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SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2014
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES |
Organization | Organization As used herein, the terms “ARL”, “the Company”, “we”, “our” or “us” refer to American Realty Investors, Inc., a Nevada corporation, which was formed in November 1999. In August 2000, the Company acquired American Realty Trust, Inc. (“ART”), a Georgia corporation and National Realty, L.P. (“NRLP”), a Delaware partnership. The Company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas and its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol (“ARL”). Approximately 87.4% of ARL’s stock is owned by related parties. Subsidiaries of ARL own approximately 83.8% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Transcontinental Realty Investors, Inc. (“TCI”), a Nevada corporation, which has its common stock listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol (“TCI”). ARL is a “C” corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and has consolidated TCI’s accounts and operations since March 2003. During the third quarter 2012, Realty Advisors Management, Inc. and its subsidiaries acquired more than 80% of ARL stock and as a result, ARL joined the Realty Advisors Management, Inc. consolidated group for federal income tax reporting. We have no employees. TCI, a subsidiary of ARL, owns approximately 81.1% of the common stock of Income Opportunity Realty Investors, Inc. (“IOT”). Effective July 17, 2009, IOT’s financial results were consolidated with those of ARL and TCI and their subsidiaries. Shares of IOT are traded on the NYSE MKT under the symbol (“IOT”). ARL invests in real estate through direct ownership, leases and partnerships and also invests in mortgage loans on real estate. Pillar Income Asset Management, Inc. (“Pillar”) is the Company’s external Advisor and Cash Manager. Although the Board of Directors is directly responsible for managing the affairs of ARL, and for setting the policies which guide it, the day-to-day operations of ARL are performed by Pillar, as the contractual Advisor, under the supervision of the Board. Pillar’s duties include, but are not limited to, locating, evaluating and recommending real estate and real estate-related investment opportunities and arranging debt and equity financing for the Company with third party lenders and investors. Additionally, Pillar serves as a consultant to the Board with regard to their decisions in connection with ARL’s business plan and investment policy. Pillar also serves as an Advisor and Cash Manager to TCI and IOT. Regis Realty Prime, LLC (“Regis”) manages our commercial properties and provides brokerage services. ARL engages third-party companies to lease and manage its apartment properties. TCI also has a development agreement with Unified Housing Foundation, Inc. (“UHF”) a non-profit corporation that provides management services for the development of residential apartment projects in the future. This development agreement was terminated December 31, 2013.
Properties | Properties We own or had interests in a total property portfolio of 46 income-producing properties as of March 31, 2014. The properties consisted of:
| • | 10 commercial properties consisting of six office buildings, one industrial warehouse, and three retail centers comprising in aggregate approximately 2.6 million rentable square feet;
| • | 36 apartment communities totaling 6,166 units, excluding apartments being developed; and
| • | 4,209 acres of developed and undeveloped land.
We join with various third-party development companies to construct residential apartment communities. We are in the predevelopment process on several residential apartment communities but have not yet begun construction. At March 31, 2014, we had no apartment projects in development. The third-party developer typically holds a general partner as well as a majority limited partner interest in a limited partnership formed for the purpose of building a single property while we generally take a minority limited partner interest in the limited partnership. We may contribute land to the partnership as part of our equity contribution or we may contribute the necessary funds to the partnership to acquire the land. We are required to fund all required equity contributions while the third-party developer is responsible for obtaining construction financing, hiring a general contractor and for the overall management, successful completion and delivery of the project. We generally bear all the economic risks and rewards of ownership in these partnerships and therefore include these partnerships in our consolidated financial statements. The third-party developer is paid a developer fee typically equal to a percentage of the construction costs. When the project reaches stabilized occupancy, we acquire the third-party developer’s partnership interests in exchange for any remaining unpaid developer fees.
Basis of Presentation | Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, have been condensed or omitted in accordance with such rules and regulations, although management believes the disclosures are adequate to prevent the information presented from being misleading. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring matters) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for other interim periods or for the full fiscal year. The year-end Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, 2013 was derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and disclosures required by GAAP for complete financial statements. For further information, refer to the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013. Certain 2013 financial statement amounts have been reclassified to conform to the 2014 presentation, including adjustments for discontinued operations.
Principles of Consolidation | Principles of Consolidation The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company, its subsidiaries, generally all of which are wholly-owned, and all entities in which we have a controlling interest. Arrangements that are not controlled through voting or similar rights are accounted for as a Variable Interest Entity (“VIE”), in accordance with the provisions and guidance of ASC Topic 810, “Consolidation”, whereby we have determined that we are a primary beneficiary of the VIE and meet certain criteria of a sole general partner or managing member as identified in accordance with Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) Issue 04-5, Investor’s Accounting for an Investment in a Limited Partnership when the Investor is the Sole General Partner and the Limited Partners have Certain Rights (“EITF 04-5”). VIEs are generally entities that lack sufficient equity to finance their activities without additional financial support from other parties or whose equity holders as a group lack adequate decision making ability, the obligation to absorb expected losses or residual returns of the entity, or have voting rights that are not proportional to their economic interests. The primary beneficiary generally is the entity that provides financial support and bears a majority of the financial risks, authorizes certain capital transactions, or makes operating decisions that materially affect the entity’s financial results. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. In determining whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE, we consider qualitative and quantitative factors, including, but not limited to: the amount and characteristics of our investment; the obligation or likelihood for us or other investors to provide financial support; our and the other investors’ ability to control or significantly influence key decisions for the VIE; and the similarity with and significance to the business activities of us and the other investors. Significant judgments related to these determinations include estimates about the current future fair values and performance of real estate held by these VIEs and general market conditions. For entities in which we have less than a controlling financial interest or entities where we are not deemed to be the primary beneficiary, the entities are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. Accordingly, our share of the net earnings or losses of these entities is included in consolidated net income. Our investment in Gruppa Florentina, LLC is accounted for under the equity method.
