real estate investment trust

This Subtopic tells a REIT how to account for its investment in a "service corporation" — an affiliated entity, typically holding non-qualifying REIT activities, whose voting stock is largely held by others. Even without a voting majority, listed factors (activities performed primarily for the REIT, economic benefits flowing to the REIT, common board members/officers, nominal outside equity, management influence, access to financial information) indicate the REIT has at least significant influence, requiring the equity method or consolidation based on facts and circumstances (323-974-25-1). Service corporations that are variable interest entities are excluded and are instead evaluated under the VIE Subsections of Section 810-10.

ASC 605-974 formerly provided industry-specific revenue recognition guidance for real estate investment trusts under the legacy ASC 605 revenue model. Every paragraph in the subtopic (Sections 05, 15, 25, 45, and 50) was superseded by ASU 2014-09, the revenue standard. REIT revenue transactions are now accounted for under ASC 606 (contracts with customers) or, for rental income, under the leases guidance in ASC 842.

This subtopic governs how a real estate investment trust (REIT) accounts for "operating support" received from its external adviser — arrangements designed to guarantee the REIT a certain return, such as buying loans or property above fair value, debt forgiveness, advisory fee reductions, compensating balances, or cash payments. The REIT must adjust any transferred assets or liabilities to fair value at the transaction date and recognize the support effectively obtained as income or as a reduction of advisory fees. The effect of these transactions must be reported separately in the income statement and fully disclosed as a related party relationship.

This narrow Subtopic deals with measurement issues for noncontrolling interests in certain real estate investment trusts (REITs). It contains almost no substantive guidance of its own: its scope simply mirrors Section 974-10-15, and its initial and subsequent measurement sections are essentially unused, with a single cross-reference pointing to Section 974-323-25 for how a REIT accounts for an investment in a service corporation.

This Subtopic governs when a real estate investment trust must stop recognizing interest revenue on loans it holds. Interest recognition must be discontinued when it is no longer reasonable to expect the revenue will be received, and certain conditions (past-due payments, default, foreclosure, borrower creditworthiness doubts, construction cost overruns/delays, renegotiation) create a rebuttable presumption that recognition should stop (835-974-35-1). Once discontinued, recognition may not resume and unrecorded interest may not be recognized until it is evident that principal and interest will be collected (835-974-35-2).

This subtopic previously provided lease guidance specific to real estate investment trusts (REITs) within the legacy leases topic (ASC 840). All of its content — the overview (05-1), scope (15-1), and recognition (25-1) paragraphs — was superseded by ASU 2016-02, which replaced ASC 840 with ASC 842. There is accordingly no substantive guidance remaining here.

This narrow subtopic tells a real estate investment trust (REIT) how much it may capitalize when a related service corporation performs leasing services for it. The service corporation is never treated as an independent third party, no matter how the REIT accounts for its investment in it (equity method, consolidation, etc.). Capitalized amounts are capped at the initial direct costs the REIT could have capitalized under 842-10-30-9 through 30-10 had it incurred the leasing costs directly.

ASC 974-10 is the Overall subtopic for Real Estate—Real Estate Investment Trusts, describing the structure and scope of the REIT Topic and pointing to its subtopics (equity method/joint ventures, other expenses, consolidation, interest, and leases). It provides only incremental industry-specific guidance: REITs must also follow all otherwise applicable GAAP. It applies to all REITs, whether or not they have elected the federal tax treatment that avoids corporate income tax by distributing at least 90 percent of taxable income to shareholders.