is subject to franchise taxes in some of the states in which the Company owns property.

The interim consolidated financial statements furnished herein have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (US GAAP) applicable to interim financial information, the instructions to Form 10-Q, and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by US GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2012. 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, 2011.

Use of Estimates

In preparing the consolidated financial statements in accordance with US GAAP, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, as well as contingent assets and liabilities as of the dates of the consolidated balance sheets and revenue and expenses for the years then ended. Actual results could differ significantly from these estimates and assumptions.

Stock Based Compensation

The Company accounts for awards of stock options and restricted stock in accordance with ASC 718-10, Compensation-Stock Compensation. ASC 718-10 requires that compensation cost for all stock awards be calculated and amortized over the service period (generally equal to the vesting period). The compensation cost for stock option grants is determined using option pricing models, intended to estimate the fair value of the awards at the grant date less estimated forfeitures. The compensation expense for restricted stock is recognized based on the fair value of the restricted stock awards less estimated forfeitures.  The fair value of restricted stock awards is equal to the fair value of the Company’s stock on the grant date. Compensation costs of $107,972 and $49,200 have been recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

On January 19, 2012, the Company awarded to Samuel A. Landy a restricted stock award of 25,000 shares in accordance with his employment agreement. The grant date fair value of this restricted stock grant was $239,000. This grant vests over 5 years.

As of March 31, 2012, there were options outstanding to purchase 725,000 shares and 632,188 shares were available for grant under the Company’s 2003 Stock Option and Stock Award Plan, as amended. As of March 31, 2011, there were options outstanding to purchase 731,000 shares and 735,188 shares were available for grant under the Company’s 2003 Stock Option and Stock Award Plan, as amended.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

In the normal course of business, the Company is exposed to financial market risks, including interest rate risk on our variable rate debt. We attempt to limit these risks by following established risk management policies, procedures and strategies, including the use of derivative financial instruments. We do not use derivative financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

On February 2, 2012, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement that has the effect of fixing interest rates relative to a specific mortgage loan as follows:

Mortgage	Due Date	Mortgage Interest Rate	Effective Fixed Rate	Balance 3/31/12
Allentown/Clinton	2/1/2017	LIBOR + 3.25%	4.39%	$11,347,774

The Company's interest rate swap is based upon 30-day LIBOR.  The repricing and scheduled maturity dates, payment dates, index and the notional amounts of the interest rate swap agreements coincide with those of the underlying mortgage. The interest rate swap agreement is net settled monthly. The Company has designated this derivative as a cash flow hedge and has recorded the fair value on the balance sheet in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (See Note 7 for information on the determination of fair value).  The effective portion of the gain or loss on this hedge will be reported as a component of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. To the extent that the hedging relationship is not effective or do not qualify as a cash flow hedge, the ineffective portion is recorded in interest expense. Hedges that received designated hedge accounting treatment are evaluated for effectiveness at the time that they are designated as well as through the hedging period. As of March 31, 2012, the Company has determined that this interest rate swap agreement is highly effective as a cash flow hedge. As a result, the fair value of this derivative of ($29,892) was recorded as a component of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, with the corresponding liability included in Accrued Liabilities and Deposits.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs.  The pronouncement was issued to provide a uniform framework for fair value measurements and related disclosures between U.S. GAAP and IFRS. ASU 2011-04 changes certain fair value measurement principles and enhances the disclosure requirements particularly for Level 3 fair value measurements. This pronouncement is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2011. The adoption of ASU 2011-04 did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income. ASU 2011-05 allows an entity the option to present the total of comprehensive income, the components of net income, and the components of other comprehensive income either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. In both choices, an entity is required to present each component of net income along with total net income, each component of other comprehensive income along with a total for other comprehensive income, and a total amount for comprehensive income. ASU 2011-05 eliminates the option to present the components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders' equity. The amendments to the Codification in the ASU do not change the items that must be reported in other comprehensive income or when an item of other comprehensive income must be reclassified to net income and are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011.  In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-12, Deferral of the Effective Date for Amendments to the Presentation of Reclassifications of Items Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in Accounting Standards Update No. 2011-05. The provisions of ASU 2011-12 indefinitely defer portions of ASU 2011-05 related to the presentation of reclassifications of items out of accumulated other comprehensive income. The adoption of ASU 2011-05 and ASU 2011-12 did not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.