Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

Due to the Company’s ability as general partner to control either through ownership or by contract the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries, the Operating Partnership and each such subsidiary has been consolidated with the Company for financial reporting purposes, except for any unconsolidated properties/entities.

Real Estate Assets and Depreciation of Investment in Real Estate

The Company expects that substantially all of its transactions will be accounted for as asset acquisitions.  In an asset acquisition, the Company is required to capitalize transaction costs and allocate the purchase price on a relative fair value basis.  For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, all acquisitions were considered asset acquisitions.

For asset acquisitions, the Company allocates the purchase price of the net tangible and identified intangible assets on a relative fair value basis.  In making estimates of relative fair values for purposes of allocating purchase price, the Company utilizes a number of sources, including independent appraisals that may be obtained in connection with the acquisition or financing of the respective property, our own analysis of recently acquired and existing comparable properties in our portfolio and other market data.  The Company also considers information obtained about each property as a result of its pre-acquisition due diligence, marketing and leasing activities in estimating the relative fair value of the tangible and intangible assets/liabilities acquired.  The Company allocates the purchase price of acquired real estate to various components as follows:

• Land – Based on actual purchase price adjusted to an allocation of the relative fair value (as necessary) if acquired separately or market research/comparables if acquired with an operating property.

• Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment – Ranges between $10,000 and $35,000 per apartment unit acquired as an estimate of the allocation of the relative fair value of the appliances and fixtures inside an apartment unit.  The per-apartment unit amount applied depends on the economic age of the apartment units acquired.  Depreciation is calculated on the straight-line method over an estimated useful life of five to ten years.

• Lease Intangibles – The Company considers the value of acquired in-place leases and above/below market leases and the amortization period is the average remaining term of each respective acquired lease.  In-place residential leases’ average term at acquisition approximates six months.  In-place retail leases’ term at acquisition approximates the average remaining term of all acquired retail leases.  See Note 8 for more information on ground lease intangibles.

• Other Intangible Assets – The Company considers whether it has acquired other intangible assets, including any customer relationship intangibles and the amortization period is the estimated useful life of the acquired intangible asset.

• Building – Based on the allocation of the relative fair value determined on an “as-if vacant” basis.  Depreciation is calculated on the straight-line method over an estimated useful life of thirty years.

• Long-Term Debt – The Company calculates the allocation of the relative fair value by discounting the remaining contractual cash flows on each instrument at the current market rate for those borrowings.

Replacements inside an apartment unit such as appliances and carpeting are depreciated over an estimated useful life of five to ten years.  Renovation expenditures for ordinary maintenance and repairs are expensed to operations as incurred and significant renovations and improvements that improve and/or extend the useful life of the asset are capitalized over their estimated useful life, generally five to fifteen years.  Initial direct leasing costs are expensed as incurred as such expense approximates the deferral and amortization of initial direct leasing costs over the lease terms.  

Property dispositions are recorded when control transfers to unrelated third parties, contingencies have been removed and sufficient cash consideration has been received by the Company.  Upon disposition, the related costs and accumulated depreciation are removed from the respective accounts.  Any gain or loss on sale is recognized in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

The Company classifies real estate assets as real estate held for sale when it is probable a property will be disposed of.  The Company classifies properties under development and/or expansion and properties in the lease-up phase (including land) as construction-in-progress until construction has been completed and certificates of occupancy permits have been obtained.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company periodically evaluates its long-lived assets, including its investment in real estate, for indicators of impairment.  The judgments regarding the existence of impairment indicators are based on factors such as operational performance, market conditions, legal, regulatory and environmental concerns, the Company’s intent and ability to hold the related asset, as well as any significant cost overruns on development properties.  Future events could occur which would cause the Company to conclude that impairment indicators exist and an impairment loss is warranted.  If impairment indicators exist, the Company performs the following:

• For long-lived operating assets to be held and used, the Company compares the expected future undiscounted cash flows for the long-lived asset against the carrying amount of that asset.  If the sum of the estimated undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the asset, the Company would make an estimate of the fair value for the particular asset and would record an impairment loss for the difference between the estimated fair value and the carrying amount of the asset.  In determining the future undiscounted cash flows or the estimated fair value of an asset there is judgment in estimating the expected future rental revenues, operating expenses and discount and capitalization rates.

• For long-lived non-operating assets (projects under development and land held for development), management evaluates major cost overruns, market conditions that could affect lease-up projections, intent and ability to hold the asset and any other indicators of impairment.  If any of the indicators were to suggest impairment was present, the carrying value of the asset would be adjusted accordingly to fair value.  

