Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”) facilitates an assessment of the operating performance of our existing portfolio of assets on an unleveraged basis by eliminating the impact of our capital structure and tax position. We define Adjusted EBITDA as Normalized FFOnet income (loss) attributable to common stockholders, which includes loss from discontinued operations, before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (including non-cash equity-based compensation expense), excluding interestdeemed dividends on redeemable preferred stock, gain or loss on sale of real estate, impairment of real estate held for sale, acquisition, transaction and integration expense, loss on extinguishment of debt, compensation expense related to transition awards, incentive compensation on sale of real estate, termination fee to affiliate, gain on lease termination, litigation proceeds, and income taxother expense.
Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based upon our historical financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the use of estimates and assumptions that could affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses. Our estimates are based on information available to management at the time of preparation of the financial statements, including the result of historical analysis, our understanding and experience of our operations, our knowledge of the industry and market-participant data available to us.
Actual results have historically been in line with management’s estimates and judgments used in applying each of our accounting policies, and management periodically re-evaluates accounting estimates and assumptions. Actual results could differ from these estimates and materially impact our consolidated financial statements. However, we do not expect our assessments and assumptions to materially change in the future.
ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Market risk is the exposure to loss resulting from changes in interest rates, credit spreads, foreign currency exchange rates, commodity prices and equity prices. The primary market risks that we are exposed to are interest rate risk and credit risk. These risks are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic
and political considerations and other factors beyond our control. All of our market risk sensitive assets and liabilities are for non-trading purposes only. In addition, we are exposed to liquidity risk.
We are exposed to market risk related to changes in interest rates on borrowings under our mortgage loans that are floating rate obligations. These market risks result primarily from changes in LIBOR or prime rates. We continuously monitor our level of floating rate debt with respect to our total debt and other factors, including our assessment of current and future economic conditions. See the discussion of interest rate risk in Part II, Item 1A. Risk Factors, “-An increase in market interest rates may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.”
For fixed rate debt, interest rate fluctuations generally affect the fair value, but do not impact our earnings or cash flows. Therefore, interest rate risk does not have a significant impact on our fixed rate debt obligations until such obligations mature or until we elect to prepay and refinance such obligations. If interest rates have risen at the time our fixed rate debt matures or is refinanced, our future earnings and cash flows could be adversely affected by additional borrowing costs. Conversely, lower interest rates at the time of maturity or refinancing may lower our overall borrowing costs.
For floating rate debt, interest rate fluctuations can affect the fair value, as well as earnings and cash flows. IfGenerally, if market interest rates rise, our earnings and cash flows could be adversely affected by an increase in interest expense. In contrast,expense, and lower interest rates may reduce our borrowing costs and improve our operational results. We continuously monitor our interest rate exposure and may elect to use derivative instruments to manage interest rate risk associated with floating rate debt.
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| | | | | | | | |
| September 30, 2019 | | December 31, 2018 |
| Outstanding Face Amount | | Outstanding Face Amount | |
Floating Rate (B)(C)(D) | $ | 1,039,459 |
| | $ | 1,440,842 |
| |
Fixed Rate | 814,680 |
| | 464,680 |
| |
Total | $ | 1,854,139 |
| | $ | 1,905,522 |
| |
Liquidity Risk
As described further in “Risk Factors,” the following factors could affect our liquidity, access to capital resources and our capital obligations.
• Our stock price performance could impair our ability to access the capital markets, and any disruption to the capital markets or other sources of financing generally could also negatively affect our liquidity.
• Our failure to comply with the terms of our financings or a default by our lease counterparty (including a failure by the lease guarantor to satisfy certain financial covenants that depend on the performance of our leased assets, which are outside of our control) could result in the acceleration of the requirement to repay our indebtedness or require us to seek amendments to such agreements, which we may not be able to obtain on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.
• Our ability to obtain financing or refinancing on favorable terms, if at all.
•Real estate investments are relatively illiquid, and our ability to quickly sell or exchange our properties in response to changes in economic or other conditions is limited. In the event we desire or need to sell any of our properties, the value of those properties and our ability to sell at a price or on terms acceptable to us could be adversely affected by a downturn in the real estate industry generally, weakness in the senior housing and healthcare industries or other factors.
• Because we derive substantially all of our revenues from operations conducted by third parties, any inability or unwillingness by these operatorsproperty managers to satisfy their respective obligations to us or to renew their leases with us upon expiration of the terms thereof could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, financial condition, our ability to service our indebtedness and to make distributions to our stockholders.
• To comply with the 90% distribution requirement applicable to REITs and to avoid income and excise taxes, we must make distributions to our stockholders. Our actual distributions to stockholders have historically been higher than the REIT distribution requirement. Distributions will limit our ability to finance investments and may limit our ability to engage in transactions that are otherwise in the best interests of our stockholders. Although we do not anticipate any inability to satisfy the REIT distribution requirement, from time to time, we may not have sufficient cash or other liquid assets to do so. For example, timing differences between the actual receipt of income and actual payment of deductible expenses, on the one hand, and the inclusion of that income and deduction of those expenses in arriving at our taxable income, on the other hand, or non-deductible expenses such as principal amortization or repayments or capital expenditures in excess of non-cash deductions may cause us to fail to have sufficient cash or liquid assets to enable us to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement. In the event that timing differences occur or we decide to retain cash or to distribute such greater amount as may be necessary to avoid income and excise taxation, we may seek to borrow funds, issue additional equity securities, pay taxable stock dividends, distribute other property or securities or engage in a transaction intended to enable us to meet the REIT distribution requirements. Any of these actions may require us to raise additional capital to meet our obligations; however, limitations on our ability to access capital, as described above, could have an adverse effect on our ability to make required payments on our debt obligations, make distributions to our stockholders or make future investments necessary to implement our business strategy. The terms of the instruments governing our existing indebtedness restrict our ability to engage in certain types of these transactions.
•As discussed in more detail in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations–Liquidity and Capital Resources,” the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the Company’s liquidity in various ways, including among other things by further impairing our ability to access the capital markets, by reducing our revenues due to decreased occupancy at our properties and reduced asset values, which over time may limit the borrowing availability under the Revolver.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
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(a) | Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Company’s management, with the participation of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as such term defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act as of the end of the period covered by this report. The Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information is recorded, processed, summarized and reported accurately and on a timely basis. Based on such evaluation, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of the end of such period, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective. |
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(b) | Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. There have not been any changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d- 15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal quarter to which this report relates that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. |
(a)Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Company’s management, with the participation of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as such term defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report. The Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information is recorded, processed, summarized and reported accurately and on a timely basis. Based on such evaluation, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of the end of such period, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective.
(b)Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. There have not been any changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d- 15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the fiscal quarter to which this report relates that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are and may from time to time become involved in legal proceedings, including regulatory investigations and inquiries, in the ordinary course of our business. Although we are unable to predict with certainty the eventual outcome of any litigation, regulatory investigation or inquiry, in the opinion of management, we do not expect our current and any threatened legal proceedings to have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations. Given the inherent unpredictability of these types of proceedings, however, it is possible that future adverse outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our financial results.
As previously described in Item 3 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2019 and June 30, 2019, a derivative lawsuit, captioned Cumming v. Edens, et al., C.A. No. 13007-VCS, was brought on behalf of the Company against certain current and former members of the Company’s board of directors, Fortress Investment Group LLC and certain affiliates and Holiday Acquisition Holdings LLC. On April 23, 2019, the parties reached an agreement to settle the derivative lawsuit. The settlement provided for the payment of $53.0 million to the Company and the recommendation of certain corporate governance changes in exchange for customary releases. The settlement was approved by the Delaware Court of Chancery on July 31, 2019 and a judgment issued the same day. Cash proceeds of approximately $38.5 million were distributed to the Company, which reflected a court-approved fee and expense award to plaintiff’s counsel of $14.5 million. The Company also paid $0.3 million in unreimbursed legal fees. These proceeds were recorded in “Litigation proceeds, net” in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company previously submitted and recommended the agreed-upon governance changes to its stockholders at the Company’s annual meeting of shareholders which was held in June 2019.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
YouWe are supplementing the risk factors described under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 (“Form 10-K”) with the additional risk factor set forth below. This additional risk factor supplements, and to the extent inconsistent, supersedes such risk factors. The matters discussed below should carefully considerbe read in conjunction with the followingrisk factors set forth in the Form 10-K. However, the risks and other informationuncertainties that we face are not limited to those described below and those set forth in thisthe Form 10-Q in evaluating us and our common stock. Any of the following risks, as well as additional10-K. Additional risks and uncertainties not currentlypresently known to us or that we currently deembelieve to be immaterial could materially and adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition. The risk factors generally have been separated into the following groups: risks related to our business, risks related to our Former Manager, risks related to our taxation as a REIT and risks related to our common stock. However, these categories do overlap and should not be considered exclusive.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
We may not realize some or all of the targeted benefits of the Internalization.
As part of the Internalization, we terminated the Management Agreement and entered into a related Transition Services Agreement, pursuant to which the Former Manager would continue to provide certain services and personnel (primarily related to information technology, legal, compliance, accounting and tax) at cost during a transition period following the Internalization. The failure to effectively complete the transition of these services to a fully internal basis, efficiently manage the transition with the Former Manager or find adequate internal replacements for these services, could impede our ability to achieve the targeted cost savings of the Internalization and adversely affect our operations. In addition, complexities arising from the Internalization could increase our overhead costs and detract from management’s ability to focus on operating our business. There can be no assurance we will be able to realize the expected cost savings of the Internalization.
