The forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance, taking into account all information available to us at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us. If a change occurs, our business, prospects, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider these risks when you make an investment decision concerning our common shares. Additionally, the following factors could cause actual results to vary from our forward-looking statements:

Chatham Lodging Trust (“we,” “us” or the “Company”) was formed as a Maryland real estate investment trust "(REIT"("REIT") on October 26, 2009. We elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with our 2010 taxable year. The Company is internally-managed and invests primarily in upscale extended-stay and premium-branded select-service hotels.

Our primary objective is to generate attractive returns for our shareholders through investing in hotel properties (whether wholly owned or through a joint venture) at prices that provide strong returns on invested capital, paying dividends and generating long-term value appreciation. We believe we can create long-term value by pursuing the following strategies:

When purchasing hotel properties, we may issue common units in our Operating Partnership as full or partial consideration to sellers who may desire to take advantage of tax deferral on the sale of a hotel or participate in the potential appreciation in value of our common shares.

We face competition for investments in hotel properties from institutional pension funds, private equity investors, REITs, hotel companies and others who are engaged in hotel investments. Some of these entities have substantially greater financial and operational resources than we have or may be willing to use higher leverage. This competition may increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell, reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities available to us and increase the cost of acquiring our targeted hotel properties.

Demand for our hotels is affected by recurring seasonal patterns. Generally, we expect that we will have lower revenue, operating income and cash flow in the first and fourth quarters and higher revenue, operating income and cash flow in the second and third quarters. These general trends are, however, influenced by overall economic cycles and the geographic locations of our hotels. To the extent that cash flow from operations is insufficient during any quarter, due to temporary or seasonal fluctuations in revenue, we expect to utilize cash on hand or borrowings under our credit facility to pay expenses, debt service or to make distributions to our equity holders.

Our properties must comply with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") to the extent that such properties are "public accommodations" as defined by the ADA. Under the ADA, all public accommodations must meet federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The ADA may require removal of structural barriers to access by persons with disabilities in certain public areas of our properties where such removal is readily achievable. Although we believe that the properties in which we own interests (including the properties owned by the JVs) substantially comply with present requirements of the ADA, we have not conducted a comprehensive audit or investigation of all of these properties to determine compliance, and one or more properties may not be fully compliant with the ADA.

If we or any of our joint ventures are required to make substantial modifications to our wholly owned or joint venture hotel properties, whether to comply with the ADA or other changes in governmental rules and regulations, our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders could be adversely affected. The obligation to make readily achievable accommodations is an ongoing, one, and we will continue to assess our properties and to make alterations as appropriate.

Under various federal, state and local laws, ordinances and regulations, an owner of real property may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances on or in such property. Such laws often impose such liability without regard to whether the owner knew of or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. The cost of any required remediation and the owner's liability therefore as to any property are generally not limited under such laws and could exceed the value of the property and/or the aggregate assets of the owner. The presence of such substances, or the failure to properly remediate contamination from such substances, may adversely affect the owner's ability to sell the real estate or to borrow funds using such property as collateral, which could have an adverse effect on our return from such investment.

Furthermore, various court decisions have established that third parties may recover damages for injury caused by release of hazardous substances and for property contamination. For instance, a person exposed to asbestos while working at or staying in a hotel may seek to recover damages if he or she suffers injury from the asbestos. Lastly, some of these environmental issues restrict the use of a property or place conditions on various activities. One example is laws that require a business using chemicals to manage them carefully and to notify local officials if regulated spills occur.

Although it is our policy to require an acceptable Phase I environmental survey for all real property in which we invest prior to our investment, such surveys are limited in scope. As a result, there can be no assurance that a Phase I environmental survey will uncover any or all hazardous or toxic substances on a property prior to our investment in that property. We cannot assure you that:

We elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with our short taxable year ended December 31, 2010 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our ability to meet, on a continuing basis, through actual investment and operating results, various complex requirements under the Code relating to, among other things, the sources of our gross income, the composition and values of our assets, our distribution levels and the diversity of ownership of our shares of beneficial interest. We believe that we are organized in conformity with the requirements for qualification as a REIT under the Code and that our current and intended manner of operation will enable us to continue to meet the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT for federal income tax purposes.

