Item 1A. Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Properties and Operations

We have incurred operating losses and cannot assure you that we will achieve profitability.

Since our inception in July 2011, we have incurred cumulative net losses (calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP")) equal to $63.1 million . The extent of our future operating losses and the timing of the profitability are highly uncertain, and we may never achieve or sustain profitability.

Other than our revolving Credit Facility and borrowings secured by our properties, we do not have any established financing sources. If our capital resources are insufficient to support our operations, we will not be successful.

To be successful, we must, among other things:

We cannot guarantee that we will succeed in achieving these goals.

If our Advisor or our Service Provider loses or is unable to obtain key personnel, including in the event another AR Global -sponsored program internalizes its advisor, our ability to implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, which could adversely affect our ability to pay dividends and the value of our Common Stock.

Our success depends to a significant degree upon the contributions of our executive officers and other key personnel of our Advisor and our Service Provider, each of whom would be difficult to replace. Neither we, our Advisor or our Service Provider has an employment agreement with any of these key personnel and we cannot guarantee that all, or any particular one, will remain affiliated with us or our Advisor or our Service Provider. If any of our key personnel were to cease their affiliation with our Advisor or our Service Provider, our operating results could suffer. Further, we do not intend to separately maintain key person life insurance on any person. We believe that our future success depends, in large part, upon the ability of our Advisor or our Service Provider to hire and retain highly skilled managerial, operational and marketing personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense, and there can be no assurance that our Advisor or our Service Provider will be successful in attracting and retaining such skilled personnel. If our Advisor our Service Provider loses or is unable to obtain the services of key personnel, our ability to implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, and the value of an investment in our shares may decline.

In addition, our Advisor and our Service Provider depend upon the fees and other compensation that received from us to conduct its operations. Any adverse changes in the financial condition of, or our relationship with, our Advisor could hinder its ability to successfully manage our operations and our portfolio of investments. Additionally, changes in ownership or management practices, the occurrence of adverse events affecting our Advisor or its affiliates or other companies advised by our Advisor and its affiliates could create adverse publicity and adversely affect us and our relationship with lenders, tenants or counterparties.

We may terminate our advisory agreement with our Advisor in only limited circumstances, with payment of a termination fee.

On June 2, 2015, we entered into the Advisory Agreement with our Advisor. The agreement has a 20 year term, with automatic renewals for consecutive 5-year terms and may only be terminated under limited circumstances, such as a change in control of the Company or the Advisor, for cause, or for failure to meet performance standards in the prior year. This will make it difficult for us to renegotiate the terms of our advisory agreement or replace our Advisor even if the terms of our agreement are no longer consistent with the terms offered to other externally-managed REITs as the market for advisory services changes in the future.

During the year ended December 31, 2015 , we paid dividends from sources other than cash flows from operations.

Dividends paid from sources other than our cash flows from operations will result in us having fewer funds available for the acquisition of properties and other real estate-related investments, which may adversely affect our ability to fund future dividends and may adversely affect your overall return.

Our cash flows provided by operations were $102.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2015 . During the year ended December 31, 2015 , dividends paid to common stockholders and OP Unit holders were $127.0 million , of which $28.6 million , or 22.5% , was funded from offering proceeds from DRIP. The remaining $98.4 million , or 77.5% , was funded from cash flows from operations.

If we do not generate sufficient cash flows from our operations to fund dividends, we may have to reduce or suspend dividend payments, or pay dividends from other sources, such as from borrowings, the sale of additional securities, advances from our Advisor, and/or our Advisor's deferral, suspension and/or waiver of its fees and expense reimbursements. Moreover, our board of directors may change our dividend policy, in its sole discretion, at any time.

Funding dividends from borrowings could restrict the amount we can borrow for investments, which may affect our profitability. Funding dividends with the sale of assets or the proceeds from issuance of Common Stock may affect our ability to generate cash flows. Funding dividends from the sale of additional securities could dilute your interest in us if we sell shares of our Common Stock or securities that are convertible or exercisable into shares of our Common Stock to third party investors. Payment of dividends from the mentioned sources could restrict our ability to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, affect our profitability or affect the dividends payable to you upon a liquidity event, any or all of which may have an adverse effect on your investment.

Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to recover claims against our officers, directors and our Advisor are limited, which could reduce any recovery against them if they cause us to incur losses.

Maryland law provides that a director 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 in the corporation’s best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. In addition, subject to certain limitations set forth therein or under Maryland law, our charter provides that no director or officer will be liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages and requires us to indemnify our directors, officers and Advisor and our Advisor’s affiliates and permits us to indemnify our employees and agents. We have entered into an indemnification agreement formalizing our indemnification obligations with respect to our officers and directors and certain former officers and directors. However, our charter provides that we may not indemnify a director, our Advisor or an affiliate of our Advisor for any loss or liability suffered by any of them or hold harmless such indemnitee for any loss or liability suffered by us unless: (1) the indemnitee determined, in good faith, that the course of conduct that caused the loss or liability was in our best interests, (2) the indemnitee was acting on behalf of or performing services for us, (3) the liability or loss was not the result of (A) negligence or misconduct, in the case of a director (other than an independent director), the Advisor or an affiliate of the Advisor, or (B) gross negligence or willful misconduct, in the case of an independent director, and (4) the indemnification or agreement to hold harmless is recoverable only out of our net assets and not from our stockholders. Although our charter does not allow us to indemnify or hold harmless an indemnitee to a greater extent than permitted under Maryland law and the North American Securities Administrators Association REIT Guidelines, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors, officers, employees and agents, and our Advisor and its affiliates, than might otherwise exist under common law, which could reduce any recovery against them. In addition, we may be obligated to fund the defense costs incurred by our directors, officers, employees and agents or our Advisor and its affiliates in some cases which would decrease the cash otherwise available for dividend to stockholders.

We rely significantly on major tenants and therefore are subject to tenant credit concentrations that make us more susceptible to adverse events with respect to those tenants.

As of December 31, 2015 , we derived 5.0% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis from the following two major tenants and their affiliates:

The financial failure of a major tenant is likely to have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our financial condition. In addition, the value of our investment in a real estate asset is historically driven by the credit quality of the underlying tenant, and an adverse change in a major tenant’s financial condition or a decline in the credit rating of such tenant may result in a decline in the value of our investments and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

A high concentration of our properties in a particular geographic area magnifies the effects of downturns in that geographic area and could have a disproportionate adverse effect on the value of our investments.

If we have a concentration of our properties in any particular geographic area, any adverse situation that disproportionately affects that geographic area would have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. As of December 31, 2015 , we derived 5.0% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis from the following countries and states:

Any adverse situation that disproportionately affects the states and countries listed above may have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. Factors that may negatively affect economic conditions in these states or countries include:

We are subject to additional risks from our international investments.

Based on original purchase price, approximately 60% of our properties are located in the U.S. and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and approximately 40% are in Europe, primarily in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands and Finland. We may purchase other properties and may make additional investments in Europe or elsewhere. These investments may be affected by factors peculiar to the laws and business practices of the jurisdictions in which the properties are located. These laws and business practices may expose us to risks that are different from and in addition to those commonly found in the United States. Foreign investments pose several risks, including the following:

Investments in properties or other real estate investments outside the United States subject us to foreign currency risks.

Investments we make outside the United States generally subject us to foreign currency risk due to fluctuations in exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. Revenues generated from properties or other real estate investments we acquire are generally denominated in the local currency. We also may borrow in local currencies when we purchase properties outside the Unites States. As a result, changes in exchange rates of any such foreign currency to U.S. dollars may affect our revenues, operating margins and dividends and may also affect the book value of our assets and the amount of stockholders' equity.

Changes in foreign currency exchange rates used to value a REIT's foreign assets may be considered changes in the value of the REIT's assets. These changes may adversely affect our status as a REIT.

Foreign exchange rates may be influenced by many factors, including:

Also, governments from time to time intervene in the currency markets, directly and by regulation, in order to influence prices. These events and actions are unpredictable. In particular, sovereign debt issues in Europe could lead to further significant, and potentially longer-term, devaluation of the Euro or British Pounds against the U.S. dollar, which could adversely impact our European investments and revenue, operating expenses, and net income related to such European investments as expressed in U.S. dollars.

If we are unsuccessful in hedging these, or any other potential losses related to our exposure to foreign currencies, our operating results could be negatively impacted and our cash flows could be reduced. In some cases, as part of our risk management strategies, we may choose not to hedge such risks. If we misjudge these risks, there could be a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial position.

The commercial real estate industry may be adversely affected by economic conditions in the European, U.S. and global financial markets generally.

Our business and operations are dependent on the commercial real estate industry generally, which in turn is dependent upon global economic conditions. Issues with the instability of credit and financial markets, actions by governments or central banks, weak consumer confidence in many markets and geopolitical or economic instability in certain countries continues to put pressure on European economies. Instability or volatility of certain countries in the European Union may create risks for stronger countries within the European Union and globally. Global economic and political headwinds, along with global market instability and the risk of maturing commercial real estate debt that may have difficulties being refinanced, may continue to cause periodic volatility in the commercial real estate market for some time. Adverse economic conditions could harm our business and financial condition by, among other factors, reducing the value of our existing investments, limiting our access to debt and equity capital and otherwise negatively impacting our operations.

Challenging economic and financial market conditions could significantly reduce the amount of income we earn on our investments and further reduce the value of our investments.

