Investment In Affiliates

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

Investments in Nonconsolidated Affiliates

Investments in joint ventures that are not consolidated, nor recorded at cost, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting as prescribed in FASB ASC Topic 323, “Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures.” Investments in nonconsolidated affiliates are recorded within Other assets, net on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Equity income and loss are recorded in the Income / (loss) from nonconsolidated affiliates on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

RezPlot Systems LLC (“Rezplot”)

At December 31, 2019, the Company had a 50 percent ownership interest in RezPlot, a RV reservation software technology company, acquired in January 2019.

Sungenia JV

At December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had a 50 percent interest in Sungenia JV, a joint venture (“JV”) formed between the Company and Ingenia Communities Group in November 2018, to establish and grow a manufactured housing community development program in Australia.

GTSC LLC (“GTSC”)

At December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had a 40 percent ownership interest in GTSC, which engages in acquiring, holding and selling loans secured, directly or indirectly, by manufactured homes located in communities of Sun Communities.

Origen Financial Services, LLC (“OFS”)

At December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had a 22.9 percent ownership interest in OFS, an end-to-end online resident screening and document management suite.

The investment balance in each nonconsolidated affiliate is as follows (in millions):



Investment	December 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Investment in RezPlot	$	4.2	$	—
Investment in Sungenia JV	12.0		0.7
Investment in GTSC ⁽¹⁾	18.5		29.8
Investment in OFS	0.1		0.1
Total	$	34.8	$	30.6

⁽¹⁾ The decrease in investment balance is primarily due to return of capital.

The year to date Equity income / (loss) from each nonconsolidated affiliate is as follows (in thousands):



Equity income	December 31, 2019			December 31, 2018
RezPlot equity loss	$	(1,344	)	$	—
Sungenia JV equity loss	(290		)	—
GTSC equity income	2,803			604
OFS equity income	205			186
Total equity income	$	1,374		$	790

Investments in joint ventures in which we do not have a controlling direct or indirect voting interest, but can exercise significant influence over the entity with respect to our operations and major decisions, are accounted for using the equity method of accounting whereby the cost of an investment is adjusted for our share of the equity in net income or loss from the date of acquisition, reduced by distributions received and increased by contributions made. The income or loss of each entity is allocated in accordance with the provisions of the applicable operating agreements. The allocation provisions in these agreements may differ from the ownership interests held by each investor.