Fair Value

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Financial Instruments Carried at Fair Value

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company uses interest rate swap and interest rate cap agreements to manage its interest rate risk. These instruments are carried at fair value in the Company's financial statements. In adjusting the fair value of its derivative contracts for the effect of counterparty nonperformance risk, the Company has considered the impact of its net position with a given counterparty, as well as any applicable credit enhancements, such as collateral postings, thresholds, mutual puts and guarantees. The Company minimizes its credit risk on these transactions by dealing with major, creditworthy financial institutions which have an A or better credit rating by the Standard & Poor's Ratings Group. As part of its on-going control procedures, the Company monitors the credit ratings of counterparties and the exposure of the Company to any single entity, thus reducing credit risk concentration. The Company believes the likelihood of realizing losses from counterparty nonperformance is remote. Although the Company has determined that the majority of the inputs used to value its derivatives fall within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, such as interest rate, term to maturity and volatility, the credit valuation adjustments associated with its derivatives use Level 3 inputs, such as estimates of current credit spreads, to evaluate the likelihood of default by itself and its counterparties. As of December 31, 2020, the Company assessed the significance of the impact of the credit valuation adjustments on the overall valuation of its derivative positions and has determined it is not significant. As a result, the Company has determined that its derivative valuations are classified in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

The following table summarizes the consolidated derivative positions at December 31, 2020 (dollars in thousands):


	Non-designated Hedges
	Interest Rate Caps			Interest Rate Swaps
Notional balance	$	679,167		$	150,000
Weighted average interest rate (1)	1.7		%	N/A
Weighted average swapped/capped interest rate	6.4		%	0.7		%
Earliest maturity date	January 2021			May 2021
Latest maturity date	January 2024			May 2021

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(1) For debt hedged by interest rate caps, represents the weighted average interest rate on the hedged debt prior to any impact of the associated interest rate caps.

The following activity occurred during the year ended December 31, 2020:

•The Company settled an aggregate of $600,000,000 of forward interest rate swap agreements, making aggregate payments of $25,135,000. Of the positions settled by the Company, $250,000,000 were forward interest swaps that the Company had entered into during 2020. The settled positions were comprised of the following:

◦In conjunction with the issuance of the Company's $700,000,000 unsecured notes due 2030 in February 2020, the Company settled $350,000,000 of forward interest rate swap agreements designated as cash flow hedges of the interest rate variability on the issuance of the unsecured notes, making a payment of $20,314,000.

◦In conjunction with the issuance of the Company's $600,000,000 unsecured notes due 2031 in May 2020, the Company settled $250,000,000 of forward interest rate swap agreements designated as cash flow hedges of the interest rate variability on the issuance of the unsecured notes, making a payment of $4,821,000.

The Company has deferred these amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, and is recognizing the impact as a component of interest expense, net, over the term of the respective hedged debt.

•The Company entered into an additional $150,000,000 of new forward interest rate swap agreements executed to reduce the impact of variability of interest rates on a portion of the Company's expected debt issuance activity in 2021 (the "Swaps"). Based on changes in the Company's expected capital requirements for 2021 as of December 31, 2020, while the Company may still issue debt in 2021, it is no longer probable that the Company will issue the debt for which the Swaps were executed. As a result, the Company ceased hedge accounting and recognized a gain of $2,894,000 for the change in fair value of the Swaps for the three months ended December 31, 2020, in interest expense, net, on the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

The Company had ten derivatives not designated as hedges at December 31, 2020 including the Swaps discussed above. Other than the Swaps, fair value changes for derivatives not in qualifying hedge relationships for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, were not material. During 2020, the Company deferred $17,731,000 of net losses for cash flow hedges reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss.

The following table summarizes the deferred losses reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income as a component of interest expense, net (dollars in thousands):


	For the year ended
	12/31/20		12/31/19		12/31/18
Cash flow hedge losses reclassified to earnings	$	8,984	$	6,571	$	6,143

The Company anticipates reclassifying approximately $9,467,000 of net hedging losses from accumulated other comprehensive loss into earnings within the next 12 months as an offset to the hedged item during this period. The Company did not have any derivatives designated as fair value hedges as of December 31, 2020 and 2019.

Financial Instruments Not Carried at Fair Value

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalent balances are held with various financial institutions within accounts designed to preserve principal. The Company monitors credit ratings of these financial institutions and the concentration of cash and cash equivalent balances with any one financial institution and believes the likelihood of realizing material losses related to cash and cash equivalent balances is remote. Cash and cash equivalents are carried at their face amounts, which reasonably approximate their fair values and are Level 1 within the fair value hierarchy.

Other Financial Instruments

Rents and other receivables and prepaid expenses, accounts and construction payable and accrued expenses and other liabilities are carried at their face amounts, which reasonably approximate their fair values.

In conjunction with the development of Avalon Brooklyn Bay, the Company entered into a joint venture agreement to construct a mixed-use building that included for-sale residential condominium units and related common elements, in addition to the Company's rental apartments, in which the Company has a 100% interest. The venture partner has a 100% interest in the for-sale residential condominium units. The Company was responsible for the development and construction of the structure, and provided a loan to the venture partner for the venture partner's share of costs for the for-sale residential condominium units. As of December 31, 2020, the Company has a receivable from the venture partner in the form of a variable rate mortgage note, secured by the remaining for-sale residential condominium units. The balance as of December 31, 2020 was $3,645,000, representing outstanding principal and interest, net of repayments, and as of December 31, 2019, was $10,650,000, representing outstanding principal and interest. These amounts are reported as a component of prepaid expenses and other assets on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company recognizes interest income on the accrual basis.

The Company values its unsecured notes using quoted market prices, a Level 1 price within the fair value hierarchy. The Company values its notes payable and outstanding amounts under the Credit Facility and Term Loans using a discounted cash flow analysis on the expected cash flows of each instrument. This analysis reflects the contractual terms of the instrument, including the period to maturity, and uses observable market-based inputs, including interest rate curves. The process also considers credit valuation adjustments to appropriately reflect the Company’s nonperformance risk. The Company has concluded that the value of its notes payable and amounts outstanding under its Credit Facility and Term Loans are Level 2 prices as the majority of the inputs used to value its positions fall within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

Financial Instruments Measured/Disclosed at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

The following tables summarize the classification between the three levels of the fair value hierarchy of the Company's financial instruments measured/disclosed at fair value on a recurring basis (dollars in thousands):


Description	Total Fair Value		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
	12/31/2020
Non Designated Hedges
Interest Rate Caps	$	6	$	—	$	6	$	—
Interest Rate Swaps - Assets	4,308		—		4,308		—
DownREIT units	(1,203)		(1,203)		—		—
Indebtedness
Fixed rate unsecured notes	(7,271,799)		(7,271,799)		—		—
Secured notes and variable rate unsecured indebtedness	(1,043,976)		—		(1,043,976)		—
Total	$	(8,312,664)	$	(7,273,002)	$	(1,039,662)	$	—

	12/31/2019
Cash Flow Hedges
Interest Rate Swaps - Assets	$	388	$	—	$	388	$	—
Interest Rate Swaps - Liabilities	(6,379)		—		(6,379)		—
DownREIT units	(1,573)		(1,573)		—		—
Indebtedness
Fixed rate unsecured notes	(6,197,771)		(6,197,771)		—		—
Secured notes and variable rate unsecured indebtedness	(1,398,147)		—		(1,398,147)		—
Total	$	(7,603,482)	$	(6,199,344)	$	(1,404,138)	$	—

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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