• For long-lived assets to be disposed of, an impairment loss is recognized when the estimated fair value of the asset, less the estimated cost to sell, is less than the carrying amount of the asset measured at the time that the Company has determined it will sell the asset.  Long-lived assets held for sale and the related liabilities are separately reported, with the long-lived assets reported at the lower of their carrying amounts or their estimated fair values, less their costs to sell, and are not depreciated after reclassification to real estate held for sale.

Cost Capitalization

See the Real Estate Assets and Depreciation of Investment in Real Estate section for a discussion of the Company’s policy with respect to capitalization vs. expensing of fixed asset/repair and maintenance costs.  In addition, the Company capitalizes an allocation of the payroll and associated costs of employees directly responsible for and who spend their time on the execution and supervision of major capital and/or renovation projects.  These costs are reflected on the balance sheets as increases to depreciable property.

For all development projects, the Company uses its professional judgment in determining whether such costs meet the criteria for capitalization or must be expensed as incurred.  The Company capitalizes interest, real estate taxes and insurance and payroll and associated costs for those individuals directly responsible for and who spend their time on development activities, with capitalization ceasing no later than 90 days following issuance of the certificate of occupancy.  These costs are reflected on the balance sheets as construction-in-progress for each specific property.  The Company expenses as incurred all payroll costs of on-site employees working directly at our properties, except as noted above on our development properties prior to certificate of occupancy issuance and on specific major renovations at selected properties when additional incremental employees are hired.

During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the Company capitalized $14.2 million, $13.2 million and $14.7 million, respectively, of payroll and associated costs of employees directly responsible for and who spend their time on the execution and supervision of development activities as well as major capital and/or renovation projects.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all demand deposits, money market accounts and investments in certificates of deposit with a maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.  The Company maintains its cash and cash equivalents at financial institutions.  The combined account balances at one or more institutions typically exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance coverage, and, as a result, there is a concentration of credit risk related to amounts on deposit in excess of FDIC insurance coverage.  The Company believes that the risk is not significant, as the Company does not anticipate the financial institutions’ non-performance.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Including Derivative Instruments

The valuation of financial instruments requires the Company to make estimates and judgments that affect the fair value of the instruments.  The Company, where possible, bases the fair values of its financial instruments, including its derivative instruments, on listed market prices and third party quotes.  Where these are not available, the Company bases its estimates on current instruments with similar terms and maturities or on other factors relevant to the financial instruments.

In the normal course of business, the Company is exposed to the effect of interest rate changes.  The Company may seek to manage these risks by following established risk management policies and procedures including the use of derivatives to hedge interest rate risk on debt instruments.  The Company may also use derivatives to manage commodity prices in the daily operations of the business.

The Company has a policy of only entering into derivative contracts with major financial institutions based upon their credit ratings and other factors.  When viewed in conjunction with the underlying and offsetting exposure that the derivatives are designed to hedge, the Company has not sustained a material loss from these instruments nor does it anticipate any material adverse effect on its net income or financial position in the future from the use of derivatives it currently has in place.

The Company recognizes all derivatives as either assets or liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets and measures those instruments at fair value.  In addition, fair value adjustments will affect either shareholders’ equity/partners’ capital or net income depending on whether the derivative instruments qualify as a hedge for accounting purposes and, if so, the nature of the hedging activity.  When the terms of an underlying transaction are modified, or when the underlying transaction is terminated or completed, all changes in the fair value of the instrument are marked-to-market with changes in value included in net income each period until the instrument matures.  Any derivative instrument used for risk management that does not meet the hedging criteria is marked-to-market each period.  The Company does not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes.

Leases and Revenue Recognition

Rental income attributable to residential leases is recorded on a straight-line basis, which is not materially different than if it were recorded when due from residents and recognized monthly as it was earned.  Leases entered into between a resident and a property for the rental of an apartment unit are generally year-to-year, renewable upon consent of both parties on an annual or monthly basis.  Rental income attributable to retail leases (including commercial leases) is also recorded on a straight-line basis.  Retail leases generally have five to ten year lease terms with market based renewal options.  Fee and asset management revenue and interest income are recorded on an accrual basis.

The majority of the Company’s revenue is derived from residential, retail and other lease income, which are accounted for under the new leasing standard effective January 1, 2019 (discussed below in Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements).  Our revenue streams have the same timing and pattern of revenue recognition across our reportable segments, with consistent allocations between the leasing and revenue recognition standards.  

