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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

NOTE 12: COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Litigation

From time to time, we are party to various lawsuits, claims for negligence and other legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of our business.

On June 11, 2015, three purported stockholders filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Maryland for Baltimore City on behalf of a putative class of TSRE stockholders and naming as defendants TSRE’s Board of Directors, or the individual defendants, and TSRE.  The case is captioned Tony Blank Family Trust et al. v. Trade Street Residential, Inc. et al., Case No. 24-C-15-003081, or the Blank action.  TSRE is listed as a defendant in the caption of plaintiffs’ complaint, but no claim is asserted against TSRE.  On July 15, 2015, the plaintiffs amended their complaint and added Monarch Alternative Capital, LP, Senator Investment Group, LP, and BHR Capital LLC, or the shareholder defendants, as defendants.

The amended complaint generally alleges that, in connection with the acquisition of TSRE by IRT, the individual defendants breached their fiduciary duties by approving an acquisition that was financially unfair to TSRE’s stockholders and by conducting a sale process in which the individual defendants had conflicts of interest.  The amended complaint also alleges that the shareholder defendants aided and abetted the individual defendants’ alleged breaches of their fiduciary duties and were unjustly enriched by the TSRE merger.  The amended complaint seeks, among other things, compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, an order requiring that the individual defendants affiliated with the shareholder defendants disgorge all profits, compensation and other benefits obtained by them as a result of their conduct in connection with the TSRE merger, and an award of the plaintiffs’ costs and disbursements of this action, including attorney’s fees.  On September 25, 2015 the defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint.  On November 6, 2015, plaintiffs in the Blank Action amended their complaint for a second time in response to certain arguments raised by defendants in their motions to dismiss.  The second amended complaint adds a claim against the shareholder defendants for breach of fiduciary duty as controlling stockholders of TSRE.  The defendants have moved to dismiss the second amended complaint and the motions are currently pending.

IRT, as successor by the TSRE merger to TSRE, and the individual defendants intend to vigorously defend against the claim.   No assurance can be given that the matter will be resolved favorably to us. We have included in our loss contingency an estimate of probable loss relating to our legal defense costs in connection with this matter, but currently cannot reasonably estimate any further possible loss, or any range of reasonably possible loss, in connection with this matter.

In addition, we are subject to various other legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of our business operations. Matters which arise out of allegations of bodily injury, property damage, and employment practices are generally covered by insurance. While the resolution of these other matters cannot be predicted with certainty, we currently believe the final outcome of such matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Other Matters

To the extent that a natural disaster or similar event occurs with more than a remote risk of having a material impact on the consolidated financial statements, we will disclose the estimated range of possible outcomes, and, if an outcome is probable, accrue an appropriate liability.