We are reliant on certain transition services provided by the Former Manager pursuant to a transition services agreement, and we may not find a suitable provider for these transition services if the Former Manager ceases to provide the transition services under the terms of such agreement.
We remain reliant on the Former Manager during the term of the Transition Services Agreement, and the loss of these transition services could adversely affect our operations. We are subject to the risk that the Former Manager will default on its obligation to provide the transition services to which we are entitled under the Transition Services Agreement, or that the transition services agreement will be terminated pursuant to its terms, and that we will not be able to find a suitable replacement for the transition services provided under the transition services agreement in a timely manner, at a reasonable cost or at all. In addition, the Former Manager’s liability to us if it defaults on its obligation to provide transition services to us during the expected transition period may be limited by the terms of the transition services agreement, and we may not recover the full cost of any losses related to such
a default. We may also be adversely affected by operational risks, including cyber security attacks, that could disrupt the Former Manager’s financial, accounting and other data processing systems during the period of the transition services.
We may not be able to attract and retain management and other key employees.
Our employees, particularly our management, are vital to our success and difficult to replace. We may be unable to retain them or to attract other highly qualified individuals, particularly if we do not offer employment terms competitive with the rest of the market. Failure to attract and retain highly qualified employees, or failure to develop and implement a viable succession plan, could result in inadequate depth of institutional knowledge or skill sets, adversely affecting our business.
Covenants in our debt instruments limit our operational flexibility (including our ability to sell assets) and impose requirements on our operators, and breaches of these covenants could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The terms of our financings require usongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and measures intended to comply with a number of customary financial and other covenants, such as maintaining leverage ratios, minimum tangible net worth requirements, REIT status and certain levels of debt service coverage. Our continued ability to conduct business in general is subject to compliance with these financial and other covenants, which limit our operational flexibility and depend on the compliance of our tenants with the terms of the applicable lease. The terms of the financings of our leased assets generally treat an event of default by the tenant or guarantor under the related lease and guaranty as an event of default under the financing. Therefore, our ability to comply with certain terms of our financings depends on the actions and operating results of our tenants and guarantors, which is outside of our control.
Mortgages on our properties contain customary covenants such as those that limit or restrict our ability, without the consent of the lender, to further encumber or sell the applicable properties, or to replace the applicable tenant or operator. Breaches of certain covenants may result in defaults under the mortgages on our properties and cross-defaults under certain of our other indebtedness, even if we satisfy our payment obligations to the respective obligee. Covenants that limit our operational flexibility as well as defaults resulting from the breach of any of these covenants could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. A failure to comply with the terms of our financings could result in the acceleration of the requirement to repay all or a portion of our outstanding indebtedness. In addition, the terms of our financings may prohibit or limit our ability to amend or terminate our triple net lease if we desired to do so, including in situations where our tenant and guarantors may notprevent its spread have the resources to make payments under the terms of the lease or guaranty, respectively.
Our inability to obtain financing (including through refinancing existing debt) on favorable terms, if at all, may impede our ability to grow or to make distributions to our stockholders.
We may not be able to fund all future capital needs from cash retained from operations, and we do not currently retain any cash from operations on account of the distributions we make to stockholders. See “We have not established a minimum distribution payment level, and we cannot assure you of our ability to pay any distributions in the future.” If we are unable to generate enough cash flow, we may need to rely (and have relied) on external sources of capital (including debt and equity financing) or asset sales to fulfill our capital requirements. If we cannot access these external sources of capital, we may not be able to make the investments needed to grow our business or to make distributions to stockholders. In addition, we may seek to refinance the debt on our leased assets if we anticipate that our tenant may not be able to comply with the terms of the applicable lease, which could result in an event of default and there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such refinancing on attractive terms or at all.
Our ability to obtain financing or refinance existing debt depends upon a number of factors, some of which we have little or no control over, including but not limited to:
general availability of credit and market conditions, including rising interest rates and increasing borrowing costs;
the market price of the shares of our equity securities;
the market’s perception of our growth potential, compliance with applicable laws and our historic and potential future earnings and cash distributions;
our degree of financial leverage and operational flexibility;
the financing integrity of our lenders, which might impair their ability to meet their commitments to us or their willingness to make additional loans to us, and our inability to replace the financing commitment of any such lender on favorable terms, or at all;
the stability in the market value of our properties;
the financial performance and general market perception of our property managers and tenants;
changes in the credit ratings on United States government debt securities or default or delay in payment by the United States of its obligations; and
issues facing the healthcare industry, including, but not limited to, healthcare reform and changes in government reimbursement policies.
Any limitation on our access to financing as a result of these or other factors could impede our ability to grow and have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, ability to fund operations, make payments on our debt obligations, fund distributions to our stockholders, including distributions or redemption obligations under our Redeemable Series A Preferred Stock, acquire properties and undertake development activities.
We rely on a limited number of operators and are subject to Holiday and Blue Harbor concentration risk.
Both Holiday and Blue Harbor serve as the managers of properties representing a significant portion of the NOI from our Managed Properties segments (which currently accounts for all but one of our properties). For the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, Holiday served as the manager of properties representing 85.2% and 71.6%, respectively, of the NOI from our Managed Properties segments. As of September 30, 2019, Holiday managed 98 of the 130 properties in our Managed Properties segments, including the 51 properties that were previously in our Triple Net Lease segment. For the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, Blue Harbor served as the manager of properties representing 12.0% and 23.3%, respectively, of the NOI from our Managed Properties segments. As of September 30, 2019, Blue Harbor managed 18 of the 130 properties in our Managed Properties segments. Holiday is majority-owned by private equity funds managed by our Former Manager (or its affiliates) and Blue Harbor is an affiliate of our Former Manager.
As of September 30, 2019, all of our managed properties were subject to management agreements with Holiday, Blue Harbor, JEA, Grace, Watermark, Integral or Phoenix. We rely on our property managers’ personnel, expertise, technical resources and information systems, proprietary information, good faith and judgment to manage our senior housing operations efficiently and effectively. We also rely on our property managers to set appropriate resident fees and to otherwise operate our senior housing communities in compliance with the terms of our property management agreements and all applicable laws and regulations. We also have various rights as the property owner under our property management agreements, including various rights to set budget guidelines and to terminate and exercise remedies under those agreements as provided therein. However, any failure, inability or unwillingness on the part of our property managers to satisfy their respective obligations under those agreements, or any change of control, acquisition, wind down or other change in the business operations of our property managers to efficiently and effectively manage our properties or to provide timely and accurate accounting information with respect thereto, could have a material adverse effect on us.
We may not be able to complete accretive investments, and the investments we do complete may not be successful.
We may not be able to redeploy the proceeds from asset sales into new investments. We may not be able to consummate attractive acquisition opportunities because of market conditions, liquidity constraints, regulatory reasons or other factors. The current low interest rate environment may create difficulties for sourcing new investments, for instance by drive upward sales prices.
We face significant competition from other REITs, investment companies, private equity and hedge fund investors, sovereign funds, healthcare operators, lenders, developers and other institutional investors, some of whom may have greater resources and lower costs of capital than we do. Increased competition makes it more challenging for us to identify and successfully capitalize on opportunities that meet our business goals and could improve the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell, thereby impeding our investment, acquisition and development activities. A failure to make investments at favorable prices, or to finance acquisitions on commercially favorable terms, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We might never realize the anticipated benefits of the investments we do complete. We might encounter unanticipated difficulties and expenditures relating to any investments. Notwithstanding pre-acquisition due diligence, we do not believe that it is possible to fully understand a particular property before it is operated for an extended period of time, and newly acquired properties might require significant management attention. For example, we could acquire a property that contains undisclosed defects in design or construction. In addition, after our acquisition of a property, the market in which the acquired property is located may experience unexpected changes that adversely affect the property’s value. The occupancy of properties that we acquire may decline during our ownership, and rents or returns that are in effect or expected at the time a property is acquired may decline thereafter. Also, our property operating costs for acquisitions may be higher than we anticipate and acquisitions of properties may not yield the returns we expect and, if financed using debt or new equity issuances, may result in stockholder dilution. For these reasons, among others, any acquisitions of additional properties may not succeed or may cause us to experience losses.
Our determination of how much leverage to apply to our investments may adversely affect our return on our investmentshad, and may reduce cash available for distribution.
We have leveraged our assets through a variety of borrowings, including floating rate financings. We do not have any policies that limit the amount or type of leverage we may incur. The return we are ablecontinue to earn on our investments and cash available for distribution to our stockholders may be significantly reduced due to changes in market conditions, which may cause the cost of our financing to increase relative to the income that can be derived from our assets. See “-We have not established a minimum distribution payment level, and we cannot assure you of our ability to pay any distributions in the future.”
Real estate investments are relatively illiquid.