The Company is a lessor for its residential and retail leases and is a lessee for its corporate headquarters and regional offices and ground leases for land underlying current operating properties or projects under development.  If applicable, lease agreements must be evaluated to determine the accounting treatment as a finance or operating lease in accordance with the new leasing standard.  A lease is classified as a finance lease if it meets any of the following criteria:  (a) Ownership of the underlying asset is transferred to the lessee by the end of the lease term; (b) the lessee has and is reasonably certain to exercise an option to purchase the underlying asset; (c) the lease term is for the major part of the remaining economic life of the underlying asset; (d) the present value of future minimum lease payments is equal to substantially all of the fair value of the underlying asset; and (e) the underlying asset is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term due to its specialized nature.

The new leasing standard also requires the recognition on the balance sheet of: (a) a liability for the lease obligation (initially measured at the present value of the future lease payments not yet paid over the lease term); and (b) an asset for its right to use the underlying asset (initially equal to the lease liability).  See Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements below for additional details regarding the adoption of this standard.  Rental revenues are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease when reasonably assured they are collectible.  The Company uses estimates and judgments on the incremental borrowing rate used to calculate the present value of the future lease payments.  See Note 8 for additional discussion.

The Company’s revenue streams that are not accounted for under the new leasing standard include:

• Parking revenue – The Company’s parking revenue, not related to leasing, is derived primarily from monthly and transient daily parking and is accounted for at the point in time when control of the goods or services transfers to the customer and our performance obligation is satisfied.

• Other rental and non-rental related revenue – The Company receives other income, including, but not limited to: (a) ancillary income, such as laundry, renters insurance and cable income; (b) net settlement income or collections; and (c) miscellaneous fee income.

• Fee and asset management revenue – The Company received management fee revenue as the property manager for two unconsolidated joint ventures for which it had an ownership interest during part of the year but no longer owns as of December 31, 2019.

• Gains or losses on sales of real estate properties – The Company accounts for the sale of real estate properties and any related gain recognition in accordance with the accounting guidance applicable to sales of real estate, which establishes standards for recognition of profit on all real estate sales transactions.  The Company recognizes the sale, and associated gain or loss from the disposition, provided that the earnings process is complete and the Company does not have significant continuing involvement. A gain or loss is recognized when the criteria for an asset to be derecognized are met, which include when a contract exists and the buyer obtained control of the nonfinancial asset that was sold.

The Company’s rental income detail by leasing and revenue recognition standards along with the percentages of rental income are disclosed in the table below for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 (amounts in thousands).

	Year Ended December 31, 2019					Year Ended December 31, 2018
Income Type	$ Rental Income		% of Rental Income			$ Rental Income		% of Rental Income
Residential and retail rent	$	2,486,189				$	2,369,552
Utility recoveries ("RUBS")		68,576					63,218
Parking rent		37,905					33,757
Storage rent		3,816					3,674
Pet rent		11,617					11,185
Leasing standard (1)		2,608,103		96.6	%		2,481,386		96.3	%
Parking revenue		28,272					26,743
Other revenue		64,316					69,552
Revenue recognition standard		92,588		3.4	%		96,295		3.7	%
Rental income	$	2,700,691		100.0	%	$	2,577,681		100.0	%

(1) See Note 8 for additional details on leasing revenue.

Share-Based Compensation

The Company expenses share-based compensation such as restricted shares, restricted units and share options.  Any common share of beneficial interest, $0.01 par value per share (the “Common Shares”), issued pursuant to EQR’s incentive equity compensation and employee share purchase plans will result in ERPOP issuing units of partnership interest (“OP Units”) to EQR on a one-for-one basis, with ERPOP receiving the net cash proceeds of such issuances.  See Note 12 for further discussion.

The fair value of the option grants is recognized over the requisite service/vesting period of the options.  The fair value for the Company’s share options was estimated at the time the share options were granted using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the primary grant in each year having the following weighted average assumptions:

	2019			2018			2017
Expected volatility (1)		16.3	%		14.8	%		15.3	%
Expected life (2)	5 years			5 years			5 years
Expected dividend yield (3)		3.10	%		3.09	%		3.08	%
Risk-free interest rate (4)		2.43	%		2.52	%		1.93	%
Option valuation per share	$	8.06		$	6.15		$	5.86

(1) Expected volatility – Estimated based on the historical five-year volatility (the period matching the expected life) of EQR’s share price measured on a monthly basis.

