Significant accounting policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Significant accounting policies

Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

The condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and include the accounts of the Company, the Operating Partnership and its consolidated subsidiaries. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. The Company consolidates real estate partnerships and other entities that are not variable interest entities (“VIEs”) when it owns, directly or indirectly, a majority interest in the entity or is otherwise able to control the entity. The Company consolidates VIEs in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) No. 810, Consolidation, if it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE as determined by its power to direct the VIE’s activities and the obligation to absorb its losses or the right to receive its benefits, which are potentially significant to the VIE. Entities for which the Company owns an interest, but does not consolidate, are accounted for under the equity method of accounting as an investment in unconsolidated subsidiary and are included in escrow deposits, prepaid expenses and other assets within the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Ownership interests in certain consolidated subsidiaries of the Company held by outside parties are included in noncontrolling interest in the condensed consolidated financial statements.

The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and in conjunction with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures required for annual financial statements have been condensed or excluded pursuant to SEC rules and regulations. Accordingly, the condensed consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. In the opinion of management, all adjustments of a normal and recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of the condensed consolidated financial statements for the interim periods have been made. The preparation of condensed consolidated 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 condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

There have been no changes to our significant accounting policies that have had a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes, compared to those policies disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014. Therefore, notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements that would substantially duplicate the disclosures contained in our most recent audited consolidated financial statements have been omitted.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In April 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-08, Presentation of Financial Statements, Reporting Discontinued Operations and Disclosure of Disposals of Components of an Entity, which changes the criteria for reporting discontinued operations. Under the new guidance, only disposals representing a strategic shift in operations such as a major line of business, major geographic area or a major equity method investment, should be presented as discontinued operations. In addition the new guidance requires expanded disclosures about discontinued operations that will provide more information about the assets, liabilities, income and expenses of discontinued operations. The guidance is effective for all disposals of components (or classifications as held for sale) that occur within annual periods beginning on or after December 15, 2014. The Company’s adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on our financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which provides guidance on revenue recognition and supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Topic 605, Revenue Recognition, most industry-specific guidance and some cost guidance included in Subtopic 605-35, “Revenue Recognition—Construction-Type and Production-Type Contracts.” The standard’s core principle is that a company will recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In doing so, companies will need to use more judgment and make more estimates than under current guidance. These judgments may include identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. The guidance will be effective for the Company for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and for interim periods within those annual periods. At that time, the Company may adopt the full retrospective approach or the modified retrospective approach. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the method of adoption of this guidance and does not anticipate that the adoption of this guidance will have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.