Real estate investments are relatively illiquid, and our ability to quickly sell or exchange our properties in response to changes in economic or other conditions is limited. In the event we desire or need to sell any of our properties, the value of those properties and our ability to sell at a price or on terms acceptable to us could be adversely affected by a downturn in the real estate industry or any weakness in the senior housing industry. We are in the process of selling several assets, and there can be no assurance that we will complete these sales in a timely manner, or at all. We cannot assure you that we will recognize the full value of any property that we sell for liquidity or other reasons, and the inability to respond quickly to changes in the performance of our investments could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We are dependent on our operators for the performance of our assets, and, as a REIT, we are not able to operate our managed properties.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, 96.1% of our NOI was attributable to our managed portfolio. We have engaged third parties to operate all of our managed assets on our behalf. The income generated by our managed properties, which we expect will increase following the Lease Termination, depends on the ability of our property managers to successfully manage these properties, which is a complex task. Although we have various rights pursuant to our property management agreements, we rely upon our property managers’ personnel, expertise, technical resources and information systems, compliance procedures and programs, proprietary information, good faith and judgment to manage our senior housing operations efficiently and effectively. We also rely on our property managers to provide accurate property-level financial results for our properties in a timely manner and to otherwise operate our properties in compliance with the terms of our property management agreements and all applicable laws and regulations. We rely on our property managers to attract and retain skilled management personnel and property level personnel who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of our properties. A failure to effectively manage property operating expense, including, without limitation, labor costs and resident referral fees, or significant changes in our property managers’ ability to manage our properties efficiently and effectively, could adversely affect the income we receive from our properties and have a material adverse effect on us. Any adverse developments in our property managers’ business and affairs or financial condition could impair such property manager’s ability to manage our properties efficiently and effectively and in compliance with applicable laws, which could have, a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
While we monitor our property managers’ performance, we have limited recourse under our property management agreements to address poor performance. In some cases, poor performance may give rise to a termination right, but termination may be an unattractive remedy since we may not be able to identify a suitable alternative operator and transitioning management is subject to risks.
U.S. federal income tax laws generally restrict REITs and their subsidiaries from operating healthcare properties. Accordingly, as a REIT, we are not able to manage our AL/MC senior housing properties. Our AL/MC investments are structured to be compliant with the REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act of 2007 (“RIDEA”), which permits a REIT to lease properties
to a TRS if the TRS hires an “eligible independent contractor” (“EIK”) to manage the property. Under this structure, the REIT (i.e., a disregarded subsidiary of New Senior) is the property owner, and it leases the property to the TRS (another subsidiary of New Senior). The REIT receives rent from the TRS, and the TRS is entitled to the income from the properties, less the rent paid to the REIT and a management fee paid to the EIK. In addition, the TRS pays tax on its taxable income.
Various factors can result in our managed properties performing poorly, such as weak occupancy or increased expenses.
Currently, all but one of our properties are owned on a managed basis. Compared to leased properties, which generally provide a steady and predictable cash flow, properties owned on a managed basis are generally subject to more volatility in NOI. This could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows. In addition, we are required to cover all property-related expenses for our managed portfolio, including maintenance, utilities, taxes, insurance, repairs and capital improvements, which could have an adverse effect on our liquidity.
A failure by our operators to grow or maintain occupancy could adversely affect the NOI generated by our managed properties. Unlike a typical apartment leasing arrangement that involve lease agreements with terms of up to a year or longer, resident agreements at our senior housing properties generally allow residents to terminate their agreements with 30 days’ notice. In an effort to increase occupancy or avoid a decline in occupancy, our property managers may offer incentives or discounts, which could also have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Occupancy levels at our properties may not increase, or may decline, due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation, falling home prices, declining incomes, stagnant home sales, competition from other senior housing developments, reputational issues faced by our operators, a regulatory ban on admissions or forced closure. In addition, the senior housing sector may experience a decline in occupancy due to the state of the national, regional or local economies and the associated decision of certain residents to elect home care options instead of senior housing. Occupancy levels may also decline due to seasonal contagious illnesses such as influenza. New supply is expected to remain at elevated levels for 2019 and has had a negative impact on our portfolio.
In terms of expenses, wages and employee benefits represent a significant part of the expense structure at our properties. Our AL/MC properties are particularly labor intensive. We rely on our property managers to attract and retain skilled management personnel and property level personnel who are responsible for the day-to-day operations of our properties, but, as the owner, we are responsible for the payroll expense of property-level employees (as well as the properties’ other operating costs).
Our property managers may be required to pay increased compensation or offer other incentives to retain key personnel and other employees. The market for qualified nurses and healthcare professionals is highly competitive. Periodic and geographic area shortages of nurses or other trained personnel may require our property managers to increase the wages and benefits offered to their employees in order to attract and retain these personnel or to hire temporary personnel, which are generally more expensive than regular employees. Employee benefits costs, including employee health insurance and workers’ compensation insurance costs, have materially increased in recent years. Increasing employee health and workers’ compensation insurance costs may materially and negatively affect the NOI of our properties.
With respect to lesser skilled workers, our property managers may have to compete with numerous other employers, which could also place upward pressure on wages and increase turnover. In addition, certain states have recently increased or proposed to increase the minimum wage, which could increase our property operating expenses and adversely affect our results of operations. Changes in minimum wage laws can have an impact beyond the expense of minimum wage workers, because an increase in the minimum wage can result in an increase in wages for workers who are relatively close to the minimum wage.
We cannot assure you that labor costs at our properties will not increase or that any increase will be matched by corresponding increases in rates charged to residents. Any significant failure by our property managers to control labor costs or to pass on any such increased labor costs to residents through rate increases could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if our tenants fail to attract and retain qualified personnel, their ability to satisfy their obligations to us could be impaired.
We and our operators relyliquidity, as well as on information technology in our operations, and any material failure, inadequacy, interruption or security failure of that technology could harm our business.
We and our operators rely on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to process, transmit and store electronic information and to manage or support a varietyprice of our business processes, including financial transactions and maintenance of records, which may include personal identifying information of the residents at our properties. We rely oncommon stock.
commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for processing, transmitting and storing this confidential information, such as individually identifiable information relating to financial accounts. Although we and our operators have taken steps to protect the security of the data maintained in our information systems, it is possible that such security measures will not be able to prevent the systems’ improper functioning, or the improper disclosure of personally identifiable information such as in the event of cyber-attacks. Security breaches, including physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses, attacks by hackers and similar breaches, can create system disruptions, shutdowns or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. Any failure to maintain proper function, security and availability of our information systems could interrupt our operations, damage our reputation, subject us to liability claims or regulatory penalties and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operators may be faced with significant potential litigation and rising insurance costs that not only affect their ability to obtain and maintain adequate liability and other insurance, but also may affect, in the case of our triple net lease properties, their ability to pay their lease payments and generally to fulfill their insurance and indemnification obligations to us.
In some states, advocacy groups monitor the quality of care at assisted and independent living communities, and these groups have brought litigation against operators. Also, in several instances, private litigation by assisted and independent living community residents or their families have succeeded in winning very large damage awards for alleged neglect and we cannot assure you that we will not be subject to these types of claims. The effect of this litigation and potential litigation has been to, amongst other matters, materially increase the costs of monitoring and reporting quality of care compliance. The cost of liability and medical malpractice insurance has increased and may continue to increase so long as the present litigation environment in many parts of the United States continues. This may affect the ability of some of our property managers and tenants to obtain and maintain adequate liability and other insurance and manage their related risk exposures. In addition to causing some of our property managers and tenants to be unable to fulfill their insurance, indemnification and other obligations to us under their property management agreements or leases and thereby potentially exposing us to those risks, these litigation risks and costs could cause some of our tenants to become unable to pay rents due to us. Such nonpayment could potentially affect our ability to meet future monetary obligations under our financing arrangements.
The failure of our operators to comply with laws relatingCOVID-19 pandemic is causing significant disruptions to the operation of our properties may have a material adverse effect on the ability of our tenantsU.S. and global economies and has contributed to provide its services, pay us rent, the profitability of our managed propertiesvolatility and the values of our properties.
We and our operators are subject to or impacted by extensive, frequently changingnegative pressure in financial markets. The outbreak has led federal, state and local lawsgovernments and regulations. Somepublic health authorities to impose measures intended to control its spread, including restrictions on freedom of these lawsmovement and regulations include: state and local licensure laws; state laws related to patient abuse and neglect; laws protecting consumers against deceptive practices; laws relating to the operation of our properties and how our property managers and tenants conduct theirbusiness operations such as fire, healthtravel bans, border closings, business closures, quarantines and safety laws and privacy laws; federal and state laws affecting communities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid; the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar state and local laws; and safety and health standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. We and our operators expend significant resources to maintain compliance with these laws and regulations, and responding to any allegations of noncompliance also results in the expenditure of significant resources. If we or our operators fail to comply with any applicable legal requirements, or are unable to cure deficiencies, certain sanctions may be imposed and, if imposed, may materially and adversely affect our tenants’ ability to pay their rent, the profitability of our managed properties, the values of our properties, our ability to complete additional acquisitions in the state in which the violation occurred, and our reputation. Further, changes in the regulatory framework could have a material adverse effect on the ability of our tenants to pay us rent (and any such nonpayment could potentially affect our ability to meet future monetary obligations under our financing arrangements), the profitability of and the values of our properties.
We and our operators are required to comply with federal and state laws governing the privacy, security, use and disclosure of individually identifiable information, including financial information and protected health information. Under HIPAA, we and our operators are required to comply with the HIPAA privacy rule, security standards and standards for electronic healthcare transactions. State laws also govern the privacy of individual health information, and these laws are, in some jurisdictions, more stringent than HIPAA. Other federal and state laws govern the privacy of individually identifiable information. If we or our operators fail to comply with applicable federal or state standards, we or they could be subject to civil sanctions and criminal penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Some of our properties and their operations are subject to extensive regulations. Failure to comply, or allegations of failing to comply, could have a material adverse effect on us.