(2) Expected life – Approximates the actual weighted average life of all share options granted since the Company went public in 1993.

(3) Expected dividend yield – Calculated by averaging the historical annual yield on EQR shares for a period matching the expected life of each grant, with the annual yield calculated by dividing actual regular dividends (excluding any special dividends) by the average price of EQR’s shares in a given year.

(4) Risk-free interest rate – The most current U.S. Treasury rate available at the grant date for a period matching the expected life of each grant.

The valuation method and assumptions are the same as those the Company used in accounting for option expense in its consolidated financial statements.  The Black-Scholes option valuation model was developed for use in estimating the fair value of traded options that have no vesting restrictions and are fully transferable.  This model is only one method of valuing options.  Because the Company’s share options have characteristics significantly different from those of traded options, and because changes in the subjective input assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimate, the actual value of the options to the recipient may be significantly different.

Income and Other Taxes

EQR has elected to be taxed as a REIT.  This, along with the nature of the operations of its operating properties, resulted in no provision for federal income taxes being made at the EQR level.  In addition, ERPOP generally is not liable for federal income taxes as the partners recognize their proportionate share of income or loss in their tax returns; therefore no provision for federal income taxes has been made at the ERPOP level.  Historically, the Company has generally only incurred certain state and local income, excise and franchise taxes.  The Company has elected taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”) status for certain of its corporate subsidiaries and as a result, these entities will incur both federal and state income taxes on any taxable income of such entities after consideration of any net operating losses.

The Company’s provision for income and other tax expense (benefit) was as follows for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017 (amounts in thousands):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019			2018		2017
State and local income, franchise and excise tax (benefit)	$	963		$	878	$	478
Alternative minimum tax credit (benefit) (1)		(3,244	)		—		—
Income and other tax expense (benefit) (2)	$	(2,281	)	$	878	$	478

(1) As provided in recent tax legislation which repealed the alternative minimum tax on corporations, in 2019 the Company claimed/received $1.6 million of refunds of various alternative minimum tax credit carryovers generated in prior tax years.  The provision allows for carryover amounts to be refunded over four years, with 50% available in the first year.  The remaining $1.6 million, which will be claimed over three years, was accrued in 2019, for a total expected benefit of $3.2 million.

(2) All provisions for income tax amounts are current and none are deferred.

During the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, the tax character of the Company’s dividends and distributions were as follows (unaudited):

	Year Ended December 31,
	2019 (1)		2018 (2)		2017 (3)
Tax character of dividends and distributions:
Ordinary dividends	$	1.39604	$	1.84454	$	1.22126
Long-term capital gain		0.61243		0.21423		0.18959
Unrecaptured section 1250 gain		0.23403		0.06498		0.10040
Dividends and distributions per
Common Share/Unit outstanding	$	2.24250	$	2.12375	$	1.51125

(1) The Company’s fourth quarter 2019 dividends and distributions of $0.5675 per Common Share/Unit outstanding will be included as taxable income in calendar year 2020.

(2) The Company’s fourth quarter 2018 dividends and distributions of $0.54 per Common Share/Unit outstanding was included as taxable income in calendar year 2019.

(3) The Company’s fourth quarter 2017 dividends and distributions of $0.50375 per Common Share/Unit outstanding was included as taxable income in calendar year 2018.

The unaudited cost of land and depreciable property, net of accumulated depreciation, for federal income tax purposes as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 was approximately $13.7 billion and $14.0 billion, respectively.

Principles of Consolidation

The Company may hold an interest in subsidiaries, partnerships, joint ventures and other similar entities and accounts for these interests in accordance with the consolidation guidance. The Company first determines whether to consolidate the entity as a variable interest entity (“VIE”) or account for the interest under the equity method of accounting.  Equity investors of VIEs do not have sufficient equity at risk to finance their activities without additional subordinated financial support or do not have substantive participating rights.  The Company consolidates an entity when it is considered to be the primary beneficiary or when it controls the entity through ownership of a majority voting interest.  A primary beneficiary has the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIE’s performance and has the obligation to absorb the expected losses or the right to receive the expected residual returns that could potentially be significant to the VIE.  In evaluating whether the entity is a VIE, the Company considers several factors, including, but not limited to, funding and financing sources, business purpose of the entity, related parties, developer and property management fees and agreement terms regarding major decisions, participating and voting rights, contributions and distributions.  

