Organization and Basis of Presentation

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization and Basis of Presentation

Organization and Basis of Presentation

Great Ajax Corp., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”), is an externally managed real estate company formed on January 30, 2014, and capitalized on March 28, 2014, by its then sole stockholder, Aspen Yo (“Aspen”), a company affiliated with Aspen Capital, the trade name for the Aspen group of companies. The Company facilitates capital raising activities and operates as a mortgage real estate investment trust (“REIT”). The Company primarily targets acquisitions of re-performing loans (“RPLs”), which are residential mortgage loans on which at least five of the seven most recent payments have been made, or the most recent payment has been made and accepted pursuant to an agreement, or the full dollar amount, to cover at least five payments has been paid in the last seven months. The Company also acquires and originates small balance commercial loans (“SBC loans”). The SBC loans that the Company opportunistically targets, through acquisitions, generally have a principal balance of up to $5.0 million and are secured by multi-family residential and commercial mixed use retail/residential properties on which at least five of the seven most recent payments have been made, or the most recent payment has been made and accepted pursuant to an agreement, or the full dollar amount, to cover at least five payments has been paid in the last seven months. The Company may also opportunistically originate SBC loans with principal balances generally up to $5.0 million which are secured by multi-family residential and commercial mixed use retail/residential properties. Additionally, the Company invests in single-family and smaller commercial properties directly either through a foreclosure event of a loan in its mortgage portfolio or, less frequently, through a direct acquisition. The Company may also target investments in non-performing loans (“NPLs”). NPLs are loans on which the most recent three payments have not been made. The Company may acquire NPLs from time to time, either directly or with joint venture partners. The Company’s manager is Thetis Asset Management LLC (the “Manager” or “Thetis”), an affiliated company. The Company owns 19.8% of the Manager and 8.0% of Great Ajax FS LLC ("GAFS" or "The Parent of the Servicer") which owns substantially all of the interest in Gregory Funding LLC ("Gregory" or the "Servicer"), the Company's loan and real property servicer that is also an affiliated company. The Company has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

The Company conducts substantially all of its business through its operating partnership, Great Ajax Operating Partnership L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (the “Operating Partnership”), and its subsidiaries. The Company, through a wholly owned subsidiary, is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership. GA-TRS LLC ("GA-TRS") is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Operating Partnership that owns the equity interest in the Manager and the Parent of the Servicer. The Company elected to treat GA-TRS as a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”) under the Code. Great Ajax Funding LLC and Great Ajax Depositor LLC are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership formed to act as the depositor of mortgage loans into securitization trusts and to hold the subordinated securities issued by such trusts and any additional trusts the Company may form for additional secured borrowings. The Company generally securitizes its mortgage loans through securitization trusts and retains subordinated securities from the secured borrowings. These trusts are considered to be variable interest entities ("VIEs"), and the Company has determined that it is the primary beneficiary of many of these VIEs. AJX Mortgage Trust I and AJX Mortgage Trust II are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership formed to hold mortgage loans used as collateral for financings under the Company’s repurchase agreements. In addition, the Company, through its Operating Partnership, holds real estate owned properties (“REO”) acquired upon the foreclosure or other settlement of its owned NPLs, as well as through outright purchases. GAJX Real Estate Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Operating Partnership formed to own, maintain, improve and sell REO properties purchased by the Company. The Company has elected to treat GAJX Real Estate Corp. as a TRS under the Code.

The Operating Partnership, through interests in certain entities, as of September 30, 2021, held 99.9% of Great Ajax II REIT Inc. which wholly owns Great Ajax II Depositor LLC which then acts as the depositor of mortgage loans into rated securitization trusts and holds the subordinated securities issued by such trusts and any additional trusts the Company may form for additional secured borrowings. The Company has securitized mortgage loans through these securitization trusts and retained subordinated securities from the secured borrowings. These trusts are considered to be VIEs and the Company has determined that it is the primary beneficiary of these VIEs.

