Item 1A.  RISK FACTOR S

There are many factors that affect our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows and distributions, as well as the market prices for our securities.  The following is a description of important factors that may cause our actual results of operations in future periods to differ materially from those currently expected or discussed in forward-looking statements set forth in this Annual Report.  The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only risks we face.  Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we may currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations.  Forward-looking statements and such risks, uncertainties and other factors speak only as of the date of this Annual Report, and we expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein, to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto, or any other change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except to the extent otherwise required by law.  See “Forward-Looking Statements.”

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

The success of our business depends upon the success of our customers’ businesses.

We lease substantially all of our properties to customers who generate sales and profits from businesses operated at the leased properties.  We underwrite and evaluate investment risk based on our belief that our customers’ most important, and primary, source of payment for our leases and loans is the profitability of the businesses operated at the leased properties, which we refer to as “unit-level profitability”.  While a customer may have other sources of payment to meet its lease or loan obligations to us, we believe the success of our investments materially depends upon whether our customers successfully operate their businesses, and thus generate unit‑level profitability, at the location or locations we acquire and lease back or finance.  Our customers may be adversely affected by many factors beyond our control that might render one or more of their locations uneconomic.  These factors include poor management, changing demographics, a downturn in general economic conditions or changes in consumer trends that decrease demand for our customers’ products or services.  The occurrence of any of these may cause our customers to fail to pay rent, real estate taxes or insurance premiums when due, become insolvent or declare bankruptcy, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business.

Reduced discretionary spending by consumers could reduce the demand for our net‑lease solutions.  

Most of our portfolio is leased to or financed with customers operating service or retail businesses on our property locations.  Restaurants, furniture stores, early childhood education centers, movie theaters and health clubs represent the largest industries in our portfolio; and Art Van Furniture, Ashley Furniture HomeStore, Cabela’s, Mills Fleet Farm and Applebee’s represent the largest concepts in our portfolio.  The success of most of these businesses depends on the willingness of consumers to use discretionary income to purchase their products or services.  A downturn in the economy could cause consumers to reduce their discretionary spending, which may have a material adverse effect on us.

Service and retail businesses using physical outlets also face increasing competition from alternate methods of purchasing goods and services, including online service providers and retailers.  As consumers increasingly use alternate methods to obtain goods and services, including the internet, this trend could adversely impact the success of physical service and retail business locations.  Because we lease real estate to service and retail businesses, a decrease in purchases at these locations may have a material adverse effect on us.

Default by one or more of our customers could materially and adversely affect us, and bankruptcy laws will limit our remedies.

Any of our customers may experience a downturn in its business at any time that may significantly weaken its financial condition or cause its failure.  As a result, such customer may decline to extend or renew its lease upon expiration, fail to make rental payments when due or declare bankruptcy.  Any claims against bankrupt customers for unpaid future rent would be subject to statutory limitations that would likely result in our receipt of rental revenues, if any, that are substantially less than the contractually specified rent we are owed under their leases. This risk is magnified in situations where we lease multiple properties to a single customer under a master lease, as a customer failure or default under a master lease could reduce or eliminate rental revenue from multiple properties.  In addition, any claim we have

for unpaid past rent will most likely not be paid in full.  If a customer becomes bankrupt or insolvent, federal law may prohibit us from evicting such customer based solely upon such bankruptcy or insolvency.  We may also be unable to re‑lease a terminated or rejected space or re‑lease it on comparable or more favorable terms.  Following a vacancy at a property, we will be responsible for all of the operating costs at such property until it can be sold or re-let, if at all.

Our investments are concentrated in the middle‑market sector, and we would be adversely affected by an economic downturn or an excess of STORE Properties for rent in that sector.    

Our target market is middle‑market companies that operate their businesses out of one or more locations that generate unit‑level profitability for the business.  Historically, many companies prefer to own, rather than lease, the real estate they use in their businesses.  A failure to increase demand for our products by, among other ways, failing to convince middle‑market companies to sell and lease back their STORE Properties, a decrease in the demand of middle‑market companies to rent STORE Properties, or an increase in the availability of STORE Properties for rent could materially and adversely affect us.