Noncontrolling Interests

A noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary (minority interest) is an ownership interest in the consolidated entity that should be reported as equity in the consolidated financial statements and separate from the parent company’s equity.  In addition, consolidated net income is required to be reported at amounts that include the amounts attributable to both the parent and the noncontrolling interest and the amount of consolidated net income attributable to the parent and the noncontrolling interest are required to be disclosed on the face of the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.  See Note 3 for further discussion.

Operating Partnership:  Net income is allocated to noncontrolling interests based on their respective ownership percentage of the Operating Partnership.  The ownership percentage is calculated by dividing the number of OP Units held by the noncontrolling interests by the total OP Units held by the noncontrolling interests and EQR.  Issuance of additional Common Shares and OP Units changes the ownership interests of both the noncontrolling interests and EQR.  Such transactions and the related proceeds are treated as capital transactions.

Partially Owned Properties: The Company reflects noncontrolling interests in partially owned properties on the balance sheet for the portion of properties consolidated by the Company that are not wholly owned by the Company.  The earnings or losses from those properties attributable to the noncontrolling interests are generally based on ownership percentage and are reflected as noncontrolling interests in partially owned properties in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income.

Partners’ Capital

The “Limited Partners” of ERPOP include various individuals and entities that contributed their properties to ERPOP in exchange for OP Units.  The “General Partner” of ERPOP is EQR.  Net income is allocated to the Limited Partners based on their respective ownership percentage of ERPOP.  The ownership percentage is calculated by dividing the number of OP Units held by the Limited Partners by the total OP Units held by the Limited Partners and the General Partner.  Issuance of additional Common Shares and OP Units changes the ownership interests of both the Limited Partners and EQR.  Such transactions and the related proceeds are treated as capital transactions.

Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests – Operating Partnership / Redeemable Limited Partners

The Company classifies Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests – Operating Partnership / Redeemable Limited Partners in the mezzanine section of the consolidated balance sheets for the portion of OP Units that EQR is required, either by contract or securities law, to deliver registered Common Shares to the exchanging OP Unit holder.  The redeemable noncontrolling interest units / redeemable limited partner units are adjusted to the greater of carrying value or fair market value based on the Common Share price of EQR at the end of each respective reporting period.  See Note 3 for further discussion.

Use of Estimates

In preparation of the Company’s financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, management makes 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 as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.  Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Reclassifications

Certain reclassifications considered necessary for a fair presentation have been made to the prior period financial statements in order to conform to the current year presentation.  These reclassifications have not changed the results of operations or equity/capital.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued a new standard which requires companies to adopt a new approach for estimating credit losses on certain types of financial instruments, such as trade and other receivables and loans.  The standard requires entities to estimate a lifetime expected credit loss for most financial instruments, including trade receivables.  In November 2018, the FASB issued an amendment excluding operating lease receivables accounted for under the new leases standard from the scope of the new credit losses standard.  The new standard was effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2020 and it did not have a material effect on its consolidated results of operations or financial position.  

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the FASB issued a comprehensive revenue recognition standard entitled Revenue from Contracts with Customers that superseded nearly all existing revenue recognition guidance.  The standard specifically excludes lease revenue.  The standard may be applied retrospectively to each prior period presented or prospectively with the cumulative effect, if any, recognized as of the date of adoption.  The Company selected the modified retrospective transition method as of the date of adoption as required effective January 1, 2018.  The majority of rental income consists of revenue from leasing arrangements, which is specifically excluded from the standard.  The Company analyzed its remaining revenue streams, inclusive of fee and asset management and gains and losses on sales, and concluded these revenue streams have the same timing and pattern of revenue recognition under the new guidance, and therefore the Company had no changes in revenue recognition with the adoption of the standard.  As such, adoption of the standard did not result in a cumulative adjustment recognized as of January 1, 2018, and the standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations, equity/capital or cash flows.

Additionally, as part of the revenue recognition standard, the FASB issued amendments related to partial sales of real estate.  Adoption of the partial sales standard did not result in a change of accounting for the Company related to its disposition process.  We concluded that the Company’s typical dispositions will continue to meet the criteria for sale and associated profit recognition under both standards.

In February 2016, the FASB issued a leases standard which sets out principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both parties to a contract (i.e. lessors and lessees).  The standard requires the following:

• Lessors – Leases are accounted for using an approach that is substantially equivalent to existing guidance for operating, sales-type and financing leases, but aligned with the revenue recognition standard.  Lessors are required to allocate lease payments to separate lease and non-lease components of each lease agreement, with the non-lease components evaluated under the revenue recognition standard.

