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:



	September 30, 2016			December 31, 2015
Principal and interest	$	47,624		$	81,681
Taxes and insurance	170,215			278,487
Foreclosures, bankruptcy and other	118,087			126,031
	335,926			486,199
Allowance for losses	(46,912		)	(41,901		)
	$	289,014		$	444,298

Advances at September 30, 2016 include $34.6 million of previously sold advances that did not qualify for sale accounting.

The following table summarizes the activity in net advances for the nine months ended September 30:



	2016			2015
Beginning balance	$	444,298		$	893,914
Sales of advances	(24,572		)	(224,756		)
Collections of advances, charge-offs and other, net	(125,701		)	(161,378		)
Decrease (increase) in allowance for losses	(5,011		)	9,598
Ending balance	$	289,014		$	517,378

The change in the allowance for losses for the periods ended September 30 is as follows:



	Three Months						Nine Months
	2016			2015			2016		2015
Beginning balance	$	39,441		$	59,545		$	41,901	$	70,034
Provision	(6,865		)	21,856			581		42,358
Recoveries (charge-offs), net and other	14,336			(20,965		)	4,430		(51,956		)
Ending balance	$	46,912		$	60,436		$	46,912	$	60,436