DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

The Company is exposed to certain risks arising from both its business operations and economic conditions. The Company principally manages its exposures to a wide variety of business and operational risks through management of its core business activities. The Company manages economic risk, including interest rate, liquidity and credit risk primarily by managing the amount, sources and duration of its debt funding and, to a limited extent, the use of derivative instruments.

Specifically, the Company has entered into derivative instruments to manage exposures that arise from business activities that result in the payment of future known and uncertain cash amounts, the value of which are determined by interest rates. The Company's derivative instruments, described below, are used to manage differences in the amount, timing and duration of the Company's known or expected cash payments principally related to certain of the Company's borrowings.

The Company's objective in using interest rate derivatives is to change variable interest rates to fixed interest rates by using interest rate swaps. Interest rate swaps designated as cash flow hedges involve the receipt of variable-rate amounts from a counterparty in exchange for the Company making fixed-rate payments over the life of the agreements without exchange of the underlying notional amount. 

As of March 31, 2016, the Company had six interest rate swaps outstanding, all of which are used to hedge the variable cash flows associated with unsecured loans. All of the Company's interest rate swaps convert the related loans' LIBOR rate components to effectively fixed interest rates for the entire terms of the loans, and the Company has concluded that each of the hedging relationships is highly effective.

The effective portion of changes in the fair value of derivatives designated and qualifying as cash flow hedges is recorded in Other comprehensive income (loss) and is subsequently reclassified into earnings in the period that the hedged forecasted transaction affects earnings. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of the derivatives, which is immaterial for the periods reported, is recognized directly in earnings (included in Other on the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income).

Amounts reported in Other comprehensive income (loss) related to derivatives will be reclassified to Interest expense as interest payments are made on the Company's variable-rate debt. The Company estimates that an additional $3,700,000 will be reclassified from Other comprehensive income (loss) as an increase to Interest Expense over the next twelve months.

The Company's valuation methodology for over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives is to discount cash flows based on Overnight Index Swap (“OIS”) rates.  Uncollateralized or partially-collateralized trades are discounted at OIS rates, but include appropriate economic adjustments for funding costs (i.e., a LIBOR-OIS basis adjustment to approximate uncollateralized cost of funds) and credit risk.  As of January 1, 2015, the Company began calculating its derivative valuations using mid-market prices; prior to that date, the Company used bid-market prices. The change in valuation methodology is considered a change in accounting estimate and resulted from recent developments in the marketplace. Management has assessed the impact of the change for all periods presented and has deemed the impact to be immaterial to the Company's financial statements.

As of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company had the following outstanding interest rate derivatives that are designated as cash flow hedges of interest rate risk:

Interest Rate Derivative	Notional Amount as of March 31, 2016	Notional Amount as of December 31, 2015
	(In thousands)
Interest Rate Swap	$80,000	$80,000
Interest Rate Swap	$75,000	$75,000
Interest Rate Swap	$75,000	$75,000
Interest Rate Swap	$65,000	—
Interest Rate Swap	$60,000	$60,000
Interest Rate Swap	$15,000	$15,000

The table below presents the fair value of the Company's derivative financial instruments as well as their classification on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015. See Note 18 for additional information on the fair value of the Company's interest rate swaps.

	Derivatives As of March 31, 2016			Derivatives As of December 31, 2015
	Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value		Balance Sheet Location	Fair Value
	(In thousands)
Derivatives designated as cash flow hedges:
Interest rate swap assets	Other assets	$	270	Other assets	$	400
Interest rate swap liabilities	Other liabilities	9,222		Other liabilities	3,960

The table below presents the effect of the Company's derivative financial instruments on the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015:

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2015
	(In thousands)
DERIVATIVES IN CASH FLOW HEDGING RELATIONSHIPS
Interest Rate Swaps:
Amount of loss recognized in Other comprehensive loss on derivatives	$	(6,324	)	(3,468	)
Amount of loss reclassified from Accumulated other comprehensive loss into Interest expense	(927		)	(933	)

See Note 12 for additional information on the Company's Accumulated other comprehensive loss resulting from its interest rate swaps.

Derivative financial agreements expose the Company to credit risk in the event of non-performance by the counterparties under the terms of the interest rate hedge agreements. The Company believes it minimizes the credit risk by transacting with financial institutions the Company regards as credit-worthy.

The Company has an agreement with its derivative counterparties containing a provision stating that the Company could be declared in default on its derivative obligations if the Company defaults on any of its indebtedness, including default where repayment of the indebtedness has not been accelerated by the lender.

As of March 31, 2016, the fair value of derivatives in an asset position related to the Company's derivative agreements was $270,000; the fair value of derivatives in a liability position related to the Company's derivative agreements was $9,222,000. If the Company breached any of the contractual provisions of the derivative contracts, it could be required to settle its obligation under the agreements at the swap termination value. As of March 31, 2016, the swap termination value of derivatives in an asset position was an asset in the amount of $222,000, and the swap termination value of derivatives in a liability position was a liability in the amount of $9,565,000.