Commitments And Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies

15 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Lease Commitments

The Company has entered into operating leases for office space and office equipment with remaining terms of 1 to 5 years. Future minimum rental payments under non-cancelable operating leases in effect as of December 31, 2011 were as follows:

2012	$	1,813
2013		1,547
2014		1,521
2015		1,517
2016		1,288
Thereafter		—
	$	7,686

The Company incurred $1,988, $2,046 and $1,934 of rent expense under operating leases in 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Letters of Credit

As of December 31, 2011 the Company had issued $7,846 in letters of credit, which were provided under the Company's $275,000 unsecured Credit Agreement. The letters of credit were required to be issued under certain tax escrow agreements, workers' compensation and health insurance policies, and construction projects.

Debt Covenants

The unsecured notes payable and unsecured Credit Agreement contain restrictions which, among other things, require maintenance of certain financial ratios.

Included in the Company's consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2011 are assets of its subsidiary Home Properties Fair Oaks, LLC, owner of The Courts at Fair Oaks, Fairfax County, VA, that are pledged as collateral for specific indebtedness and are not available to satisfy any other obligations of the Company.

Tax Protection Obligations

In connection with various UPREIT transactions, the Company has agreed to maintain certain levels of nonrecourse debt for a period of 5 to 10 years associated with the contributed properties acquired. In addition, the Company is restricted in its ability to sell certain contributed properties (12% of the owned portfolio at December 31, 2011) for a contract period of 7 to 15 years except through a tax deferred Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 like-kind exchange. The remaining terms on the sale restrictions range from 2 months to 5.5 years.

Limited Partnership

For periods before October 13, 2010, the Company, through its general partnership interest in an affordable property limited partnership referred to as the VIE, had guaranteed certain low income housing tax credits to limited partners in this partnership through 2015 totaling approximately $3,000. In addition, through October 12, 2010, the Company, acting as general partner in this partnership, was obligated to advance funds to meet partnership operating deficits. As more fully described in Note 4, the Company's general partner interest in this entity was sold on October 13, 2010, relieving the Company of the operating deficit guarantee and reducing the tax credit guarantee to a $3,000 secondary guarantee, with the new general partner assuming the operating guarantee and primary tax credit guarantee positions. As of December 31, 2011, there were no known conditions that would make such payments necessary relating to the tax credit guarantee; therefore, no liability has been recorded in the financial statements.

Executive Retention Plan

The Executive Retention Plan provides for severance benefits and other compensation to be paid to certain employees in the event of a change in control of the Company and a subsequent termination of their employment.

Contingencies

The Company is not a party to any legal proceedings that are expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company's liquidity, financial position or results of operations. The Company is subject to a variety of legal actions for personal injury or property damage arising in the ordinary course of its business, most of which are covered by liability insurance. Various claims of employment and resident discrimination are also periodically brought, most of which also are covered by insurance. While the resolution of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, management believes that the final outcome of such legal proceedings and claims will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's liquidity, financial position or results of operations.