Various governmental authorities mandate certain physical characteristics of senior housing properties. Changes in laws and regulations relating to these matters may require significant expenditures. Our property management agreements and triple net leases generally require our operators to maintain our properties in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and we expend resources to monitor their compliance. However, our monitoring efforts may fail to detect weaknesses in our operators’ performance on the clinical and other aspects of their duties, which could expose us to the risk of penalties, license suspension or revocation, criminal sanctions and civil litigation. Any such actions, even if ultimately dismissed or decided in our favor, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and results of operations. In addition, our operators may neglect maintenance of our properties if they suffer financial distress. In the case of our triple net lease properties, we may agree to fund capital expenditures in return for rent increases or other concessions. Our available financial resources or those of our tenants may be insufficient to fund the expenditures required to operate our properties in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. If we fund these expenditures, our tenants’ financial resources may be insufficient to satisfy their increased rental payments to us or other incremental obligations. Failure to obtain a license or registration, or loss of a required license or registration, would prevent a property from operating in the manner intended by the property managers or tenants, which could have a material adverse effect on our property managers’ ability to generate income for us or our tenants’ ability to make rent payments to us. Any compliance issues could also make it more difficult to obtain or maintain required licenses and registrations.
Licensing, Medicare and Medicaid and other laws may also require some or all of our operators to comply with extensive standards governing their operations and such operations are subject to routine inspections. In addition, certain laws prohibit fraud by senior housing operators and other healthcare communities, including civil and criminal laws that prohibit false claims in Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that regulate patient referrals. In recent years, the federal and state governments have devoted increasing resources to monitoring the quality of care at senior housing communities and to anti-fraud investigations in healthcare operations generally. When violations of applicable laws are identified, federal or state authorities may impose civil monetary damages, treble damages, repayment requirements and criminal sanctions. In addition to these penalties, violation of any of these laws may subject our operators to exclusion from participation in any federal or state healthcare program. For example, if an operator is subject to a criminal conviction relating to the delivery of goods or services under the Medicare or Medicaid programs, the operator would be excluded from participation in those programs for five years. These fraud and abuse laws and regulations are complex, and we and our operators do not always have the benefit of significant regulatory or judicial interpretation of these laws and regulations. While we do not believe our operators are in violation of these prohibitions, we cannot assure you that governmental officials charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of these prohibitions will not assert that an operator is in violation of such laws and regulations. Violations of law often result in significant media attention. Healthcare communities may also be subject to license revocation or conditional licensure and exclusion from or conditional Medicare or Medicaid participation. When quality of care deficiencies or improper billing are alleged or identified, various laws, including laws prohibiting patient abuse and neglect, may authorize civil money penalties or fines; the suspension, modification or revocation of a license (which could result in the suspension of operations) or Medicare or Medicaid participation; the suspension or denial of admissions of residents; the removal of residents from properties; the denial of payments in full or in part; the implementation of state oversight, temporary management or receivership; and the imposition of criminal penalties. We, our property managers and our tenants have received inquiries and requests from various government agencies and we have in the past and may in the future receive notices of potential sanctions, and governmental authorities may impose such sanctions from time to time on our properties based on allegations of violations or alleged or actual failures to cure identified deficiencies. If imposed, such sanctions may adversely affect the profitability of managed properties, the ability to maintain managed properties (including properties unrelated to the property in question) in a given state, our ability to continue to engage certain managers and our tenants’ ability to pay rents to us (and any such nonpayment could potentially affect our ability to meet future monetary obligations or could trigger an event of default under our financing arrangements). Any such claims could also result in material civil litigation. Federal and state requirements for change in control of healthcare communities, including, as applicable, approvals of the proposed operator for licensure, certificate of need (“CON”), Medicare and Medicaid participation, and the terms of our debt may also limit or delay our ability to find substitute tenants or property managers. If any of our property managers or tenants becomes unable to operate our properties, or if any of our tenants becomes unable to pay its rent because they have violated government regulations or payment laws, we may experience difficulty in finding a substitute tenant or property manager or selling the affected property for a fair and commercially reasonable price, and the value of an affected property may decline materially.
shelter-in-place orders.
The impact of the comprehensive healthcare regulation enacted in 2010 on us and our operators cannot accurately be predicted
.
The Health Reform Laws provide states with an increased federal medical assistance percentage under certain conditions. On June 28, 2012, The United States Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate of the Health Reform Laws but partially invalidated the expansion of Medicaid. The ruling on Medicaid expansion allows states not to participate in the expansion-and to forgo funding for the Medicaid expansion-without losing their existing Medicaid funding. Thus far, more than one-half of the states are fully participating in the Medicaid expansion. Given that the federal government substantially funds the Medicaid expansion, it is unclear whether any state will pursue this option, although at least some appear to be considering this option at this time. The participation by states in the Medicaid expansion could have the dual effect of increasing our property managers’ and tenants’ revenues, through new patients, but further straining state budgets. Since 2017, participating states are responsible for part of those additional costs, and will be expected to pay 10% of additional costs beginning in 2020. With increasingly strained budgets, it is unclear how states will pay their share of these additional Medicaid costs and what other healthcare expenditures could be reduced as a result. A significant reduction in other healthcare related spending by states to pay for increased Medicaid costs could affect our property managers’ and tenants’ revenue streams, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the future of the Health Reform Laws. The current presidential administration and certain members of Congress have stated their intent to repeal or make significant changes to the Health Reform Laws, their implementation or their interpretation. On December 14, 2018, a U.S. District Court judge in the Northern District of Texas ruled the individual mandate provisions, and therefore the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, was no longer constitutional after Congress eliminated the individual mandate penalty, effective as of 2019. This ruling has been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and will likely be appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Although the Health Reform Laws remain in place pending this appeal, we are unable to predict the final outcome of this legal challenge and its potential impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our investments are concentrated inportfolio consists of independent senior housing real estate, and in certain geographic areas.
To date, our investments have been in the senior housing sector. Anyliving properties. Accordingly, factors that affect real estate and the senior housing industry will have a more pronounced effect on our portfolio relative to a portfolio of more diversified investments. In addition,particular, because COVID-19 has had disproportionately severe impacts on the geographic concentrationhealth of seniors, we expect to be more significantly affected by COVID-19 than other REITs that focus on different sectors. Although our assetsoperators have taken, and are continuing to take, various measures to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in certain states may result in losses dueour properties, including limiting visitor access to our significant exposureproperties and access to common areas within our properties, and we are working proactively with our property managers to monitor their protocols and share best practices for reducing the effectsspread of economicCOVID-19, we can provide no assurance that these measures will be effective in preventing cases of COVID-19 within our properties. Residents and real estate conditions in those markets. The geographic locationassociates at some of our properties have already contracted COVID-19, and we expect to continue to see cases of COVID-19 for the foreseeable future.
COVID-19 and the percentage of total revenues by geographic location are set forth under Item 1. Business-Our Portfoliomeasures that we have taken in response to combat the virus have already resulted in reduced occupancy rates of our Form 10-K. Asproperties, resulting in reduced rental revenue, and we expect occupancy rates will continue to decline for at least the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic due to a reduction in, or in some cases prohibitions on, new tenant move-ins, stricter move-in criteria, lower inquiry volumes, and reduced in-person tours, as well as incidences of COVID-19 outbreaks at our communities or the perception that outbreaks may occur. These outbreaks, which directly affect the lifestyle of our residents as well as the staff at our communities, have and could continue to materially and adversely disrupt operations, even in communities where there is only one or a few confirmed cases of COVID-19. Outbreaks could cause significant reputational harm to us and our operators and could adversely affect demand for senior housing both during and after the pandemic subsides.
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has also caused our operators to face material cost increases as a result of the need for the procurement of PPE and other supplies such as packaging necessary for in-room meal deliveries to residents. While to date these costs have largely been offset by variable expense savings associated with lower occupancy and strong expense management from our operators, there is no assurance that this concentration,will continue and depending on how the pandemic evolves, there may be other future operating expenses that we may be required to bear, such as costs for testing kits for residents and staff, temperature screening machines, additional cleaning equipment, or new protocols related to the properties. The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused and is likely to continue to cause regulatory changes and, as a material portionresult, our industry may face increased regulatory scrutiny. Any changes in the regulatory framework or the intensity or extent of government or private enforcement actions could materially increase operating costs incurred by us or our property managers or tenant for monitoring and reporting compliance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused, and is likely to continue to cause, severe economic, market and other disruptions worldwide, including a significant decline and volatility in equity markets and in asset values more generally. These factors have significantly affected the price of our portfolios are significantly exposed tocommon stock, which traded as high as $8.35 per share and as low as $1.72 per share since the effectsbeginning of economic and real estate2020. We cannot assure you that conditions in those particularthe credit, capital and other financial markets suchwill not continue to deteriorate as a result of the supplypandemic, or that our ability to obtain financing, including through refinancing our existing indebtedness at the times of competing properties, home prices, income levels,maturity, will not become constrained, which could adversely affect the financial conditionavailability and terms of our tenants,ability to access equity and general levels of employment and economic activity, which has been, anddebt capital markets, or make future borrowings, renewals or refinancings. In addition, our liquidity may continue to be adversely affected by these factors, reductions in our revenues due to decreased occupancy in our properties and reduced asset values, which over time may limit the recent decline in oil prices. Toborrowing availability under the extent that weak economic or real estateRevolver. Our residents and tenant are also likely experiencing deteriorating financial conditions affect markets in which we haveas a significant presence more severely than other areasresult of the country, our financial performance could be negatively impacted. Some or all of these properties could be affected if these regions experience severe weather or natural disasters; delays in obtaining regulatory approvals; delays or decreases in the availability of personnel or services; and/or changes in the regulatory, political or fiscal environment.
