We focus our acquisition activities on real estate properties that are net leased to single tenants, and certain of our tenants and/or their guarantors constitute a significant percentage of our base rental revenues. Therefore, the financial failure of, or other default by, a single tenant under its lease is likely to cause a significant or complete reduction in the operating cash flow generated by the property leased to that tenant and might decrease the value of that property and result in a non-cash impairment charge. If the tenant represents a significant portion of our base rental revenues, the impact on our financial position may be material. Further, in any such event, our property owner subsidiary will be responsible for 100% of the operating costs following a vacancy at a single-tenant building. Upon the expiration or other termination of leases that are currently in place, the property owner subsidiary may not be able to re-lease the vacant property at all or at a comparable lease rate without incurring additional expenditures in connection with the re-leasing, which may be material in amount.

Under current bankruptcy law, a tenant can generally assume or reject a rejected lease within a certain number of days of filing its bankruptcy petition. If a tenant rejects the lease, a landlord's damages, subject to availability of funds from the bankruptcy estate, are generally limited to the greater of (1) one year's rent and (2) the rent for 15% of the remaining term of the lease, not to exceed three years.

Certain of our leases contain tenant termination options, including economic discontinuance options, that permit the tenants to terminate their leases. While these termination options generally require a termination payment by the tenants, in most cases, the termination payments are less than the total remaining expected rental revenue. The termination of a lease by a tenant may impair the value of the property. In addition, we will be responsible for 100% of the operating costs following the termination by any such tenant and subsequent vacating of the property, and we will incur re-leasing costs. 

The tenants of our net-leased properties are responsible for maintenance and other day-to-day management of the properties. If a property is not adequately maintained in accordance with the terms of the applicable lease, we may incur expenses for deferred maintenance or other liabilities once the property is no longer leased. We generally visit our properties on an annual basis, but these visits are not comprehensive inspections and deferred maintenance items may go unnoticed. While our leases generally provide for recourse against the tenant in these instances, a bankrupt or financially-troubled tenant may be more likely to defer maintenance, and it may be more difficult to enforce remedies against such a tenant.

To the extent that tenants are unable to operate the property on a financially successful basis, their ability to pay rent to us may be adversely affected. Although we endeavor to monitor, on an ongoing basis, compliance by tenants with their lease obligations and other factors thatwhich could affect the financial performance of our properties, such monitoring may not always ascertain or forestall deterioration, either in the condition or value of a property or in the financial circumstances of a tenant.

Some of our tenants, guarantors and/or their parent or sponsor entities are rated by certain rating agencies. In certain instances, we may disclose the credit ratings of our tenants or their parent or sponsor entities even though those parent or sponsor entities are not liable for the obligations of the tenant or guarantor under the lease. Any such credit ratings are subject to ongoing evaluation by these credit rating agencies and we cannot assure you that any such ratings will not be changed or withdrawn by these rating agencies in the future if, in their judgment, circumstances warrant. If these rating agencies assign a lower-than-expected rating or reduce or withdraw, or indicate that they may reduce or withdraw the credit rating of a tenant, guarantor or its parent entity, the value of our investment in any properties leased by such tenant could significantly decline.

We periodically evaluate our real estate investments and other assets for impairment indicators. The judgment regarding the existence of impairment indicators is based on GAAP, which include a variety of factors such as market conditions, the status of significant leases, the financial condition of major tenants and other factors that could affect the cash flow or value of an investment. Based on this evaluation, we may from time to time take non-cash impairment charges, which could affect the implementation of our current business strategy. These impairments could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, we may take an impairment charge on a property subject to a non-recourse secured mortgage which reduces the book value of such property to its fair value, which may be below the balance of the mortgage on our balance sheet. Upon foreclosure or other disposition, we may be required to recognize a gain on debt satisfaction equal to the difference between the fair value of the property and the balance of the mortgage.

A significant portion of our rental income comes from long-term net leases, which generally provide the tenant greater discretion in using the leased property than ordinary property leases, such as the right to freely sublease the property, to make alterations in the leased premises and to terminate the lease prior to its expiration under specified circumstances. Furthermore, net leases typically have 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. If we do not accurately judge the potential for increases in market rental rates when negotiating these long-term leases or if we are unable to obtain any increases in rental rates over the terms of our leases, significant increases in future property operating costs, to the extent not covered under the net leases could result in us receiving less than fair value from these leases. As a result, our income and distributions to our shareholders could be lower than they would otherwise be if we did not engage in long-term net leases.

In addition, increases in interest rates may also negatively impact the value of our properties that are subject to long-term leases. While a significant number of our net leases provide for annual escalations in the rental rate, the increase in interest rates may outpace the annual escalations.

