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Partners' Capital of MAA LP | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
Partners' Capital of MAA LP [Abstract] |
Partners' Capital Notes Disclosure [Text Block] | PARTNERS' CAPITAL OF MAALP Operating Partnership Units Interests in MAALP are represented by Operating Partnership Units, or OP Units. As of December 31, 2015, there were 79,571,567 OP Units outstanding, 75,408,571 or 94.8% of which were owned by MAA, MAALP's general partner. The remaining 4,162,996 OP Units were owned by non-affiliated limited partners, or Class A Limited Partners. As of December 31, 2014, there were 79,458,827 OP Units outstanding, 75,267,675 or 94.7% of which were owned by MAA and 4,191,152 of which were owned by the Class A Limited Partners. MAA, as the sole general partner of MAALP, has full, complete and exclusive discretion to manage and control the business of the Operating Partnership subject to the restrictions specifically contained within the Partnership Agreement. Unless otherwise stated in the Partnership Agreement of MAALP, this power includes, but is not limited to, acquiring, leasing, or disposing of any real property; constructing buildings and making other improvements to properties owned; borrowing money, modifying or extinguishing current borrowings, issuing evidence of indebtedness, and securing such indebtedness by mortgage, deed of trust, pledge or other lien on the Operating Partnership's assets; and distribution of Operating Partnership cash or other assets in accordance with the Partnership Agreement. MAA can generally, at its sole discretion, issue and redeem OP Units and determine the consideration to be received or the redemption price to be paid, as applicable. The general partner may delegate these and other powers granted if the general partner remains in supervision of the designee. Under the Partnership Agreement, the Operating Partnership may issue Class A Units and Class B Units. Class A Units may only be held by limited partners who are not affiliated with MAA, in its capacity as general partner of the Operating Partnership, while Class B Units may only be held by MAA, in its capacity as general partner of the Operating Partnership, and as of December 31, 2015, a total of 4,162,996 Class A Units in the Operating Partnership were held by limited partners unaffiliated with MAA, while a total of 75,408,571 Class B Units were held by MAA. In general, the limited partners do not have the power to participate in the management or control of the Operating Partnership's business except in limited circumstances including changes in the general partner and protective rights if the general partner acts outside of the provisions provided in the Partnership Agreement. The transferability of Class A Units is also limited by the Partnership Agreement. Net income is allocated to the general partner and limited partners based on their respective ownership percentages of the Operating Partnership. Issuance or redemption of additional Class A Units or Class B Units changes the relative ownership percentage of the partners. The issuance of Class B Units generally occurs when MAA issues common stock and the proceeds from that issuance are contributed to the Operating Partnership in exchange for the issuance to MAA of a number of OP Units equal to the number of shares of common stock issued. Likewise, if MAA repurchases or redeems outstanding shares of common stock, the Operating Partnership generally redeems an equal number of Class B Units with similar terms held by MAA for a redemption price equal to the purchase price of those shares of common stock. At each reporting period, the allocation between general partner capital and limited partner capital is adjusted to account for the change in the respective percentage ownership of the underlying capital of the Operating Partnership. Holders of the Class A Units may require MAA to redeem their Class A Units, in which case MAA may, at its option, pay the redemption price either in cash (in an amount per Class A 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 MAA common stock (subject to adjustment under specified circumstances) for each Class A Unit so redeemed. At December 31, 2015, a total of 4,162,996 Class A Units were outstanding and redeemable for 4,162,996 shares of MAA common stock, with an approximate value of $378,041,667, based on the closing price of MAA’s common stock on December 31, 2015 of $90.81 per share. At December 31, 2014, a total of 4,191,152 Class A Units were outstanding and redeemable for 4,191,152 shares of MAA common stock, with an approximate value of $312,995,231, based on the closing price of MAA’s common stock on December 31, 2014 of $74.68 per share. The Operating Partnership pays the same per unit distribution in respect to the OP Units as the per share dividend MAA pays in respect to its common and preferred stock.

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- Definition Partners' Capital of MAA LP [Abstract] + References No definition available. + Details
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- Definition The entire disclosure for the formation, structure, control and ownership of the partnership. Disclosures related to accounts comprising partners' capital. Includes balances of general partners' capital account, limited partners' capital account, preferred partners' capital account and total partners' capital account and units outstanding; accumulated other comprehensive income; amount and nature of changes to amount of partner's capital and units outstanding by class, rights and privileges for each class of units; distribution policies and distributions paid by unit class; impact of and correction of an error in previously issued financial statements; limitations of partners' liability; redemption, conversion and distribution policies; and deferred compensation related to the issuance of units. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 272 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70478-108055 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 5 -Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 4.F) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187171-122770 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 272 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6373374&loc=d3e70434-108055 + Details
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