Consolidation and Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies Consolidation and Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Consolidation and Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Consolidation and Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies

Consolidation and Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies

Consolidation and Basis of Presentation

Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., or we, or MAA, is a self-administered real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns, acquires, renovates, develops and manages apartment communities in the Sunbelt region of the United States. As of March 31, 2012, we owned or owned interests in a total of 167 multifamily apartment communities comprising 48,685 apartments located in 13 states, including two communities comprising 626 apartments owned through our joint venture, Mid-America Multifamily Fund I, LLC, and five communities comprising 1,635 apartments owned through our joint venture, Mid-America Multifamily Fund II, LLC. In addition, we also had three development communities and a second phase to an existing community under construction totaling 1,020 units as of March 31, 2012. A total of 148 units for the development projects were completed as of March 31, 2012, and therefore have been included in the totals above. Three of our properties include retail components with approximately 81,000 square feet of gross leasable area.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by our management in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, for interim financial information and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and our accounting policies as set forth in our December 31, 2011 annual consolidated financial statements. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include our accounts and those of our subsidiaries, including Mid-America Apartments, L.P.  In our opinion, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the condensed consolidated financial statements have been included and all such adjustments were of a normal recurring nature except for an approximately $655 thousand out of period adjustment related to the capitalization of land acquisition costs. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The results of operations for the three month period ended March 31, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 24, 2012.

The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods.  Actual amounts realized or paid could differ from those estimates.

Earnings per Common Share

Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing net income attributable to common shareholders by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period.  All outstanding unvested restricted share awards contain rights to non-forfeitable dividends and participate in undistributed earnings with common shareholders and, accordingly, are considered participating securities that are included in the two class method of computing basic earnings per share. Both the unvested restricted shares and other potentially dilutive common shares, and the related impact to earnings, are considered when calculating earnings per share on a diluted basis with our diluted earnings per share being the more dilutive of the treasury stock or two class methods.  Operating partnership units are included in dilutive earnings per share calculations when they are dilutive to earnings per share. For the three month periods ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, our basic earnings per share is computed using the two class method and our diluted earnings per share is computed using the more dilutive of the treasury stock method or two class method as follows:

(dollars and shares in thousands, except per share amounts)	Three months ended March 31,
	2012				2011
Shares Outstanding
Weighted average common shares - basic	39,505				35,706
Weighted average partnership units outstanding	—			(1)	2,101
Effect of dilutive securities	102				97
Weighted average common shares - diluted	39,607				37,904
Calculation of Earnings per Share - basic
Net income available for common shareholders	$	23,890			$	8,844
Net income allocated to unvested restricted shares	(28		)		(9		)
Net income available for common shareholders, adjusted	$	23,862			$	8,835
Weighted average common shares - basic	39,505				35,706
Earnings per share - basic	$	0.60			$	0.25
Calculation of Earnings per Share - diluted
Net income available for common shareholders	$	23,890			$	8,844
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	—			(1)	311
Adjusted net income available for common shareholders	$	23,890			$	9,155
Weighted average common shares - diluted	39,607				37,904
Earnings per share - diluted	$	0.60			$	0.24

⁽¹⁾ Operating partnership units are not included in dilutive earnings per share calculations for the three months ended March 31, 2012, as they were not dilutive.