Challenging economic and financial market conditions may cause us to experience an increase in the number of investments that result in losses, including delinquencies, non-performing investments and a decrease in the value of our property, all of which could adversely affect our results of operations. We may incur substantial losses and need to establish significant provision for losses or impairment. Our revenue from our properties could diminish significantly.

Continuing concerns regarding European debt, market perceptions concerning the instability of the Euro and recent volatility and price movements in the rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and the Euro could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financing.

Concerns persist regarding the debt burden of certain Eurozone countries and their potential inability to meet their future financial obligations, the overall stability of the Euro and the suitability of the Euro as a single currency, given the diverse economic and political circumstances in individual Eurozone countries and recent declines and volatility in the value of the Euro. These concerns could lead to the re-introduction of individual currencies in one or more Eurozone countries, or, in more extreme circumstances, the possible dissolution of the Euro currency entirely. Should the Euro dissolve entirely, the legal and contractual consequences for holders of Euro-denominated obligations would be uncertain. Such uncertainty would extend to, among other factors, whether obligations previously expressed to be owed and payable in Euros would be re-denominated in a new currency (with considerable uncertainty over the conversion rates), what laws would govern and which country’s courts would have jurisdiction. These potential developments, or market perceptions concerning these and related issues, could materially adversely affect the value of our Euro-denominated investments and obligations.

Furthermore, market concerns about economic growth in the Eurozone relative to the United States and speculation surrounding the potential impact on the Euro of a possible Greek or other country sovereign default and/or exit from the Eurozone may continue to exert downward pressure on the rate of exchange between the U.S. dollar and the Euro, which may adversely affect our results of operations.

Inflation may have an adverse effect on our investments.

Certain countries have in the past experienced extremely high rates of inflation. Inflation, along with governmental measures to curb inflation, coupled with public speculation about the possible future governmental measures to be adopted, has had significant negative effects on these international economies in the past and this could occur again in the future.

High inflation could cause our revenue from leases that do not contain indexed escalation provisions to decline and erode the value of long-term leases. High inflation in the countries in which we purchase real estate or make other investments could also increase our expenses, and we may not be able to pass these increased costs onto our tenants. An increase in our expenses or a decrease in our revenues could adversely impact our results of operations. As of December 31, 2015 , some of our leases for properties in foreign countries contain upward adjustments to fair market value every five years or contain capped indexed escalation provisions, but there can be no assurance that future leases on properties in foreign countries will contain such provisions or that such provisions will protect us from all potential adverse effects of inflation.

A high concentration of tenants of our properties in a similar industry magnifies the effects of downturns in that industry and would have a disproportionate adverse effect on the value of our investments.

If tenants of our properties are concentrated in a certain industry category, any adverse effect to that industry generally would have a disproportionately adverse effect on our portfolio. For the year ended December 31, 2015 , the following industries had concentrations of properties where annualized rental income on a straight-line basis represented 5.0% or greater of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis:

Any adverse situation that disproportionately affects the industries listed above may have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio.

Our business and operations could suffer in the event our Advisor or any other party that provides us with services essential to our operations, experiences system failures or cyber incidents or a deficiency in cyber security.

Despite system redundancy, the implementation of security measures and the existence of a disaster recovery plan for the internal information technology systems of our Advisor and other parts that provide us with services essential to our operations are vulnerable to damages from any number of sources, including computer viruses, unauthorized access, energy blackouts, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication failures. Any system failure or accident that causes interruptions in our operations could results in a material disruption to our business. We may also incur additional costs to remedy damages caused by such disruptions.

A cyber incident is considered to be any adverse event that threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information resources. More specifically, a cyber incident is an intentional attack or an unintentional event that can include gaining unauthorized access to systems to disrupt operations, corrupt data or steal confidential information. As reliance on technology in our industry has increased, so have the risks posed to our systems, both internal and those we have outsourced. In addition, the risk of a cyber incident, including by computer hackers, foreign governments and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. Even the most well protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques used in such attempted attacks and intrusions evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, and in some cases are designed not to be detected and, in fact, may not be detected.

The remediation costs and lost revenues experienced by a victim of a cyber incident may be significant and significant resources may be required to repair system damage, protect against the threat of future security breaches or to alleviate problems, including reputational harm, loss of revenues and litigation, caused by any breaches.

In addition, a security breach or other significant disruption involving the IT networks and related systems of our Advisor or any other party that provides us with services essential to our operations could:

Although our Advisor and other parties that provide us with services essential to our operations intend to continue to implement industry-standard security measures, there can be no assurance that those measures will be sufficient, and any material adverse effect experienced by our Advisor and other parties that provide us with services essential to our operations could, in turn, have an adverse impact on us.

Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest

Our Advisor and our Service Provider face conflicts of interest relating to the purchase and leasing of properties, and such conflicts may not be resolved in our favor, which could adversely affect our investment opportunities.

We rely on our Sponsor and the executive officers and other key real estate professionals at our Advisor and our Service Provider to identify suitable investment opportunities for us. Several of the other key real estate professionals of our Advisor are also the key real estate professionals at the parent of our Sponsor and their other public programs. Many investment opportunities that are suitable for us may also be suitable for other programs sponsored directly or indirectly by the parent of our Sponsor. For example, American Realty Capital Global Trust II, Inc. seeks, like us, to invest in a diversified portfolio of commercial properties, with an emphasis on sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant net-leased commercial properties, in the United States and Europe. The investment opportunity allocation agreement we have entered into with American Realty Capital Global Trust II, Inc. may result in us not being able to acquire certain properties identified by our Advisor and its affiliates. Thus, the executive officers and real estate professionals of our Advisor or our Service Provider could direct attractive investment opportunities to other entities or investors.

We and other programs sponsored directly or indirectly by the parent of our Sponsor also rely on these real estate professionals, and our Service Provider, to supervise the property management and leasing of properties. Our executive officers and key real

estate professionals, and our Sponsor and our Service Provider, are not prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in other business venture or ventures, including businesses and ventures involved in the acquisition, development, ownership, leasing or sale of real estate investments.

Our Advisor faces conflicts of interest relating to joint ventures, which could result in a disproportionate benefit to the other venture partners at our expense and adversely affect the value of our Common Stock.

We may enter into joint ventures with other AR Global-sponsored programs for the acquisition, development or improvement of properties. Our Advisor may have conflicts of interest in determining which AR Global-sponsored program should enter into any particular joint venture agreement. The co-venturer may have economic or business interests or goals that are or may become inconsistent with our business interests or goals. In addition, our Advisor may face a conflict in structuring the terms of the relationship between our interests and the interest of the affiliated co-venturer and in managing the joint venture. Because our Advisor and its affiliates will control both the affiliated co-venturer and, to a certain extent, us, agreements and transactions between the co-venturers with respect to any such joint venture will not have the benefit of arm’s-length negotiation of the type normally conducted between unrelated co-venturers, which may result in the co-venturer receiving benefits greater than the benefits that we receive. In addition, we may assume liabilities related to the joint venture that exceeds the percentage of our investment in the joint venture.

Our officers and directors face conflicts of interest related to the positions they hold with related parties, which could hinder our ability to successfully implement our business strategy and to generate returns to you.

Certain of our executive officers, including Scott Bowman, chief executive officer and president, and Timothy Salvemini, chief financial officer, treasurer and secretary, also are officers of our Advisor, our Property Manager and other related parties, including the advisor and property manager of American Realty Capital Global Trust II, Inc., which is a non-traded REIT sponsored by the parent of our Sponsor that has investment objectives similar to ours. Our directors also are directors of other traded and non-traded REITs sponsored by the parent of our Sponsor. As a result, these individuals owe fiduciary duties to these other entities and their stockholders and limited partners, which fiduciary duties may conflict with the duties that they owe to us and our stockholders.

These conflicting duties could result in actions or inactions that are detrimental to our business. Conflicts with our business and interests are most likely to arise from involvement in activities related to (a) allocation of new investments and management time and services between us and the other entities, (b) our purchase of properties from, or sale of properties, to entities sponsored by or affiliated with our Sponsor, (c) the timing and terms of the investment in or sale of an asset, (d) development of our properties by affiliates of our Sponsor, (e) investments with affiliates of our Advisor, and (f) compensation to our Advisor and its affiliates including our Property Manager.

Moreover, the management of multiple REITs by certain of the officers and other key personnel of our Advisor may significantly reduce the amount of time they are able to spend on activities related to us, which may cause our operating results to suffer.

Our Advisor and our Service Provider face conflicts of interest relating to the structure of the fees they receive, which could result in actions that are not necessarily in the long-term best interest of our stockholders.

Under our Advisory Agreement, the partnership agreement of our OP, and the OPP (as described in “ Item 5 . Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities-Share-Based Compensation-Multi-Year Outperformance Agreement”), our Advisor is entitled to substantial minimum compensation regardless of performance. Further, because our Advisor does not maintain a significant equity interest in us and is entitled to receive fees and earn LTIP Units (as described in “ Item 5 . Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities-Share-Based Compensation-Multi-Year Outperformance Agreement”) based on performance, our Advisor may be incentivized to recommend investments that are riskier or more speculative than investments recommended by an advisor whose interests are more aligned with those of stockholders.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and Common Stock

We may be unable to pay or maintain cash dividends to our stockholders or increase dividends over time, which could adversely affect the return on an investment in our shares.

There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash dividends to stockholders. Dividends are based principally on cash available from our operations. The amount of cash available for dividends is affected by many factors, such as, rental income from our properties and our operating expense levels, as well as many other variables. Actual cash available for dividends may vary substantially from estimates. We cannot give any assurance that we will be able to pay or maintain our current level of dividends or that dividends will increase over time. We also cannot give any assurance that rents from our properties will increase, or that future acquisitions of properties, real estate-related debt or real estate-related securities will increase our cash available for dividends to stockholders. Our actual results may differ significantly from the assumptions used by our board of directors in establishing the dividend rate to stockholders.