Our interests in loans receivable, if any, are generally non-recourse and secured by real estate properties owned by borrowers that were unable to obtain similar financing from a commercial bank. These loans are subject to many risks including delinquency. The ability of a borrower to repay a loan secured by a real estate property is typically and primarily dependent upon the successful operation of such property rather than upon the existence of independent income or assets of the borrower. If a borrower were to default on a loan, it is possible that we would not recover the full value of the loan as the collateral may be non-performing.

Upon the expiration of current leases for space located in properties in which we have an interest, our property owner subsidiaries may not be able to re-let all or a portion of such space, or the terms of re-letting (including the cost of concessions to tenants and leasing commissions) may be less favorable than current lease terms or market rates. If our property owner subsidiaries are unable to promptly re-let all or a substantial portion of the space located in their respective properties, or if the rental rates a property owner subsidiary receives upon re-letting are significantly lower than current rates, our earnings and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and to make expected distributions to our shareholders may be adversely affected due to the resulting reduction in rent receipts and increase in property operating costs. There can be no assurance that our property owner subsidiaries will be able to retain tenants in any of our properties upon the expiration of leases.

Our ability to make payments on and to refinance our indebtedness, to make distributions on our common and preferred shares and to fund our operations, working capital and capital expenditures, and LCIF's ability to fulfill its similar obligations depends on our ability to generate cash in the future. To a certain extent, our cash flow is subject to general economic, industry, financial, competitive, operating, legislative, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future sources of cash will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to pay amounts due on our indebtedness or to make distributions on our common and preferred shares and fund our other liquidity needs.needs or enable LCIF to fulfill its similar obligations. Additionally, if we incur additional indebtedness in connection with future acquisitions or development projects or for any other purpose, our debt service obligations could increase.

We may need to refinance all or a portion of our indebtedness on or before maturity. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness or obtain additional financing will depend on, among other things:

As a result, we may not be able to refinance any of our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations, and additional borrowings or refinancings or proceeds of asset sales or other sources of cash are not available to us, we may not have sufficient cash to enable us to meet all of our obligations. Accordingly, if we cannot service our indebtedness, we may have to take actions such as seeking additional equity, or delaying strategic acquisitions and alliances or capital expenditures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our operations. We cannot assure you that we will be able to effect any of these actions on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

Our growth strategy is based on the acquisition and development of additional properties and related assets. In the context of our business plan, “development” generally means an expansion or renovation of an existing property or the financing and/or acquisition of a newly constructed build-to-suit property. For newly constructed build-to-suit properties, 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.lease, or (3) partner with a developer to acquire an undeveloped parcel of land and pursue build-to-suit opportunities.

Our plan to grow through the acquisition and development of new properties could be adversely affected by trends in the real estate and financing businesses. The consummation of any future acquisitions will be subject to satisfactory completion of an extensive valuation analysis and due diligence review and to the negotiation of definitive documentation. Our ability to implement our strategy may be impeded because we may have difficulty finding new properties and investments at attractive prices that meet our investment criteria, negotiating with new or existing tenants or securing acceptable financing. If we are unable to carry out our strategy, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Acquisitions of additional properties entail the risk that investments will fail to perform in accordance with expectations, including operating and leasing expectations.

Some of our acquisitions and developments may be financed using the proceeds of periodic equity or debt offerings, lines of credit or other forms of secured or unsecured financing that may result in a risk that permanent financing for newly acquired projects might not be available or would be available only on disadvantageous terms. If permanent debt or equity financing is not available on acceptable terms to refinance acquisitions undertaken without permanent financing, further acquisitions may be curtailed, or cash available to satisfy our debt service obligations and distributions to shareholders may be adversely affected.

We publicly communicate potential lease, financing, disposition and investment commitments or transactions in our public filings and furnishingsdocuments filed with or furnished to the SEC and press releases and on conference calls with analysts and investors.  We can give no assurances that any of these commitments or transactions will be consummated to our expectations or at all. 

Acquisitions of commercial properties entail certain risks, such as (1) underwriting assumptions, including occupancy, rental rates and expenses, may differ from estimates, (2) the properties may become subject to environmental liabilities that we were unaware of at the time we acquired the property despite any environmental testing, (3) we may have difficulty obtaining financing on acceptable terms or paying the operating expenses and debt service associated with acquired properties prior to sufficient occupancy and (4) projected exit strategies may not come to fruition due to a variety of factors such as market conditions and/or tenant credit conditions at the time of dispositions.