As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal income tax on our REIT taxable income that we distribute to our shareholders. Under the Code, REITs are subject to numerous organizational and operational requirements, including a requirement that they distribute each year at least 90% of their REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gains. If we fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT in any taxable year and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, our income for that year will be taxed at regular corporate rates, and we will be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which we ceased to qualify as a REIT. Even if we qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we may still be subject to state and local taxes on our income and assets and to federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed income. Additionally, any income earned by our TRS Lessees will be fully subject to federal, state and local corporate income tax.

The following table includes information regarding the Company's leases for which it is the lessee, as of December 31, 2019,2020, for each of the next five calendar years and thereafter (in thousands):

As of February 26, 2020,24, 2021, we had 3923 employees, 3217 of which are shared with or allocated to the NewINK JV, Inland JV and Castleblack Owner Holding, LLC ("Castleblack"), an entity which is 2.5% owned by Mr. Fisher. All persons employed in the day-to-day operations of our hotels are employees of the management companies engaged by our TRS Lessees to operate such hotels. None of our employees are represented by a collective bargaining agreement, however, certain hotel level employees of IHM are represented under a collective bargaining agreement.

Because real estate investments are relatively illiquid, our ability to promptly sell one or more hotel properties in our portfolio in response to changing economic, financial and investment conditions may be limited. The real estate market is affected by many factors that are beyond our control, including:

We may seek to sell hotel properties owned by us or any of the JVs in the future. There can be no assurance that we will be able to sell any hotel property on acceptable terms.

If financing for hotel properties is not available or is not available on attractive terms, it will adversely impact the ability of third parties to buy our hotels. As a result, we or our JVs may hold hotel properties for a longer period than we would otherwise desire and may sell hotels at a loss.

We may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a hotel property can be sold. We cannot assure you that we will have funds available to correct those defects or to make those improvements. In acquiring a hotel property, we may agree to lock-out provisions that materially restrict us from selling that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These factors and any others that would impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition, as well as our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.

Hotel properties are subject to real and personal property taxes. These taxes may increase as tax rates change and as the properties are assessed or reassessed by taxing authorities. In particular, our property taxes could increase following our hotel purchases as the acquired hotels are reassessed. If property taxes increase, our financial condition, results of operations and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders could be materially and adversely affected.

When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Concern about indoor exposure to mold has been increasing, as exposure to mold may cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. As a result, the presence of mold to which hotel guests or employees could be exposed at any of the properties in which we own an interest could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold from the affected property, which could be costly.property. In addition, exposure to mold by guests or employees, management company employees or others could expose us to liability if property damage or health concerns arise.

Under Maryland law generally, a trustee is required to perform his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in our best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. Under Maryland law, trustees are presumed to have acted with this standard of care. In addition, our declaration of trust limits the liability of our trustees and officers to us and our shareholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from:

Our bylaws obligate us to indemnify our trustees and officers for actions taken by them in those capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Our bylaws require us to indemnify each trustee or officer, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made, or threatened to be made, a party by reason of his or her service to us. In addition, we may be obligated to advance the defense costs incurred by our trustees and officers. As a result, we and our shareholders may have more limited rights against our trustees and officers than might otherwise exist absent the current provisions in our declaration of trust and bylaws or that might exist with other companies.

Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law ("MGCL") applicable to Maryland real estate investment trusts may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making a proposal to acquire us or of impeding a change of control under circumstances that otherwise could provide our common shareholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of such shares, including:

Additionally, Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the MGCL permits our Board of Trustees, without shareholder approval and regardless of what is currently provided in our declaration of trust or bylaws, to implement certain takeover defenses, including, but not limited to, the adoption of a classified board. In November 2013, our Board of Trustees opted in to Subtitle 8 and adopted a classified board structure in order to protect shareholder value in the wake of what our Board considered to be an unsolicited and inadequate proposal to acquire us. Although our Board subsequently took action in April 2015 to opt back out of the provisions of Subtitle 8 and declassified our Board of Trustees, our Board may elect to opt back in to Subtitle 8 again in the future. These provisions may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making an acquisition proposal for our company or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company under the circumstances that otherwise could provide our common shareholders with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then current market price.

Our declaration of trust authorizes our Board of Trustees to issue up to 500,000,000 common shares and up to 100,000,000 preferred shares. In addition, our Board of Trustees may, without shareholder approval, amend our declaration of trust to increase the aggregate number of our shares or the number of shares of any class or series that we have the authority to issue and to classify or reclassify any unissued common shares or preferred shares and to set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our Board of Trustees may authorize the issuance of additional shares or establish a series of common or preferred shares that may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company, including transactions at a premium over the market price of our shares, even if shareholders believe that a change of control is in their interest.

