Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

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Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Significant Accounting Policies  
Unaudited Financial Statements

Unaudited Financial Statements

The accompanying unaudited financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. However, in the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. The accompanying unaudited financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K. Results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the operating results to be attained in the entire fiscal year.

Consolidations

Consolidations

The consolidated financial statements of the Company include the accounts of all subsidiaries in which the Company has control over significant operating, financial and investing decisions of the entity. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make 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. Management will base the use of estimates on (a) various assumptions that consider its experience, (b) the Company’s projections regarding future operations and (c) general financial market and local and general economic conditions. Actual amounts could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all demand deposits, cashier’s checks, money market accounts and certificates of deposit with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The Company maintains its cash and cash equivalents at various financial institutions. The combined account balances typically exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance coverage, and, as a result, there is a concentration of credit risk related to amounts on deposit. The Company does not believe that the risk is significant.

Allowance for Loan Loss

Allowance for Loan Loss

The Company reviews each loan on a quarterly basis and evaluates the borrower’s ability to pay the monthly interest, the borrower’s likelihood of executing the original exit strategy and the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. Based on the analysis, management determines if any provisions for impairment of loans should be made and whether any loan loss reserves are required.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair Value Measurements

The framework for measuring fair value provides a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) 820 are described as follows:

Level 1inputs to the valuation methodology are unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets that the Company can access.

Level 2inputs to the valuation methodology include:

quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets;
quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets;
inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability; and
inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means.

If the asset or liability has a specified (i.e., contractual) term, the Level 2 input must be observable for substantially the full term of the asset or liability.

Level 3inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable and significant to the fair value measurement.

Property and Equipment

Property and Equipment

Land and building acquired in December 2016 to serve as the Company’s office facilities is stated at cost. The building is being depreciated using the straight-line method over its estimated useful life of 40 years. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred.

Impairment of long-lived assets

Impairment of long-lived assets

The Company continually monitors events or changes in circumstances that could indicate carrying amounts of long-lived assets may not be recoverable. When such events or changes in circumstances occur, the Company assesses the recoverability of long-lived assets by determining whether the carrying value of such assets will be recovered through undiscounted expected future cash flows. If the total of the undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying amount of these assets, the Company recognizes an impairment loss based on the excess of the carrying amount over the fair market value of the assets.

Deferred Financing Costs

Deferred Financing Costs

Costs incurred by the Company in connection with public offerings of its unsecured, unsubordinated notes, described in Note 6 - Notes Payable and Line of Credit-- are being amortized over the term of the respective Notes.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition

Interest income from the Company’s loan portfolio is earned over the loan period and is calculated using the simple interest method on principal amounts outstanding. Generally, the Company’s loans provide for interest to be paid monthly in arrears. The Company does not accrue interest income more than 90 days in arrears. Interest income not accrued at September 30, 2021 and collected prior to the issuance of these financial statements is included in September 30, 2021 income.

Origination fee revenue, generally 2%- 5% of the original loan principal amount, is collected at loan funding and is recognized ratably over the contractual life of the loan in accordance with ASC 310.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Company elected to be taxed as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes when it filed its 2017 federal income tax return. As a REIT, the Company is required to distribute at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders on an annual basis. The Company’s qualification as a REIT depends on its ability to meet on a continuing basis, through actual investment and operating results, various complex requirements under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, relating to, among other things, the sources of its income, the composition and values of its assets, its compliance with the distribution requirements applicable to REITs and the diversity of ownership of its outstanding common shares. So long as it qualifies as a REIT, the Company, generally, will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on its taxable income distributed to its shareholders. However, if it fails to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year and does not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, it will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates and may also be subject to various penalties and may be precluded from re-electing REIT status for the four taxable years following the year during in which it lost its REIT qualification.

The Company follows the provisions of FASB ASC Topic 740-10 “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes”, which prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return and disclosure required. Under this standard, an entity may only recognize or continue to recognize tax positions that meet a “more likely than not” threshold. The Company recognizes interest and penalties, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense. The Company has determined that there are no uncertain tax positions requiring accrual or disclosure in the accompanying financial statements as of September 30, 2021.

Earnings Per Share

Earnings Per Share

Basic and diluted earnings per share are calculated in accordance with FASB ASC 260 “Earnings Per Share”. Under FASB ASC 260, basic earnings per share is computed by dividing income available to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period. The computation of diluted earnings per share is similar to basic earnings per share, except that the denominator is increased to include the potential dilution from the exercise of stock options and warrants for common shares using the treasury stock method. The numerator in calculating both basic and diluted earnings per common share for each period is the reported net income.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.