Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation and Significant Accounting Policies

Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to "we," "us," "our," or the "Company" refer collectively to Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including Mid-America Apartments, L.P. Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to "MAA" refer only to Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. and not any of its consolidated subsidiaries. Unless the context otherwise requires, the references to the "Operating Partnership" or "MAALP" refer to Mid-America Apartments, L.P. together with its consolidated subsidiaries. "Common stock" refers to the common stock of MAA and "shareholders" means the holders of shares of MAA’s common stock. The limited partnership interests of the Operating Partnership are referred to as "OP Units" or "common units," and the holders of the OP Units are referred to as "unitholders".

As of June 30, 2016, MAA owned 75,524,086 units (or approximately 94.8%) of the limited partnership interests of the Operating Partnership. MAA conducts substantially all of its business and holds substantially all of its assets through the Operating Partnership, and by virtue of its ownership of the OP Units and being the Operating Partnership's sole general partner, MAA has the ability to control all of the day-to-day operations of the Operating Partnership.

We believe combining the notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements of MAA and MAALP results in the following benefits:


•	enhances a readers' understanding of MAA and the Operating Partnership by enabling the reader to view the business as a whole in the same manner that management views and operates the business; and


•	eliminates duplicative disclosure and provides a more streamlined and readable presentation since a substantial portion of the disclosure applies to both MAA and the Operating Partnership.

Management operates MAA and the Operating Partnership as one business. The management of the Company is comprised of individuals who are officers of MAA and employees of the Operating Partnership. We believe it is important to understand the few differences between MAA and the Operating Partnership in the context of how MAA and the Operating Partnership operate as a consolidated company. MAA and the Operating Partnership are structured as an "umbrella partnership REIT," or UPREIT. MAA's interest in the Operating Partnership entitles MAA to share in cash distributions from, and in the profits and losses of, the Operating Partnership in proportion to MAA's percentage interest therein, and entitles MAA to vote on substantially all matters requiring a vote of the partners. MAA's only material asset is its ownership of limited partner interests in the Operating Partnership; therefore, MAA does not conduct business itself, other than acting as the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, issuing public equity from time to time, and guaranteeing certain debt of the Operating Partnership. The Operating Partnership holds, directly or indirectly, all of our real estate assets. Except for net proceeds from public equity issuances by MAA, which are contributed to the Operating Partnership in exchange for OP Units, the Operating Partnership generates the capital required by our business through the Operating Partnership's operations, direct or indirect incurrence of indebtedness, and issuance of OP units.

The presentation of MAA's shareholders' equity and the Operating Partnership's capital are the principal areas of difference between the condensed consolidated financial statements of MAA and those of the Operating Partnership. MAA's shareholders' equity may include shares of preferred stock, shares of common stock, additional paid-in capital, cumulative earnings, cumulative distributions, noncontrolling interest, preferred units, treasury shares, accumulated other comprehensive income and redeemable common units. The Operating Partnership's capital may include common capital and preferred capital of the general partner (MAA), limited partners' preferred capital, limited partners' noncontrolling interest, accumulated other comprehensive income and redeemable common units. Redeemable common units represent the number of outstanding OP Units as of the date of the applicable balance sheet, valued at the greater of the closing market price of MAA's common stock or the aggregate value of the individual partners' capital balances. Holders of OP Units (other than MAA and its corporate affiliates) may require us to redeem their OP Units from time to time, in which case we may, at our option, pay the redemption price either in cash (in an amount per OP Unit equal, in general, to the average closing price of MAA's common stock on the New York Stock Exchange over a specified period prior to the redemption date) or by delivering one share of our common stock (subject to adjustment under specified circumstances) for each OP Unit so redeemed.

As of June 30, 2016, we owned and operated 256 apartment communities comprising 80,300 apartments located in 15 states principally through the Operating Partnership.

As of June 30, 2016, we had four development communities under construction totaling 628 units. Total expected costs for the development projects are $96.9 million, of which $49.4 million has been incurred through June 30, 2016. We expect to complete construction on one project by the third quarter of 2016, two projects by the second quarter of 2017, and one project by the fourth quarter of 2017. Six of our multifamily properties include retail components with approximately 194,000 square feet of gross leasable area.

Reclassifications

In order to present comparative financial statements, certain reclassifications have been made to prior period numbers. As disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, for the year ended December 31, 2015, we early adopted Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which requires debt issuance costs to be presented in the balance sheet as a reduction of the related debt liability rather than an asset. As a result of this adoption and to improve comparability, we reclassified certain costs from "Amortization of deferred financing costs" to "Interest Expense." Thus, the $0.9 million and $1.8 million of "Amortization of deferred financing costs" previously reported in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, respectively, have been reclassified to "Interest expense" for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2015 in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations included in this Report. As a result of this income statement reclassification, $1.8 million of amortization of deferred financing costs for the six months ended June 30, 2015, initially reported in the "Depreciation and amortization" line of the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows in the 2015 Form 10-Q for the six months ended June 30, 2015, have been reclassified to "Amortization of debt premium and debt issuance costs," presented in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows included in this Report.

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by our management in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC. The condensed consolidated financial statements of MAA presented herein include the accounts of MAA, the Operating Partnership, and all other subsidiaries in which MAA has a controlling financial interest. MAA owns approximately 95% to 100% of all consolidated subsidiaries. The condensed consolidated financial statements of MAALP presented herein include the accounts of MAALP and all other subsidiaries in which MAALP has a controlling financial interest. MAALP owns, directly or indirectly, 100% of all consolidated subsidiaries. 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. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

We invest in entities which may qualify as variable interest entities, or VIEs. A VIE is a legal entity in which the equity investors lack sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or, as a group, the holders of the equity investment at risk lack the power to direct the activities of a legal entity as well as the obligation to absorb its expected losses or the right to receive its expected residual returns. We consolidate all VIEs for which we are the primary beneficiary and use the equity method to account for investments that qualify as VIEs but for which we are not the primary beneficiary. In determining whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE, we consider qualitative and quantitative factors, including but not limited to, those activities that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance and which party controls such activities.

Effective January 1, 2016, we have has adopted ASU 2015-02, Consolidation: Topic 810, which resulted in the Operating Partnership now being classified as a VIE, since the limited partners of both entities lack substantive kick-out rights and substantive participating rights. The adoption of the new standard did not result in the consolidation of entities not previously consolidated or the de-consolidation of any entities previously consolidated. We are the primary beneficiary of, and continues to consolidate, both entities, and there was no material effect on our financial position or results of operations as a result of this adoption. See Footnote 14, Recent Accounting Pronouncements, for further details on the adoption of this standard.

We use the equity method of accounting for our investments in entities for which we exercise significant influence, but do not have the ability to exercise control. These entities are not VIEs. The factors considered in determining that we do not have the ability to exercise control include ownership of voting interests and participatory rights of investors.