Moreover, our failure to meet the market's expectations with regard to future earnings and cash dividends likely would adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.

The trading price of our Common Stock has declined and may continue to decline.

The trading price of our Common Stock is impacted by a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. Among the factors that could affect the price of our Common Stock are:

We depend on our OP and its subsidiaries for cash flow and are structurally subordinated in right of payment to the obligations of our OP and its subsidiaries.

Our only significant asset is the partnership interest we own in our OP. We conduct, and intend to continue conducting, all of our business operations through our OP. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations is dividends from our OP and its subsidiaries. The limited partnership units of the OP Units held by our Advisor, the Service Provider and their respective affiliates are also entitled to distributions from the OP in the same amount as shares of Common Stock. Until such time as the LTIP Units held by our Advisor are fully earned in accordance with the provisions of the OPP, the LTIP Units are entitled to dividends equal to 10% of the dividends made on the OP Units. After the LTIP Units are fully earned, they are entitled to a catch-up distribution and then receive the same distribution as the OP Units.

There is no assurance that our OP or its subsidiaries will be able to, or be permitted to, pay dividends to us that will enable us to pay dividends to our stockholders, holders of OP Units and holders of LTIP Units from cash flows from operations or otherwise pay any other obligations. Each of our OP's subsidiaries is a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from these entities. In addition, any claims we may have will be structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and obligations of our operating partnership and its subsidiaries. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, our assets and those of our OP and its subsidiaries will be available to satisfy the claims of our creditors or to pay dividends to our stockholders only after all the liabilities and obligations of our OP and its subsidiaries have been paid in full.

A stockholder's interest in us will be diluted if we issue additional shares, which could adversely affect the value of our Common Stock.

Existing stockholders do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. Our charter currently authorizes us to issue 350 million shares of stock, of which 300 million shares are classified as Common Stock and 50 million are classified as preferred stock. Our board of directors may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of authorized shares of stock, or the number of authorized shares of any class or series of stock, or may classify or reclassify any unissued shares into the classes or series of stock without the necessity of obtaining stockholder approval. All of our shares may be issued in the discretion of our board of directors. Existing stockholders will suffer dilution of their equity investment in us, if we: (a) sell additional shares of our Common Stock, including pursuant to stock awards granted to our officers and directors; (b)

sell securities that are convertible into shares of our Common Stock; or (c) issue shares to our Advisor or its affiliates, successors or assigns, in payment of an outstanding fee obligation as set forth under our Advisory Agreement or other agreements.

In addition, we may issue shares of our Common Stock in connection with an exchange of OP Units and earnings of LTIP Units. As of December 31, 2015 , the Advisor and its affiliates, including certain of our current and former directors and executive officers, owned 1,809,678 OP Units, representing 1.1% of our fully diluted Common Stock outstanding. After owning an OP Unit for one year, OP Unit holders generally may, subject to certain restrictions, exchange OP Units for the cash value of a corresponding number of shares of our Common Stock or a corresponding number of shares of our Common Stock, at the Company's option. As of December 31, 2015 , no LTIP Units have been earned. LTIP Units are convertible into OP Units subject to being earned and vested and several other conditions. We may also issue OP Units to sellers of properties acquired by us.

If we issue preferred stock, the holders thereof will, upon liquidation, be entitled to receive distributions of liquidation proceeds prior to dividend to the holders of our Common Stock. Additionally, any preferred stock including convertible preferred stock or other securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our Common Stock and will result in dilution to owners of our Common Stock if converted, exercised or exchanged for Common Stock. Any preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend payments that could limit our ability pay dividends to the holders of our Common Stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the value of our Common Stock and diluting the interest of existing stockholders.

The limit on the number of shares a person may own may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders.

Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT. Unless exempted by our board of directors, no person may own more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of our stock or more than 9.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of shares of our stock. This restriction may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our Common Stock.

Our charter permits our board of directors to issue stock with terms that may subordinate the rights of common stockholders or discourage a third party from acquiring us in a manner that might result in a premium price to our stockholders.

Our charter permits our board of directors to issue up to 350.0 million shares of stock. In addition, our board of directors, without any action by our stockholders, may amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares or the number of shares of any class or series of stock that we have authority to issue. Our board of directors may classify or reclassify any unissued Common Stock or preferred stock and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions and limitations as to dividends or other dividends, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption of any such stock. Thus, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of preferred stock with terms and conditions that could have a priority as to dividends and amounts payable upon liquidation over the rights of the holders of our Common Stock. Preferred stock could also have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us, including an extraordinary transaction (such as a merger, tender offer or sale of all or substantially all our assets) that might provide a premium price for holders of our Common Stock.

We disclose Funds from Operations ("FFO"), as defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts ("NAREIT"), Core Funds from Operations ("Core FFO") and Adjusted Funds from Operations ("AFFO"). These are non-GAAP financial measures and are not equivalent to our net income or loss as determined under GAAP, and stockholders should consider GAAP measures to be more relevant to our operating performance.

We use and disclose FFO, as defined by NAREIT, Core FFO and AFFO. All of these are non-GAAP measures and none of them are equivalent to our net income or loss or cash flow from operations as determined under GAAP. Stockholders should consider GAAP measures to be more relevant to evaluating our operating performance or our ability to pay dividends. FFO, Core FFO and AFFO and GAAP net income differ because FFO, Core FFO and AFFO exclude gains or losses from sales of property and asset impairment write-downs, and add back depreciation and amortization, adjusts for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures, and further excludes acquisition-related expenses, amortization of above- and below-market leases, fair value adjustments of derivative financial instruments, deferred rent receivables and the adjustments of such items related to noncontrolling interests. Because of these differences, FFO, Core FFO and AFFO may not be accurate indicators of our operating performance, especially with respect to the impact of acquisition expenses. FFO, Core FFO and AFFO are not necessarily indicative of cash flow available to fund cash needs and stockholders should not consider FFO, Core FFO and AFFO as alternatives to cash flows from operations as an indication of our liquidity, or indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.

Maryland law prohibits certain business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us to be acquired and may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders.

Under Maryland law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder or an affiliate of an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, share exchange or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. An interested stockholder is defined as:

A person is not an interested stockholder under the statute if the board of directors approved in advance the transaction by which he or she otherwise would have become an interested stockholder. However, in approving a transaction, the board of directors may provide that its approval is subject to compliance, at or after the time of approval, with any terms and conditions determined by the board.

After the five-year prohibition, any business combination between the Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder generally must be recommended by the board of directors of the corporation and approved by the affirmative vote of at least:

These super-majority vote requirements do not apply if the corporation’s common stockholders receive a minimum price, as defined under Maryland law, for their shares in the form of cash or other consideration in the same form as previously paid by the interested stockholder for its shares. The business combination statute permits various exemptions from its provisions, including business combinations that are exempted by the board of directors prior to the time that the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Pursuant to the statute, our board of directors has exempted any business combination involving our Advisor or any affiliate of our Advisor. Consequently, the five-year prohibition and the super-majority vote requirements will not apply to business combinations between us and our Advisor or any affiliate of our Advisor. As a result, our Advisor and any affiliate of our Advisor may be able to enter into business combinations with us that may not be in the best interest of our stockholders, without compliance with the super-majority vote requirements and the other provisions of the statute. The business combination statute may discourage others from trying to acquire control of us and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer.

Maryland law limits the ability of a third-party to buy a large stake in us and exercise voting power in electing directors, which may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders.

The Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act provides that holders of “control shares” of a Maryland corporation acquired in a “control share acquisition” have no voting rights except to the extent approved by stockholders by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares of stock owned by the acquirer, by officers or by employees who are directors of the corporation, are excluded from shares entitled to vote on the matter. “Control shares” are voting shares of stock which, if aggregated with all other shares of stock owned by the acquirer or in respect of which the acquirer can exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquirer to exercise voting power in electing directors within specified ranges of voting power. Control shares do not include shares the acquiring person is then entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained stockholder approval or shares acquired directly from the corporation. A “control share acquisition” means the acquisition of issued and outstanding control shares. The control share acquisition statute does not apply (a) to shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction, or (b) to acquisitions approved or exempted by the charter or bylaws of the corporation. Our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act any and all acquisitions of our stock by any person. There can be no assurance that this provision will not be amended or eliminated at any time in the future.

Our stockholders' investment return may be reduced if we are required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

We are not registered, and do not intend to register ourselves or any of our subsidiaries, as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we become obligated to register ourselves or any of our subsidiaries as an investment company, the registered entity would have to comply with a variety of substantive requirements under the Investment Company Act imposing, among other things:

We conduct, and intend to continue conducting, our operations, directly and through wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries, so that we and each of our subsidiaries are exempt from registration as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, a company is an “investment company” if it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act, a company is deemed to be an “investment company” if it is engaged, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire “investment securities” having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis, or the 40% test. “Investment securities” excludes U.S. Government securities and securities of majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act.

Because we are primarily engaged in the business of acquiring real estate, we believe that we and most, if not all, of our wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries will not be considered investment companies under either Section 3(a)(1)(A) or Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act. If we or any of our wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries would ever inadvertently fall within one of the definitions of “investment company,” we intend to rely on the exception provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act.