We may not be successful in identifying suitable real estate properties or other assets that meet our acquisition criteria. We may also fail to complete acquisitions or investments on satisfactory terms. Failure to identify or complete acquisitions could slow our growth, which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time, we engage in, or provide capital to developers who are engaged in, build-to-suit activities. We face uncertainties associated with a developer's performance and timely completion of a project, including the performance or timely completion by contractors and subcontractors. A developer's performance may be affected or delayed by their own actions or conditions beyond the developer's control. 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. Legal action may cause further delays and our costs may not be reimbursed.

We may incur additional risks when we make periodic progress 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. We also rely on third-party construction managers and/or engineers to monitor the construction activities.

Upon completion of construction, we are generally responsible to the tenant for any warranty claims. While we generally have a warranty from the developer or general contractor that was responsible for construction backstopping our warranty obligations to the tenant, we are subject to the risk of enforcement of such developer or general contractor warranty.

We rely on rental income and expense projections and estimates of the fair market value of a property upon completion of construction when agreeing upon a purchase price at the time we acquire the property, which may be up to two years prior to the estimated date of completion. If our projections are inaccurate or markets change, we may pay more than the fair value of a property.

In addition, the rental rates for a new build-to-suit project are generally derived from the cost to construct the project and may not equal a fair market lease rate for older existing properties in the same market.

Our multi-tenant properties involve risks not typically encountered in real estate properties which are operated by or for a single tenant. The ownership of 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 and provide a return to us. This risk may be compounded by the failure of existing tenants to satisfy their obligations due to various factors. These risks, in turn, 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 potential "CAM slippage," 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.

Under various federal, state and local environmental laws, statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations, as an owner of real property, our property owner subsidiaries may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances at, on, in or under the properties in which we have an interest as well as certain other potential costs relating to hazardous or toxic substances. These liabilities may include government fines and penalties and damages for injuries to persons and adjacent property. These laws may impose liability without regard to whether we knew of, or were responsible for, the presence or disposal of those substances. This liability may be imposed on our property owner subsidiaries in connection with the activities of an operator of, or tenant at, the property. The cost of any required remediation, removal, fines or personal or property damages, and our liability therefore, could be significant and could exceed the value of the property and/or our aggregate assets. In addition, the presence of those substances, or the failure to properly dispose of or remove those substances, may adversely affect a property owner subsidiary's ability to sell or rent that property or to borrow using that property as collateral, which, in turn, would reduce our revenues and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and to make distributions.

A property can also be adversely affected either through physical contamination or by virtue of an adverse effect upon value attributable to the migration of hazardous or toxic substances, or other contaminants that have or may have emanated from other properties. Although the tenants of the properties in which we have an interest are primarily responsible for any environmental damages and claims related to the leased premises, in the event of the bankruptcy or inability of any of the tenants of the properties in which we have an interest to satisfy any obligations with respect to the property leased to that tenant, our property owner subsidiary may be required to satisfy such obligations. In addition, we may be held directly liable for any such damages or claims irrespective of the provisions of any lease.

From time to time, in connection with the conduct of our business, our property owner subsidiaries authorize the preparation of Phase I environmental reports and, when recommended, Phase II environmental reports, with respect to their properties. There can be no assurance that these environmental reports will reveal all environmental conditions at the properties in which we have an interest or that the following will not expose us to material liability in the future:

Changes in laws increasing the potential liability for environmental conditions existing on properties or increasing the restrictions on discharges or other conditions may result in significant unanticipated expenditures or may otherwise adversely affect the operations of the tenants of the properties in which we have an interest, which could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

Legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business require time and effort.  The outcomes of legal proceedings are subject to significant uncertainty. In the event that we are unsuccessful defending or prosecuting these proceedings, as applicable, we may incur a judgment or fail to realize an award of damages that could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

We carry comprehensive liability, fire, extended coverage and rent loss insurance on certain of the properties in which we have an interest, with policy specifications and insured limits that we believe are customary for similar properties. However, with respect to those properties where the leases do not provide for abatement of rent under any circumstances, we generally do not maintain rent loss insurance. In addition, certain of our leases require the tenant to maintain all insurance on the property, and the failure of the tenant to maintain the proper insurance could adversely impact our investment in a property in the event of a loss. Furthermore, there are certain types of losses, such as losses resulting from wars, terrorism or certain acts of God, that generally are not insured because they are either uninsurable or not economically insurable. Should an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occur, we could lose capital invested in a property as well as the anticipated future revenues from a property, while remaining obligated for any mortgage indebtedness or other financial obligations related to the property. Any loss of these types could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The types of terroristTerrorist attacks, since 2001, ongoing and future military conflicts and the continued unrest in various parts of the Middle East and other regionsworld may affect commodity prices and interest rates, among other things. An increase in interest rates may increase our costs of borrowing, leading to a reduction in our earnings. Instability in the price of oil will also cause fluctuations in our operating costs, which may not be reimbursed by our tenants. Also, terrorist acts could result in significant damages to, or loss of, our properties or the value thereof.