To maintain our qualifications as a REIT, each year we must distribute to our shareholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deductions for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gain. To the extent that we satisfy this distribution requirement, but distribute less than 100% of our taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed REIT taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we pay out to our shareholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under the Code. Our only source of funds to make these distributions comes from distributions that we will receive from our Operating Partnership. Accordingly, we may be required to borrow or raise capital on terms, or sell assets at prices or at times we regard unfavorable or make taxable distributions of our capital shares or debt securities, to enable us to pay out enough of our REIT taxable income to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid federal corporate income tax and the 4% nondeductible excise tax in a particular year.

We elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. However, qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Code, for which only a limited number of judicial and administrative interpretations exist. Even an inadvertent or technical mistake could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our qualification as a REIT depends on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis.

Moreover, new tax legislation, administrative guidance or court decisions, in each instance potentially applicable with retroactive effect, could make it more difficult or impossible for us to qualify as a REIT. If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates and distributions to shareholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. We may also be subject to state and local taxes if we fail to qualify as a REIT. Any such corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our shareholders, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the value of our shares of beneficial interest. If, for any reason, we failed to qualify as a REIT and we were not entitled to relief under certain Code provisions, we would be unable to elect REIT status for the four taxable years following the year during which we ceased to so qualify, which would negatively impact the value of our common shares.

Our leases with our TRS Lessees require our TRS Lessees to pay rent based in part on revenues from our hotels. Our operating risks include decreases in hotel revenues and increases in hotel operating expenses, which would adversely affect our TRS Lessees' ability to pay rent due under the leases, including but not limited to the increases in wage and benefit costs, repair and maintenance expenses, energy costs, property taxes, insurance costs and other operating expenses.

Increases in these operating expenses can have a significant adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.

Our TRS holding company is subject to applicable federal, state and local income tax on its taxable income, which consists of the revenues from the hotel properties leased by our TRS Lessees, net of the operating expenses for such hotel properties and rent payments to us. In certain circumstances, the ability of our TRS Lessees to deduct net interest expense could be limited. Accordingly, although our ownership of our TRS Lessees allows us to participate in the operating income from our hotel properties in addition to receiving rent, that operating income is fully subject to income tax. The after-tax net income of our TRS holding company is available for distribution to us.

A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more TRSs. A TRS may hold assets and earn income that would not be qualifying assets or income if held or earned directly by a REIT, including gross operating income from hotels that are operated by eligible independent contractors pursuant to hotel management agreements. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a TRS. A corporation of which a TRS directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a TRS. Overall, no more than 20% of the value of a REIT's gross assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs. In addition, the TRS rules limit the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a TRS to its parent REIT to assure that the TRS is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. The rules also impose a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm's-length basis.

Our TRS holding company is subject to federal, foreign, state and local income tax on its taxable income, and its after-tax net income is available for distribution to us but is not required to be distributed to us. We believe that the aggregate value of the stock and securities of our TRS is and will continue to be less 20% of the value of our total gross assets (including our TRS stock and securities). Furthermore, we will monitor the value of our respective investments in our TRS holding company for the purpose of ensuring compliance with TRS ownership limitations. In addition, we will scrutinize all of our transactions with our TRS holding company and our TRS Lessees to ensure that they are entered into on arm's-length terms to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with the 20% limitation discussed above or to avoid application of the 100% excise tax discussed above.

To qualify as a REIT, we are required to satisfy two gross income tests, pursuant to which specified percentages of our gross income must be passive income, such as rent. For the rent paid pursuant to the hotel leases with our TRS Lessees, which should constitute substantially all of our gross income, to qualify for purposes of the gross income tests, the leases must be respected as true leases for federal income tax purposes and must not be treated as service contracts, joint ventures or some other type of arrangement. We have structured our leases, and intend to structure any future leases, so that the leases will be respected as true leases for federal income tax purposes, but there can be no assurance that the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") will agree with this characterization, not challenge this treatment or that a court would not sustain such a challenge. If the leases were not respected as true leases for federal income tax purposes, we would not be able to satisfy either of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs and likely would fail to qualify for REIT status.

The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income payable to certain non-corporate U.S. shareholders is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced qualified dividend rates. For taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026, non-corporate taxpayers may deduct up to 20% of certain pass-through business income, including “qualified REIT dividends” (generally, dividends received by a REIT shareholder that are not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income), subject to certain limitations, resulting in an effective maximum U.S. federal income tax rate of 29.6% on such income. Although the reduced U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends and the reduced corporate tax rate could cause certain non-corporate investors to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our shares.