Under Section 3(c)(5)(C), the SEC staff generally requires us to maintain at least 55% of our assets directly in qualifying assets and at least 80% of the entity’s assets in qualifying assets and in a broader category of real estate-related assets to qualify for this exception. Mortgage-related securities may or may not constitute such qualifying assets, depending on the characteristics of the mortgage-related securities, including the rights that we have with respect to the underlying loans. Our ownership of mortgage-related securities, therefore, is limited by provisions of the Investment Company Act and SEC staff interpretations.

The method we use to classify our assets for purposes of the Investment Company Act will be based in large measure upon no-action positions taken by the SEC staff in the past. These no-action positions were issued in accordance with factual situations that may be substantially different from the factual situations we may face, and a number of these no-action positions were issued more than ten years ago. No assurance can be given that the SEC staff will concur with our classification of our assets. In addition, the SEC staff may, in the future, issue further guidance that may require us to re-classify our assets for purposes of qualifying for an exclusion from regulation under the Investment Company Act. If we are required to re-classify our assets, we may no longer be in compliance with the exclusion from the definition of an “investment company” provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act.

A change in the value of any of our assets could cause us or one or more of our wholly or majority-owned subsidiaries to fall within the definition of “investment company” and negatively affect our ability to maintain our exemption from regulation under the Investment Company Act. To avoid being required to register the Company or any of its subsidiaries as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be unable to sell assets we would otherwise want to sell and may need to sell assets we would otherwise wish to retain. In addition, we may have to acquire additional income- or loss-generating assets that we might not otherwise have acquired or may have to forgo opportunities to acquire interests in companies that we would otherwise want to acquire and would be important to our investment strategy.

If we were required to register the Company as an investment company but failed to do so, we would be prohibited from engaging in our business, and civil actions could be brought against us. In addition, our contracts would be unenforceable unless a court required enforcement, and a court could appoint a receiver to take control of us and liquidate our business.

Rapid changes in the values of our investments in real estate-related investments may make it more difficult for us to maintain our continued qualification as a REIT and our exception from the Investment Company Act.

If the market value or income generated by our real estate-related investments declines, including as a result of increased interest rates, or other factors, we may need to increase our real estate investments and income or liquidate our non-qualifying assets in order to maintain our REIT qualification or our exception from registration under the Investment Company Act. If the decline in real estate asset values or income occurs quickly, this may be especially difficult to accomplish. This difficulty may be exacerbated by the illiquid nature of any non-real estate assets that we may own. We may have to make investment decisions that we otherwise would not make absent REIT and Investment Company Act considerations.

Our board of directors may change our investment policies without stockholder approval, which could alter the nature of our portfolio.

Our charter requires that our independent directors review our investment policies at least annually to determine that the policies we are following are in the best interest of the stockholders. These policies may change over time. The methods of implementing our investment policies also may vary, as new real estate development trends emerge and new investment techniques are developed. Our investment policies, the methods for their implementation, and our other objectives, policies and procedures may be altered by our board of directors without the approval of our stockholders. As a result, the nature of a stockholder's investment could change without the consent of stockholders.

Payment of fees to our Advisor and Service Provider and their affiliates reduces cash available for investment and dividends to our stockholders.

Our Advisor and Service Provider and their affiliates perform services for us in connection with the selection and acquisition of our investments, the management of our properties, the servicing of our debt, and the administration of our investments. They are paid substantial fees for these services.

Risks Related to Net Lease Sale-Leaseback Investments

The inability of a tenant in a single tenant property to pay rent will materially reduce our revenues.

Substantially all of our properties are occupied by a single tenant and, therefore, the success of our investments is materially dependent on the financial stability of these individual tenants. A default of a tenant on its lease payments to us would cause us to lose the revenue from the property and cause us to have to find an alternative source of revenue to meet any mortgage payment and prevent a foreclosure if the property is subject to a mortgage. In the event of a default, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment and reletting 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. A default by a tenant, the failure of a guarantor to fulfill its obligations or other premature termination of a lease, or a tenant’s election not to extend a lease upon its expiration, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and our ability to pay dividends.

Adverse conditions affecting geographic areas, industries or property categories in which we have a concentration of investments would have a disproportionately adverse effect on the value of our investments.

Any adverse conditions affecting geographic areas in which we have a concentration of investments would have a disproportionately adverse effect on our portfolio. Similarly, if tenants of our properties are concentrated in a certain industry or property category, any adverse effect to that industry or category generally would have a disproportionately adverse effect on our portfolio. As of December 31, 2015 , based on original purchase price, 60.4% of our properties are located in the U.S. and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and 39.6% are in Europe. At  December 31, 2015 , our directly owned real estate properties contain significant concentrations in the following asset types: office ( 54% ), industrial/distribution ( 30% ), retail ( 15% ) and other ( 1% ).

If a sale-leaseback transaction is recharacterized in a tenant’s bankruptcy proceeding, our financial condition and ability to pay dividends to you could be adversely affected.

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, the transaction may be re-characterized as either a financing or a joint venture. If the sale-leaseback was 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, not a property owner, 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. The tenant/debtor might have the ability to propose a plan restructuring the term, interest rate and amortization schedule of its outstanding balance. If such a plan is confirmed by the bankruptcy court, we could be bound by the new terms. If the sale-leaseback were characterized as a joint venture, our lessee and we could be treated as co-venturers 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.

Highly leveraged tenants may have a higher possibility of filing for bankruptcy or insolvency.

Highly leveraged tenants that experience downturns in their operating results due to adverse changes to their business or economic conditions may have a higher possibility of filing for bankruptcy or insolvency. In bankruptcy or insolvency, a tenant may have the option of vacating a property instead of paying rent. Until such a property is released from bankruptcy, our revenues may be reduced.

If a tenant declares bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, we may be unable to collect balances due under relevant leases.

Any of our tenants, or any guarantor of a tenant’s lease obligations, could become insolvent or be subject to a bankruptcy proceeding pursuant to Title 11 of the bankruptcy laws of the United States. A bankruptcy filing of our tenants or any guarantor of a tenant’s lease obligations would bar all efforts by us to collect pre-bankruptcy debts from these entities or their properties, unless we receive an enabling order from the bankruptcy court. If a lease is assumed, all pre-bankruptcy balances owing under it must be paid in full. If a lease is rejected by a tenant in bankruptcy, we would have a general unsecured claim for damages. If a lease is rejected, it is unlikely we would receive any payments from the tenant because our claim is capped at the rent reserved under the lease, without acceleration, for the greater of one year or 15% of the remaining term of the lease, but not greater than three years, plus rent already due but unpaid. This claim could be paid only if funds were available, and then only in the same percentage as that realized on other unsecured claims.

A tenant or lease guarantor bankruptcy could delay efforts to collect past due balances under the relevant leases, and could ultimately preclude full collection of these sums. A tenant or lease guarantor bankruptcy could cause a decrease or cessation of rental payments that would mean a reduction in our cash flow and the amount available for dividends to our stockholders. In the event of a bankruptcy, there can be no assurance that the tenant or its trustee will assume our lease.

The credit profile of our tenants may create a higher risk of lease defaults and therefore lower revenues.

27.4% of our tenants are not evaluated or ranked by credit rating agencies, or are ranked below "investment grade". Our long-term leases with certain of these tenants may therefore pose a higher risk of default than would long-term leases with tenants whose credit potential has already been recognized by the market.

Net leases may not result in fair market lease rates over time, which could negatively impact our income.

As of December 31, 2015 , all of our rental income was generated from 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.

Long term leases may result in income lower than short term leases.

We generally seek to enter into long term leases with our tenants. As of December 31, 2015 , 44% of our annualized rental income was generated from net leases, with remaining lease term of more than 10 years. Leases of long duration, or with renewal options that specify a maximum rate increase, may not result in fair market lease rates over time if we do not accurately judge the potential for increases in market rental rates.

Certain of our leases do not contain any rent escalation provisions. As a result, our income may be lower than it would otherwise be if we did not lease properties through long term leases. Further, if our properties are leased for long term leases at below market rental rates, our properties will be less attractive to potential buyers, which could affect our ability to sell the property at an advantageous price.

General Risks Related to Investments in Real Estate

Our operating results are affected by economic and regulatory changes that have an adverse impact on the real estate market in general. These changes affect our profitability and ability to realize growth in the value of our real estate properties.

Our operating results are subject to risks generally incident to the ownership of real estate, including:

These and other factors may affect the profitability and the value of our properties.

Properties that have vacancies for a significant period of time could be difficult to sell, which could diminish the return on your investment.

A property may experience vacancies either by the continued default of tenants under their leases or the expiration of tenant leases. Properties that are vacant will produce no revenue, and the cost of owning the property may be substantial. Vacancies will result in less cash being available to be distributed to stockholders. In addition, because properties’ market values depend principally upon the value of the properties’ leases, the resale value of properties with prolonged vacancies would be lower.

We generally obtain only limited warranties when we purchase a property and therefore have only limited recourse if our due diligence does not identify any issues that lower the value of our property, which could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to pay dividends to you.

We have acquired, and may continue to acquire, properties in “as is” condition on a “where is” basis and “with all faults,” without any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose. In addition, purchase agreements may contain only limited warranties, representations and indemnifications that will only survive for a limited period after the closing. The purchase of properties with limited warranties increases the risk that we may lose some or all of our invested capital in the property as well as the loss of rental income from that property.

We may be unable to secure funds for future tenant improvements or capital needs, which could impact the value of the applicable property or our ability to lease the applicable property on favorable terms.