We and the tenants of the properties in which we have an interest may be unable to obtain adequate insurance coverage on acceptable economic terms for losses resulting from acts of terrorism. Our lenders may require that we carry terrorism insurance even if we do not believe this insurance is necessary or cost effective. We may also be prohibited under the applicable lease from passing all or a portion of the cost of such insurance through to the tenant. Should an act of terrorism result in an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits, we could lose capital invested in a property as well as the anticipated future revenues from a property, while remainingour property owner subsidiary remains obligated for any mortgage indebtedness or other financial obligations related to the property. Any loss of these types could adversely affect our financial condition.

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 tenant, investor and/or vendor relationships. As our reliance on technology has increased, so have the risks posed to our information systems, both internal and those we have outsourced. Any processes, procedures and internal controls that we implement, as well as our increased awareness of the nature and extent of a risk of a cyber incident, do not guarantee that our financial results, operations, business relationships or confidential information will not be negatively impacted by such an incident.

There are numerous commercial developers, real estate companies, such as other REITs, financial institutions, such as banks and insurance companies, and other investors, such as pension funds, private companies and individuals, with greater financial and other resources than we have that compete with us in seeking investments and tenants. Due to our focus on single-tenant properties located throughout the United States, and because some competitors are often locally and/or regionally focused, we do not always encounter the same competitors in each market. Our competitors include other REITs, financial institutions, insurance companies, pension funds, private companies and individuals. This competition may result in a higher cost for properties and lower returns and impact our ability to grow.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our management haspreviously identified and disclosed a material weakness in the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2016. See Item 9A “Controls and Procedures” for additional information about, andWe have determined that our plan to remediate, this weakness. Our remediation plan may not fully eliminateeliminated this weakness, andbut we cannot assure you that our controls will prevent this or other weaknesses from arising in the future. If we fail to remediate the existing weakness or to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting in the future, as such standards may be modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we will be required to disclose such failure, and our financial reporting may not be relied on by investors. Moreover, effective internal control particularly related to revenue recognition, is necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and to maintain our qualification as a REIT and is important in helping prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, our REIT qualification could be jeopardized, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our debt and equity securities could drop significantly.

Our joint venture investments involve risks not otherwise present for investments made solely by us, including the possibility that our partner might, at any time, become bankrupt, have different interests or goals than we do, or take action contrary to our expectations, its previous instructions or our instructions, requests, policies or objectives, including our policy with respect to maintaining our qualification as a REIT. Other risks of joint venture investments include impasses on decisions, such as a sale, because neither we nor our partner has full control over the joint venture. Also, there is no limitation under our organizational documents as to the amount of funds that may be invested in joint ventures.

Investments in real estate are relatively illiquid and, therefore, our ability to change our portfolio promptly in response to changed conditions is limited. Our Board of Trustees may establish investment criteria or limitations as it deems appropriate, but currently does not limit the number or type of properties in which we may seek to invest or on the concentration of investments in any one geographic region.

GAAP is subject to interpretation by various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results, could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of a change and could affect the business practices and decisions of the tenants of properties in which we have an interest.

We have used derivatives to hedge certain of our variable-rate liabilities. As of December 31, 2016,2017, we had aggregate interest rate swap agreements on $505.0 million of borrowings. The counterparties of these arrangements are major financial institutions; however, we are exposed to credit risk in the event of non-performance or default by the counterparties. This has certainFurther, additional risks, including losses on a hedge position, which may reduce the return on our investments. Such losses may exceed the amount invested in such instruments. In addition, counterparties to a hedging arrangement could default on their obligations. We may also have to pay certain costs, such as transaction fees or breakage costs, related to hedging transactions.

Subject to our fundamental investment policy to maintain our qualification as a REIT and invest in core assets, our Board of Trustees will determine our investment and financing policies, growth strategy and our debt, capitalization, distribution, acquisition, disposition and operating policies.

Our Board of Trustees may revise or amend these strategies and policies at any time without a vote by shareholders. Changes made by our Board of Trustees may not serve the interests of debt or equity security holders and could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations, including our ability to satisfy our debt service obligations, distribute cash to shareholders and qualify as a REIT. Accordingly, shareholders' control over changes in our strategies and policies is limited to the election of trustees.

