BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

We conduct a majority of our business activities through our consolidated operating partnership, IRET Properties, A North Dakota Limited Partnership (the “Operating Partnership”), as well as through a number of other consolidated subsidiary entities. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and the accounts of all our subsidiaries in which we maintain a controlling interest, including the Operating Partnership. All intercompany balances and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

The condensed consolidated financial statements also reflect the Operating Partnership's ownership of certain joint venture entities in which the Operating Partnership has a general partner or controlling interest. These entities are consolidated into our operations, with noncontrolling interests reflecting the noncontrolling partners’ share of ownership, income, and expenses.

UNAUDITED INTERIM CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Our interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, certain disclosures accompanying annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP are omitted. The year-end balance sheet data was derived from audited consolidated financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting solely of normal recurring adjustments necessary for the fair presentation of our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows for the interim periods, have been included.

The current period’s results of operations are not necessarily indicative of results which ultimately may be achieved for the year. The interim condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes thereto should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as filed with the SEC on February 19, 2020.

USE OF ESTIMATES

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and 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 differ from those estimates.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

The following table provides a brief description of recent accounting standards updates (“ASUs”).



Standard	Description	Date of Adoption	Effect on the Financial Statements or Other Significant Matters
ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments; ASU 2018-19, Codification Improvements to Topic 326; ASU 2019-05, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses - Targeted Transition Relief	These ASUs require entities to estimate a lifetime expected credit loss for most financial assets, such as loans and other financial instruments, and to present the net amount expected to be collected. In 2018, another ASU was issued to amend ASU 2016-13, which clarifies that it does not apply to operating lease receivables. In 2019, an additional ASU was issued to provide transition relief in which an entity is allowed to elect the fair value option on an instrument-by-instrument basis for eligible instruments, upon adoption of Topic 326.	These ASUs are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.	We elected the fair value option for all of our mortgages and notes receivable at January 1, 2020, as allowed by ASU 2019-05. As a result, we do not have any receivables or other financial instruments to which we are applying this standard.
ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurements (Topic 820) - Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirement for Fair Value Measurements	This ASU eliminates certain disclosure requirements affecting all levels of measurement, and modifies and adds new disclosure requirements for Level 3 measurements.	This ASU is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted.	The new standard did not have a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements but did require additional disclosures.
ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) - Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting	This ASU contains practical expedients for reference rate reform related activities that impact debt, leases, derivatives and other contracts. The guidance in ASU 2020-04 is optional and may be elected over time as reference rate reform activities occur.	This ASU is optional and may be elected over time.	We are currently evaluating the practical expedients and the impact they may have on our condensed consolidated financial statements.

LEASES

Effective January 1, 2019, we adopted ASUs 2016-02, 2018-10, 2018-11, 2018-20, and 2019-01 related to leases using the modified retrospective approach. We elected to adopt the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance, which permits us to not reassess prior conclusions about lease identification, classification, and initial direct costs under the new standard, and the practical expedient related to land easements, which allows us to not evaluate existing or expired land easements that were not previously accounted for under ASC 840. We made an accounting policy election to exclude leases in which we are a lessee with a term of 12 months or less from the balance sheet.

As a lessor, we primarily lease multifamily apartment homes which qualify as operating leases with terms that are generally one year or less. Rental revenues are recognized in accordance with ASC 842, Leases, using a method that represents a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Rental income represents approximately 98.4% of our total revenues and includes gross market rent less adjustments for concessions, vacancy loss, and bad debt. Other property revenues represent the remaining 1.6% of our total revenues and are primarily driven by other fee income, which is typically recognized when earned, at a point in time.

Some of our apartment communities have commercial spaces available for lease. Lease terms for these spaces typically range from three to fifteen years. The leases for commercial spaces generally include options to extend the lease for additional terms.

Many of our leases contain non-lease components for utility reimbursement from our residents and common area maintenance from our commercial tenants. We have elected the practical expedient to combine lease and non-lease components for all asset classes. The combined components are included in lease income and are accounted for under ASC 842.

REVENUES

Revenue is recognized in accordance with the transfer of goods and services to customers at an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled for those goods and services. We elected to omit disclosing the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for contracts with an original expected length of one year or less.

Revenue streams that are included in revenues from contracts with customers include:


•	Other property revenues: We recognize revenue for rental related income not included as a component of a lease, such as application fees, as earned, and have concluded that this is appropriate under the new standard.

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Gains or losses on sales of real estate: Subsequent to the adoption of the new standard, a gain or loss is recognized when the criteria for derecognition of an asset are met, including when (1) a contract exists and (2) the buyer obtained control of the nonfinancial asset that was sold. As a result, we may recognize a gain on real estate disposition transactions that previously did not qualify as a sale or for full profit recognition under the previous accounting standard.

IMPAIRMENT OF LONG-LIVED ASSETS

We periodically evaluate our long-lived assets, including investments in real estate, for impairment indicators. The impairment evaluation is performed on assets by property such that assets for a property form an asset group. The judgments regarding the existence of impairment indicators are based on factors such as operational performance, market conditions, expected holding period of each asset group, and legal and environmental concerns. If indicators exist, we compare the expected future undiscounted cash flows for the long-lived asset group against the carrying amount of that asset group. If the sum of the estimated undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the asset group, an impairment loss is recorded for the difference between the estimated fair value and the carrying amount of the asset group. If our anticipated holding period for properties, the estimated fair value of properties, or other factors change based on market conditions or otherwise, our evaluation of impairment charges may be different and such differences could be material to our consolidated financial statements. The evaluation of anticipated cash flows is subjective and is based, in part, on assumptions regarding future occupancy, rental rates, and capital requirements that could differ materially from actual results. Reducing planned property holding periods may increase the likelihood of recording impairment losses.

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

We have determined that our Operating Partnership and each of our less-than-wholly owned real estate partnerships is a variable interest entity (“VIE”), as the limited partners or the functional equivalent of limited partners lack substantive kick-out rights and substantive participating rights. We are the primary beneficiary of the VIEs, and the VIEs are required to be consolidated on our balance sheet because we have a controlling financial interest in the VIEs and have both the power to direct the activities of the VIEs that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIEs as well as the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the VIEs that could potentially be significant to the VIEs. Because our Operating Partnership is a VIE, all of our assets and liabilities are held through a VIE.