Organization and Accounting Policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Organization and 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 eighty-two manufactured home communities containing approximately 14,500 developed home sites. The communities are located in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana and Michigan. 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 Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

The Company has elected to be taxed as a 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, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2014. 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, 2013.

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 $223,797 and $132,580 have been recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively.

On January 15, 2014, 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 $232,750. This grant vests over 5 years.

As of March 31, 2014, there were options outstanding to purchase 1,043,000 shares. There were 2,593,000 shares available for grant under the 2013 Stock Option and Stock Award Plan, as amended. During the three months ended March 31, 2014, options to one employee to purchase a total of 50,000 shares expired. The aggregate intrinsic value of options outstanding as of March 31, 2014 was $493,203. As of March 31, 2013, there were options outstanding to purchase 745,000 shares and 558,188 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 financialmarket 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.  The Company's primary strategy in entering into derivative contracts is to minimize the variability that changes in interest rates could have on its future cash flows. The Company generally employs derivative instruments that effectively convert a portion of its variable rate debt to fixed rate debt. The Company does not enter into derivative instruments for speculative purposes. The Company had entered into various interest rate swap agreements that had the effect of fixing interest rates relative to specific mortgage loans.

During 2012, the Company entered into two interest rate swap agreements that have the effect of fixing interest rates relative to specific mortgage loans as follows:

Mortgage	Due Date	Mortgage Interest Rate	Effective Fixed Rate	Balance 3/31/14
Allentown/Clinton	2/1/2017	LIBOR + 3.25%	4.39%	$10,721,062
Various – 11 properties	8/1/2017	LIBOR + 3.00%	3.89%	$12,726,571

The Company's interest rate swap agreements are based upon 30-day LIBOR.  The re-pricing 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 agreements are net settled monthly. The Company has designated these derivatives as cash flow hedges 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 these hedges will be reported as a component of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. To the extent that the hedging relationships are not effective or do not qualify as cash flow hedges, 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, 2014 and December 31, 2013, the Company has determined that these interest rate swap agreements are highly effective as cash flow hedges. As a result, the fair value of these derivatives of $(35,352) and $(39,840), respectively, was recorded as a component of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, with the corresponding liability included in Accrued Liabilities and Deposits.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In April 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2014-08, “Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosures of Disposals of Components of an Entity”. ASU No. 2014-08 changes the definition of a discontinued operation to include only those disposals of components of an entity that represent a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on an entity's operations and financial results. ASU No. 2014-08 is effective prospectively for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2014, with earlier adoption permitted. The Company has decided to early adopt this standard effective with the interim period beginning January 1, 2014. Management believes that the adoption of ASU No. 2014-08 will not have a material impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective accounting pronouncements, if adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements.

Reclassifications

Certain amounts in the financial statements for the prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the statement presentation for the current periods.