We are dependent upon key personnel whose continued service is not guaranteed. We are dependent on certain of our executive officers for business direction. We haveThe employment agreements which expire in January 2018, with each of T. Wilson Eglin, our Chief Executive Officer and President, E. Robert Roskind, our Chairman, Richard J. Rouse, our Vice Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, and Patrick Carroll, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. However, an employment agreement does not itself prevent an employee from resigning.Treasurer, expired in January 2018.

Our inability to retain the services of any of our key personnel, or ouran unplanned loss of any of their services or our inability to replace them upon termination as needed, could adversely impact our operations. We do not have key man life insurance coverage on our executive officers.

E. Robert Roskind, our Chairman, beneficially owns a significant number of OP units, and as a result, may face different and more adverse tax consequences than our other shareholders will if we sell our interests in certain properties or reduce mortgage indebtedness on certain properties. Our Chairman may, therefore, have different objectives than us and our debt and equity security holders regarding the appropriate pricing and timing of any sale of such properties or reduction of mortgage debt. In addition, an affiliate of Mr. Roskind arranges real estate asset financings using funds raised from immigrant investors in accordance with the fifth preference employment-based immigration program administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. We are exploring two financings withDuring 2017, LCIF obtained a mezzanine loan from Mr. Roskind's affiliate on a non-binding basis.affiliate. In the event of an appearance of a conflict of interest and in accordance with our policy regarding related party transactions, Mr. Roskind is required to recuse himself from any decision making or seek a waiver of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which will be reviewed by the non-conflicted members of our Board of Trustees or the Audit Committee of the Board of Trustees.

In addition, Mr. Roskind's employmentretirement agreement with us permits Mr. Roskind to spend approximately one third of his business time on the affairs of The LCP Group L.P. and its affiliates. While Mr. Roskind is required to prioritizeaffiliates during the remaining term of his business time to address our needs ahead of The LCP Group L.P.,employment with us. Mr. Roskind and The LCP Group L.P. may engage in a wide variety of activities in the real estate business which may result in actual or potential conflicts of interest with respect to matters affecting us.

In addition, the agreements that govern our current indebtedness contain, and the agreements that may govern any future indebtedness that we may incur may contain, financial and other restrictive covenants, that willwhich may limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interests. Our failure to comply with those covenants could result in an event of default that, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of our debt.

We have exposure to market risks relating to increases in interest rates due to our variable-rate debt. An increase in interest rates may increase our costs of borrowing on existing variable-rate indebtedness, leading to a reduction in our earnings. As of December 31, 2016,2017, we had no outstanding consolidated variable-rate indebtedness that was not subject to an interest rate swap.  We have a $250.0$300.0 million unsecured term loan which matures August 2020 and a $255.0$300.0 million unsecured term loan which matures January 2021 that are LIBOR indexed. Theindexed; however, $250.0 million and $255.0 million of the unsecured term loans, respectively, are subject to interest rate swap agreements through February 2018 and January 2019, respectively. In addition, we have $129.1 million of debt that matures in April 2037 and $160.0 million outstanding under our revolving credit facility which has a fixed 6.804% interest rate through April 2017 and thereafter will have a variable interest rate equal to 90 daymatures August 2019, which are both LIBOR plus 1.70%.indexed. The level of our variable-rate indebtedness, along with the interest rate associated with such variable-rate indebtedness, may change in the future and materially affect our interest costs and earnings. In addition, our interest costs on our fixed-rate indebtedness may increase if we are required to refinance our fixed-rate indebtedness upon maturity at higher interest rates. Also, fixed rate debt securities generally decline in value as market rates rise because the premium, if any, over market interest rates will decline.

Historically, theThe United States credit markets have periodically experienced significant dislocations and liquidity disruptions which have caused the spreads on prospective debt financings to widen considerably. These circumstances may materially impact liquidity in the debt markets, making financing terms for borrowers less attractive, and in certain cases may result in the unavailability of certain types of debt financing. Uncertainty in the credit markets may negatively impact our ability to access additional debt financing on reasonable terms, which may negatively affect our ability to make acquisitions. A prolonged downturn in the credit markets may cause us to seek alternative sources of potentially less attractive financing and may require us to adjust our business plan accordingly. In addition, these factors may make it more difficult for us to sell properties or may adversely affect the price we receive for properties that we do sell, as prospective buyers may experience increased costs of capital or difficulties in obtaining capital. These events in the credit markets may have an adverse effect on other financial markets in the United States, which may make it more difficult or costly for us to raise capital through the issuance of our common shares or preferred shares. These disruptions in the financial markets may have other adverse effects on us, our tenants or the economy in general.