If a tenant does not renew its lease or otherwise vacate its space, we likely will be required to expend substantial funds for tenant improvements and tenant refurbishments to the vacated space. In addition, we will likely be responsible for any major structural repairs, such as repairs to the foundation, exterior walls and rooftops, even if our leases with tenants require tenants to pay routine property maintenance costs. We will have to obtain financing from sources, such as cash flow from operations, borrowings, property sales or future equity offerings to fund these capital requirements. These sources of funding may not be available on attractive terms or at all. If we cannot procure additional funding for capital improvements, the value of the applicable property or our ability to lease the applicable property on favorable terms could be adversely impacted.

We may not be able to sell a property when we desire to do so.

The real estate market is affected by many factors, such as general economic conditions, availability of financing, interest rates and other factors, including supply and demand, that are beyond our control. In addition, we may not have funds available to correct defects or make improvements that are necessary or desirable before the sale of a property. We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any property for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a property. In addition, our ability to sell properties that have been held for less than two years is limited as any gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of such property could be subject to the 100% prohibited transaction tax, as discussed in more detail below.

We may acquire or finance properties with lock-out provisions which may prohibit us from selling a property, or may require us to maintain specified debt levels for a period of years on some properties.

Lock-out provisions could materially restrict us from selling or otherwise disposing of or refinancing properties. Lock out provisions may prohibit us from reducing the outstanding indebtedness with respect to any properties, refinancing such indebtedness on a non-recourse basis at maturity, or increasing the amount of indebtedness with respect to such properties. Lock-out provisions could impair our ability to take other actions during the lock-out period that could be in the best interests of our stockholders. In particular, lock-out provisions could preclude us from participating in major transactions that could result in a disposition of our assets or a change in control.

Rising expenses could reduce cash flow and could adversely affect our ability to make future acquisitions.

Any properties that we own now or buy in the future are and will be subject to operating risks common to real estate in general, any or all of which may negatively affect us. If any property is not fully occupied or if rents are being paid in an amount that is insufficient to cover operating expenses, we could be required to expend funds with respect to that property for operating expenses. The properties will be subject to increases in tax rates, utility costs, operating expenses, insurance costs, repairs and maintenance and administrative expenses. Renewals of leases or future leases may not be negotiated on that basis, in which event we may have to pay those costs. If we are unable to lease properties on a triple-net-lease basis or on a basis requiring the tenants to pay all or some of such expenses, or if tenants fail to pay required tax, utility and other impositions, we could be required to pay those costs which would, among other things, adversely affect funds available for future acquisitions.

Losses relating to real property or excessively expensive premiums for insurance coverage, including due to the non renewal of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 ("TRIA"), could reduce our cash flows and the return on our stockholders’ investments.

There are types of losses, generally catastrophic in nature, such as losses due to wars, acts of terrorism, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, pollution or environmental matters, that are uninsurable or not economically insurable, or may be insured subject to limitations, such as large deductibles or co-payments. Insurance risks associated with such catastrophic events could sharply increase the premiums we pay for coverage against property and casualty claims.

This risk is particularly relevant with respect to potential acts of terrorism. The TRIA, under which the U.S. federal government bore a significant portion of insured losses caused by terrorism, will expire on December 31, 2020, and there can be no assurance that Congress will act to renew or replace the TRIA following its expiration. In the event the TRIA is not renewed or replace, terrorism insurance may become difficult or impossible to obtain at reasonable costs or at all, which may result in adverse impacts and additional costs to us.

Changes in the cost or availability of insurance due to the non-renewal of the TRIA or for other reasons could expose us to uninsured casualty losses. If any of our properties incurs a casualty loss that is not fully insured, the value of our assets will be reduced by any such uninsured loss, which may reduce the value of our stockholders’ investments. In addition, other than any working capital reserve or other reserves we may establish, we have no source of funding to repair or reconstruct any uninsured property. Also, to the extent we must pay unexpectedly large amounts for insurance, we could suffer reduced earnings that would result in lower dividends to you.

Additionally, mortgage lenders in some cases have begun to insist that commercial property owners purchase specific coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. It is uncertain whether such insurance policies will be available, or available at reasonable cost, which could inhibit our ability to finance or refinance our potential properties. In these instances, we may be required to provide other financial support, either through financial assurances or self-insurance, to cover potential losses. We may not have adequate, or any, coverage for such losses. The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, which was extended to the end of 2020 by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015, is designed for a sharing of terrorism losses between insurance companies and the federal government. We cannot be certain how this act will impact us or what additional cost to us, if any, could result. If such an event damaged or destroyed one or more of our properties, we could lose both our invested capital and anticipated profits from such property.

Real estate-related taxes may increase and if these increases are not passed on to tenants, our income will be reduced.

Some local real property tax assessors may seek to reassess some of our properties as a result of our acquisition of the property. Generally, from time to time our property taxes increase as property values or assessment rates change or for other reasons deemed relevant by the assessors. An increase in the assessed valuation of a property for real estate tax purposes will result in an increase in the related real estate taxes on that property. There is no assurance that renewal leases or future leases will be negotiated on the same basis. Increases not passed through to tenants will adversely affect our income.

Our properties and our tenants may face competition that may affect tenants’ ability to pay rent.

Our properties typically are, and we expect properties we acquire in the future will be, located in developed areas. Therefore, there are and will be numerous other properties within the market area of each of our properties that will compete with us for tenants. The number of competitive properties could have a material effect on our ability to rent space at our properties and the amount of rents charged. We could be adversely affected if additional competitive properties are built in locations competitive with our properties, causing increased competition for customer traffic and creditworthy tenants. Tenants may also face competition from such properties if they are leased to tenants in a similar industry. For example, retail tenants face competition from numerous retail channels such as discount or value retailers, factory outlet centers and wholesale clubs. Retail tenants may additional face competition from alternative retail channels as mail order catalogs and operators, television shopping networks and shopping via the Internet. Competition that we face from other properties within our market areas, and competition our tenants face from tenants in such properties could result in decreased cash flow from tenants and may require us to make capital improvements.

Costs of complying with governmental laws and regulations, including those relating to environmental matters, may adversely affect our income and the cash available for any dividends.

All real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations, and various foreign laws and regulations, relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. These laws and regulations generally govern wastewater discharges, air emissions, the operation and removal of underground and above-ground storage tanks, the use, storage, treatment, transportation and disposal of solid and hazardous materials, and the remediation of contamination associated with disposals. Environmental laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on tenants, owners or operators for the costs to investigate or remediate contaminated properties, regardless of fault or whether the acts causing the contamination were legal. This liability could be substantial. In addition, the presence of hazardous substances, or the failure to properly remediate these substances, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge such property as collateral for future borrowings.

Some of these laws and regulations have been amended so as to require compliance with new or more stringent standards as of future dates. Compliance with new or more stringent laws or regulations or stricter interpretation of existing laws may require material expenditures by us. State and federal laws in this area are constantly evolving. Future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material environmental liability. Additionally, our tenants’ operations, the existing condition of land when we buy it, operations in the vicinity of our properties, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, or activities of unrelated third parties may affect our properties. In addition, there are various local, state and federal fire, health, life-safety and similar regulations with which we may be required to comply, and that may subject us to liability in the form of fines or damages for noncompliance. Any material expenditures, fines, or damages we must pay will reduce our ability to pay dividends and may reduce the value of your investment.

Although we generally hire third parties to conduct environmental reviews of the real property that we purchase, we may not obtain an independent third-party environmental assessment for every property we acquire. In addition, any assessment that we do obtain may not reveal all environmental liabilities or that a prior owner of a property did not create a material environmental condition not known to us.

If we sell properties by providing financing to purchasers, defaults by the purchasers would adversely affect our cash flows, and our ability to pay dividends to you.

In some instances we may sell our properties by providing financing to purchasers. When we provide financing to purchasers, we will bear the risk that the purchaser may default, which could negatively impact our cash dividends to stockholders. Even in the absence of a purchaser default, the distribution of the proceeds of sales to our stockholders, or their reinvestment in other assets, will be delayed until the promissory notes or other property we may accept upon the sale are actually paid, sold, refinanced or otherwise disposed of. In some cases, we may receive initial down payments in cash and other property in the year of sale in an amount less than the selling price and subsequent payments will be spread over a number of years.

Our recovery of an investment in a mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loan that has defaulted may be limited, resulting in losses to us.

There is no guarantee that the mortgage, loan or deed of trust securing an investment will, following a default, permit us to recover the original investment and interest that would have been received absent a default. The security provided by a mortgage, deed of trust or loan is directly related to the difference between the amount owed and the appraised market value of the property. Although we intend to rely on a current real estate appraisal when we make the investment, the value of the property is affected by factors outside our control, including general fluctuations in the real estate market, rezoning, neighborhood changes, highway relocations and failure by the borrower to maintain the property. In addition, we may incur the costs of litigation in our efforts to enforce our rights under defaulted loans.

Our costs associated with complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act may affect cash available for dividends.

Our domestic properties are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the "Disabilities Act"). Under the Disabilities Act, all places of public accommodation are required to comply with federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. The Disabilities Act has separate compliance requirements for “public accommodations” and “commercial facilities” that generally require that buildings and services, including restaurants and retail stores, be made accessible and available to people with disabilities. The Disabilities Act’s requirements could require removal of access barriers and could result in the imposition of injunctive relief, monetary penalties, or, in some cases, an award of damages. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to acquire properties or allocate responsibilities in this manner.

Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence, civilian unrest, or war may affect the markets in which we operate our business and our profitability.