Rent paid by a lessee that is a "related party tenant" of ours will not be qualifying income for purposes of the two gross income tests applicable to REITs. We lease all of our hotels to our TRS Lessees. A TRS Lessee will not be treated as a "related party tenant," and will not be treated as directly operating a lodging facility to the extent the TRS Lessee leases properties from us that are managed by an "eligible independent contractor." In addition, our TRS holding company will fail to qualify as a “taxable REIT subsidiary” if it or any of our TRS Lessees lease or own a lodging facility that is not managed by an “eligible independent contractor.”

If our hotel managers do not qualify as "eligible independent contractors," we would fail to qualify as a REIT. Each of the hotel management companies that enters into a management contract with a TRS Lessee must qualify as an "eligible independent contractor" under the REIT rules in order for the rent paid to us by the TRS Lessee to be qualifying income for our REIT income test requirements and for our TRS holding company to qualify as a “taxable REIT subsidiary”. Among other requirements, in order to qualify as an eligible independent contractor, a manager must not own more than 35% of our outstanding shares (by value) and no person or group of persons can own more than 35% of our outstanding shares and the ownership interests of the manager, taking into account only owners of more than 5% of our shares and, with respect to ownership interests in such managers that are publicly traded, only holders of more than 5% of such ownership interests. Complex ownership attribution rules apply for purposes of these 35% thresholds. Although we intend to monitor ownership of our shares by our property managers and their owners, there can be no assurance that these ownership levels will not be exceeded.

If anyone transfers shares in a way that would violate the ownership limit, or prevent us from qualifying as a REIT under the federal income tax laws, those shares instead will be transferred to a trust for the benefit of a charitable beneficiary and will be either redeemed by us or sold to a person whose ownership of the shares will not violate the ownership limit. If this transfer to a trust fails to prevent such a violation or our continued qualification as a REIT, then the initial intended transfer shall be null and void from the outset. The intended transferee of those shares will be deemed never to have owned the shares. Anyone who acquires shares in violation of the ownership limit or the other restrictions on transfer in our declaration of trust bears the risk of suffering a financial loss when the shares are redeemed or sold if the market price of our shares falls between the date of purchase and the date of redemption or sale.

Our declaration of trust provides that our Board of Trustees may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our shareholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT. If we cease to qualify as a REIT, we would become subject to federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our shareholders, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our shareholders.

Our Board of Trustees determines our major policies, including policies and guidelines relating to our acquisitions, leverage, financing, growth, operations and distributions to shareholders and our continued qualification as a REIT. Our board may amend or revise these and other policies and guidelines from time to time without the vote or consent of our shareholders. Accordingly, our shareholders will have limited control over changes in our policies and those changes could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, the market price of our common shares and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders.

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud. We may in the future discover areas of our internal controls that need improvement. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires us to evaluate and report on our internal controls over financial reporting and have our independent auditors annually issue their opinion on our internal control over financial reporting. As we grow our business and acquire new hotel properties, directly or through joint ventures, with existing internal controls that may not be consistent with our own, our internal controls will become more complex, and we will require significantly more resources to ensure our internal controls remain effective. If we or our independent auditors discover a material weakness, the disclosure of that fact, even if quickly remedied, could reduce the market value of our common shares. In particular, we will need to establish, or cause our third party hotel managers to establish, controls and procedures to ensure that hotel revenues and expenses are properly recorded at our hotels. The existence of any material weakness or significant deficiency would require management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and management may not be able to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in a timely manner. Any such failure could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and adversely affect the market value of our common shares or limit our access to the capital markets and other sources of liquidity.

To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our shareholders and the ownership of our shares of beneficial interest. In order to meet these tests, we may be required to forego investments we might otherwise make. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our performance.

In particular, we must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our gross assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified real estate assets. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities, securities that constitute qualified real estate assets and securities of our TRS) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our gross assets (other than government securities, securities that constitute qualified real estate assets and securities of our TRS) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, no more than 25% of the value of our assets can consist of debt of "publicly offered REITs" that is not secured by real property, and no more than 20% of the value of our total gross assets can be represented by the securities of one or more TRSs. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our shareholders.

At any time, the federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new federal income tax law, regulation, or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation, or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We cannot predict the long-term effect of any recent changes or any future law changes on REITs and their shareholders.  We and our shareholders could be adversely affected by any such change in, or any new, federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation.