Our unsecured revolving credit facility, unsecured term loans and indentures governing our 4.40% and 4.25% Senior Notes contain certain cross-default and cross-acceleration provisions as well as customary restrictions, requirements and other limitations on our ability to incur indebtedness and consummate mergers, consolidations or sales of all or substantially all of our assets. Our ability to borrow under our unsecured revolving credit facility is also subject to compliance with certain other covenants. In addition, failure to comply with our covenants could cause a default under the applicable debt instrument and we may then be required to repay such debt with capital from other sources. Under those circumstances other sources of capital may not be available to us or be available only on unattractive terms. Additionally, our ability to satisfy current or prospective lenders' insurance requirements may be adversely affected if lenders generally insist upon greater insurance coverage against acts of terrorism than is available to us in the marketplace or on commercially reasonable terms.

We rely on debt financing, including borrowings under our unsecured revolving credit facility, unsecured term loan,loans, debt securities, and debt secured by individual properties, for working capital, including to finance our investment activities. If we are unable to obtain financing from these or other sources, or to refinance existing indebtedness upon maturity, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The documents governing our non-recourse indebtedness contain restrictions on the operations of our property owner subsidiaries and their properties. Certain activities, like leasing, may be subject to the consent of the applicable lender. In addition, certain lenders engage third-party loan servicers that may not be as responsive as we would be.be or as the leasing market requires.

The credit ratings assigned to us and our debt could change based upon, among other things, our results of operations and financial condition or the real estate industry generally. These ratings are subject to ongoing evaluation by credit rating agencies, and we cannot assure you that any rating will not be changed or withdrawn by a rating agency in the future if, in itsthe applicable rating agency's judgment, circumstances warrant. Moreover, these credit ratings do not apply to our common and preferred shares and are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold any other securities. Any downgrade of us or our debt could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our debt securities and our common and preferred shares. If any of the credit rating agenciesagency that havehas rated us or our debt downgrades or lowers its credit rating, or if any credit rating agency indicates that it has placed any such rating on a so-called “watch list” for a possible downgrading or lowering or otherwise indicates that its outlook for that rating is negative, it could also have a material adverse effect on our costs and availability of capital, which could in turn have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and our ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and to make dividends and distributions on our common shares and preferred shares. 

A significant number of the properties in which we have an interest are subject to mortgage or other secured notes with balloon payments due at maturity. In addition, our corporate level borrowings require interest only payments with all principal due at maturity.

As of December 31, 2016,2017, the consolidated scheduled balloon payments for the next five calendar years are as follows ($ in millions):

Our ability to make the scheduled balloon payments on any corporate recourse note will depend on our access to the capital markets, including our ability to refinance the maturing note. Our ability to make the scheduled balloon payment on any non-recourse mortgage note will depend upon (1) in the event we determine to contribute capital, our cash balances and the amount available under our unsecured credit facility, and (2) the property owner subsidiary's ability either to refinance the related mortgage debt or to sell the related property. If the property owner subsidiary is unable to refinance or sell the related property, the property may be conveyed to the lender through foreclosure or other means or the property owner subsidiary may declare bankruptcy.

Substantially all of our corporate level borrowings and, in the future, certain of our secured indebtedness may, contain cross-default and/or cross-acceleration provisions, which may be triggered if we default on certain indebtedness in excess of certain thresholds. In the event of such a default, the resulting cross defaults and/or cross-accelerations may adversely impact our financial condition.

The holders of our secured debt may foreclose on the assets securing such debt, reducing the cash flow from the foreclosed property available for payment of unsecured debt and any related guaranty. The holders of any of our secured debt also would have priority over unsecured creditors in the event of a bankruptcy, liquidation or similar proceeding.

As of December 31, 2016,2017, only we and/or the Partnership were a borrower or a guarantor of our unsecured indebtedness.  In the event of a bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization of any of our non-guarantor subsidiaries, holders of non-guarantor subsidiary debt, including trade creditors, will generally be entitled to payment of their claims from the assets of non-guarantor subsidiaries before any assets are made available for distribution to us or any of the subsidiary guarantors of our unsecured debt.

 In addition, any subsidiary guarantor, including the Partnership, will be deemed released from its obligations with respect to our unsecured debt if such subsidiary guarantor’s obligations as a borrower or guarantor under our principal credit agreement terminates pursuant to the terms of our principal credit agreement or if our principal credit agreement is amended to remove certain or all of the subsidiary guarantors as borrowers or guarantors. To the extent any of our unsecured indebtedness is no longer guaranteed by any of our subsidiaries in the future, such debt will be our obligations exclusively. All of our assets are held through our operating partnership and our other subsidiaries. Consequently, our cash flow and our ability to meet our debt service obligations depends in large part upon the cash flow of our subsidiaries and the payment of funds by our subsidiaries to us in the form of distributions or otherwise.