Competition may affect our operators’ ability to meet their obligations to us.
Our property managers compete with other companies on a number of different levels, including: the quality of care provided, reputation, the physical appearance of a property, priceCOVID-19 pandemic and range of services offered, alternatives for healthcare delivery, the supply of competing properties, physicians, staff, referral sources, location, the size and demographics of the population in surrounding areas and the financial condition of tenants and managers. A property manager’s inability to successfully compete with other companies on one or more of the foregoing levels could adversely affect the senior housing property and materially reduce our property-level NOI.
The healthcare industry is also highly competitive, and our operators may encounter increased competition for residents and patients, including with respect to the scope and quality of care and services provided, reputation and financial condition, physical appearance of the properties, price and location. The operations of our RIDEA AL/MC properties and our IL properties depend on the competitiveness and financial viability of the properties. If our managers are unable to successfully compete with other operators and managers by maintaining profitable occupancy and rate levels, their ability to generate income for us may be materially adversely affected. The operations of our triple net lease tenants also depend upon their ability to successfully compete with other operators. If our tenants areunwilling or unable to successfully compete, their ability to fulfill their obligations to us, including the ability to
make rent payments to us, may be materially adversely affected. Future changes in government regulation may adversely affect the healthcare industry, including our senior housing properties and healthcare operations, property managers and tenants, and our property managers and tenants may not achieve and maintain occupancy and rate levels that will enable them to satisfy their obligations to us. Any adverse changes in the regulationus on a timely basis, or at all, which may further reduce our revenues and cash flows.
The impact of the healthcare industry orCOVID-19 pandemic on our managed IL portfolio of communities is direct, because we receive cash flow from the competitivenessoperations of the property (as compared to receiving contractual rent from our third party tenant-operator under our single triple-net lease structure), and we also bear all operational risks and liabilities associated with the operation of these managed properties, other than those arising out of certain actions by our property managers, such as their gross negligence or willful misconduct. Accordingly, we may be directly adversely impacted by increased exposure to our business caused by the pandemic to lawsuits or other legal or regulatory proceedings filed at the same time across multiple jurisdictions, such as professional liability litigation alleging wrongful death or negligence claims related to COVID-19 outbreaks that have occurred or may occur at our properties. These claims may result in significant damage awards and tenantsnot be indemnified or subject to sufficient insurance coverage. Federal, state, local and industry-initiated efforts may limit us, our property managers’ and our tenant’s liabilities from COVID-19 related quality of care litigation, but the extent of such limitations are uncertain and such liabilities could have a more pronouncedstill be significant. These same factors may also affect our triple net lease tenant and may limit its ability to pay the contractual rent to us when due.
The extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on us thanour business, operational, financial performance and liquidity will depend on future developments, including the duration, spread, intensity and recurrence of the pandemic, health and safety actions taken to contain its spread, the timing and availability of a vaccine if we had investments outside the senior housingany, and healthcare industries.
Overbuilding in markets in which our senior housing properties are located could adversely affect our future occupancy rates,how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating margins and profitability.
The senior housing industry generally has limited barriers to entry, and, as a consequence, the development of new senior housing properties could outpace demand. If development outpaces demand for those asset types inconditions can resume within the markets in which we operate, each of which is highly uncertain and very difficult to predict at this time. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we may continue to experience adverse impacts to our properties are located, those markets may become saturated,business and we could experience decreased occupancy, reduced operating margins and lower profitability. New supply is expected to remain at elevated levels for 2019 and has had a negative impact on our portfolio.
Transfers of healthcare properties may require regulatory approvals, and these properties may not have efficient alternative uses.
Transfers of healthcare properties to successor operators frequently are subject to regulatory approvals or notifications, including, but not limited to, change of ownership approvals under a CON or determination of need laws, state licensure laws, Medicare and Medicaid provider arrangements that are not required for transfers of other types of real estate. The replacement of a healthcare property operator could be delayed by the approval process of any federal, state or local agency necessary for the transfer of the property or the replacement of the operator licensed to manage the property, whetherfinancial results as a result of regulatory issues identified elsewhereits global economic impact, including any economic downturn or recession that may occur in this report or otherwise. Alternatively, given the specialized naturefuture. The adverse impact of our properties, we may be required to spend substantial time and funds to adapt these properties to other uses. If we are unable to timely transfer properties to successor operators or find efficient alternative uses, our revenue and operations may be adversely affected.
Our current and future tenants may be unable or unwilling to satisfy their lease obligations to us, and there can be no assurance that the applicable guarantor of our lease will be able to cover any shortfall or maintain compliance with applicable financial covenants, which may have a material adverse effectCOVID-19 pandemic on our business, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows results of operations and liquidity.stock price could be material.
Following the Lease Termination, effective as of May 14, 2018, the remaining property in our Triple Net Lease segment is leased on a triple net basis to an operator. Rental income from our triple net leases represented 3.9% of our NOI during the three months ended March 31, 2019.
Our triple net lease and any triple net leases we may enter into in the future subject us to credit and other risks from our tenants. Any failure by a tenant to effectively conduct its operations or to maintain and improve our properties could adversely affect its business reputation and its ability to attract and retain residents in our properties, which could impair such tenant’s ability to generate sufficient income to satisfy its obligations to us. Our tenant has also agreed, and we expect future tenants will also agree, to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities arising in connection with their respective businesses, and we cannot assure you that they will have sufficient assets, income, access to financing and insurance coverage to enable them to satisfy their respective indemnification obligations.
If a tenant is not able to satisfy its obligations to us, we would be entitled, among other remedies, to use any funds of such tenants then held by us and to seek recourse against the guarantor under its guaranty of the applicable lease. The guaranty of the applicable lease subjects us to credit risk from our guarantors. There can be no assurance that a guarantor will have the resources necessary to satisfy its obligations to us under its guaranty of the applicable lease in the event that a tenant fails to satisfy its lease obligations to us in full, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and ability to make payments on our financings. In addition, a guarantor’s obligations to us may be limited to an amount that is less than our damages under the related lease.
We cannot assure you that our tenants and lease guarantors will remain in compliance with any applicable financial covenants, either through the performance of the underlying portfolio or through the use of cash cures, if permitted. A failure to comply with or cure a financial covenant, if applicable, would generally give rise to an event of a default under a lease, and such event of default could result in an event of default under our financing for the applicable property, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, cash flows, results of operations and liquidity.
Even if our tenants are current on their obligations to make payments to us, a breach of a non-curable financial covenant applicable to a tenant or guarantor could result in an event of default under the applicable financing, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, cash flows, results of operations and liquidity. The failure of any of our tenants or lease guarantors to comply with the terms of their respective leases, or the termination of any of our leases before the expiration of the original term (even in the absence of a breach by the tenant), could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, cash flows, results of operations and liquidity.
In addition, we cannot predict whether our tenants will satisfy their obligations to us or renew their leases at the end of the applicable term, and we may agree to voluntarily terminate a lease prior to the end of its stated term.
If there is a default under one or more of our leases, or these leases are not renewed or they are terminated before the expiration of the original term, it may not be feasible to re-lease such properties to a new tenant. There can be no assurance that we would be able to identify suitable replacement tenants, enter into leases with new tenants on terms as favorable to us as the current leases or that we would be able to lease those properties at all.
Upon the termination of any lease, we may decide to sell the properties or to operate such properties on a managed basis. A sale would subject us to reinvestment risk, and owning the properties on a managed basis could be meaningfully less profitable than owning such properties subject to a lease.
Our tenants and guarantors may not be able to satisfy the payments due to us or otherwise comply with the terms of the applicable lease or guaranty, which may result in a tenant or guarantor bankruptcy or insolvency, or a tenant or guarantor might become subject to bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings for other reasons, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
We may be required to fund certain expenses (e.g., real estate taxes and maintenance) to preserve the value of our property, avoid the imposition of liens on a property and/or transition a property to a new tenant. If we cannot transition a leased property to a new tenant, we may take possession of that property, which may expose us to certain successor liabilities. Should such events occur, our revenue and operating cash flow may beextent COVID-19 adversely affected.
Changes in reimbursement rates, payment rates or methods of payment from government and other third-party payors, including Medicaid and Medicare, could have a material adverse effect on us and our operators.
Certain of our operators rely on reimbursement from third-party payors, including the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Medicare and Medicaid programs, as well as numerous private insurance and managed care plans, generally require participating providers to accept government-determined reimbursement levels as payment in full for services rendered, without regard to the facility’s charges. Changes in the reimbursement rate or methods of payment from third-party payors, including Medicare and Medicaid, or the implementation of other measures to reduce reimbursements for services provided by our property managers or our tenant, could result in a substantial reduction in our and our tenant’s revenues. In addition, the implementation of the Resource Utilization Group, Version Four, or “RUG-IV,” which revises the payment classification system for skilled nursing facilities, may impact our tenant by revising the classifications of certain patients.
