Our disclosure and analysis in this Annual Report on Form 10-K ("(“Form 10-K"10-K”), and the documents that are incorporated by reference herein, contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"“Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"“Exchange Act”). We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Ligation Reform Act of 1995 and include this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends concerning matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future events, including, among other things, discussion and analysis of our future financial condition, results of operations and funds from operations ("FFO"(“FFO”), our strategic plans and objectives, cost management, occupancy and leasing rates and trends, liquidity and ability to refinance our indebtedness as it matures, anticipated capital expenditures (and access to capital) required to complete projects, amounts of anticipated cash distributions to our stockholders in the future and other matters. Words such as “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “will,” “should,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may” and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, are difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the following subjects, among others, are forward-looking by their nature:

Forward-looking statements involve inherent uncertainty and may ultimately prove to be incorrect or false. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise may be required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or actual operating results. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to:

This list of risks and uncertainties, however, is only a summary of some of the most important factors to us and is not intended to be exhaustive. You should carefully review the risks set forth herein under the caption “Item 1A. Risk Factors.” New factors may also emerge from time to time that could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Gladstone Commercial Corporation (which we refer to as “we,” “us,” or the “Company”) is a REIT, that was incorporated under the General Corporation Law of the State of Maryland on February 14, 2003. We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. We focus on acquiring, owning, and managing primarily office and industrial properties. On a selective basis, we may make long term industrial and office mortgage loans; however we do not have any mortgage loans receivable currently outstanding. Our shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, 7.00% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Series D Preferred Stock”), and 6.625% Series E Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Series E Preferred Stock”), trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (“Nasdaq”) under the trading symbols “GOOD,” “GOODM” and “GOODN,” respectively. Our senior common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Senior Common Stock”), is not traded on any exchange or automated quotation system.

Our properties are geographically diversified and our tenants cover a broad cross section of business sectors and range in size from small to very large private and public companies. companies, many of which are corporations that do not have publicly-rated debt. We have historically entered into, and intend in the future to enter into, purchase agreements for real estate having net leases with terms of approximately 7 to 15 years with built-in rental rate increases. Under a net lease, the tenant is required to pay most or all operating, maintenance, repair and insurance costs and real estate taxes with respect to the leased property

We actively communicate with buyout funds, real estate brokers and other third parties to locate properties for potential acquisition or to provide mortgage financing in an effort to build our portfolio. We target secondary growth markets that possess favorable economic growth trends, diversified industries, and growing population and employment.

We conduct substantially all of our business activities including the ownership ofthrough an Umbrella Partnership Real Estate Investment Trust structure, by which all of our properties throughare held, directly or indirectly, by Gladstone Commercial Limited Partnership a Delaware limited partnership, which we refer to as our Operating Partnership.(the “Operating Partnership”). We control our Operating Partnership through our ownership of GCLP Business Trust II, a Massachusetts business trust, which is the sole general partner of ourthe Operating Partnership and of GCLP Business Trust I, a Massachusetts business trust, which currently holds allown, directly or indirectly, approximately 98.5% of the common units of limited partnership units of our Operating Partnership. Ourinterest in the Operating Partnership (“OP Units”). We have in the past, and may in the future, issue OP Units in connection with the acquisition of commercial real estate, and thereby potentially expand the number of limited partnership units from time to time in exchange for industrial and office real property; however, no units have been issued since inception.partners of the Operating Partnership. Limited partners who hold limited partnership units in our Operating Partnership for at least one year will generally be entitled to cause us to redeem these units for cash or, at our election, shares of our common stock on a one-for-one basis.

Our Operating Partnership is the sole member of Gladstone Commercial Lending, LLC, which we refer to as Gladstone Commercial Lending. Gladstone Commercial Lending is a Delaware limited liability company that was formed to hold any real estate mortgage loans.

Our business is managed by our external adviser, Gladstone Management Corporation (the "Adviser"“Adviser”). Gladstone Administration, LLC (the "Administrator"“Administrator”), provides administrative services to us. Both our Adviser and our Administrator are affiliates of ours and each other.

Our principal investment objectives are to generate income from rental properties and, to a much lesser extent, mortgage loans, which we use to fund our continuing operations and to pay monthly cash distributions to our stockholders. Our strategy is to invest in and own a diversified portfolio of leased properties (primarily office and industrial) that we believe will produce stable cash flow and increase in value. We may sell some of our real estate assets when our Adviser determines that doing so would be advantageous to us and our stockholders. We also expect to occasionally make mortgage loans secured by income-producing office or industrial real estate, which loans may have some form of equity participation. We do not have any mortgage loans receivable currently outstanding.

In addition to cash on hand and cash from operations, we use funds from various other sources to finance our acquisitions and operations, including equity, our Credit Facility, (as defined herein), mortgage financing and other sources that may become available from time to time. We believe that moderate leverage is prudent and we aspire to become an investment grade borrower over time. We intend to primarily use non-recourse mortgage financing that will allow us to limit our loss exposure on any property to the amount of equity invested in such property.

In addition to our use of leverage, we were active in the equity markets during 20172019 by issuing shares of common stock and preferred stock under our at-the-market programs ("(“Common ATM Programs"Program”), pursuant to our open market sale agreementsAt-the-Market Equity Offering Sales Agreement (the “Common Stock Sales Agreement”) with Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated (“Baird”), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (“Goldman Sachs”), Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”), BTIG, LLC, and Fifth Third Securities, Inc. (“Fifth Third”) (collectively, the “Common Stock Sales Agents”), and formerly with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. ("Cantor Fitzgerald"(“Cantor”). We also issued common stock through one overnight offering.completed an underwritten public offering for our newly designated Series E Preferred Stock and entered into an at-the-market program for the Series E Preferred Stock (the “Series E Preferred ATM Program,” and together with the Common ATM Program, the “ATM Programs”) pursuant to our At-the-Market Equity Offering Sales Agreement (the “Series E Preferred Stock Sales Agreement”) with Baird, Goldman Sachs, Stifel, Fifth Third, and U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. (collectively the “Series E Preferred Stock Sales Agents”).

We intend to earn substantially all of our revenues from the ownership of income-producing real property or, to a much lesser extent, mortgage loans secured by real property. We expect that a majority of our investments will continue to be structured as net leases that require the tenant to pay most or all of the operating costs, costs of maintenance and repair, insurance and real estate taxes on the property. However, if a net lease would have an adverse impact on a potential tenant, or we assume a lease with a different existing structure in place, we may structure our investment as either a gross or modified gross lease, or as a mortgage loan. Investments are not restricted to geographical areas, but we expect that most of our investments in real estate will continue to be made within the continental United States. Some of our investments may also be made through joint ventures that would permit us to own interests in large properties without restricting the diversity of our portfolio.

We anticipate that we will make substantially all of our investments through our Operating Partnership. Our Operating Partnership may acquire interests in real property or mortgage loans in exchange for the issuance of limited partnership units, forcommon shares, OP Units, cash, or through a combination of both.the aforementioned. OP Units issued by our Operating Partnership generally will be redeemable for cash or, at our election, shares of our common stock on a one-for-one basis. However, webasis after the one-year anniversary of their issuance. We may in the future also conduct some of our business and hold some of our interests in real properties or mortgage loans through one or more wholly-owned subsidiaries that are not owned, directly or indirectly, through our Operating Partnership. We have not issued any limited partnership units to date.