Real Estate, Depreciation and Impairment. | Properties We own or had interests in a total property portfolio of 46 income-producing properties as of March 31, 2014. The properties consisted of:
| • | 10 commercial properties consisting of six office buildings, one industrial warehouse, and three retail centers comprising in aggregate approximately 2.6 million rentable square feet;
| • | 36 apartment communities totaling 6,166 units, excluding apartments being developed; and
| • | 4,209 acres of developed and undeveloped land.
We join with various third-party development companies to construct residential apartment communities. We are in the predevelopment process on several residential apartment communities but have not yet begun construction. At March 31, 2014, we had no apartment projects in development. The third-party developer typically holds a general partner as well as a majority limited partner interest in a limited partnership formed for the purpose of building a single property while we generally take a minority limited partner interest in the limited partnership. We may contribute land to the partnership as part of our equity contribution or we may contribute the necessary funds to the partnership to acquire the land. We are required to fund all required equity contributions while the third-party developer is responsible for obtaining construction financing, hiring a general contractor and for the overall management, successful completion and delivery of the project. We generally bear all the economic risks and rewards of ownership in these partnerships and therefore include these partnerships in our consolidated financial statements. The third-party developer is paid a developer fee typically equal to a percentage of the construction costs. When the project reaches stabilized occupancy, we acquire the third-party developer’s partnership interests in exchange for any remaining unpaid developer fees.
Real Estate Held For Sale Policy | Real Estate Held For Sale We periodically classify real estate assets as “held for sale”. An asset is classified as held for sale after the approval of our Board of Directors, after an active program to sell the asset has commenced and if the sale is probable. One of the deciding factors in determining whether a sale is probable is whether the firm purchase commitment is obtained and whether the sale is probable within the year. Upon the classification of a real estate asset as held for sale, the carrying value of the asset is reduced to the lower of its net book value or its estimated fair value, less costs to sell the asset. Subsequent to the classification of assets as held for sale, no further depreciation expense is recorded. Real estate assets held for sale are stated separately on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. Upon a decision that the sale is no longer probable, the asset is classified as an operating asset and depreciation expense is reinstated. The operating results of real estate assets held for sale and sold are reported as discontinued operations in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations. Income from discontinued operations includes the revenues and expenses, including depreciation and interest expense, associated with the assets. This classification of operating results as discontinued operations applies retroactively for all periods presented. Additionally, gains and losses on assets designated as held for sale are classified as part of discontinued operations.
Cost capitalization | Cost Capitalization Costs related to planning, developing, leasing and constructing a property are capitalized and classified as Real Estate in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. We capitalize interest to qualifying assets under development based on average accumulated expenditures outstanding during the period. In capitalizing interest to qualifying assets, we first use the interest incurred on specific project debt, if any, and next use the weighted average interest rate of non-project specific debt. We capitalize interest, real estate taxes and certain operating expenses until building construction is substantially complete and the building is ready for its intended use, but no later than one year from the cessation of major construction activity. We capitalize leasing costs which include commissions paid to outside brokers, legal costs incurred to negotiate and document a lease agreement and any internal costs that may be applicable. We allocate these costs to individual tenant leases and amortize them over the related lease term.
Fair value measurement | Fair Value Measurement We apply the guidance in ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures”, to the valuation of real estate assets. These provisions define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in a transaction between market participants at the measurement date, establish a hierarchy that prioritizes the information used in developing fair value estimates and require disclosure of fair value measurements by level within the fair value hierarchy. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable data (Level 3 measurements), such as the reporting entity’s own data. The valuation hierarchy is based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability as of the measurement date and includes three levels defined as follows:
| Level 1 – | Unadjusted quoted prices for identical and unrestricted assets or liabilities in active markets.
| Level 2 – | Quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, and inputs that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the financial instrument.
| Level 3 – | Unobservable inputs that are significant to the fair value measurement.
A financial instrument’s categorization within the valuation hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
Related Parties Policy | Related Parties We apply ASC Topic 805, “Business Combinations”, to evaluate business relationships. Related parties are persons or entities who have one or more of the following characteristics, which include entities for which investments in their equity securities would be required, trust for the benefit of persons including principal owners of the entities and members of their immediate families, management personnel of the entity and members of their immediate families and other parties with which the entity may deal if one party controls or can significantly influence the decision making of the other to an extent that one of the transacting parties might be prevented from fully pursuing its own separate interests, or affiliates of the entity.
Newly Issued Accounting Standards | Newly Issued Accounting Standards We have considered all other newly issued accounting guidance that is applicable to our operations and the preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements, including that which we have not yet adopted. We do not believe that any such guidance will have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.

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