Additionally, revenue under third-party payor agreements can change after examination and retroactive adjustment by payors during the claims settlement processes or as a result of post-payment audits. Payors may disallow requests for reimbursement based on determinations that certain costs are not reimbursable or reasonable or because additional documentation is necessary or because certain services were not covered or were not medically necessary. We cannot assure you that our operators who currently depend on governmental or private payor reimbursement will be adequately reimbursed for the services they provide. Significant limits by governmental and private third-party payors on the scope of services reimbursed or on reimbursement rates and fees, whether from legislation, administrative actions or private payor efforts, could have a material adverse effect on liquidity, financial condition and results of operations, which could affect adversely their ability to comply with the terms of our leases and have a material adverse effect on us.
If any of our properties are found to be contaminated, or if we become involved in any environmental disputes, we could incur substantial liabilities and costs.
Under federal and state environmental laws and regulations, a current or former owner of real property may be liable for costs related to the investigation, removal and remediation of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum that are released from or are present at or under, or that are disposed of in connection with such property. Owners of real property may also face other environmental liabilities, including government fines and penalties imposed by regulatory authorities and damages for injuries to
persons, property or natural resources. Environmental laws and regulations often impose liability without regard to whether the owner was aware of, or was responsible for, the presence, release or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum. In certain circumstances, environmental liability may result from the activities of a current or former operator of the property. Although we are generally indemnified by our property managers and tenants of our properties for contamination caused by them, these indemnities may not adequately cover all environmental costs.
Some of our senior housing properties generate infectious medical waste due to the illness or physical condition of the residents.
The management of infectious medical waste, including handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal, is subject to regulation under various laws, including federal and state environmental laws. These environmental laws set forth the management requirements, as well as permit, record-keeping, notice, and reporting obligations. Each of our senior housing properties has an agreement with a waste management company for the proper disposal of all infectious medical waste. The use of such waste management companies does not immunize us from alleged violations of such medical waste laws for operations for which we are responsible even if carried out by such waste management companies, nor does it immunize us from third-party claims for the cost to clean up disposal sites at which such wastes have been disposed. Any finding that we are not in compliance with these environmental laws could adversely affectaffects our business, financial condition, and results of operations. While we are not awareoperations and economic conditions more generally, it may also have the effect of non-compliance with environmental laws related to infectious medical waste at our senior housing properties, these environmental laws are amended from time to time and we cannot predict when and to what extent liability may arise. In addition, because these environmental laws vary from state to state, expansionheightening or increasing the magnitude of our operations to states where we do not currently operate may subject us to additional restrictions on the manner in which we operate our senior housing properties.
Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404many of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.
As a public company, we are required to maintain effective internal control over financial reportingother risk factors described in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Internal control over financial reporting is complex and may be revised over time to adapt to changes“Risk Factors” in our business, or changes in applicable accounting rules. In addition,Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. For example, as a result of any new investment in senior housing properties, we may be required to consolidate additional entities, and, therefore, to document and test effective internal controls over the financial reportingCOVID-19 pandemic, our cost of these entities in accordance with Section 404, which we may not be able to do. Even if we are able to do so, there could be significant costs and delays, particularly if these entities were not subject to Section 404 prior to being acquired by us. We cannot assure you that our internal control over financial reporting will be effective in the future or that a material weakness will not be discovered with respect to a prior period for which we had previously believed that internal controls were effective. If we are not able to maintain or document effective internal control over financial reporting, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be able to certify as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Matters impacting our internal controls may cause us to be unable to report our financial information on a timely basis, or may cause us to restate previously issued financial information, and thereby subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions or investigations by the SEC, or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. Confidence in the reliability of our financial statements is also likely to suffer if we or our independent registered public accounting firm reports a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This could materially adversely affect us by, for example, leading to a decline in our share price and impairing our ability to raise capital.
Changes in accounting rules could occur at any time and could impact us in significantly negative ways that we are unable to predict or protect against.
The SEC, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and other regulatory bodies that establish the accounting rules applicable to us have recently proposed or enacted a wide array of changes to accounting rules. Moreover, in the future these regulators may propose additional changes that we do not currently anticipate. Changes to accounting rules that apply to us could significantly impact our business or our reported financial performance in negative ways that we cannot predict or protect against. We cannot predict whether any changes to current accounting rules will occur or what impact any codified changes will have on our business, results of operations, liquidity or financial condition.
There are risksinsurance related to newour properties under construction or development.
In the future, we might construct one or more new properties. Any failure by us or our property managershas increased and may continue to obtain the required license, certification, compliance programs, contracts, governmental permitsincrease, and authorizations, or to obtain financing on favorable
terms,such insurance may impede our ability to earn revenues on the relevant properties. Additionally, we may have to wait years for significant cash returns on newly developed properties. Furthermore, if our financial projections with respect to a new property are inaccurate due to increases in capital costs or other factors, the property may fail to perform as we expected in analyzing our investment. State and local laws also may regulate the expansion, including the addition of new beds or services or acquisition of medical equipment, and the construction or renovation of healthcare properties, by requiring a CON or other similar approval from a state agency. Any compliance issues could also make it more difficult to obtain or maintain required licenses and registrations.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR TAXATION AS A REIT
Our failure to qualify as a REIT would result in higher taxes and reduced cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Drive Shack’s failure to qualify as a REIT could cause us to lose our REIT status.
We are organized and conduct our operations to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Our ability to satisfy the REIT asset tests depends upon our analysis of the fair market values of our assets, some of which are not susceptible to a precise determination, and for which we do not obtain independent appraisals. Our compliance with the REIT income and quarterly asset requirements also depends upon our ability to successfully manage the composition of our income and assets on an ongoing basis. Moreover, the proper classification of one or more of our investments may be uncertain in some circumstances, which could affect the application of the REIT qualification requirements. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Internal Revenue Service will not contend that our investments violate the REIT requirements.
If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to U.S. federal income tax, including any applicable alternative minimum tax, on our taxable income at regular corporate rates and distributions to stockholders would not be deductible by us in computing our taxable income. Any such corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders, which in turn could have an adverse impact on the value of, and trading prices for, our stock. Unless entitled to relief under certain provisions of the Code, we also would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which we initially ceased to qualify as a REIT.
If Drive Shack failed to qualify as a REIT for a taxable year ending on or before December 31, 2015, the rule against re-electing REIT status following a loss of such status could also apply to us if we were treated as a successor to Drive Shack for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which could cause us to fail to qualify for taxation as a REIT for our 2019 and/or earlier years. Although Drive Shack has provided (i) a representation in the Separation and Distribution Agreement that it had no knowledge of any fact or circumstance that would cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT and (ii) a covenant in the Separation and Distribution Agreement to use its reasonable best efforts to maintain its REIT status for each of Drive Shack’s taxable years ending on or before 2015 (unless Drive Shack obtains an opinion from a nationally recognized tax counsel or a private letter ruling from the IRS to the effect that Drive Shack’s failure to maintain its REIT status will not cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT under the successor REIT rule referred to above), no assurance can be given that such representation and covenant would prevent us from failing to qualify as a REIT. Although, in the event of a breach, we may be able to seek damages from Drive Shack, there can be no assurance that such damages, if any, would appropriately compensate us. In addition, if Drive Shack were to fail to qualify as a REIT despite its reasonable best efforts, we would have no claim against Drive Shack.
Our failure to qualify as a REIT would cause our stock to be delisted from the NYSE.
The NYSE requires, as a condition to the listing of our shares, that we maintain our REIT status. Consequently, if we fail to maintain our REIT status, our shares would promptly be delisted from the NYSE, which would decrease the trading activity of such shares. This could make it difficult to sell shares and would likely cause the market volume of the shares trading to decline.
If we were delisted as a result of losing our REIT status and desired to relist our shares on the NYSE, we would have to reapply to the NYSE to be listed as a domestic corporation. As the NYSE’s listing standards for REITs are less onerous than its standards for domestic corporations, it would be more difficult for us to become a listed company under these heightened standards. We might not be able to satisfy the NYSE’s listing standards for a domestic corporation. As a result, if we were delisted from the NYSE, we might not be able to relist as a domestic corporation, in which case our shares could not trade on the NYSE.
Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some “qualified dividends”.
Dividends payable to domestic stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates are generally taxed at reduced tax rates applicable to “qualified dividends”. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for those reduced rates. The more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate dividends could cause investors who are individuals, trusts and estates 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 stock of REITs, including our common stock. In addition, the relative attractiveness of real estate in general may be adversely affected by the favorable tax treatment given to non-REIT corporate dividends, which could affect the value of our real estate assets negatively.
Qualifying as a REIT involves highly technical and complex provisions of the Code.
Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which only limited judicial and administrative authorities exist. Even a technical or inadvertent violation could jeopardize our REIT qualification. Our qualification as a REIT will depend on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. Compliance with these requirements must be carefully monitored on a continuing basis, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully monitor our compliance.
REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to execute our business plan.