To date, we have purchased a majority of our properties from owners that have leased their properties to non-affiliated tenants, and while we have engaged in some transactions with tenants who have consummated sale-leaseback transactions, these transactions do not comprise the dominant portion of our portfolio. We expect that some of our sale-leaseback transactions will be in conjunction with acquisitions, recapitalizations or other corporate transactions affecting our tenants. In these transactions, we may act as one of several sources of financing by purchasing one or more properties from the tenant and by leasing it on a net basis to the tenant or its successor in interest.

Our portfolio consists primarily of single-tenant office and industrial real property; whileproperty. While we will continue to acquire select multi-tenant office and industrial properties, our primary focus is single-tenant industrial and office properties. Generally, we lease properties to tenants that our Adviser deems creditworthy under leases that will be full recourse obligations of our tenants or their affiliates. We seek to obtain lease terms of approximately seven to 15 years with built-in rental increases.

We have formed relationships with nationally recognized strategic partners to assist us with the management of our properties in each of our markets. These relationships provide local expertise to ensure that our properties are properly maintained and that our tenants have local points of contact to address property issues. This strategy improves our operating efficiencies, increases local market intelligence for the Adviser, and generally does not increase our costs as the local property managers are reimbursed by the tenants in accordance with the lease agreements.

Although we expect to make investments in mortgage loans sparingly, we may elect to structure our investment in a particular property as a mortgage loan secured by the property. We anticipate that most of our lending transactions would be loans secured by industrial or office property or issued in connection with a build-to-suit transaction. Our Adviser will attempt to structure mortgage loans in a manner that would provide us with current income substantially similar to that which we could expect to receive had the investment been structured as a net lease transaction.

To the extent that we invest in mortgage loans, we will generally originate those loans. However, we may also purchase mortgage loans from banks, collateralized mortgage backed securities ("CMBS"(“CMBS”) pools or other lenders provided that such transactions are otherwise consistent with our investment objectives. Our Adviser will service the mortgage loans in our portfolio by monitoring the collection of monthly principal and interest payments on our behalf. We do not have any mortgage loans receivable currently outstanding.

We consider underwriting of the real estate and the tenant for the property (or the borrower in the case of a mortgage loan) to be the two most important aspects of evaluating a prospective investment. In analyzing potential acquisitions of properties and leases, our Adviser reviews all aspects of the potential transaction, including tenant and real estate fundamentals, to determine whether potential acquisitions and leases can be structured to satisfy our acquisition criteria. The criteria listed below provide general guideposts that our Adviser may consider when underwriting leases and mortgage loans:

Our Adviser also reviews the structural soundness of the improvements on the property and may engage a structural engineer to review multiple aspects of the structures to determine the longevity of each building on the property. This review normally also includes the components of each building, such as the roof, the structure and configuration, the electrical wiring, the heating and air-conditioning system, the plumbing, parking lot and various other aspects such as compliance with state and federal building codes.

Our Adviser also physically inspects the real estate and surrounding real estate as part of determining its value. This aspect of our Adviser’s due diligence is aimed at arriving at a valuation of the real estate under the assumption that it would not be rented to the existing tenant. As part of this process, our Adviser may consider one or more of the following items:

In addition, our Adviser supplements its valuation with an independent real estate appraisal in connection with each investment that we consider. When appropriate, our Adviser may engage experts to undertake some or all of the due diligence efforts described above.

In addition to cash on hand and cash from operations, we use funds from various other sources to finance our acquisitions and operations, including common and preferred equity, our Credit Facility, mortgage financing and other sources that may become available from time to time. We believe that moderate leverage is prudent and we aspire to achieve an investment grade rating over time.

Currently, the majority of our mortgage borrowings are structured as non-recourse to us, with limited exceptions that would trigger recourse to us only upon the occurrence of certain fraud, misconduct, environmental or bankruptcy events. The use of non-recourse financing allows us to limit our exposure to the amount of equity invested in the properties pledged as collateral for our borrowings. Non-recourse financing generally restricts a lender’s claim on the assets of the borrower, and as a result, the lender generally may look only to the property securing the debt for its satisfaction. We believe that this financing strategy, to the extent available, protects our other assets. However, we can provide no assurance that non-recourse financing will be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and consequently, there may be circumstances where lenders have recourse to our other assets. To a much lesser extent, we use recourse financing. Of the $447.4$453.7 million in mortgage notes payable, net, outstanding as of December 31, 2017,2019, only $11.7$4.8 million is recourse to the Company, or 2.6%1.1% of the total amount outstanding.

On August 7, 2013, we procured a senior unsecured revolving credit facility ("Revolver"(“Revolver”), with KeyBank National Association (“Keybank”) (serving as a revolving lender, a letter of credit issuer and an administrative agent) and other syndicated lenders. Our Revolver was initially for $60.0 million, but was increased to $85.0 million through subsequent amendments, with the latest amendment occurring on October 27, 2017.amendments. On October 5, 2015, we added a $25.0 million 5-year term loan facility ("(“Term Loan"Loan”). On October 27, 2017, we expanded our Term Loan to $75.0 million and extended the maturity date to October 27, 2022, and also extended the maturity date of our Revolver through October 27, 2021. The Revolver andOn July 2, 2019, we expanded our Term Loan from $75.0 million to $160.0 million, inclusive of a delayed draw component whereby we can incrementally borrow on the Term Loan are referredup to the $160.0 million commitment, and increased the Revolver from $85.0 million to $100.0 million. The Term Loan has a new five-year term, with a maturity date of July 2, 2024, and the Revolver has a new four-year term, with a maturity date of July 2, 2023. The interest rate margin for each of the Term Loan and Revolver was reduced by 10 basis points at each leverage tier. We refer to the Term Loan and Revolver, collectively, herein, as the Credit Facility.

We have adopted policies to reduce potential conflicts of interest. In addition, our directors are subject to certain provisions of Maryland law that are designed to minimize conflicts. However, we cannot assure you that these policies or provisions of law will reduce or eliminate the influence of these conflicts.

Under our current conflict of interest policy, without the approval of a majority of our independent directors, we will not:

Our policy also prohibits us from purchasing any real property owned by or co-investing with our Adviser, any of its affiliates or any business in which our Adviser or any of its subsidiaries have invested, except that we may lease property to existing and prospective portfolio companies of current or future affiliates, such as our affiliated publicly-traded funds Gladstone Capital Corporation ("(“Gladstone Capital"Capital”), Gladstone Land Corporation ("(“Gladstone Land"Land”) or Gladstone Investment Corporation ("(“Gladstone Investment"Investment”), and other entities advised by our Adviser, so long as that entity does not control the portfolio company and the transaction is approved by both companies’ board of directors. If we decide to change this policy on co-investments with our Adviser or its affiliates, we will seek our stockholders’ approval.