We may acquire real estate assets located in major metropolitan areas as well as densely populated sub-markets that are susceptible to terrorist attack. In addition, any kind of terrorist activity or violent criminal acts, including terrorist acts against public institutions or buildings or modes of public transportation (including airlines, trains or buses) could have a negative effect on our business. These events may directly impact the value of our assets through damage, destruction, loss or increased security costs. Although we may obtain terrorism insurance, we may not be able to obtain sufficient coverage to fund any losses we may incur. The TRIA, which was designed for a sharing of terrorism losses between insurance companies and the federal government, will expire on December 31, 2020, and there can be no assurance that Congress will act to renew or replace it. See “ Uninsured losses relating to real property or excessively expensive premiums for insurance coverage, including due to the non-renewal of the TRIA, could reduce our cash flows and the return on an investment in our Common Stock. ”

More generally, any terrorist attack, other act of violence or war, including armed conflicts, could result in increased volatility in, or damage to, the worldwide financial markets and economy. Increased economic volatility could adversely affect our hotel properties’ ability to conduct their operations profitably or our ability to borrow money or issue capital stock at acceptable prices and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.

Market and economic challenges experienced by the U.S. and global economies may adversely impact aspects of our operating results and operating condition.

Our business may be affected by market and economic challenges experienced by the U.S. and global economies. Countries with high levels of sovereign debt have had difficulty refinancing their debt, leading to concerns that have created volatility in various currencies. In addition, many governments around the world, including the U.S. government, are operating at very large financial deficits. Disruptions in the economies of such governments could cause, contribute to or be indicative of, deteriorating macroeconomic conditions. These conditions may materially affect the value and performance of our properties, and may affect our ability to pay dividends, the availability or the terms of financing that we have or may anticipate utilizing, and our ability to make principal and interest payments on, or refinance, any outstanding debt when due. These challenging economic conditions may also impact the ability of certain of our tenants to enter into new leasing transactions or satisfy rental payments under existing leases. Specifically, global market and economic challenges may have adverse consequences, including:

If economic conditions deteriorate, our board of directors may reduce payment of dividends in order to conserve cash.

Disruptions in the economies of various European countries could negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Countries with high levels of sovereign debt have had difficulty refinancing their debt, leading to concerns that have created volatility in various currencies. In addition, many governments around the world, including the U.S. government, are operating at very large financial deficits. Disruptions in the economies of such governments could cause, contribute to or be indicative of, deteriorating macroeconomic conditions. Furthermore, governmental austerity measures aimed at reducing deficits could impair the economic recovery.

We may be exposed to foreign currency gains and losses resulting from our operations in continental Europe and the United Kingdom. If we are unsuccessful in hedging these potential losses, our operating results could be negatively impacted and our

cash flows could be significantly reduced. In some cases, as part of our risk management strategies, we may choose not to hedge such risks. If we misjudge these risks, there could be a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial position and ability to pay dividends.

Foreign exchange rates are influenced by: changing supply and demand for a particular currency, monetary policies of governments (including exchange control programs, restrictions on local exchanges or markets and limitations on foreign investment in a country or on investment by residents of a country in other countries), changes in balances of payments and trade, trade restrictions, and currency devaluations and revaluations. Also, governments from time to time intervene in the currency markets, directly and by regulation, in order to influence prices directly. These events and actions are unpredictable and not within our control. The resulting volatility in exchange rates could have a material and adverse effect on our results of operations and ability to pay dividends.

Our real estate investments may include special use single tenant properties that may be difficult to sell or re-lease upon tenant defaults or early lease terminations, which could adversely affect the value of your investment.

We focus our investments on commercial and retail properties, including special use single tenant properties. If a 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. 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. 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 re-lease or sell properties and adversely affect returns to you.

Upcoming changes in U.S. accounting standards regarding operating leases may make the leasing of our properties less attractive to our potential tenants, which could reduce overall demand for our properties.

Under current authoritative accounting guidance for leases, a lease is classified by a tenant as a capital lease if the significant risks and rewards of ownership are considered to reside with the tenant. Under capital lease accounting for a tenant, both the leased asset and liability are reflected on their balance sheet. If the lease does not meet any of the criteria for a capital lease, the lease is considered an operating lease by the tenant, and the obligation does not appear on the tenant’s balance sheet, rather, the contractual future minimum payment obligations are only disclosed in the footnotes thereto. Thus, entering into an operating lease can appear to enhance a tenant’s balance sheet in comparison to direct ownership. The Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") and the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"), conducted a joint project to reevaluate lease accounting. In June 2013, the FASB and the IASB jointly finalized exposure drafts of a proposed accounting model that would significantly change lease accounting. In March 2014, the FASB and the IASB redeliberated aspects of the joint project, including the lessee and lessor accounting models, lease term, and exemptions and simplifications. On November 11, 2015, the FASB voted to proceed with a new accounting standard that would require companies and other organizations to include lease obligations on their balance sheets. The final standards were released in February 2016. FASB decided that for public companies, the upcoming standard will be effective for fiscal years (and interim periods within those fiscal years) beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted for all companies and organizations upon issuance of the standard. The upcoming standard, once effective, could affect both our accounting for leases as well as that of our current and potential tenants. These changes may affect how the real estate leasing business is conducted. For example, as a result of the revised accounting standards regarding the financial statement classification of operating leases, companies may be less willing to enter into leases in general or desire to enter into leases with shorter terms because the apparent benefits to their balance sheets could be reduced or eliminated.

Risks Associated with Debt Financing and Investments

We may incur mortgage indebtedness and other borrowings, which may increase our business risks.

We generally acquire real properties by using either existing financing or borrowing new funds. In addition, we typically incur mortgage debt and may pledge all or some of our real properties as security for that debt to obtain funds to acquire additional real properties or fund working capital. We may borrow if we need funds to continue to satisfy the REIT tax qualification requirement that we generally distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP) to our stockholders, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. We also may borrow if we otherwise deem it necessary or advisable to assure that we maintain our qualification as a REIT.

If there is a shortfall between the cash flow from a property and the cash flow needed to service mortgage debt on a property, then the amount available for dividends to stockholders may be reduced. In addition, incurring mortgage debt increases the risk of loss since defaults on indebtedness secured by a property may result in lenders initiating foreclosure actions. In that case, we could lose the property securing the loan that is in default, thus reducing the value of our Common Stock. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, a foreclosure of any of our properties would be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we would recognize taxable income on foreclosure, but would not receive any cash proceeds. In such event, we may be unable to pay the amount of dividends required in order to maintain our REIT status. We may give full or partial guarantees to lenders of mortgage debt to the entities that own our properties. When we provide a guaranty on behalf of an entity that owns one of our properties, we will be responsible to the lender for satisfaction of the debt if it is not paid by such entity. If any mortgages contain cross-collateralization or cross-default provisions, a default on a single property could affect multiple properties. If any of our properties are foreclosed upon due to a default, our ability to pay cash dividends to our stockholders will be adversely affected which could result in our losing our REIT status and would result in a decrease in the value of your investment.

Changes in the debt markets could have a material adverse impact on our earnings and financial condition.

The domestic and international commercial real estate debt markets are subject to changing levels of volatility, resulting in, from time to time, the tightening of underwriting standards by lenders and credit rating agencies. If our overall cost of borrowings increase, either by increases in the index rates or by increases in lender spreads, we will need to factor such increases into the economics of future acquisitions. This may result in future acquisitions generating lower overall economic returns and potentially reducing future cash flow available for dividend. If these disruptions in the debt markets persist, our ability to borrow monies to finance the purchase of, or other activities related to, real estate assets will be negatively impacted.

If we are unable to borrow monies on terms and conditions that we find acceptable, we likely will have to reduce the number of properties we can purchase, and the return on the properties we do purchase may be lower. In addition, we may find it difficult, costly or impossible to refinance maturing indebtedness.

In addition, the state of the debt markets could have an impact on the overall amount of capital investing in real estate, which may result in price or value decreases of real estate assets. This could negatively impact the value of our assets after the time we acquire them.

High mortgage rates may make it difficult for us to finance or refinance properties.

If we place mortgage debt on properties, we run the risk of being unable to refinance the properties when the loans come due, or of being unable to refinance on favorable terms. If interest rates are higher when the properties are refinanced, we may not be able to finance the properties and our income could be reduced. If any of these events occur, our cash flow would be reduced.

Lenders may require us to enter into restrictive covenants relating to our operations, which could limit our ability to pay dividends to you.

In connection with providing us financing, a lender could impose restrictions on us that affect our dividend and operating policies and our ability to incur additional debt. Loan documents we enter into may contain covenants that limit our ability to further mortgage the property, discontinue insurance coverage or replace our Advisor. These or other limitations may adversely affect our flexibility and our ability to achieve our investment and operating objectives.

Increases in interest rates could increase the amount of our debt payments and adversely affect our ability to pay dividends to you.

We have and expect that we will continue to incur indebtedness in the future. We have incurred variable-rate debt. Increases in interest rates on our variable-rate debt would increase our interest costs, which could reduce our cash flows and our ability to pay dividends to you. In addition, if we need to repay existing debt during periods of rising interest rates, we could be required to liquidate one or more of our investments in properties at times that may not permit realization of the maximum return on such investments.

U.S. Federal Income Tax Risks

Our failure to remain qualified as a REIT would subject us to U.S. federal income tax and potentially state and local tax, and would adversely affect our operations and the market price of our Common Stock.

