NOTE 7. DERIVATIVE AND HEDGING ACTIVITIES

The Company may use interest rate derivative contracts to manage its exposure to changes in interest rates on its variable rate debt. These derivatives are considered cash flow hedges and are recorded on a gross basis at fair value. Assessments of hedge effectiveness are performed quarterly using either a qualitative or quantitative approach. The Company recognizes the entire change in the fair value in AOCIL and the change is reflected as cash flow hedge changes in fair value in the supplemental disclosures of non-cash activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. Amounts will subsequently be reclassified to earnings when the hedged item affects earnings. The Company does not enter into derivative contracts for speculative or trading purposes and does not have derivative netting arrangements.

The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of non-performance by its derivative counterparties. The Company evaluates this risk through monitoring the creditworthiness of counterparties, which includes review of their debt ratings and financial performance. To mitigate credit risk, the Company enters into agreements with counterparties it considers credit-worthy, such as large financial institutions with favorable credit ratings.

In the third quarter of 2019, the Company terminated interest rate swaps which had been entered into in December 2018 and accelerated the reclassification of a loss of $12.5 million from AOCIL to termination of interest rate swaps as a result of a portion of the hedged forecasted transactions becoming probable not to occur. There were no events of default related to the interest rate swaps prior to their termination. Given that a portion of the hedged transactions remained probable to occur, $12.3 million of the loss was deferred in other comprehensive loss and is being amortized over the remaining initial term of the interest rate swaps, which ends January 31, 2024. As of September 30, 2023, the unamortized portion of loss in AOCIL related to terminated interest rate swaps was $0.9 million.

During the third quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, the Company entered into new interest rate swaps, which were designated as cash flow hedge instruments. Interest rate swaps that are in an asset position are recorded in deferred costs and other assets, net on the consolidated balance sheet, while interest rate swaps that are in a liability position are recorded in accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. These instruments swap 1-month SOFR for a fixed payment. The following table summarizes the key terms and fair value of these instruments (in thousands):

During the next 12 months, we estimate that approximately $0.9 million will be reclassified as an increase to interest expense related to terminated hedges of existing floating-rate debt and $28.8 million will be reclassified as a decrease to interest expense related to cash flow hedge derivatives.