Our independent directors periodically review our investment policies to evaluate whether they are in the best interests of us and our stockholders. Our investment procedures, objectives and policies may vary as new investment techniques are developed or as regulatory requirements change, and except as otherwise provided in our charter or bylaws, may be altered by a majority of our directors (including a majority of our independent directors) without the approval of our stockholders, to the extent that our Board of Directors determines that such modification is in the best interest of our stockholders. Among other factors, developments in the market which affect the policies and strategies described in this report or which change our assessment of the market may cause our Board of Directors to revise our investment policies and strategies.

We have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct applicable to all personnel of our Adviser that complies with the guidelines set forth in Item 406 of Regulation S-K of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This code establishes procedures for personal investments, restricts certain transactions by such personnel and requires the reporting of certain transactions and holdings by such personnel. A copy of this code is available for review, free of charge, aton the investor relations section of our website at www.GladstoneCommercial.com. We intend to provide any required disclosure of any amendments to or waivers of the provisionsthis code of this codeethics by posting information regarding any such amendment or waiver to our website within four days of its effectiveness.website.

Our business is managed by our Adviser. The officers, directors and employees of our Adviser have significant experience in making investments in and lending to businesses of all sizes, and investing in real estate and making mortgage loans. We have entered into an investment advisory agreement with our Adviser, as amended (the "Advisory Agreement"“Advisory Agreement”), under which our Adviser is responsible for managing our assets and liabilities, for operating our business on a day-to-day basis and for identifying, evaluating, negotiating and consummating investment transactions consistent with our investment policies as determined by our Board of Directors from time to time. The Administrator employs our chief financial officer, treasurer, chief compliance officer, and general counsel and secretary (who also serves as our Administrator’s president, general counsel, and secretary) and their respective staffs and provides administrative services for us under the Administration Agreement.

David Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer, is also the chairman, chief executive officer and the controlling stockholder of our Adviser and our Administrator. Terry Lee Brubaker, our vice chairman and chief operating officer, also serves in the same capacities for our Adviser and our Administrator. Robert Cutlip, our president, is also an executive managing director of our Adviser.

Our Adviser has an investment committee that approves each of our investments. This investment committee is currently comprised of Messrs. Gladstone, Cutlip and Brubaker. We believe that the review process of our investment committee gives us a unique competitive advantage over other REITs because of the substantial experience that its members possess and their unique perspective in evaluating the blend of corporate credit, real estate and lease terms that collectively provide an acceptable risk for our investments.

Our Adviser and Administrator are headquartered in McLean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and our Adviser also has offices in other states. Refer to Part II, Item 7, "Management's“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Advisory and Administration Agreements"Agreements” for a detailed discussion on the Adviser and Administrator'sAdministrator’s fee structure.

Under the terms of the Advisory Agreement, our Adviser is required to use its best efforts to present to us investment opportunities consistent with our investment policies and objectives as adopted by our Board of Directors. In performing its duties, our Adviser, either directly or indirectly by engaging an affiliate:

Our Board of Directors has authorized our Adviser to make investments in any property on our behalf without the prior approval of our Board of Directors if the following conditions are satisfied:

The actual terms and conditions of transactions involving investments in properties and mortgage loans are determined at the sole discretion of our Adviser, subject at all times to compliance with the foregoing requirements. SomeHowever, some types of transactions however, require the prior approval of our Board of Directors, including a majority of our independent directors, including the following:

Our Adviser and Administrator also engage in other business ventures and, as a result, their resources are not dedicated exclusively to our business. For example, our Adviser and Administrator also serve as the external adviser or administrator, respectively, to Gladstone Capital and Gladstone Investment, both publicly traded business development companies affiliated with us, and Gladstone Land Corporation, a publicly traded agricultural real estate investment trustREIT that is also our affiliate. However, under the Advisory Agreement, our Adviser is required to devote sufficient resources to the administration of our affairs to discharge its obligations under the agreement. The Advisory Agreement is not assignable or transferable by either us or our Adviser without the consent of the other party, except that our Adviser may assign the Advisory Agreement to an affiliate for whom our Adviser agrees to guarantee its obligations to us.

Gladstone Securities, LLC ("(“Gladstone Securities"Securities”), is a privately held broker dealer registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and insured by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Gladstone Securities is an affiliate of ours, as its parent company is controlled by Mr. David Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer. Mr. Gladstone also serves on the board of managers of Gladstone Securities.

We also entered into an agreement with Gladstone Securities, effective June 18, 2013, for it to act as our non-exclusive agent to assist us with arranging mortgage financing for properties we own. In connection with this engagement, Gladstone Securities may from time to time solicit the interest of various commercial real estate lenders or recommend to us third party lenders offering credit products or packages that are responsive to our needs. We pay Gladstone Securities a financing fee in connection with the services it provides to us for securing mortgage financing on any of our properties. The amount of these financing fees, which are payable upon closing of the financing, will be based on a percentage of the amount of the mortgage, generally ranging from 0.15% to a maximum of 1.0% of the mortgage obtained. The amount of the financing fees may be reduced or eliminated, as determined by us and Gladstone Securities, after taking into consideration various factors, including, but not limited to, the involvement of any third party brokers and market conditions. The agreement is scheduled to terminate on August 31, 2018,2020, unless renewed and approved by our Board of Directors or earlier terminated.

We do not currently have any employees and do not expect to have any employees in the foreseeable future. Currently, services necessary for our business are provided by individuals who are employees of our Adviser and our Administrator pursuant to the terms of the Advisory Agreement and the Administration Agreement, respectively. Each of our executive officers is an employee or officer, or both, of our Adviser or our Administrator. We expect that a total of 15 to 20 full time employees of our Adviser and our Administrator will spend substantially all or all of their time on our matters during calendar year 2018.2020. Our President and CFO, accounting team, and the employees of our Adviser that manage our assets and our investments spend all of their time on our matters. To the extent that we acquire more investments, we anticipate that the number of employees of our Adviser and our Administrator who devote time to our matters will increase.

As of December 31, 2017,2019, our Adviser and Administrator collectively had 6570 full-time employees. A breakdown of these employees is summarized by functional area in the table below:

We compete with a number of other real estate investment companies and traditional mortgage lenders, many of whom have greater marketing and financial resources than we do. Principal factors of competition in our primary business of investing in and owning leased industrial and office real property are the quality of properties, leasing terms, attractiveness and convenience of location. Additionally, our ability to compete depends upon, among other factors, trends of the national and local economies, investment alternatives, financial condition and operating results of current and prospective tenants and borrowers, availability and cost of capital, taxes and governmental regulations.

Some of our tenants and borrowers may have recently been either restructured using leverage, or acquired in a leveraged transaction. Tenants and borrowers that are subject to significant debt obligations may be unable to make their rent or mortgage payments if there are adverse changes to their businesses or because of the impact of the most recent U.S recession or recurrence of a similar event. Tenants that have experienced leveraged restructurings or acquisitions will generally have substantially greater debt and substantially lower net worth than they had prior to the leveraged transaction. In addition, the payment of rent and debt service may reduce the working capital available to leveraged entities and prevent them from devoting the resources necessary to remain competitive in their industries.

