Organization and Operations	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization and Operations	Organization and Operations American Homes 4 Rent (“AH4R”) is a Maryland real estate investment trust (“REIT”) formed on October 19, 2012, for the purpose of acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing and operating single-family homes as rental properties. American Homes 4 Rent, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership formed on October 22, 2012, and its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, the “Operating Partnership,” our “operating partnership” or the “OP”) is the entity through which the Company conducts substantially all of our business and owns, directly or through subsidiaries, substantially all of our assets. References to the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” mean collectively, AH4R, the Operating Partnership and those entities/subsidiaries owned or controlled by AH4R and/or the Operating Partnership. As of December 31, 2019, the Company held 52,552 single-family properties in 22 states, including 1,187 properties classified as held for sale. AH4R is the general partner of, and as of December 31, 2019, owned approximately 85.2% of the common partnership interest in the Operating Partnership with the remaining 14.8% of the common partnership interest owned by limited partners. As the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, AH4R has exclusive control of the Operating Partnership’s day-to-day management. The Company’s management operates AH4R and the Operating Partnership as one business, and the management of AH4R consists of the same members as the management of the Operating Partnership. AH4R’s primary function is acting as the general partner of the Operating Partnership. The only material asset of AH4R is its partnership interest in the Operating Partnership. As a result, AH4R generally does not conduct business itself, other than acting as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, issuing equity from time to time and guaranteeing certain debt of the Operating Partnership. AH4R itself is not directly obligated under any indebtedness, but guarantees some of the debt of the Operating Partnership. The Operating Partnership owns substantially all of the assets of the Company, including the Company’s ownership interests in its joint ventures, either directly or through its subsidiaries, conducts the operations of the Company’s business and is structured as a limited partnership with no publicly traded equity. One difference between the Company and the Operating Partnership is $25.7 million of asset-backed securitization certificates issued by the Operating Partnership and purchased by AH4R. The asset-backed securitization certificates are recorded as an asset-backed securitization certificates receivable by the Company and an amount due from affiliates by the Operating Partnership. AH4R contributes all net proceeds from its various equity offerings to the Operating Partnership. In return for those contributions, AH4R receives Operating Partnership units (“OP units”) equal to the number of shares it has issued in the equity offering. Based on the terms of the Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Operating Partnership, as amended, OP units can be exchanged for shares on a one-for-one basis. Except for net proceeds from equity issuances by AH4R, the Operating Partnership generates the capital required by the Company’s business through the Operating Partnership’s operations, by the Operating Partnership’s incurrence of indebtedness or through the issuance of OP units.

Organization and Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

American Homes 4 Rent (“AH4R”) is a Maryland real estate investment trust (“REIT”) formed on October 19, 2012, for the purpose of acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing and operating single-family homes as rental properties. American Homes 4 Rent, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership formed on October 22, 2012, and its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively, the “Operating Partnership,” our “operating partnership” or the “OP”) is the entity through which the Company conducts substantially all of our business and owns, directly or through subsidiaries, substantially all of our assets. References to the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” mean collectively, AH4R, the Operating Partnership and those entities/subsidiaries owned or controlled by AH4R and/or the Operating Partnership. As of December 31, 2019, the Company held 52,552 single-family properties in 22 states, including 1,187 properties classified as held for sale.

AH4R is the general partner of, and as of December 31, 2019, owned approximately 85.2% of the common partnership interest in the Operating Partnership with the remaining 14.8% of the common partnership interest owned by limited partners. As the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, AH4R has exclusive control of the Operating Partnership’s day-to-day management. The Company’s management operates AH4R and the Operating Partnership as one business, and the management of AH4R consists of the same members as the management of the Operating Partnership. AH4R’s primary function is acting as the general partner of the Operating Partnership. The only material asset of AH4R is its partnership interest in the Operating Partnership. As a result, AH4R generally does not conduct business itself, other than acting as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, issuing equity from time to time and guaranteeing certain debt of the Operating Partnership. AH4R itself is not directly obligated under any indebtedness, but guarantees some of the debt of the Operating Partnership. The Operating Partnership owns substantially all of the assets of the Company, including the Company’s ownership interests in its joint ventures, either directly or through its subsidiaries, conducts the operations of the Company’s business and is structured as a limited partnership with no publicly traded equity. One difference between the Company and the Operating Partnership is $25.7 million of asset-backed securitization certificates issued by the Operating Partnership and purchased by AH4R. The asset-backed securitization certificates are recorded as an asset-backed securitization certificates receivable by the Company and an amount due from affiliates by the Operating Partnership. AH4R contributes all net proceeds from its various equity offerings to the Operating Partnership. In return for those contributions, AH4R receives Operating Partnership units (“OP units”) equal to the number of shares it has issued in the equity offering. Based on the terms of the Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Operating Partnership, as amended, OP units can be exchanged for shares on a one-for-one basis. Except for net proceeds from equity issuances by AH4R, the Operating Partnership generates the capital required by the Company’s business through the Operating Partnership’s operations, by the Operating Partnership’s incurrence of indebtedness or through the issuance of OP units.