Under the federal bankruptcy law and comparable provisions of state fraudulent transfer laws, a guarantee could be voided, or claims in respect of a guarantee could be subordinated to all other debts of that guarantor if, among other things, the guarantor, at the time it incurred the debt evidenced by its guarantee:

In addition, any payment by that guarantor pursuant to its guarantee could be voided and required to be returned to the guarantor, or to a fund for the benefit of the creditors of the guarantor.

The measures of insolvency for purposes of these fraudulent transfer laws will vary depending upon the law applied in any proceeding to determine whether a fraudulent transfer has occurred. Generally, however, a guarantor would be considered insolvent if, at the time it incurred the debt:

We cannot be sure as to the standards that a court would use to determine whether or not any guarantor was solvent at the relevant time, or, regardless of the standard that the court uses, that the issuance of such guaranty would not be voided or any such guaranty would not be subordinated to that of such guarantor’s other debt. If a case were to occur, any such guaranty could also be subject to the claim that, since the guaranty was incurred for our benefit, and only indirectly for the benefit of such guarantor, the obligations of such guarantor were incurred for less than fair consideration. A court could thus void the obligations under the guarantees or subordinate the guarantees to such guarantor’s other debt or take other action detrimental to holders of our unsecured indebtedness.

We believe that Lexington has met the requirements for qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes beginning with its taxable year ended December 31, 1993, and we intend for Lexington to continue to meet these requirements in the future. However, qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Code, for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations. The Code provisions and income tax regulations applicable to REITs are more complex than those applicable to corporations. The determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control may affect Lexington's ability to continue to qualify as a REIT. No assurance can be given that Lexington has qualified or will remain qualified as a REIT. In addition, no assurance can be given that legislation, regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions will not significantly change the requirements for qualification as a REIT or the federal income tax consequences of such qualification. If Lexington does not qualify as a REIT, Lexington would not be allowed a deduction for distributions to shareholders in computing its net taxable income. In addition, Lexington's income would be subject to tax at the regular corporate rates. Lexington also could be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification was lost. Cash available to satisfy Lexington's debt service obligations and distributions to its shareholders would be significantly reduced or suspended for each year in which Lexington does not qualify as a REIT. In that event, Lexington would not be required to continue to make distributions. Although we currently intend for Lexington to continue to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that future economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations may cause Lexington, without the consent of the shareholders, to revoke the REIT election or to otherwise take action that would result in disqualification.

A REIT will incur a 100% tax on the net income from a prohibited transaction. Generally, a prohibited transaction includes a sale or disposition of property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. While we believe that the dispositions of our assets pursuant to our investment strategy should not be treated as prohibited transactions, whether a particular sale will be treated as a prohibited transaction depends on the underlying facts and circumstances. We have not sought and do not intend to seek a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service regarding any dispositions. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that our dispositions of such assets will not be subject to the prohibited transactions tax. If all or a significant portion of those dispositions were treated as prohibited transactions, we would incur a significant U.S. federal income tax liability, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

To maintain Lexington's status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, Lexington is generally required to distribute to its shareholders at least 90% of its taxable income for that calendar year. Lexington's taxable income is determined without regard to any deduction for dividends paid and by excluding net capital gains. To the extent that Lexington satisfies the distribution requirement but distributes less than 100% of its taxable income, Lexington will be subject to federal corporate income tax on its undistributed income. In addition, Lexington will incur a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which its distributions in any year are less than the sum of (i) 85% of its ordinary income for that year, (ii) 95% of its capital gain net income for that year and (iii) 100% of its undistributed taxable income from prior years. We intend for Lexington to continue to make distributions to its shareholders to comply with the distribution requirements of the Code and to reduce exposure to federal income and nondeductible excise taxes. Differences in timing between the receipt of income and the payment of expenses in determining its taxable income and the effect of required debt amortization payments could require Lexington to borrow funds on a short-term basis in order to meet the distribution requirements that are necessary to achieve the tax benefits associated with qualifying as a REIT.

At any time, the federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended. Any of those new laws or interpretations may take effect retroactively and could adversely affect us or you as a debt and/or equity security holder. REIT dividends generally are not eligible for the reduced rates currently applicable to certain corporate dividends (unless attributable to dividends from taxable REIT subsidiaries and otherwise eligible for such rates). As a result, investment in non-REIT corporations may be relatively more attractive than investment in REITs. This could adversely affect the market price of our shares.