In situations where management of the tenant or borrower will change after a transaction, it may be difficult for our Adviser to determine with reasonable certainty the likelihood of the tenant’s or borrower’s business success and of its ability to pay rent or make mortgage payments throughout the lease or loan term. These companies generally are more vulnerable to adverse economic and business conditions, and increases in interest rates.

We are subject to the credit risk of our tenants. Any bankruptcy of a tenant or borrower could cause:

 

Under bankruptcy law, a tenant who is the subject of bankruptcy proceedings has the option of continuing or terminating any unexpired lease. If a bankrupt tenant terminates a lease with us, any claim we might have for breach of the lease (excluding a claim against collateral securing the lease) will be treated as a general unsecured claim. Our claim would likely be capped at the amount the tenant owed us for unpaid rent prior to the bankruptcy unrelated to the termination, plus the greater of one year’s lease payments or 15% of the remaining lease payments payable under the lease (but no more than three years’ lease payments). In addition, due to the long-term nature of our leases and terms providing for the repurchase of a property by the tenant, a bankruptcy court could re-characterize a net lease transaction as a secured lending transaction. If that were to occur, we would not be treated as the owner of the property, but might have additional rights as a secured creditor.

In addition, we may enter into sale-leaseback transactions, whereby we would purchase a property and then lease the same property back to the person from whom we purchased it. In the event of the bankruptcy of a tenant, a transaction structured as a sale-leaseback may be re-characterized as either a financing or a joint venture, either of which outcomes could adversely affect our business. If the sale-leaseback were re-characterized as a financing, we might not be considered the owner of the property, and as a result would have the status of a creditor in relation to the tenant. In that event, we would no longer have the right to sell or encumber our ownership interest in the property. Instead, we would have a claim against the tenant for the amounts owed under the lease, with the claim arguably secured by the property. The tenant/debtor might have the ability to propose a plan restructuring the term, interest rate and amortization schedule of its outstanding balance. If confirmed by the bankruptcy court, we could be bound by the new terms, and prevented from foreclosing our lien on the property. If the sale-leaseback were re-characterized as a joint venture, we could be treated as a co-venturer with our lessee with regard to the property. As a result, we could be held liable, under some circumstances, for debts incurred by the lessee relating to the property. Either of these outcomes could adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to pay distributions to stockholders.

If we cannot renew leases, we may be unable to re-lease our properties to other tenants at rates equal to or above the current market rate. Even if we can renew leases, tenants may be able to negotiate lower rates as a result of market conditions. Market conditions may also hinder our ability to lease vacant space in newly developed or redeveloped properties. In addition, we may enter into or acquire leases for properties that are suited to the needs of a particular tenant. Such properties may require renovations, tenant improvements or other concessions in order to lease them to other tenants if the initial leases terminate. We may be required to expend substantial funds for tenant improvements and tenant refurbishments to re-lease the vacated space and cannot assure you that we will have sufficient sources of funding available to use in the future for such purposes and therefore may have difficulty in securing a replacement tenant. We may also have challenges in leasing properties that currently have leases which make up a significant portion of our rent. Any of these factors could adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow or our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders.

A large portion of our rental income comes from net leases, which frequently provide the tenant greater discretion in using the leased property than ordinary property leases, such as the right to sublease the property, subject to our approval, to make alterations in the leased premises and to terminate the lease prior to its expiration under specified circumstances. Further, net leases are typically for longer lease terms and, thus, there is an increased risk that contractual rental increases in future years will fail to result in fair market rental rates during those years. As a result, our income and distributions to our stockholders could be lower than they would otherwise be if we did not engage in net leases.

Our multi-tenant properties could expose us to the risk that a sufficient number of suitable tenants may not be found to enable the property to operate profitably. This loss of income could cause a material adverse impact to our results of operations and business. Multi-tenant properties are also subject to tenant turnover and fluctuation in occupancy rates, which could affect our operating results. Furthermore, multi-tenant properties expose us to the risk of increased operating expenses, which may occur when the actual cost of taxes, insurance and maintenance at the property exceeds the operating expenses paid by tenants and/or the amounts budgeted.

We may (1) provide a developer with either a combination of financing for construction of a build-to-suit property or a commitment to acquire a property upon completion of construction of a build-to-suit property and commencement of rent from the tenant or (2) acquire a property subject to a lease and engage a developer to complete construction of a build-to-suit property as required by the lease. We face uncertainties associated with a developer’s timely performance and timely completion of a project, including the performance or timely completion of contractors and subcontractors. If a developer, contractor or subcontractor fails to perform, we may resort to legal action to compel performance, remove the developer or rescind the purchase or construction contract. We may also incur additional risks as we make periodic payments or other advances to developers before completion of construction. These and other factors can result in increased costs of a project or loss of our investment, and may be affected by conditions beyond both our and the developer’s control.

To the extent the properties are not subject to triple-net leases, some significant expenditures, such as real estate taxes and maintenance costs, are generally not reduced when circumstances cause a reduction in income from the investment. Should these events occur, our income and funds available for distribution could be adversely affected. In addition, as a REIT, we may be subject to a 100% tax on net income derived from the sale of property considered to be held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our business. We may seek to avoid this tax by complying with certain safe harbor rules that generally limit the number of properties we may sell in a given year, the aggregate expenditures made on such properties prior to their disposition, and how long we retain such properties before disposing of them. However, we can provide no assurance that we will always be able to comply with these safe harbors. If compliance is possible, the safe harbor rules may restrict our ability to sell assets in the future and achieve liquidity that may be necessary to fund distributions.

We focus our investments on office and industrial properties, a number of which include manufacturing facilities, special use storage or warehouse facilities and special use single or multi-tenant properties. These types of properties are relatively illiquid compared to other types of real estate and financial assets. This illiquidity will limit our ability to quickly change our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions. With these properties, if the current lease is terminated or not renewed or, in the case of a mortgage loan, if we take such property in foreclosure, we may be required to renovate the property or to make rent concessions in order to lease the property to another tenant or sell the property. In addition, in the event we are forced to sell the property, we may have difficulty selling it to a party other than the tenant or borrower due to the special purpose for which the property may have been designed.

These and other limitations may affect our ability to sell or re-lease properties without adversely affecting returns to our stockholders.

Leasing real property or making mortgage loans to lower middle market businesses exposes us to a number of unique risks related to these entities, including the following:

 

As of December 31, 2017,2019, we owned 99118 properties and had 107122 leases on these properties, and our five largest tenants accounted for approximately 17.1%16.0% of our total rental income.lease revenue. A consequence of a limited number of tenants is that the aggregate returns we realize may be materially adversely affected by the unfavorable performance of a small number of tenants. We generally do not have fixed guidelines for industry concentration, but we are restricted from exceeding an industry concentration greater than 20% without approval of our investment committee. As of December 31, 2017,2019, 16.7% of our total rental incomelease revenue was earned from tenants in the Telecommunications industry, 14.0%13.4% was earned from tenants in the HealthcareDiversified/Conglomerate Services industry, and 12.0%13.2% was earned from tenants in the Automobile industry and 11.5% was earned from tenants in the Healthcare industry. As a result, a downturn in an industry in which we have invested a significant portion of our total assets could have a material adverse effect on us.