• Lessees – Leases are accounted for using a dual approach, classifying leases as either operating or finance based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase of the leased asset by the lessee.  This classification determines whether the lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease (for operating leases) or based on an effective interest method (for finance leases).  A lessee is also required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on its balance sheet for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months regardless of their classification as operating or finance leases.  Leases with a term of 12 months or less are accounted for similar to existing guidance for operating leases.

The Company adopted this standard as required effective January 1, 2019 using a modified retrospective method and the Company applied the guidance as of the adoption date and elected certain practical expedients, as described below.  The standard impacted our consolidated balance sheets but did not impact our consolidated statements of operations. Right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and lease liabilities where the Company is the lessee were recognized for various corporate office leases and ground leases.  The Company recorded ROU assets and related lease liabilities to its opening balance sheet upon adoption on January 1, 2019 of $434.2 million and $278.3 million, respectively.  The Company calculated the net present value of the lease liabilities on January 1, 2019 and reclassed the following amounts from other assets and other liabilities to record our initial ROU assets (amounts in thousands):

	January 1, 2019			Balance Sheet Reclass:
Initial lease liabilities	$	278,287
Reclassifications:
Prepaid ground leases		17,886		Other Assets
Ground lease intangibles – below market, net		166,230		Other Assets
Ground lease intangibles – above market, net		(2,110	)	Other Liabilities
Straight-line rent liabilities (1)		(26,092	)	Other Liabilities
Initial right-of-use assets	$	434,201

(1) Straight-line rent liabilities relate to corporate office leases and certain ground leases.

The Company elected the practical expedient to not reassess the classification of existing operating leases.  As of January 1, 2019, any new or modified ground leases may be classified as financing leases unless they meet certain conditions. When there is a material lease modification, the Company is required to reassess the classification and remeasure the lease liability.

In July 2018, the FASB issued an amendment to the leases standard, which includes a practical expedient that provides lessors an option not to separate lease and non-lease components when certain criteria are met and instead account for those components as a single component under the leases standard.  The amendment also provides a transition option that permits the application of the new guidance as of the adoption date rather than to all periods presented.  The Company elected the practical expedient to account for both its lease and non-lease components as a single component under the leases standard and elected the new transition option as of the date of adoption effective January 1, 2019. See Note 8 for additional discussion regarding the new lease standard.

In August 2017, the FASB issued a final standard which makes changes to the hedge accounting model to enable entities to better portray their risk management activities in the financial statements.  The standard expands an entity’s ability to hedge nonfinancial and financial risk components, reduces complexity in fair value hedges of interest rate risk and eases certain documentation and assessment requirements.  The standard also eliminates the requirement to separately measure and report hedge ineffectiveness and generally requires the entire change in the fair value of any hedging instrument to be presented in the same income statement line as the hedged instrument.  The Company adopted this standard as required effective January 1, 2019 and it did not have a material effect on its consolidated results of operations or financial position.

Other

The Company is the controlling partner in various consolidated partnerships owning 17 properties consisting of 3,535 apartment units having a noncontrolling interest balance of $1.2 million at December 31, 2019.  The Company is required to make certain disclosures regarding noncontrolling interests in consolidated limited-life subsidiaries.  Of the consolidated entities described above, the Company is the controlling partner in limited-life partnerships owning four properties having a noncontrolling interest deficit balance of $10.2 million.  These four partnership agreements contain provisions that require the partnerships to be liquidated through the sale of their assets upon reaching a date specified in each respective partnership agreement.  The Company, as controlling partner, has an obligation to cause the property owning partnerships to distribute the proceeds of liquidation to the Noncontrolling Interests in these Partially Owned Properties only to the extent that the net proceeds received by the partnerships from the sale of their assets warrant a distribution based on the partnership agreements.  As of December 31, 2019 the Company estimates the value of Noncontrolling Interest distributions for these four properties would have been approximately $78.9 million (“Settlement Value”) had the partnerships been liquidated.  This Settlement Value is based on estimated third party consideration realized by the partnerships upon disposition of the four Partially Owned Properties and is net of all other assets and liabilities, including yield maintenance on the mortgages encumbering the properties, that would have been due on December 31, 2019 had those mortgages been prepaid.  Due to, among other things, the inherent uncertainty in the sale of real estate assets, the amount of any potential distribution to the Noncontrolling Interests in the Company’s Partially Owned Properties is subject to change.  To the extent that the partnerships’ underlying assets are worth less than the underlying liabilities, the Company has no obligation to remit any consideration to the Noncontrolling Interests in these Partially Owned Properties.