Note 6 – Advances

Advances, net, which represent payments made on behalf of borrowers or on foreclosed properties, consisted of the following at the dates indicated:



	June 30, 2016			December 31, 2015
Principal and interest	$	59,868		$	81,681
Taxes and insurance	198,829			278,487
Foreclosures, bankruptcy and other	109,972			126,031
	368,669			486,199
Allowance for losses	(39,441		)	(41,901		)
	$	329,228		$	444,298

Advances at June 30, 2016 include $62.6 million of previously sold advances that did not qualify for sales accounting.

The following table summarizes the activity in net advances for the six months ended June 30:



	2016			2015
Beginning balance	$	444,298		$	893,914
Sales of advances	(24,053		)	(132,859		)
Collections of advances, charge-offs and other, net	(93,477		)	(198,602		)
Decrease in allowance for losses	2,460			10,489
Ending balance	$	329,228		$	572,942

The change in the allowance for losses during the six months ended June 30 is as follows:



	2016			2015
Beginning balance	$	41,901		$	70,034
Provision	7,446			20,502
Charge-offs, net of recoveries, and other	(9,906		)	(30,991		)
Ending balance	$	39,441		$	59,545