Since most of our properties are occupied by a single tenant, the success of each investment will be materially dependent on the financial stability of these tenants. If a tenant defaults, our rentallease revenues would be reduced and our expenses associated with carrying the property would increase, as we would be responsible for payments such as taxes and insurance. Lease payment defaults by these tenants could adversely affect our cash flows and cause us to reduce the amount of distributions to stockholders. In the event of a default by a tenant, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and re-leasing our property. If a lease is terminated, there is no assurance that we will be able to lease the property for the rent previously received or sell the property without incurring a loss.

Losses from disaster-type occurrences (such as wars, floods or earthquakes) may be either uninsurable or not insurable on economically viable terms. Should such a loss occur, we could lose our capital investment or anticipated profits and cash flow from one or more properties. Additionally, insurance premiums are subject to significant increases and fluctuations, which can be widely outside of our control. For example, the potential impact of climate change and the increased risk of extreme weather events and natural disasters could cause a significant increase in our insurance premiums and adversely affect the availability of coverage.

Under various environmental laws, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, ("CERCLA"), a current or previous owner or operator of real property may be liable for contamination resulting from the release or threatened release of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum at that property, and an entity that arranges for the disposal or treatment of a hazardous or toxic substance or petroleum at another property may be held jointly and severally liable for the cost to investigate and clean up such property or other affected property. Such parties are known as potentially responsible parties ("PRPs"(“PRPs”). Environmental laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or operator knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of the contaminants, and the costs of any required investigation or cleanup of these substances can be substantial. PRPs are liable to the government as well as to other PRPs who may have claims for contribution. The liability is generally not limited under such laws and could exceed the property’s value and the aggregate assets of the liable party. The presence of contamination or the failure to remediate contamination at our properties also may expose us to third-party liability for personal injury or property damage, or adversely affect our ability to sell, lease or develop the real property or to borrow using the real property as collateral.

Environmental laws also impose ongoing compliance requirements on owners and operators of real property. Environmental laws potentially affecting us address a wide variety of matters, including, but not limited to, asbestos-containing building materials, storage tanks, storm water and wastewater discharges, lead-based paint, wetlands and hazardous wastes. Failure to comply with these laws could result in fines and penalties and/or expose us to third-party liability. Some of our properties may have conditions that are subject to these requirements, and we could be liable for such fines or penalties and/or liable to third parties for those conditions.

Certain of our properties may contain, or may have contained, asbestos-containing building materials ("ACBMs"(“ACBMs”). Environmental laws require that ACBMs be properly managed and maintained and may impose fines and penalties on building owners and operators for failure to comply with these requirements. Also, certain of our properties may contain, or may have contained, or are adjacent to or near other properties that have contained or currently contain storage tanks for the storage of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances. These operations create a potential for the release of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances. Certain of our properties may contain, or may have contained, elevated radon levels. Third parties may be permitted by law to seek recovery from owners or operators for property damage and/or personal injury associated with exposure to contaminants, including, but not limited to, petroleum products, hazardous or toxic substances and asbestos fibers. Also, certain of our properties may contain regulated wetlands that can delay or impede development or require costs to be incurred to mitigate the impact of any disturbance. Absent appropriate permits, we can be held responsible for restoring wetlands and be required to pay fines and penalties.

Certain of our properties may contain, or may have contained, microbial matter such as mold and mildew. The presence of microbial matter could adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, if any of our property is not properly connected to a water or sewer system, or if the integrity of such systems are breached, or if water intrusion into our buildings otherwise occurs, microbial matter or other contamination can develop. When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. If this were to occur, we could incur significant remedial costs and we may also be subject to material private damage claims and awards. Concern about indoor exposure to mold has been increasing, as exposure to mold may cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. If we become subject to claims in this regard, it could materially and adversely affect us and our future insurability for such matters.

The assessments we perform on our acquisition of property may fail to reveal all environmental conditions, liabilities or compliance concerns. Material environmental conditions, liabilities or compliance concerns may have arisen after the assessments were conducted or may arise in the future, and future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material additional environmental liability. We cannot assure you that costs of future environmental compliance will not affect our ability to make distributions or that such costs or other remedial measures will not be material to us.

We are required to periodically evaluate our properties for impairment indicators. A property’s value is considered impaired if management’s estimate of the aggregate future cash flows (undiscounted and without interest charges) to be generated by the property, based upon its intended use, is less than the carrying value of the property. These estimates of cash flows are based upon factors such as expected future operating income, trends and prospects, as well as the effects of interest and capitalization rates, demand and occupancy, competition and other factors. These factors may result in uncertainty in valuation estimates and instability in the estimated value of our properties which, in turn, could result in a substantial decrease in the value of the properties and significant impairment charges.

We continually assess our properties to determine if any impairments are necessary or appropriate. No assurance can be given that we will be able to recover the current carrying amount of our properties in the future. Our failure to do so would require us to recognize additional impairment charges for the period in which we reached that conclusion, which could materially and adversely affect us and our results of operations. We recognized impairment charges of $6.8$1.8 million, $2.0$0.0 million, and $0.6$6.8 million during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016,2019, 2018, and 2015,2017, respectively.

Investments in mortgage loans, exposes us to the risk of default by the borrowers on those mortgage loans as well as interest rate risks. To the extent we incur delays in liquidating such defaulted mortgage loans, we may not be able to obtain sufficient proceeds to repay all amounts due to us under the mortgage loans. Further, we will not know whether the values of the properties securing the mortgage loans will remain at the levels existing on the dates of origination of those mortgage loans. If the values of the underlying properties fall, our risk will increase because of the lower value of the security associated with such loans. We do not have any mortgage loans receivable currently outstanding.

Many factors affect the value of our equity securities and our ability to make or maintain the current levels of distributions to stockholders, including the state of the capital markets and the economy. The availability of credit has been and may in the future again be adversely affected by illiquid credit markets.markets, which could result in financing terms that are less attractive to us and/or the unavailability of certain types of debt financing. Regulatory pressures and the burden of troubled and uncollectible loans has led some lenders and institutional investors to reduce, and in some cases, cease to provide funding to borrowers. If these market conditions recur, they may limit our ability and the ability of our tenants to timely refinance maturing liabilities and access the capital markets to meet liquidity needs, or may cause our tenants to incur increased costs associated with issuing debt instruments, which may materially affect our financial condition and results of operations and the value of our equity securities and our ability to sustain payment of distributions to stockholders at current levels.

The agreement governing our Credit Facility requires us to comply with certain financial and operational covenants. These covenants require us to, among other things, maintain certain financial ratios, including fixed charge coverage, debt service coverage and a minimum net worth. We are also required to limit our distributions to stockholders to 100%98% of our FFO. As of December 31, 2017,2019, we were in compliance with these covenants. However, our continued compliance with these covenants depends on many factors, and could be impacted by current or future economic conditions, and thus there are no assurances that we will continue to comply with these covenants. Failure to comply with these covenants would result in a default which, if we were unable to obtain a waiver from the lenders, could accelerate our repayment obligations under the Credit Facility and thereby have a material adverse impact on our liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay distributions to stockholders.

