Segment Reporting

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

Segments

The Company consists of three reportable segments, Tax-Exempt Bond Investments, MF Properties, and Consolidated VIEs.  In addition to the three reportable segments, the Company also separately reports its consolidating and eliminating entries because it does not allocate certain items to the segments.

Tax-Exempt Bond Investments Segment

The Tax-Exempt Bond Investments segment consists of the Company's portfolio of federally tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds which have been issued to provide construction and/or permanent financing of multifamily residential apartments.  Such tax exempt bonds are held as long-term investments.  As of December 31, 2011, the Company held fifteen tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds not associated with Consolidated VIEs and three tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds associated with Consolidated VIEs which are bonds that are eliminated in consolidation on the Company's financial statements. Additionally, two bonds secured by the three Ohio Properties subject to a sales agreement (Note 3) are eliminated in consolidation on the Company's financial statements. The multifamily apartment properties financed by the 20 tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds contain a total of 3,959 rental units.

MF Properties Segment

The MF Properties segment consists of indirect equity interests in multifamily apartment properties which are not currently financed by tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds held by the Partnership but which the Partnership eventually intends to finance by such bonds through a restructuring.  In connection with any such restructuring, the Partnership will be required to dispose of any equity interest held in such MF Properties.  The Partnership's interests in its current MF Properties are not currently classified as Assets Held for Sale because the Partnership is not actively marketing them for sale, there is no definitive purchase agreement in existence that, under current guidance, can be recognized as a sale of real estate assets and, therefore, no sale is expected in the next twelve months.  As discussed above, the Ohio Properties are subject to a sales agreement (Note 3). During the time the Partnership holds an interest in an MF Property, any net rental income generated by the MF Properties in excess of debt service will be available for distribution to the Partnership in accordance with its interest in the MF Property.  Any such cash distribution will contribute to the Partnership's CAD.  As of December 31, 2011, the Company held an interest in nine MF Properties containing a total of 1,410 rental units and three MF Properties subject to a sales agreement containing a total of 362 rental units.

Consolidated VIE segment

The Consolidated VIE segment consists of multifamily apartment properties which are financed with tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds held by the Partnership, the assets, liabilities and operating results of which are consolidated with those of the Partnership.  The tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds on these Consolidated VIE properties are eliminated from the Company's financial statements as a result of such consolidation, however, such bonds are held as long-term investments by the Partnership which continues to be entitled to receive principal and interest payments on such bonds.  The Company does not actually own an equity position in the Consolidated VIEs or their underlying properties.  As of December 31, 2011, the Company consolidated three VIE multifamily apartment properties containing a total of 650 rental units.

Management closely monitors and evaluates the financial reporting associated with and the operations of the Consolidated VIEs and the MF Properties and performs such evaluation separately from the other operations of the Partnership through interaction with the affiliated property management company which manages the multifamily apartment properties held by the Consolidated VIEs and the MF Properties.

Management's goals with respect to the properties constituting the Company's Consolidated VIE and MF Properties reportable segments is to generate increasing amounts of net rental income from these properties that will allow them to (i) make all payments of base interest, and possibly pay contingent interest, on the properties included in the Tax-Exempt Bond Investments segment and the Consolidated VIE segment, and (ii) distribute net rental income to the Partnership from the MF Properties segment until such properties can be refinanced with additional tax-exempt mortgage bonds meeting the Partnership's investment criteria.  In order to achieve these goals, management of these multifamily apartment properties is focused on: (i) maintaining high economic occupancy and increasing rental rates through effective leasing, reduced turnover rates and providing quality maintenance and services to maximize resident satisfaction; (ii) managing operating expenses and achieving cost reductions through operating efficiencies and economies of scale generally inherent in the management of a portfolio of multiple properties; and (iii) emphasizing regular programs of repairs, maintenance and property improvements to enhance the competitive advantage and value of its properties in their respective market areas.

The following table details certain key financial information for the Company's reportable segments for the three years ended December 31:

	2011			2010			2009
Total revenue
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing	$	12,635,513		$	11,147,091		$	11,929,375
MF Properties	10,974,897			7,205,099			7,045,578
Consolidated VIEs	10,043,284			7,487,438			8,621,478
Consolidation/eliminations	(6,046,445		)	(3,374,760		)	(6,707,264		)
Total revenue	$	27,607,249		$	22,464,868		$	20,889,167
Interest expense
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing	$	4,463,926		$	1,755,427		$	2,892,521
MF Properties	1,305,182			759,052			1,391,159
Consolidated VIEs	4,037,725			5,546,229			6,847,884
Consolidation/eliminations	(4,037,725		)	(5,546,229		)	(6,929,438		)
Total interest expense	$	5,769,108		$	2,514,479		$	4,202,126
Depreciation expense
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing	$	—		$	—		$	—
MF Properties	3,095,881			1,904,789			1,804,956
Consolidated VIEs	1,683,280			2,226,339			2,563,915
Consolidation/eliminations	—			—			—
Total depreciation expense	$	4,779,161		$	4,131,128		$	4,368,871
Income (loss) from continuing operations
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing	$	(353,323	)	$	2,384,926		$	4,485,438
MF Properties	(30,301		)	(522,857		)	(1,153,982		)
Consolidated VIEs	682,243			(8,230,629		)	(6,811,628		)
Consolidation/eliminations	(1,971,782		)	5,764,369			572,831
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$	(1,673,163	)	$	(604,191	)	$	(2,907,341	)
Net income (loss)
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing	$	(353,323	)	$	2,384,926		$	4,485,438
MF Properties	(601,060		)	(319,026		)	(1,142,442		)
Consolidated VIEs	682,243			(8,230,629		)	27,974,817
Consolidation/eliminations	(1,971,782		)	5,764,369			(7,478,860		)
Net income (loss) - America First Tax Exempt Investors, L. P.	$	(2,243,922	)	$	(400,360	)	$	23,838,953
Total assets
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing	$	321,433,013		$	316,922,744		$	186,493,868
MF Properties	81,421,532			43,979,530			54,064,969
Consolidated VIEs	24,315,353			47,504,227			57,761,651
Consolidation/eliminations	(129,193,353		)	(166,799,255		)	(107,549,768		)
Total assets	$	297,976,545		$	241,607,246		$	190,770,720
Total partners' capital
Tax-Exempt Bond Financing	$	179,285,257		$	192,682,394		$	125,995,908
MF Properties	2,394,991			(3,882,221		)	6,250,542
Consolidated VIEs	(24,872,428		)	(41,635,836		)	(41,693,546		)
Consolidation/eliminations	(25,648,208		)	(19,001,446		)	7,985,331
Total partners' capital	$	131,159,612		$	128,162,891		$	98,538,235