We generally must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, excluding any net capital gain, in order for corporate income tax not to apply to earnings that we distribute. We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the REIT requirements of the Code. However, differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash could require us to sell assets or borrow funds on a short-term or long-term basis to meet the 90% distribution requirement of the Code. Certain of our assets may generate substantial mismatches between taxable income and available cash. As a result, the requirement to distribute a substantial portion of our REIT taxable income could cause us to: (i) sell assets in adverse market conditions; (ii) borrow on unfavorable terms; (iii) distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions, capital expenditures or repayment of debt; or (iv) make taxable distributions of our capital stock or debt securities in order to comply with REIT requirements. Further, amounts distributed will not be available to fund investment activities. If we fail to obtain debt or equity capital in the future, it could limit our ability to satisfy our liquidity needs, which could adversely affect the value of our common stock.
We may be unable to generate sufficient revenue from operations to pay our operating expenses and to pay distributions to our stockholders.
As a REIT, we are generally required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (determined without regard to the dividends paid deductioncontain exclusions and not including net capital gain) each yearcover certain claims related to our stockholders. To qualify for the tax benefits accorded to REITs, we intend to make distributions to our stockholders in amounts such that we distribute an amount at least equal to all or substantially all of our REIT taxable income each year, subject to certain adjustments. However, our ability to make distributions may be adversely affected by the risk factors described herein.COVID-19.
The stock ownership limit imposed by the Code for REITs and our certificate of incorporation may inhibit market activity in our stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.
In order for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT under the Code, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) at any time during the last half of each taxable year after our first taxable year. Our certificate of incorporation, with certain exceptions, authorizes our board of directors to take the actions that are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our board of directors, no person may own more than 9.8% of the aggregate value of our outstanding capital stock, treating classes and series of our stock in the aggregate. Our board of directors may grant an exemption in its sole discretion, subject to such conditions, representations and undertakings as it may determine in its sole discretion. These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in our control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.
Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow.
Even if we remain qualified for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets, including taxes on any undistributed income, tax on income from some activities conducted as a result of a foreclosure, and state or local income, property and transfer taxes. Moreover, if a REIT distributes less than 85% of its ordinary income, 95% of its capital gain net income plus any undistributed shortfall from prior year (“Required Distribution”) to its stockholders during any calendar year (including any distributions declared by the last day of the calendar year but paid in the subsequent year), then it is required to pay an excise tax on 4% of any shortfall between the Required Distribution and the amount that was actually
distributed. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distribution to our stockholders. In addition, our TRS will be subject to corporate level income tax at regular rates.
Complying with the REIT requirements may negatively impact our investment returns or cause us to forgo otherwise attractive opportunities, liquidate assets or contribute assets to the TRS.
To qualify as a REIT for U.S. 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 stockholders and the ownership of our stock. As a result of these tests, we may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution, forgo otherwise attractive investment opportunities, liquidate assets in adverse market conditions or contribute assets to a TRS that is subject to regular corporate federal income tax. Our ability to acquire investments will be subject to the applicable REIT qualification tests, and we may have to hold these interests through our TRS, which would negatively impact our returns from these assets. In general, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make and retain certain attractive investments.
Complying with the REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively.
The existing REIT provisions of the Code may substantially limit our ability to hedge our operations because a significant amount of the income from those hedging transactions is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both REIT gross income tests. In addition, we must limit our aggregate income from non-qualified hedging transactions, from our provision of services and from other non-qualifying sources, to less than 5% of our annual gross income (determined without regard to gross income from qualified hedging transactions). As a result, we may have to limit our use of certain hedging techniques or implement those hedges through total return swaps. This could result in greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to incur or could increase the cost of our hedging activities. If we fail to comply with these limitations, we could lose our REIT qualification for U.S. federal income tax purposes, unless our failure was due to reasonable cause, and not due to willful neglect, and we meet certain other technical requirements. Even if our failure were due to reasonable cause, we might incur a penalty tax.
Distributions to tax-exempt investors may be classified as unrelated business taxable income.
Neither ordinary nor capital gain distributions with respect to our stock nor gain from the sale of stock should generally constitute unrelated business taxable income to a tax-exempt investor. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule. In particular:
part of the income and gain recognized by certain qualified employee pension trusts with respect to our stock may be treated as unrelated business taxable income if shares of our stock are predominantly held by qualified employee pension trusts, and we are required to rely on a special look-through rule for purposes of meeting one of the REIT ownership tests, and we are not operated in a manner to avoid treatment of such income or gain as unrelated business taxable income; and
part of the income and gain recognized by a tax-exempt investor with respect to our stock would constitute unrelated business taxable income if the investor incurs debt in order to acquire the stock.
The tax on prohibited transactions will limit our ability to engage in certain transactions which would be treated as prohibited transactions for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Net income that we derive from a prohibited transaction is subject to a 100% tax. The term “prohibited transaction” generally includes a sale or other disposition of property that is held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our trade or business. We might be subject to this tax if we were to dispose of our property in a manner that was treated as a prohibited transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
We generally intend to conduct our operations so that no significant asset that we own (or are treated as owning) will be treated as, or as having been, held for sale to customers, and that a sale of any such asset will not be treated as having been in the ordinary course of our business. As a result, we may choose not to engage in certain sales at the REIT level, even though the sales might otherwise be beneficial to us. In addition, whether property is held “primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business” depends on the particular facts and circumstances. No assurance can be given that any property that we sell will not be treated as property held for sale to customers, or that we can comply with certain safe-harbor provisions of the Code that would prevent such treatment. The 100% prohibited transaction tax does not apply to gains from the sale of property that is held
through a TRS or other taxable corporation, although such income will be subject to tax in the hands of the corporation at regular corporate rates. We intend to structure our activities to prevent prohibited transaction characterization.
Changes to U.S. federal income tax laws could materially and adversely affect us and our stockholders.
The present U.S. federal income tax treatment of REITs and their stockholders may be modified, possibly with retroactive effect, by legislative, judicial or administrative action at any time, which could affect the U.S. federal income tax treatment of an investment in our shares. The U.S. federal income tax rules, including those dealing with REITs, are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process, the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department, which results in statutory changes as well as frequent revisions to regulations and interpretations.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”), which was enacted in 2017, made substantial changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Among those changes are a significant permanent reduction in the generally applicable corporate tax rate, changes in the taxation of individuals and other non-corporate taxpayers that generally but not universally reduce their taxes on a temporary basis subject to “sunset” provisions, the elimination or modification of various currently allowed deductions (including substantial limitations on the deductibility of interest and, in the case of individuals, the deduction for personal state and local taxes), certain additional limitations on the deduction of net operating losses and preferential rates of taxation on most ordinary REIT dividends and certain business income derived by non-corporate taxpayers in comparison to other ordinary income recognized by such taxpayers. The effect of these, and the many other changes in the Tax Act remain highly uncertain both in terms of their direct effect on the taxation of an investment in our common stock and their indirect effect on the value of our assets or market conditions generally. Furthermore, many of the provisions of the Tax Act still require guidance through the issuance of Treasury regulations in order to assess their effect. There may be a substantial delay before such regulations are promulgated, increasing the uncertainty as to the ultimate effect of the statutory amendments on us. There may also be technical corrections legislation proposed with respect to the Tax Act, the effect of which cannot be predicted and may be adverse to us or our stockholders.
Liquidation of assets may jeopardize our REIT qualification or create additional tax liability for us.
To qualify as a REIT, we must comply with requirements regarding the composition of our assets and our sources of income. If we are compelled to liquidate our investments to repay obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with these requirements, ultimately jeopardizing our qualification as a REIT, or we may be subject to a 100% tax on any resultant gain if we sell assets that are treated as dealer property or inventory.
The lease of our properties to a TRS is subject to special requirements.
Under the provisions of RIDEA, we currently lease certain “qualified healthcare properties” (which generally include assisted living properties and certain independent living properties) to our TRS (or a disregarded entity owned by a TRS). The TRS, in turn, contracts with a third party operator to manage the healthcare operations at these properties. The rents paid by the TRS in this structure will be treated as qualifying rents from real property for purposes of the REIT requirements only if (i) they are paid pursuant to an arm’s-length lease of a qualified healthcare property and (ii) the operator qualifies as an “eligible independent contractor” with respect to the property. An operator will qualify as an eligible independent contractor if it meets certain ownership tests with respect to us, and if, at the time the operator enters into the property management agreement, the operator is actively engaged in the trade or business of operating qualified healthcare properties for any person who is not a related person to us or the TRS. If any of the above conditions were not satisfied, then the rents would not be considered income from a qualifying source for purposes of the REIT rules, which could cause us to incur penalty taxes or to fail to qualify as a REIT.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK
We have not established a minimum distribution payment level, and we cannot assure you of our ability to pay any distributions in the future.
On August 9, 2018, we announced that our board of directors determined to re-set the dividend on our common stock for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, to more closely align our payout ratios with our industry peers. Our cash flows from operating activities, less capital expenditures and principal payments, have been, and continue to be, less than the amount of distributions to our stockholders. There can be no assurance that we will pay cash dividends in an amount consistent with prior quarters. Any difference between the amount of any future dividend and the amount of dividends in prior quarters could be material, and there can be no assurance that our board will declare any dividend at all.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully operate our business, execute our investment strategy or generate sufficient liquidity to make or sustain distributions to our stockholders. Our ability to make distributions to our stockholders depends, in part, on the liquidity we generate on a recurring basis as well as the liquidity generated from episodic asset sales. The liquidity we generate on a recurring basis, which is generally equal to our cash flows from operating activities, less capital expenditures and principal payments on our debt, has consistently been less than the amount of distributions to our stockholders in prior quarters. We have funded the shortfall using cash on hand. A portion of that amount is held in operating accounts used to fund expenses at our managed properties and, therefore, may not be available for distribution to stockholders. For further information about factors that could affect our liquidity, see Part I, Item 2., “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Liquidity and Capital Resources” and Item 3., “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.”