We use leverage so that we may make more investments than would otherwise be possible in order to maximize potential returns to stockholders. Although we have been gradually reducing our overall leverage over the past few years to lower this risk, if the income generated by our properties and other assets fails to cover our debt service, we could be forced to reduce or eliminate distributions to our stockholders and may experience losses.

Our ability to achieve our investment objectives will be affected by our ability to borrow money in sufficient amounts and on favorable terms. We expect that we will primarily borrow money that will be secured by our properties and that these financing arrangements will contain customary covenants such as those that limit our ability, without the prior consent of the lender, to further mortgage the applicable property or to discontinue insurance coverage. Accordingly, we may be unable to obtain the degree of leverage we believe to be optimal, which may cause us to have less cash for distribution to stockholders than we would have with an optimal amount of leverage. Our use of leverage could also make us more vulnerable to a downturn in our business or the economy, as it may become difficult to meet our debt service obligations if our cash flows are reduced due to tenant defaults. There is also a risk that a significant increase in the ratio of our indebtedness to the measures of asset value used by financial analysts may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities.

Some of our debt financing arrangements may require us to make lump-sum or “balloon” payments at maturity. Our ability to make a balloon payment at maturity is uncertain and may depend upon our ability to obtain additional financing or to sell the financed property. At the time the balloon payment is due, we may not be able to refinance the balloon payment on terms as favorable as the original loan or sell the property at a price sufficient to make the balloon payment, which could adversely affect the amount of distributions to our stockholders. We have balloon payments of $38.3$19.5 million payable during the remainder of 2018.year ending December 31, 2020.

We intend to acquire additional properties by using our Credit Facility and by continuing to seek long-term mortgage financing, where we will borrow a portion of the purchase price of a potential acquisition and secure the loan with a mortgage on some or all of our existing real property. We look to regional banks, insurance companies and other non-bank lenders, and, to a lesser extent, the CMBS market to issue mortgages to finance our real estate activities. For the year ended December 31, 2017,2019, we obtained approximately $62.4$69.7 million in long-term financing, which we used to acquire additional properties and refinance maturing debt.properties. If we are unable to make our debt payments as required, a lender could foreclose on the property securing its loan. This could cause us to lose part or all of our investment in such property which in turn could cause the value of our securities or the amount of distributions to our stockholders to be reduced.

As of December 31, 2017,2019, the mortgages on certain of our properties were cross-collateralized. To the extent that any of the properties in which we have an interest are cross-collateralized, any default by the property owner subsidiary under the mortgage note relating to the one property will result in a default under the financing arrangements relating to any other property that also provides security for that mortgage note or is cross-collateralized with such mortgage note.

We borrow on an unsecured basis under the Credit Facility; however, we are required to maintain a pool of unsecured assets sufficient to draw on the Credit Facility. A significant reduction in the value of our pool of unencumbered assets could require us to pay down a portion (or significant portion) of the balance of the Credit Facility. Although we believe that we have significant excess collateral and capacity, future asset values are uncertain. If we were unable to meet a request to add collateral to the Credit Facility, this inability could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and our ability to meet our loan covenants.

We may experience interest rate volatility in connection with mortgage loans on our properties or other variable-rate debt that we may obtain from time to time. Certain of our leases contain escalations based on market interest rates and the interest rate on our Credit Facility and a portion of our long-term mortgages is variable. We have $69.3$45.2 million of outstanding principal on variable rate mortgages as of December 31, 2017.2019. Although we seek to mitigate this risk by structuring such provisions to contain a maximum interest rate or escalation rate, as applicable, and generally obtain rate caps and interest rate swaps to limit our exposure to interest rate risk, these features or arrangements do not eliminate this risk. We are also exposed to the effects of interest rate changes as a result of holding cash and cash equivalents in short-term, interest-bearing investments. We have entered into interest rate caps to attempt to manage our exposure to interest rate fluctuations on all our outstanding variable rate mortgages.mortgages as well as the outstanding Term Loan component of our Credit Facility. Additionally, increases in interest rates, or reduced access to credit markets due, among other things, to more stringent lending requirements or a high level of leverage, may make it difficult for us to refinance our mortgage debt as it matures or limit the availability of mortgage debt, thereby limiting our acquisition and/or refinancing activities. Even in the event that we are able to secure mortgage debt on, or otherwise refinance our mortgage debt, due to increased costs associated with securing financing and other factors beyond our control, we may be unable to refinance the entire mortgage debt as it matures or be subject to unfavorable terms, including higher loan fees interest rates and periodic payments, if we do refinance the mortgage debt. A significant change in interest rates could have an adverse impact on our results of operations.

London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) is the basic rate of interest used in lending between banks on the London interbank market and is widely used as a reference for setting the interest rate on loans globally. LIBOR is expected to be phased out after 2021, when private-sector banks are no longer required to report the information used to set the rate. Without this data, LIBOR may no longer be published, or the lack of quality and quantity of data may cause the rate to no longer be representative of the market. At this time, no consensus exists as to what rate or rates will become accepted alternatives to LIBOR, although the U.S. Federal Reserve, has made gradual increasesin connection with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, is considering replacing U.S. dollar LIBOR with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”). SOFR is a more generic measure than LIBOR and considers the cost of borrowing cash overnight, collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities. Given the inherent differences between LIBOR and SOFR or any other alternative benchmark rate that may be established, there are many uncertainties regarding a transition from LIBOR, including, but not limited to, how this will impact our cost of variable rate debt. The consequences of these developments with respect to LIBOR cannot be entirely predicted and span multiple future periods but could result in an increase in the federal funds rate. These increases in the federal fundscost of our variable rate and any future increases due to other key economic indicators, such as the unemployment rate or inflation, may cause interest rates and borrowing costs to rise,debt, which may negativelycould adversely impact our abilityoperating results and cash flows

All of our variable rate debt is based upon the one month LIBOR rate. We are currently monitoring the transition, as we cannot assess whether SOFR will become a standard rate for variable rate debt. Any further changes or reforms to access the debt markets on favorable terms. Anydetermination or supervision of LIBOR may result in a sudden or prolonged adverse economic conditionsincrease or decrease in reported LIBOR, which could have a materialan adverse effectimpact on the market for LIBOR-based debt, or the value of our business, financial condition and resultsportfolio of operations.LIBOR-indexed, floating-rate debt.

Our investments include primarily industrial and office property. Our performance, and the value of our investments, is subject to risks inherent to the ownership and operation of these types of properties, including:

 

The debt obligations of our tenants are dependent upon certain factors, which neither we nor our tenants or borrowers control, such as national, local and regional business and economic conditions, government economic policies, and the level of interest rates.

We compete with many other entities to acquire properties, including financial institutions, institutional pension funds, other REITs, foreign real estate investors, other public and private real estate companies and private real estate investors. These competitors may prevent us from acquiring desirable properties, cause an increase in the price we must pay for real estate, have greater resources than we do, and be willing to pay more for certain assets or may have a more compatible operating philosophy with our acquisition targets. In particular, larger REITs may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, a lower cost of capital and enhanced operating efficiencies. Our competitors may also adopt transaction structures similar to ours or offer more substantial rent abatements, tenant improvements, early termination rights or below-market renewal options to retain tenants, which would decrease our competitive advantage in offering flexible transaction terms. In addition, the number of entities and the amount of funds competing for suitable investment properties may increase, resulting in increased demand and increased prices paid for these properties.