In 2018, the Company formed Gaea Real Estate Corp. ("Gaea"), as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Operating partnership to hold investments in multi-family, mixed use and commercial real estate. The Company had elected to treat Gaea as a TRS under the Code. Also during 2018, the Company formed Gaea Real Estate Operating Partnership LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gaea, to hold investments in commercial real estate assets. The Company also formed BFLD Holdings LLC, Gaea Commercial Properties LLC, Gaea Commercial Finance LLC and Gaea RE LLC as subsidiaries of Gaea Real Estate Operating Partnership. In 2019, the Company also formed DG Brooklyn Holdings, LLC as a subsidiary of Gaea Real Estate Operating Partnership LP to hold investments in multi-family properties.

On November 22, 2019, Gaea completed a private capital raise transaction in which it raised $66.3 million from the issuance of 4,419,641 shares of its common stock to third parties to allow Gaea to continue to advance its investment strategy. The purchase price per share was $15.00. Upon completion of the private placement, the Company retained ownership of approximately 23.2% of Gaea with third party investors owning the remaining approximately 76.8%. Prior to the date of the capital raise, the Company consolidated Gaea's balance sheet and results of operations. At September 30, 2021 the Company owned approximately 22.8% of Gaea. Following the capital raise, the Company has accounted for its ownership interest in Gaea under the equity method.

Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates

The consolidated interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company's consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for the period ended December 31, 2020, included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 5, 2021.

Interim financial statements are unaudited and prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim financial information and pursuant to the requirements for reporting on Form 10-Q and Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting solely of normal recurring accruals considered necessary for the fair presentation of consolidated financial statements for the interim period presented, have been included. The current period’s results of operations will not necessarily be indicative of results that ultimately may be achieved for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021. The consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, as contained within the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and the rules and regulations of the SEC, as applied to interim financial statements.

The Company consolidates the results and balances of three subsidiaries with non-controlling ownership interests held by third parties. AS Ajax E II LLC ("AS Ajax E II") holds a 5.0% interest in a Delaware trust that owns residential mortgage loans and residential real estate assets; AS Ajax E II is 53.1% owned by the Company. Ajax Mortgage Loan Trust 2017-D ("2017-D") is a securitization trust that holds mortgage loans, REO property and secured borrowings; 2017-D is 50.0% owned by the Company. Great Ajax II REIT Inc. which wholly owns Great Ajax II Depositor LLC which acts as the depositor of mortgage loans into securitization trusts and holds the subordinated securities issued by such trusts and any additional trusts the Company may form for additional secured borrowings and is 99.9% owned by the Company as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020. The Company recognizes non-controlling interests in its consolidated financial statements for the amounts of the investments and income due to the third party investors for its consolidated subsidiaries.

During the second quarter of 2021, the majority of loans held by 2017-D were re-securitized into Ajax Mortgage Loan Trust 2021-C ("2021-C"), a related party joint venture with third party institutional investors. The Company held a 50.0% ownership of the remaining loans held by 2017-D at September 30, 2021.

During the first quarter of 2021, the Company acquired the remaining ownership of Ajax Mortgage Loan Trusts 2018-C ("2018-C"), a subsidiary that previously had non-controlling ownership interest held by third parties and was 63.0% owned by the Company as of December 31, 2020 and consolidated in the Company's consolidated financial statements. At September 30, 2021 there was no non-controlling ownership interest in 2018-C held by third parties.

The Company’s 19.8% ownership of the Manager and 8.0% ownership of GAFS are accounted for using the equity method because the Company can exercise influence on the operations of these entities through common officers and directors. There is no traded or quoted price for the interests in the Manager or GAFS since each is privately held.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. The Company considers significant estimates to include expected cash flows from its holdings of mortgage loans and beneficial interests in trusts, and their resolution methods and timelines, including foreclosure costs, eviction costs and property rehabilitation costs. Other significant estimates are fair value measurements, and the net realizable value of REO properties held-for-sale.