In the case of any future dividend, we may, but are not obligated to, fund the shortfall described above using cash generated from asset sales, but there can be no assurance that we will have such sources of cash or other potential sources of cash from non-operating activities. See “-Real estate investments are relatively illiquid,” and “-The tax on prohibited transactions will limit our ability to engage in certain transactions which would be treated as prohibited transactions for U.S. federal income tax purposes.” Moreover, we may decide to use cash generated from asset sales for other corporate purposes, such as new investments or capital expenditures. A failure to deploy the proceeds of asset sales into investments with an adequate cash yield could exacerbate the shortfall while increasing our reliance on liquidity generated other than through operations to fund distributions, which could further impair our ability to make distributions at the current level or even at a lower level. The reduction in the amount of any future dividend could be material. See “-We have not established a minimum distribution payment level, and we cannot assure you of our ability to pay any distributions in the future.”
Furthermore, while we are required to make distributions in order to maintain our REIT status (as described above under “-Risks Related to our Taxation as a REIT—We may be unable to generate sufficient revenue from operations to pay our operating expenses and to pay distributions to our stockholders”), we may elect not to maintain our REIT status, in which case we would no longer be required to make such distributions. Moreover, even if we do elect to maintain our REIT status, we may elect to comply with the applicable requirements by, after completing various procedural steps, distributing, under certain circumstances, a portion of the required amount in the form of shares of our common stock in lieu of cash. If we elect not to maintain our REIT status or to satisfy any required distributions in shares of common stock in lieu of cash, such action could negatively affect our business and financial condition as well as the price of our common stock. No assurance can be given that we will pay any dividends on shares of our common stock in the future.
There can be no assurance that the market for our stock will provide you with adequate liquidity, which may make it difficult for you to sell the common stock when you want or at prices you find attractive.
The market price of our common stock may fluctuate widely, depending upon many factors, some of which may be beyond our control. These factors include, without limitation:
a shift in our investor base;
our quarterly or annual earnings, or those of other comparable companies;
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results;
changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;
announcements by us or our competitors of significant investments, acquisitions or dispositions;
the failure of securities analysts to cover our common stock;
changes in earnings estimates by securities analysts or our ability to meet those estimates;
the operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies;
overall market fluctuations; and
general economic conditions.
Stock markets in general have experienced volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of a particular company. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.
Your percentage ownership in our Company may be diluted in the future.
Your percentage ownership in our Company may be diluted in the future because of equity awards that we expect will be granted to our directors, officers and employees, as well as other equity instruments such as debt and equity financing. Our board of directors has approved an Amended and Restated Nonqualified Stock Option and Incentive Award Plan (the “Plan”) providing for the grant of equity-based awards, including restricted stock, stock options, stock appreciation rights, performance awards and other equity-based and non-equity based awards, in each case to our directors, officers, employees, service providers, consultants and advisors. We have reserved 27,922,570 shares of our common stock for issuance under the Plan.
Our outstanding Redeemable Series A Preferred Stock as well as any debt, equity or equity-related securities, including additional preferred stock, that we may issue in the future may negatively affect the market price of our common stock.
As of September 30, 2019, there are issued and outstanding, 400,000 shares of Redeemable Series A Preferred Stock. Additionally, we may in the future incur or issue debt or issue equity or equity-related securities. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, lenders and holders of our debt and holders of our preferred stock, including holders of the outstanding shares of our Redeemable Series A Preferred Stock, would receive a distribution of our available assets before common stockholders. Any future incurrence or issuance of debt would increase our interest cost and could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows. We are not required to offer any additional equity securities to existing common stockholders on a preemptive basis. Therefore, additional issuances of common stock, directly or through convertible or exchangeable securities (including limited partnership interests in our operating partnership), warrants or options, will dilute the holdings of our existing common stockholders and such issuances, or the perception of such issuances, may reduce the market price of our common stock. Our outstanding Redeemable Series A Preferred Stock provides that, subject to certain exceptions, no dividend or other distribution may be declared, made or paid or set apart for payment upon a class of capital stock ranking junior to or on parity with the Redeemable Series A Preferred Stock. Additionally, any preferred stock issued by us in the future would likely have a preference on distribution payments, periodically or upon liquidation, which could eliminate or otherwise limit our ability to make distributions to common stockholders. Because our decision to incur or issue debt or issue equity or equity-related securities, including additional preferred stock, in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of our future capital raising efforts. Thus, common stockholders bear the risk that our future incurrence or issuance of debt or issuance of equity or equity-related securities, including additional preferred stock, will adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We may in the future choose to pay dividends in our own stock, in which case you could be required to pay income taxes in excess of the cash dividends you receive.
We may in the future distribute taxable dividends that are payable in cash and shares of our common stock at the election of each stockholder. Taxable stockholders receiving such dividends will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as ordinary income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, stockholders may be required to pay income taxes with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash dividends received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock that it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sale proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in stock. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock.
In August 2017, the IRS issued guidance authorizing elective cash/stock dividends to be made by public REITs where there is a minimum (of at least 20%) amount of cash that may be paid as part of the dividend, provided that certain requirements are met. It is unclear whether and to what extent we would be able to or choose to pay taxable dividends in cash and stock. No assurance can be given that the IRS will not impose additional requirements in the future with respect to taxable cash/stock dividends, including on a retroactive basis, or assert that the requirements for such taxable cash/stock dividends have not been met.
An increase in market interest rates may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
One of the factors that investors may consider in deciding whether to buy or sell shares of our common stock is our distribution rate as a percentage of our share price relative to market interest rates. If the market price of our common stock is based primarily on the earnings and return that we derive from our investments and income with respect to our investments and our related distributions to stockholders, and not from the market value of the investments themselves, then interest rate fluctuations and capital market conditions will likely affect the market price of our common stock. For instance, if market interest rates rise without an increase in our distribution rate, the market price of our common stock could decrease as potential investors may require a higher distribution yield on our common stock or seek other securities paying higher distributions or interest. In addition, rising interest rates would result in increased interest expense on our floating rate debt, thereby adversely affecting cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness and pay distributions.
In addition, we have loans, derivative contracts, and other financial instruments with terms that are benchmarked to LIBOR, which is expected to be discontinued at the end of 2021. It is unclear whether new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021 or whether LIBOR will be replaced by alternative reference rates. It is not possible to predict the effect of these changes, other reforms or the establishment of alternative reference rates and their impact on the market for or value of any LIBOR-linked securities, loans, derivatives and other financial obligations or extensions of credit held by or due to us or on our overall financial condition or results of operations.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and of Delaware law may prevent or delay an acquisition of our company, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.
Our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids by making such practices or bids unacceptably expensive to the raider and to encourage prospective acquirers to negotiate with our board of directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions include, among others:
a classified board of directors with staggered three-year terms;
amendment of provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws regarding the election of directors, classes of directors, the term of office of directors, the filling of director vacancies and the resignation and removal of directors only upon the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote thereon;
amendment of provisions in our certificate of incorporation regarding corporate opportunity only upon the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote thereon;
removal of directors only for cause and only with the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote in the election of directors;
our board of directors to determine the powers, preferences and rights of our preferred stock and to issue such preferred stock without stockholder approval;
advance notice requirements applicable to stockholders for director nominations and actions to be taken at annual meetings; and
a prohibition, in our certificate of incorporation, stating that no holder of shares of our common stock will have cumulative voting rights in the election of directors, which means that the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock can elect all the directors standing for election.
Public stockholders who might desire to participate in these types of transactions may not have an opportunity to do so, even if the transaction is considered favorable to stockholders. These anti-takeover provisions could substantially impede the ability of public stockholders to benefit from a change in control or a change in our management and board of directors and, as a result, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and stockholders’ ability to realize any potential change of control premium.
ERISA may restrict investments by plans in our common stock.
A plan fiduciary considering an investment in our common stock should consider, among other things, whether such an investment is consistent with the fiduciary obligations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), including whether such investment might constitute or give rise to a prohibited transaction under ERISA, the Code or any substantially similar federal, state or local law and, if so, whether an exemption from such prohibited transaction rules is available.
ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
None.
ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES
None.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
None.
ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
ITEM 6. EXHIBITS
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Exhibits filed with this Form 10-Q: |
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101.INS | Interactive Data File formatted in Inline XBRL |
101.SCH | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document. |
101.CAL | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document. |
101.DEF | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document. |
101.LAB | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document. |
101.PRE | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document. |
104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted in Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101). |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized:
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| NEW SENIOR INVESTMENT GROUP INC. |
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| By: | /s/ Susan Givens |
| Susan Givens |
By: | Director and Chief Executive Officer |
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| November 5, 2019 |
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| By: | /s/ Bhairav Patel |
| Bhairav Patel |
| Executive Vice President of Finance and Accounting and Interim Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) |
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| November 5, 2019October 30, 2020 |