We are dependent on our senior management and other key management members to carry out our business and investment strategies. Our future success depends to a significant extent on the continued service and coordination of our senior management team, particularly David Gladstone, our chairman and chief executive officer, Terry Lee Brubaker, our vice chairman and chief operating officer, and Robert Cutlip, our president.president, and Michael Sodo, our chief financial officer. The departure of any of our executive officers or key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our ability to implement our business strategy and to achieve our investment objectives.

Our ability to achieve our investment objectives and to pay distributions to our stockholders is dependent upon the performance of our Adviser in evaluating potential investments, selecting and negotiating property purchases and dispositions and mortgage loans, selecting tenants and borrowers, setting lease or mortgage loan terms and determining financing arrangements. Accomplishing these objectives on a cost-effective basis is largely a function of our Adviser’s marketing capabilities, management of the investment process, ability to provide competent, attentive and efficient services and our access to financing sources on acceptable terms. Our stockholders have no opportunity to evaluate the terms of transactions or other economic or financial data concerning our investments and must rely entirely on the analytical and management abilities of our Adviser and the oversight of our Board of Directors. If our Adviser or our Board of Directors makes inadvisable investment or management decisions, our operations could be materially adversely impacted. As we grow, our Adviser may be required to hire, train, supervise and manage new employees. Our Adviser’s failure to effectively manage our future growth could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our Adviser manages our business and locates, evaluates, recommends and negotiates the acquisition of our real estate investments. At the same time, our Advisory Agreement permits our Adviser to conduct other commercial activities and provide management and advisory services to other entities, including, but not limited to, Gladstone Capital, Gladstone Investment, and Gladstone Land. Moreover, with the exception of our chief financial officer, treasurer and president, all of our executive officers and directors are also executive officers and directors of Gladstone Capital and Gladstone Investment, which actively make loans to and invest in lower middle market companies, and with the exception of our chief financial officer and president, all of our executive officers and directors are also officers and directors of Gladstone Land, an agricultural real estate investment trust.REIT. Further, our chief executive officer and chairman is on the board of managers of Gladstone Securities, an affiliated broker dealer that provides us with mortgage financing services pursuant to a contractual agreement. Mr. Gladstoneagreement and is also the 100% indirect owner of and controls Gladstone Securities. As a result, we may from time to time have conflicts of interest with our Adviser in its management of our business, Gladstone Securities, in its provision of services to us and our other affiliated funds, and with Gladstone Capital, Gladstone Investment and Gladstone Land, which may arise primarily from the involvement of our Adviser, Gladstone Securities, Gladstone Capital, Gladstone Investment, Gladstone Land and their affiliates in other activities that may conflict with our business.

Examples of these potential conflicts include:

 

These and other conflicts of interest between us and our Adviser and other affiliates could have a material adverse effect on the operation of our business and the selection or management of our real estate investments.

Termination of the Advisory Agreement with our Adviser without cause would be difficult and costly. We may only terminate the agreement without cause (as defined therein) upon 120 days’ prior written notice and after the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors. Furthermore, if we default under the agreement and any applicable cure period has expired, the Adviser may terminate the agreement. In each of the foregoing cases, we will be required to pay the Adviser a termination fee equal to two times the sum of the average annual base management fee and incentive fee earned by our Adviser during the 24-month period prior to such termination. This provision increases the cost to us of terminating the Advisory Agreement and adversely affects our ability to terminate our Adviser without cause. Additionally, depending on the amount of the fee, if incurred, it could adversely affect our ability to pay distributions to our common, preferred and senior common stockholders.

The Advisory Agreement contemplates a quarterly incentive fee based on our Core FFO (as defined in the Advisory Agreement). Our Adviser has the ability to issue a full or partial waiver of the incentive fee for current and future periods; however, our Adviser is not required to issue any waiver. Any waiver issued by our Adviser is a voluntary, unconditional and irrevocable waiver. For the years ended December 31, 20172019, 2018, and 2016,2017 our Adviser did not issue a full or partial waiver of the incentive fee. For the year ended December 31, 2015, an unconditional and irrevocable voluntary waiver was issued by our Adviser for approximately $2.5 million. If our Adviser does not issue this waiver in future quarters, it could negatively impact our earnings and may compromise our ability to maintain our current level of, or increase, distributions to our stockholders, which could have a material adverse impact on the market price of our securities.

We intend to continue to be organized and to operate to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"“Code”). A REIT generally is not taxed at the corporate level on income it currently distributes to its stockholders. Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex rules for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations. The determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control may affect our ability to continue to qualify as a REIT. In addition, new legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could significantly change the tax laws, possibly with retroactive effect, with respect to qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of such qualification.

If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year:

 

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

In particular, we must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified real estate assets. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities, securities of taxable REIT subsidiaries ("TRSs"(“TRSs”) and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% by voting power or vote of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities, securities of TRSs and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 25% (20%20% (25% for taxable years beginning with our taxable year ending December 31,before January 1, 2018) of the value of our total assets can be represented by the securities of one or more TRSs.

We also must ensure that (i) at least 75% of our gross income for each taxable year consists of certain types of income that we derive, directly or indirectly, from investments relating to real property or mortgages on real property or qualified temporary investment income and (ii) at least 95% of our gross income for each taxable year consists of income that is qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, other types of interest and distributions, gain from the sale or disposition of stock or securities, or any combination of these.

In addition, we may be required to make distributions to our stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments, and may be unable to pursue investments that would otherwise be advantageous to us in order to satisfy the asset and gross income requirements for qualifying as a REIT. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and the amounts available for distribution to our stockholders. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make, and, in certain cases, maintain ownership of certain attractive investments.

Distributions in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits and not treated by us as a dividend will not be taxable to a U.S. stockholder to the extent such distributions do not exceed the stockholder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our stock but instead will constitute a return of capital and will reduce the stockholder’s adjusted tax basis in its share of our stock. If our distributions result in a reduction of a stockholder’s adjusted basis in its shares of our stock, subsequent sales by such stockholder of its shares of our stock potentially will result in recognition of an increased capital gain or reduced capital loss due to the reduction in such stockholder’s adjusted basis in its shares of our stock.

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

The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our liabilities. Any income from a hedging transaction that we enter into to manage risk of interest rate changes, price changes or currency fluctuations with respect to borrowings made or to be made to acquire or carry real estate assets does not constitute “gross income” for purposes of the gross income requirements. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions, the income from those transactions is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both of the gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may need to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement those hedges through TRSs. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because any TRS would be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to bear. In addition, losses incurred by a TRS generally will not provide any tax benefit, except for being carried forward against future taxable income earned by the TRS.

Our charter contains an ownership limit which prohibits any person or group of persons from acquiring, directly or indirectly, beneficial or constructive ownership of more than 9.8% of our outstanding shares of capital stock. Shares owned by a person or a group of persons in excess of the ownership limit are deemed “excess shares.” Shares owned by a person who individually owns of record less than 9.8% of outstanding shares may nevertheless be excess shares if the person is deemed part of a group for purposes of this restriction.