We qualified to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2013 and intend to operate in a manner that would allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, we may terminate our REIT qualification, if our board of directors determines that not qualifying as a REIT is in the best interests of our stockholders, or inadvertently. Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, stockholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. We have structured and intend to continue structuring our activities in a manner designed to satisfy all the requirements for qualification as a REIT. However, the REIT qualification requirements are extremely complex and interpretation of the U.S. federal income tax laws governing qualification as a REIT is limited. Furthermore, any opinion of our counsel, including tax counsel, as to our eligibility to remain qualified as a REIT is not binding on the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") and is not a guarantee that we will continue to qualify as a REIT. Accordingly, we cannot be certain that we will be successful in operating so we can remain qualified as a REIT. Our ability to satisfy the asset tests depends on our analysis of the characterization and fair market values of our assets, some of which are not susceptible to a precise determination, and for which we will not obtain independent appraisals. Our compliance with the REIT income or quarterly asset requirements also depends on our ability to successfully manage the composition of our income and assets on an ongoing basis. Accordingly, if certain of our operations were to be recharacterized by the IRS, such recharacterization would jeopardize our ability to continue to satisfy all the requirements for continued qualification as a REIT. Furthermore, future legislative, judicial or administrative changes to the U.S. federal income tax laws could be applied retroactively, which could result in our disqualification as a REIT.

If we fail to continue to qualify as a REIT for any taxable year, and we do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at corporate rates. In addition, we would generally be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year of losing our REIT qualification. Losing our REIT qualification would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distributions to stockholders because of the additional tax liability. In addition, distributions to stockholders would no longer qualify for the dividends paid deduction, and we would no longer be required to make distributions. If this occurs, we might be required to borrow funds or liquidate some investments in order to pay the applicable tax.

Even if we continue to qualify as a REIT, in certain circumstances, we may incur tax liabilities that would reduce our cash available for distribution to you.

Even if we maintain our status as a REIT, we may be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes. For example, net income from the sale of properties that are “dealer” properties sold by a REIT (a “prohibited transaction” under the Code) will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. Similarly, if we were to fail an income test (and did not lose our REIT status because such failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect) we would be subject to tax on the income that does not meet the income test requirements. We also may decide to retain net capital gain we earn from the sale or other disposition of our property and pay U.S. federal income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability unless they file U.S. federal income tax returns and thereon seek a refund of such tax. We also will be subject to corporate tax on any undistributed REIT taxable income. We also may be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, including franchise, payroll and transfer taxes, either directly or at the level of our operating partnership or at the level of the other companies through which we indirectly own our assets, such as our taxable REIT subsidiaries, which are subject to full U.S. federal, state, local and foreign corporate-level income taxes. Any taxes we pay directly or indirectly will reduce our cash available for distribution to you.

To continue to qualify as a REIT we must meet annual distribution requirements, which may force us to forgo otherwise attractive opportunities or borrow funds during unfavorable market conditions. This could delay or hinder our ability to meet our investment objectives.

In order to continue to qualify as a REIT, we must distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. We will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our undistributed REIT taxable income and net capital gain and to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions we make with respect to any calendar year are less than the sum of (a) 85% of our ordinary income, (b) 95% of our capital gain net income and (c) 100% of our undistributed income from prior years. These requirements could cause us to distribute amounts that otherwise would be spent on investments in real estate assets and it is possible that we might be required to borrow funds, possibly at unfavorable rates, or sell assets to fund these distributions. Although we intend to make distributions sufficient to meet the annual distribution requirements and to avoid U.S federal income and excise taxes on our earnings while we continue to qualify as a REIT, it is possible that we might not always be able to do so.

Recharacterization of sale-leaseback transactions may cause us to lose our REIT status.

With respect to properties acquired in sale-leaseback transactions, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to structure any such sale-leaseback transaction such that the lease will be characterized as a "true lease" for U.S. federal income tax purposes, thereby allowing us to be treated as the owner of the property for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, the IRS may challenge such characterization. In the event that any such sale-leaseback transaction is challenged and recharacterized as a financing transaction or loan for U.S. federal income tax purposes, deductions for depreciation and cost recovery relating to such property would be disallowed. If a sale-leaseback transaction were so recharacterized, we might fail to continue to satisfy the REIT qualification "asset tests" or "income tests" and, consequently, lose our REIT status effective with the year of recharacterization. Alternatively, the amount of our REIT taxable income could be recalculated which might also cause us to fail to meet the dividend requirement for a taxable year.

Certain of our business activities are potentially subject to the prohibited transaction tax.

For so long as we continue to qualify as a REIT, our ability to dispose of property during the first few years following acquisition may be restricted to a substantial extent as a result of our REIT qualification. Under applicable provisions of the Code regarding prohibited transactions by REITs, while we qualify as a REIT, we will be subject to a 100% penalty tax on any gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of any property (other than foreclosure property) that we own, directly or indirectly through any subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but generally excluding taxable REIT subsidiaries, that is deemed to be inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. Whether property is inventory or otherwise held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business depends on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding each property. We intend to avoid the 100% prohibited transaction tax by (1) conducting activities that may otherwise be considered prohibited transactions through a taxable REIT subsidiary (but such taxable REIT subsidiary will incur corporate rate income taxes with respect to any income or gain recognized by it), (2) conducting our operations in such a manner so that no sale or other disposition of an asset we own, directly or through any subsidiary, will be treated as a prohibited transaction or (3) structuring certain dispositions of our properties to comply with the requirements of the prohibited transaction safe harbor available under the Code for properties that, among other requirements, have been held for at least two years. Despite our present intention, no assurance can be given that any particular property we own, directly or through any subsidiary entity, including our operating partnership, but generally excluding taxable REIT subsidiaries, will not be treated as inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business.

Our taxable REIT subsidiaries are subject to corporate-level taxes and our dealings with our taxable REIT subsidiaries may be subject to 100% excise tax.

A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary. A corporation of which a taxable REIT subsidiary directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary. Overall, no more than 25% (20% for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017) of the gross value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. A taxable REIT subsidiary may hold assets and earn income that would not be qualifying assets or income if held or earned directly by a REIT, including gross income from operations pursuant to management contracts. Accordingly, we may use taxable REIT subsidiaries generally to hold properties for sale in the ordinary course of a trade or business or to hold assets or conduct activities that we cannot conduct directly as a REIT. A taxable REIT subsidiary will be subject to applicable U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income tax on its taxable income. In addition, the rules, which are applicable to us as a REIT, also impose a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a taxable REIT subsidiary and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis.

We may be required to defer repatriation of cash from foreign jurisdictions in order to continue to qualify as a REIT.

Investments in foreign real property may be subject to foreign currency gains and losses. Certain foreign currency gains will generally be excluded from income for purposes of determining our satisfaction of one or both of the REIT gross income tests; however, under certain circumstances such gains will be treated as non-qualifying income. To reduce the risk of foreign currency gains adversely affecting our continued REIT qualification, we may be required to defer the repatriation of cash from foreign jurisdictions or to employ other structures that could affect the timing, character or amount of income we receive from our foreign investments. No assurance can be given that we will be able to manage our foreign currency gains in a manner that enables us to continue to qualify as a REIT or to avoid U.S. federal and other taxes on our income as a result of foreign currency gains.

If our operating partnership failed to qualify as a partnership or is not otherwise disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would cease to qualify as a REIT.

If the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of our operating partnership as a partnership or disregarded entity for such purposes, it would be taxable as a corporation. In such event, this would reduce the amount of distributions that the operating partnership could make to us. This also would result in our failing to maintain our REIT qualification and becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our income. This substantially would reduce our cash available to pay distributions to our stockholders. In addition, if any of the partnerships or limited liability companies through which our operating partnership owns its properties, in whole or in part, loses its characterization as a partnership and is otherwise not disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it would be subject to taxation as a corporation, thereby reducing distributions to the operating partnership. Such a recharacterization of an underlying property owner could also threaten our ability to maintain our REIT qualification.

Our investments in certain debt instruments may cause us to recognize income for U.S. federal income tax purposes even though no cash payments have been received on the debt instruments, and certain modifications of such debt by us could cause the modified debt to not qualify as a good REIT asset, thereby jeopardizing our REIT qualification.

Our taxable income may substantially exceed our net income as determined based on GAAP, or differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash may occur. For example, we may acquire assets, including debt securities requiring us to accrue original issue discount ("OID"), or recognize market discount income, that generate taxable income in excess of economic income or in advance of the corresponding cash flow from the assets. In addition, if a borrower with respect to a particular debt instrument encounters financial difficulty rendering it unable to pay stated interest as due, we may nonetheless be required to continue to recognize the unpaid interest as taxable income with the effect that we will recognize income but will not have a corresponding amount of cash available for distribution to you.

As a result of the foregoing, we may generate less cash flow than taxable income in a particular year and find it difficult or impossible to meet the REIT distribution requirements in certain circumstances. In such circumstances, we may be required to (a) sell assets in adverse market conditions, (b) borrow on unfavorable terms, (c) distribute amounts that would otherwise be used for future acquisitions or used to repay debt, or (d) make a taxable distributions of our shares of Common Stock as part of a distribution in which stockholders may elect to receive shares of Common Stock or (subject to a limit measured as a percentage of the total distribution) cash, in order to comply with the REIT distribution requirements.

The failure of a mezzanine loan to qualify as a real estate asset would adversely affect our ability to continue to qualify as a REIT.