We are generally required to distribute to our shareholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gains) each year for us to qualify as a REIT under the Code, which requirement we currently intend to satisfy. To the extent we satisfy the 90% distribution requirement but distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income. We have not established a minimum distribution payment level, and our ability to make distributions to our shareholders may be adversely affected by the risk factors described in this Form 10-K. Subject to satisfying the requirements for REIT qualification, we intend over time to make regular distributions to our shareholders. Our Board of Trustees has the sole discretion to determine the timing, form and amount of any distributions to our shareholders. Our Board of Trustees makes determinations regarding distributions based upon, among other factors, our historical and projected results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and liquidity, satisfaction of the requirements for REIT qualification and other tax considerations, capital expenditure and other expense obligations, debt covenants, contractual prohibitions or other limitations and applicable law and such other matters as our Board of Trustees may deem relevant from time to time. Among the factors that could impair our ability to make distributions to our shareholders are:

As a result, no assurance can be given that we will be able to continue to make distributions to our shareholders or that the level of any distributions we do make to our shareholders will achieve a market yield or increase or even be maintained over time, any of which could materially and adversely affect the market price of our common shares. Distributions could be dilutive to our financial results and may constitute a return of capital to our investors, which would have the effect of reducing each shareholder's basis in its common shares. We also could use borrowed funds or proceeds from the sale of assets to fund distributions.

In addition, distributions that we make to our shareholders are generally taxable to our shareholders as ordinary income. However, a portion of our distributions may be designated by us as long-term capital gains to the extent that they are attributable to capital gain income recognized by us or may constitute a return of capital to the extent that they exceed our earnings and profits as determined for tax purposes. A return of capital is not taxable, but has the effect of reducing the basis of a shareholder's investment in our common shares.

Under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility, our distributions may not exceed the greater of (i) 95% of adjusted funds from operations (as defined in our senior unsecured revolving credit facility) for the preceding four-quarter period or (ii) the amount required for us to maintain our status as a REIT. As a result, if we do not generate sufficient adjusted funds from operations during the four quarters preceding any common share dividend payment date, we would not be able to pay dividends to our common shareholders consistent with our past practice without causing a default under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility. In the event of a default under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility, we would be unable to borrow under our senior unsecured revolving credit facility and any amounts we have borrowed thereunder could become due and payable.

 

The trading prices of equity securities issued by REITs have historically been affected by changes in market interest rates and other factors. One of the factors that may influence the price of our shares in public trading markets is the annual yield from distributions on our common or preferred shares as compared to yields on other financial instruments. An increase in market interest rates, or a decrease in our distributions to shareholders, may lead prospective purchasers of our shares to demand a higher annual yield, which could reduce the market price of our equity securities.

Other factors that could affect the market price of our equity securities include the following:

Because we have a smaller equity market capitalization compared to some other hotel REITs and our common shares may trade in low volumes, the stock market price of our common shares may be susceptible to fluctuation to a greater extent than companies with larger market capitalizations. As a result, your ability to liquidate your investment in our company may be limited.

 

We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of common shares, or the availability of common shares for future sale, on the market price of our common shares. Sales of substantial amounts of common shares (including shares issued to our trustees and officers), or the perception that these sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common shares.

We also may issue from time to time additional common shares or common units in our Operating Partnership in connection with the acquisition of properties and we may grant demand or piggyback registration rights in connection with these issuances. Sales of substantial amounts of our common shares or the perception that these sales could occur may adversely affect the prevailing market price for our common shares or may impair our ability to raise capital through a sale of additional equity securities. Our Equity Incentive Plan provides for grants of equity based awards up to an aggregate of 3,000,000 common shares and we may seek to increase shares available under our Equity Incentive Plan in the future. Our NewCurrent DRSPP (defined below) permits the purchase of up to $50 million of our common shares through purchases and reinvestment of dividends on our common shares.

If we decide to issue debt or equity securities in the future ranking senior to our common shares or otherwise incur indebtedness (including under our credit facility), it is possible that these securities or indebtedness will be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting our operating flexibility and limiting our ability to make distributions to our shareholders. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges, including with respect to distributions, more favorable than those of our common shares and may result in dilution to owners of our common shares. Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities in any future offering or otherwise incur indebtedness will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings or financings, any of which could reduce the market price of our common shares and dilute the value of our common shares.