If the transferee-stockholder acquires excess shares, the person is considered to have acted as our agent and holds the excess shares on behalf of the ultimate stockholder. When shares are held in this manner they do not have any voting rights and shall not be considered for purposes of any stockholder vote or determining a quorum for such vote.

 

Our charter stipulates that any acquisition of shares that would result in our disqualification as a REIT under the Code shall be void to the fullest extent permitted under applicable law.

The ownership limit does not apply to (i) offerersofferors which, in accordance with applicable federal and state securities laws, make a cash tender offer, where at least 90% of the outstanding shares of our stock (not including shares or subsequently issued securities convertible into common stock which are held by the tender offererofferor and any “affiliates” or “associates” thereof within the meaning of the Exchange Act) are duly tendered and accepted pursuant to the cash tender offer; (ii) an underwriter in a public offering of our shares; (iii) a party initially acquiring shares in a transaction involving the issuance of our shares of capital stock, if our Board determines such party will timely distribute such shares such that, following such distribution, such shares will not be deemed excess shares; and (iv) a person or persons which our Board exempt from the ownership limit upon appropriate assurances that our qualification as a REIT is not jeopardized.

In addition, because we are a holding company, stockholders’ claims will be structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and obligations (whether or not for borrowed money) of our operating partnershipOperating Partnership and its subsidiaries. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, claims of our stockholders will be satisfied only after all of our and our operating partnership’sOperating Partnership’s and its subsidiaries’ liabilities and obligations have been paid in full.

The number of outstanding shares of preferred stock may increase as a result of the ATM ProgramsProgram currently in place, for each of our Series A, B and DE Preferred stock. The issuance of additional shares of Preferred Stock could have significant consequences on our future operations, including:

 

These prohibitions last for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder became an interested stockholder. Thereafter, any business combination with the interested stockholder must be recommended by our Board of Directors and approved by the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of our outstanding shares of common stock and two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of our common stock other than shares held by the interested stockholder. These requirements could have the effect of inhibiting a change in control even if a change in control were in our stockholders’ interest. These provisions of Maryland law do not apply, however, to business combinations that are approved or exempted by our Board of Directors prior to the time that someone becomes an interested stockholder.

The market price of our common and preferred stock may be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations, and the trading volume in our common and preferred stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. We cannot assure investors that the market price of our common and preferred stock will not fluctuate or decline further in the future. Some market conditions that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our securities include, but are not limited to:

We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of common or preferred stock, or the availability of shares for future sales, on the market price of our common or preferred stock. Sales of substantial amounts of common or preferred stock (including shares of common stock issuable upon the conversion of units of our operating partnershipthe Operating Partnership that we may issue from time to time, issuable upon conversion of our Senior Common Stock, or issuances made through our ATM programsPrograms or otherwise), or the perception that these sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common and preferred stock.

The Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"(“ADA”), and other federal, state and local laws generally require public accommodations be made accessible to disabled persons. Noncompliance could result in the imposition of fines by the government or the award of damages to private litigants. These laws may require us to modify our existing properties. These laws may also restrict renovations by requiring improved access to such buildings by disabled persons or may require us to add other structural features which increase our construction costs. Legislation or regulations adopted in the future may impose further burdens or restrictions on us with respect to improved access by disabled persons. We may incur unanticipated expenses that may be material to our financial condition or results of operations to comply with ADA and other federal, state and local laws, or in connection with lawsuits brought by private litigants.

Subject to our co-investment policy, ourOur Board of Directors will determine our investment and financing policies, growth strategy and our debt, capitalization, distribution, acquisition, disposition and operating policies. Our Board of Directors may revise or amend these strategies and policies at any time without a vote by stockholders. Accordingly, stockholders’ control over changes in our strategies and policies is limited to the election of directors, and changes made by our Board of Directors may not serve the interests of stockholders and could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations, including our ability to distribute cash to stockholders or qualify as a REIT.

Maryland law provides that a director or officer has no liability in that capacity if he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be advisable and in our best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. In addition, our charter (i) eliminates our directors’ and officers’ liability to us and our stockholders for money damages except for liability resulting from actual receipt of an improper benefit in money, property or services or active and deliberate dishonesty established by a final judgment and that is material to the cause of action and (ii) requires us to indemnify directors and officers for liability resulting from actions taken by them in those capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. As a result, our stockholders and we may have more limited rights against our directors and officers than might otherwise exist under common law. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our directors and officers.

Our ability to pay distributions on our stock is limited by the laws of Maryland. Under applicable Maryland law, a Maryland corporation generally may not make a distribution if, after giving effect to the distribution, the corporation would not be able to pay its debts as the debts become due in the usual course of business or the corporation’s total assets would be less than the sum of its total liabilities plus, unless the corporation’s charter permits otherwise, the amount that would be needed, if the corporation were dissolved at the time of the distribution, to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of stockholders whose preferential rights are superior to those receiving the distribution. Accordingly, we generally may not make a distribution on our stock if, after giving effect to the distribution, we would not be able to pay our debts as they become due in the usual course of business or our total assets would be less than the sum of our total liabilities plus, unless the terms of such class or series provide otherwise, the amount that would be needed to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of the holders of shares of any class or series of stock then outstanding, if any, with preferences upon dissolution senior to those of such class of stock with respect to which the distribution would be made.

In the normal course of business we and our service providers collect and retain certain personal information provided by our tenants, employees of our Administrator and Adviser, and vendors. We also rely extensively on computer systems to process transactions and manage our business. A cyber incident is considered to be any adverse event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of our information resources. These incidents may be an intentional attack or an unintentional event and could involve gaining unauthorized access to our information systems for purposes of misappropriating assets, stealing confidential information, corrupting data or causing operational disruption. The result of these incidents may include disrupted operations, misstated or unreliable financial data, liability for stolen assets or information, increased cybersecurity protection and insurance costs, litigation and damage to our business relationships. As our reliance on technology has increased, so have the risks posed to our information systems, both internal and those provided to us by third-party service providers. We have implemented processes, procedures and internal controls to help prevent, detect and mitigate cybersecurity risks and cyber intrusions, but these measures, as well as our increased awareness of the nature and extent of a risk of a cyber-incident, do not guarantee that a cyber-incident will not occur and/or that our financial results, operations or confidential information will not be negatively impacted by such an incident.

The U.S. federal income tax laws and regulations governing REITs and their stockholders, as well as the administrative interpretations of those laws and regulations, constantly are under review and may be changed at any time, possibly with retroactive effect. No assurance can be given as to whether, when, or in what form, the U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to us and our stockholders may be enacted. Changes to the U.S. federal income tax laws and interpretations of U.S. federal tax laws could adversely affect an investment in our stock.

None.

As of December 31, 2017,2019, we wholly-owned 99118 properties, comprised of 11.514.2 million square feet of rentable space in 2428 states. Our properties were 98.0%97.0% leased with an average remaining lease term of 7.67.3 years. See Schedule III - Real Estate and Accumulated Depreciation included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a detailed listing of the properties in our portfolio. 

The following table summarizes the lease expirations by year for our properties for leases in place as of December 31, 20172019 (dollars in thousands):