In general, in order for a loan to be treated as a qualifying real estate asset producing qualifying income for purposes of the REIT asset and income tests, the loan must be secured by real property or an interest in real property. We may acquire mezzanine loans that are not directly secured by real property or an interest in real property but instead are secured by equity interests in a partnership or limited liability company that directly or indirectly owns real property. In Revenue Procedure 2003-65, the IRS provided a safe harbor pursuant to which a mezzanine loan that is not secured by real estate would, if it meets each of the requirements contained in the Revenue Procedure, be treated by the IRS as a qualifying real estate asset. Although the Revenue Procedure provides a safe harbor on which taxpayers may rely, it does not prescribe rules of substantive tax law and in many cases it may not be possible for us to meet all the requirements of the safe harbor. We cannot provide assurance that any mezzanine loan in which we invest would be treated as a qualifying asset producing qualifying income for REIT qualification purposes. If any such loan fails either the REIT income or asset tests, we may be disqualified as a REIT.

We may choose to pay dividends in our own stock, in which case you may be required to pay U.S. federal income taxes in excess of the cash dividends you receive.

In connection with our continued qualification as a REIT, we are required to distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. In order to satisfy this requirement, we may make distributions that are payable in cash and/or shares of our Common Stock (which could account for up to 80% of the aggregate amount of such distributions) at the election of each stockholder. Taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the full amount of such distributions as ordinary dividend income to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, U.S. stockholders may be required to pay U.S. federal income taxes with respect to such distributions in excess of the cash portion of the dividend received. Accordingly, U.S. stockholders receiving a distribution of our shares may be required to sell shares received in such distribution or may be required to sell other stock or assets owned by them, at a time that may be disadvantageous, in order to satisfy any tax imposed on such distribution. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock that it receives as part of the distribution in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the distribution, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such distribution, including in respect of all or a portion of such distribution that is payable in stock, by withholding or disposing of part of the shares included in such distribution and using the proceeds of such disposition to satisfy the withholding tax imposed. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our Common Stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividend income, such sale may put downward pressure on the market price of our Common Stock.

Various tax aspects of such a taxable cash/stock distribution are uncertain and have not yet been addressed by the IRS. No assurance can be given that the IRS will not impose requirements in the future with respect to taxable cash/stock distributions, including on a retroactive basis, or assert that the requirements for such taxable cash/stock distributions have not been met.

The taxation of distributions to you can be complex; however, distributions that we make to you generally will be taxable as ordinary income, which may reduce the anticipated return from an investment in us.

Distributions that we make to our taxable stockholders out of current and accumulated earnings and profits (and not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income) generally will be taxable as ordinary income. However, a portion of our distributions may (1) be designated by us as capital gain dividends generally taxable as long-term capital gain to the extent that they are attributable to net capital gain recognized by us, (2) be designated by us as qualified dividend income generally to the extent they are attributable to dividends we receive from our taxable REIT subsidiaries, or (3) constitute a return of capital generally to the extent that they exceed our accumulated earnings and profits as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A return of capital is not taxable, but has the effect of reducing the basis of a stockholder’s investment in our Common Stock.

Dividends payable by REITs generally do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.

Currently, the maximum tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income payable to U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for this reduced rate. Although this legislation does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause investors who are individuals, trusts and estates to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our Common Stock. Tax rates could be changed in future legislation.

Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge our liabilities effectively and may cause us to incur tax liabilities.

The REIT provisions of the Code may limit our ability to hedge our liabilities. Any income from a hedging transaction 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 or in certain cases to hedge previously acquired hedges entered into to manage risks associated with property that has been disposed of or liabilities that have been extinguished, if properly identified under applicable Treasury Regulations, does not constitute “gross income” for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income tests. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions, the income from those transactions will likely 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 a taxable REIT subsidiary. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because our taxable REIT subsidiaries 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 in a taxable REIT subsidiary generally will not provide any tax benefit, except for being carried forward against future taxable income of such taxable REIT subsidiary.

Complying with REIT requirements may force us to forgo or liquidate otherwise attractive investment opportunities.

To continue to qualify as a REIT, we must ensure that we meet the REIT gross income tests annually and 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 REIT real estate assets, including certain mortgage loans and certain kinds of mortgage-related securities. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets can consist of the securities of any one issuer (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets), and no more than 25% (20% for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017) of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate assets from our portfolio or not make otherwise attractive investments in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distributions to you.

The ability of our board of directors to revoke our REIT qualification without stockholder approval may subject us to U.S. federal income tax and reduce distributions to you.

Our charter provides that our board of directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT. While we intend to continue to qualify as a REIT, we may terminate our REIT election if we determine that continuing to qualify as a REIT is no longer in our best interests. If we cease to be a REIT, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income and would no longer be required to distribute most of our taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse consequences on our total return to our stockholders and on the market price of our Common Stock.

We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could increase our tax liability, reduce our operating flexibility and reduce the market price of our Common Stock.

In recent years, numerous legislative, judicial and administrative changes have been made in the provisions of U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to investments similar to an investment in shares of our Common Stock. Additional changes to the tax laws are likely to continue to occur, and there can be no assurance that any such changes will not adversely affect the taxation of a stockholder. Any such changes could have an adverse effect on an investment in our shares or on the market value or the resale potential of our assets. Investors are urged to consult with an independent tax advisor with respect to the impact of recent legislation on any investment in our shares and the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our shares. Investors also should note that our counsel’s tax opinion is based upon existing law, applicable as of the date of its opinion, all of which will be subject to change, either prospectively or retroactively.

Although REITs generally receive better tax treatment than entities taxed as regular corporations, it is possible that future legislation would result in a REIT having fewer tax advantages, and it could become more advantageous for a company that invests in real estate to elect to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a corporation. As a result, our charter provides our board of directors with the power, under certain circumstances, to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election and cause us to be taxed as a regular corporation, without the vote of our stockholders. Our board of directors has fiduciary duties to us and our stockholders and could only cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in the best interest of our stockholders.

The share ownership restrictions of the Code for REITs and the 9.8% share ownership limit in our charter may inhibit market activity in our shares of stock and restrict our business combination opportunities.

In order to continue to qualify as a REIT, five or fewer individuals, as defined in the Code, may not own, actually or constructively, more than 50% in value of our issued and outstanding shares of stock at any time during the last half of each taxable year, other than the first year for which a REIT election is made. Attribution rules in the Code determine if any individual or entity actually or constructively owns our shares of stock under this requirement. Additionally, at least 100 persons must beneficially own our shares of stock during at least 335 days of a taxable year for each taxable year, other than the first year for which a REIT election is made. To help ensure that we meet these tests, among other purposes, our charter restricts the acquisition and ownership of our shares of stock.

Our charter, with certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary and desirable to preserve our qualification as a REIT while we so qualify. Unless exempted by our board of directors, for so long as we continue to qualify as a REIT, our charter prohibits, among other limitations on ownership and transfer of shares of our stock, any person from beneficially or constructively owning (applying certain attribution rules under the Code) more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of our outstanding shares of stock and more than 9.8% (in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of any class or series of our shares of stock. Our board of directors may not grant an exemption from these restrictions to any proposed transferee whose ownership in excess of the 9.8% ownership limit would result in the termination of our continued qualification as a REIT. These restrictions on transferability and ownership will not apply, however, if our board of directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to continue to qualify as a REIT or that compliance with the restrictions is no longer required in order for us to continue to qualify as a REIT.

These ownership limits could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for our Common Stock or otherwise be in the best interest of the stockholders.

Non-U.S. stockholders will be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax and may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on distributions received from us and upon the disposition of our shares.

Subject to certain exceptions, distributions received from us will be treated as dividends of ordinary income to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. Such dividends ordinarily will be subject to U.S. withholding tax at a 30% rate, or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty, unless the distributions are treated as “effectively connected” with the conduct by the non-U.S. stockholder of a U.S. trade or business. Pursuant to the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 ("FIRPTA"), capital gain distributions attributable to sales or exchanges of “U.S. real property interests" ("USRPIs"), generally will be taxed to a non-U.S. stockholder (other than a qualified foreign pension plan) as if such gain were effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. However, a capital gain dividend will not be treated as effectively connected income if (a) the distribution is received with respect to a class of stock that is regularly traded on an established securities market located in the United States and (b) the non-U.S. stockholder does not own more than 10% of the class of our stock at any time during the one-year period ending on the date the distribution is received.

Gain recognized by a non-U.S. stockholder upon the sale or exchange of our Common Stock generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxation unless such stock constitutes a USRPI under FIRPTA. Our Common Stock will not constitute a USRPI so long as we are a “domestically-controlled qualified investment entity.” A domestically-controlled qualified investment entity includes a REIT if at all times during a specified testing period, less than 50% in value of such REIT’s stock is held directly or indirectly by non-U.S. stockholders. We believe, but there can be no assurance, that we will be a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity.

Even if we do not qualify as a domestically-controlled qualified investment entity at the time a non-U.S. stockholder sells or exchanges our Common Stock, gain arising from such a sale or exchange would not be subject to U.S. taxation under FIRPTA as a sale of a USRPI if: (a) our Common Stock is “regularly traded,” as defined by applicable Treasury regulations, on an established securities market, and (b) such non-U.S. stockholder owned, actually and constructively, 10% or less of our Common Stock at any time during the five-year period ending on the date of the sale.

Potential characterization of distributions or gain on sale may be treated as unrelated business taxable income to tax-exempt investors.

If (a) we are a “pension-held REIT,” (b) a tax-exempt stockholder has incurred (or is deemed to have incurred) debt to purchase or hold our Common Stock, or (c) a holder of Common Stock is a certain type of tax-exempt stockholder, dividends on, and gains recognized on the sale of, Common Stock by such tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income under the Code.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.