SeveralTax legislation signed into law on December 22, 2017, makes numerous changes to the tax rules that do not affect the REIT qualification rules directly, but may otherwise affect us or our shareholders. For example, the top federal income tax rate for individuals is reduced to 37%, there is a new deduction available for certain Qualified Business Income, that reduces the top effective tax rate applicable to ordinary dividends from REITs to 29.6% (through a 20% deduction for ordinary REIT dividends received) and various deductions are eliminated or limited. Most of the changes applicable to individuals are temporary. There are only minor changes to the REIT rules have been amended under(other than the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015,20% deduction applicable to individuals for ordinary REIT dividends received). To date, the PATH Act, which was enactedInternal Revenue Service has issued only limited guidance on December 18, 2015. These rules were enacted with varying effective dates. Shareholders should consult with their tax advisors regarding the effect ofchanges made by the PATH Act in their particular circumstances.new legislation. It is unclear at this time whether Congress will address these issues or when the Internal Revenue Service will issue additional administrative guidance on the changes made by the new legislation.

The decision to declare and pay dividends on our common shares in the future, as well as the timing, amount and composition of any such future dividends, will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Trustees in light of conditions then existing, including our earnings, financial condition, capital requirements, debt maturities, the availability of debt and equity capital, applicable REIT and legal restrictions and the general overall economic conditions and other factors. The actual dividend payable will be determined by our Board of Trustees based upon the circumstances at the time of declaration and the actual dividend payable may vary from such expected amount. Any change in our dividend policy could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common shares.

We may in the future distribute taxable dividends that are payable in shares. Taxable shareholders 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 United States federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. shareholder may be required to pay income taxes with respect to such dividends even though no cash dividends were received. If a U.S. shareholder sells the shares it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of the shares at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. shareholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends. In addition, if a significant number of our shareholders determine to sell such shares received in a dividend in order to pay taxes owed on such dividend, it may put downward pressure on the trading price of our common shares.

We have an unallocated universal shelf registration statement and we also maintain the ATM offering program and a direct share purchase plan, pursuant to which we may issue additional common shares. There is no restriction on our issuing additional common or preferred shares, including any securities that are convertible into or exchangeable for, or that represent the right to receive, common or preferred shares or any substantially similar securities. As of December 31, 2016,2017, an aggregate of approximately 4.23.8 million of our common shares were issuable upon the exercise of employee share options and upon the exchange of OP units. Depending upon the number of such securities issued, exercised or exchanged at one time, an issuance, exercise or exchange of such securities could be dilutive to or otherwise adversely affect the interests of holders or the market price of our common shares.

For us to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, among other requirements, not more than 50% of the value of our outstanding capital shares may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined for federal income tax purposes to include certain entities) during the last half of each taxable year, and these capital shares must be beneficially owned by 100 or more persons during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months or during a proportionate part of a shorter taxable year (in each case, other than the first such year for which a REIT election is made). Our declaration of trust includes certain restrictions regarding transfers of our capital shares and ownership limits.

Actual or constructive ownership of our capital shares in violation of the restrictions or in excess of the share ownership limits contained in our declaration of trust would cause the violative transfer or ownership to be void or cause the shares to be transferred to a charitable trust and then sold to a person or entity who can own the shares without violating these limits. As a result, if a violative transfer were made, the recipient of the shares would not acquire any economic or voting rights attributable to the transferred shares. Additionally, the constructive ownership rules for these limits are complex, and groups of related individuals or entities may be deemed a single owner and consequently in violation of the share ownership limits.

However, these restrictions and limits may not be adequate in all cases to prevent the transfer of our capital shares in violation of the ownership limitations. The ownership limits discussed above may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing someone from taking control of us, even though a change of control could involve a premium price for the common shares or otherwise be in shareholders' best interests.

From January 1, 2012 through the date of this Annual Report, the closing sale price of our common shares on the NYSE (composite) has ranged from $13.64 to $6.61 per share. The market price of our common shares may fluctuate in response to company-specific and general market events and developments, including those described in this Annual Report. In addition, our leverage may impact investor demand for our common shares, which could have a material effect on the market price of our common shares.

Furthermore, the public valuation of our common shares is related primarily to the earnings that we derive from rental income with respect to the properties in which we have an interest and not from the underlying appraised value of the properties themselves. As a result, interest rate fluctuations and capital market conditions can affect the market value of our common shares. For instance, if interest rates rise, the market price of our common shares may decrease because potential investors seeking a higher yield than they would receive from our common shares may sell our common shares in favor of higher yielding securities.