Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation and use of Estimates

The accompanying consolidated financial statements, presented in U.S. dollars, are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, and revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. The Company’s actual results could differ from those estimates and assumptions. All material intercompany transactions among consolidated entities have been eliminated. All dollar amounts in the tables herein, except share, per share, unit and per unit amounts, are stated in thousands unless otherwise indicated.

Principles of Consolidation

The Company’s consolidated financial statements include its accounts and the accounts of other subsidiaries and joint ventures (including partnerships and limited liability companies) over which it has control. Investments acquired or created are evaluated based on the accounting guidance relating to variable interest entities (“VIEs”), which requires the consolidation of VIEs in which the Company is considered to be the primary beneficiary. If the investment is determined not to be a VIE, then the investment is evaluated for consolidation using the voting interest model.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In March 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-04, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848), Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting.” ASU 2020-04 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. During the first quarter of 2020, the Company elected to apply the hedge accounting expedients related to probability and the assessments of effectiveness for future LIBOR-indexed cash flows to assume that the index upon which future hedged transactions will be based matches the index on the corresponding derivatives. Application of these expedients preserves the presentation of derivatives consistent with past presentation. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of the guidance and may apply other elections as applicable as additional changes in the market occur.

In March 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted final rules that amend the financial disclosure requirements for subsidiary issuers and guarantors of registered debt securities in Rule 3-10 of Regulation S-X. Under the amended rules, parent companies can provide alternative disclosures in lieu of separate audited financial statements of subsidiary issuers and guarantors that meet certain circumstances. The rule is effective on January 4, 2021, but earlier compliance is permitted. The Company is in the process of evaluating the rule and its potential effect on the consolidated financial statements of both ACC and ACCOP.

In addition, the Company does not expect the following accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB to have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements:



Accounting Standards Update		Effective Date

ASU 2019-12, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes"		January 1, 2021

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments.” The standard requires entities to estimate a lifetime expected credit loss for most financial assets, including trade and other receivables, held-to-maturity debt securities, loans and other financial instruments, and to present the net amount of the financial instrument expected to be collected. In November 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-19, “Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses,” which amends the transition requirements and scope of ASU 2016-13 and clarifies that receivables arising from operating leases are not within the scope of the credit losses standard, but rather, should be accounted for in accordance with the leases standard. The Company adopted ASU 2016-13 on January 1, 2020.

The Company notes that a majority of its financial instruments result from operating leasing transactions, which as mentioned above, are not within the scope of the new standard. However, the Company did perform both a quantitative and qualitative analysis on the financial assets that are covered under this guidance, including its loans receivable. Based on this analysis, which included analyzing historical performance, occupancy rates, projected future performance, and macroeconomic trends, the Company concluded this new standard did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In addition, on January 1, 2020, the Company adopted the following accounting pronouncements which did not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements:


•	ASU 2018-15, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement that is a Service Contract”


•	ASU 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework - Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement”

In April 2020, the FASB issued a Staff Question & Answer (“Q&A”) which was intended to reduce the challenges of evaluating the enforceable rights and obligations of leases for concessions granted to lessees in response to the novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”), which was characterized on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization as a pandemic. Prior to this guidance, the Company was required to determine, on a lease by lease basis, if a lease concession should be accounted for as a lease modification, potentially resulting in any lease concessions granted being recorded as a reduction to revenue on a straight-line basis over the remaining terms of the leases. The Q&A allows both lessors and lessees to bypass this analysis and elect not to evaluate whether concessions provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are lease modifications. This relief is subject to certain conditions being met, including ensuring the total remaining lease payments are substantially the same or less as compared to the original lease payments prior to the concession being granted. The Company, as lessor, has elected to apply such relief and will therefore not evaluate if lease concessions that were granted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic meet the definition of a lease modification. Accordingly, the Company accounted for qualifying rent concessions as negative variable lease payments, which reduced revenue from such leases in the period the concessions were granted. The Company, as a lessee, has not received any concessions under its ground or other lease agreements resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying interim financial statements are unaudited but have been prepared in accordance with GAAP for interim financial information and in conjunction with the rules and regulations of the SEC. Accordingly, they do not include all disclosures required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting solely of normal recurring matters) necessary for a fair presentation of the financial statements of the Company for these interim periods have been included. Because of the seasonal nature of the Company’s operations, the results of operations and cash flows for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of results for other interim periods or for the full year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash consists of funds held in trust and invested in low risk investments, generally consisting of government backed securities, as permitted by the indentures of trusts, which were established in connection with three bond issues for the Company’s on-campus participating properties. Additionally, restricted cash includes escrow accounts held by lenders and resident security deposits, as required by law in certain states. Restricted cash also consists of escrow deposits made in connection with potential property acquisitions and development opportunities. These escrow deposits are invested in interest-bearing accounts at federally-insured banks. Realized and unrealized gains and losses are not material for the periods presented.

Leasing Revenue

The Company’s primary business involves leasing properties to students under agreements that are classified as operating leases, and which have terms of 12 months or less. These student leases do not provide for variable rent payments. The Company is also a lessor under commercial leases at certain owned properties, some of which provide for variable lease payments based upon tenant performance such as a percentage of sales. The Company recognizes the base lease payments provided for under the leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term, and variable payments are recognized in the period in which the changes in facts and circumstances on which the variable payments are based occur. Lease income under both student and commercial leases is included in owned property revenues in the accompanying consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Lease income under student leases totaled $176.9 million and $194.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $408.3 million and $416.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. During the three months ended June 30, 2020, through its Resident Hardship Program, the Company provided $8.6 million in rent abatements to its tenants experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 and an additional $15.1 million in rent abatements through its University Partnerships. As discussed above, these abatements were recorded as a reduction to Owned Properties Revenue. Also during the three months ended June 30, 2020, an additional $1.5 million in rent abatements were granted to tenants at the Company’s on-campus participating properties, which are reflected as a reduction to On-campus Participating Properties Revenue. The Company also waived all late fees and online payment fees and suspended financial related evictions. Lease income under commercial leases totaled $2.9 million and $3.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively, and $6.1 million and $6.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

Consolidated VIEs

The Company has investments in various entities that qualify as VIEs for accounting purposes and for which the Company is the primary beneficiary and therefore includes the entities in its consolidated financial statements. These VIEs include the Operating Partnership, five joint ventures that own a total of 10 operating properties and a land parcel, and six properties owned under the on-campus participating property structure. The VIE assets and liabilities consolidated within the Company's assets and liabilities are disclosed at the bottom of the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Management assesses whether there has been an impairment in the value of the Company’s investments in real estate whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. As of June 30, 2020, the Company has continued to assess whether the global economic disruption caused by the novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”), which was characterized on March 11, 2020 by the World Health Organization as a pandemic, was an impairment indicator. The Company examined a number of factors including the overall market and economic environment, economic and operating conditions of the Company’s properties, as well as the demand, creditworthiness, and performance from the properties’ tenants, and concluded that there were no impairments of the carrying values of the Company’s investments in real estate as of June 30, 2020.