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:



	March 31, 2017			December 31, 2016
Principal and interest	$	23,125		$	31,334
Taxes and insurance	154,690			170,131
Foreclosures, bankruptcy and other	92,202			94,369
	270,017			295,834
Allowance for losses	(35,844		)	(37,952		)
	$	234,173		$	257,882

Advances at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 include $25.0 million and $29.0 million, respectively, of previously sold advances in connection with sales of loans that did not qualify for sale accounting.

The following table summarizes the activity in net advances:



	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017			2016
Beginning balance	$	257,882		$	444,298
Sales of advances	(3		)	(261		)
Collections of advances, charge-offs and other, net	(25,814		)	(126,067		)
Decrease (increase) in allowance for losses	2,108			(622		)
Ending balance	$	234,173		$	317,348

The changes in the allowance for losses are as follows:



	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017			2016
Beginning balance	$	37,952		$	41,901
Provision	3,421			3,483
Charge-offs, net and other	(5,529		)	(2,861		)
Ending balance	$	35,844		$	42,523