Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentations

v3.20.2
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentations
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentations SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND BASIS OF PRESENTATIONS
Significant Accounting Policies

We have prepared our consolidated financial statements using the accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as amended by Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 6, 2020.

Pronouncements Adopted
Standard/Description Effective Date and Adoption Considerations Effect on Financial Statements or Other significant Matters
ASU 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This standard requires financial assets measured on an amortized cost basis, including trade receivables, to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected.
We adopted the new standard as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of the new standard did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.
ASU 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software. This standard requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract to follow the internal-use software guidance to determine which implementation costs to capitalize as assets.
We adopted the new standard as of January 1, 2020. The adoption of the new standard did not have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.
Standard/Description Effective Date and Adoption Considerations Effect on Financial Statements or Other significant Matters
ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform - Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. This standard contains optional practical expedients and exceptions for applying Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) to contracts, hedging relations, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met.
We elected certain optional practical expedients as of January 1, 2020. The guidance in ASU 2020-04 is optional and may be elected over time as reference rate reform activities occur. As of January 1, 2020, we have elected to apply the hedge accounting expedients related to probability and the assessments of effectiveness for future LIBOR-indexed cash flows to assume that the index upon which future hedged transactions will be based matches the index on the corresponding derivatives. Application of these expedients preserves the presentation of derivatives consistent with past presentation. We continue to evaluate the impact of the guidance and may apply other elections as applicable as additional changes in the market occur.

COVID-19 Lease Modification Accounting Relief

In April 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) staff issued a question-and-answer document (“Q&A”) that addresses their belief that the guidance on lease modifications in GAAP does not contemplate concessions being executed as rapidly as they were executed as a result of the major financial crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Under ASC 842, Leases, we evaluate, on a lease by lease basis, if a lease concession is the result of a new arrangement reached with the tenant, which could result in lease modification accounting, or if a lease concession is contemplated in the existing lease agreement, which is precluded from lease modification accounting. In the Q&A, the staff stated that entities may elect to not evaluate whether a concession provided by a lessor to a lessee in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is a lease modification. This election must be applied consistently to leases with similar characteristics and circumstances. The election permits entities, if certain criteria are met, to account for concessions as if they were contemplated in the existing contract (and accounted for as a negative variable rental revenue) or evaluate the lease concessions for lease modification accounting. We have elected to utilize the relief provided by the FASB staff. This election did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements as of June 30, 2020, and we do not expect material impacts in future periods.

Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the consolidated accounts of WashREIT, our majority-owned subsidiaries and entities in which WashREIT has a controlling interest. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

We have prepared the accompanying unaudited financial statements pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and note disclosures normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to those rules and regulations, although we believe that the disclosures made are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. In addition, in the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the periods presented have been included. These unaudited financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, as amended by Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on March 6, 2020.

Within these notes to the financial statements, we refer to the three months ended June 30, 2020 and June 30, 2019 as the “2020 Quarter” and the “2019 Quarter,” respectively, and the six months ended June 30, 2020 and June 30, 2019 as the “2020 Period” and the “2019 Period,” respectively.

Discontinued Operations

We classify properties as held for sale when they meet the necessary criteria, which include: (a) senior management commits to a plan to sell the assets, (b) the assets are available for immediate sale in their present condition subject only to terms that are usual and customary for sales of such assets, (c) an active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to complete the plan to sell the assets have been initiated, (d) the sale of the assets is probable, and transfer of the assets is expected to qualify for recognition as a completed sale, within one year, (e) the assets are being actively marketed for sale at a price that is reasonable in relation to its current fair value and (f) actions required to complete the plan indicate that it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or that the plan will be withdrawn. Depreciation on these properties is discontinued at the time they are classified as held for sale, but operating revenues, operating expenses and interest expense continue to be recognized until the date of sale.
Revenues and expenses of properties that are either sold or classified as held for sale are presented as discontinued operations for all periods presented in the consolidated statements of operations if the dispositions represent a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on our operations and financial results. Interest on debt that can be identified as specifically attributed to these properties is included in discontinued operations. If the dispositions do not represent a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on our operations and financial results, then the revenues and expenses of the properties that are classified as sold or held for sale are presented as continuing operations in the consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash includes funds escrowed for tenant security deposits, real estate tax, insurance and mortgage escrows and escrow deposits required by lenders on certain of our properties to be used for future building renovations or tenant improvements.

Use of Estimates in the Financial Statements

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.