Adverse economic conditions could harm our returns and profitability.

Our operating results may be affected by market and economic challenges and uncertainties, which may result from a continued or exacerbated general economic slowdown experienced by the nation as a whole, by the local economies where our properties are located or our customers conduct business, or by the real estate industry in particular.  These economic challenges and uncertainties may:

Also, to the extent we purchase real estate in an unstable market, we are subject to the risk that if the real estate market ceases to attract the same level of capital investment in the future that it attracts at the time of our purchases, or the number of companies seeking to acquire properties decreases, the value of our investments may not appreciate or may decrease significantly below the amount we paid. The length and severity of any economic slowdown or downturn cannot be predicted. Our operations could be negatively affected to the extent that an economic slowdown or downturn is prolonged or becomes more severe.

Geographic or industry concentrations lessen the diversity of our portfolio and may negatively affect our financial results. 

Our operating performance is impacted by the economic conditions affecting the specific markets and industries in which we have concentrations of properties.     As of December 31, 2017, the five states from which we derive the largest amount of our annualized base rent and interest were Texas (12.6%), Illinois (6.9%), Florida (6.4%), Ohio (5.5%) and Georgia (5.2%).   In addition, as of December 31, 2017, 19.8% of the dollar amount of our investment portfolio was represented by properties dedicated to, and 20.3% of our annualized base rent and interest was derived from customers operating in, the restaurant industry and, in the future, it is likely we will acquire additional restaurant properties.  As a result of these concentrations, local economic and industry conditions, changes in state or local governmental rules and regulations, acts of nature and other factors in these states could result in a decrease in consumer demand for the products and services offered by our customers operating in those states or industries, which would have an adverse effect on our customers’ revenues, costs and results of operations, thereby adversely affecting their ability to meet their obligations to us. Because the restaurant industry represents a significant portion of our portfolio, a downturn in the restaurant industry may have a material adverse effect on us. As we continue to acquire properties, our portfolio may become more concentrated by customer, industry or geographic area.  Such decreased diversity in our portfolio could cause us to be more sensitive to

the bankruptcy or insolvency of fewer customers, to changes in consumer trends of a particular industry and to a general economic downturn in a particular geographic area.

Failure of our underwriting and risk‑management procedures to accurately evaluate a potential customer’s credit risk could materially and adversely affect our operating results and financial position.

Our success depends in part on the creditworthiness of our customers, which, since they are mostly middle‑market companies, are not rated by any nationally recognized rating agency.  We analyze the creditworthiness of our customers using Moody’s Analytics RiskCalc, our methodology of estimating probability of lease rejection and the STORE Score, each of which may be faulty, deficient, inaccurate, or incomplete or which otherwise may fail to adequately assess default risk.  An expected default frequency, or EDF, score from Moody’s Analytics RiskCalc is not the same as a published credit rating and lacks the extensive company participation that is typically involved when a rating agency publishes a rating.  EDF scores and the financial ratios we calculate are based on financial information provided to us by our customers and prospective customers without independent verification by us, and may reflect only a limited operating history of the customer.  The probability of lease rejection we assign an investment may be inaccurate.  Moreover, the risks we have identified as our principal risks may fail to incorporate significant risks of which we are unaware.  If our underwriting procedures fail to properly assess the unit‑level profitability, customer or corporate credit risk or real estate value of potential investments, then we may invest in properties and lease them to customers who ultimately default, and we may be unable to recover our investment by re‑leasing or selling the related property, which could materially and adversely affect our operating results and financial position.

In addition, we use a proprietary information technology, or IT, platform, which we developed to proactively manage our investment portfolio. Our IT platform offers customer relationship management and general ledger and servicing system integration, and includes the STORE Universal Database System, or SUDS, which provides our management with access to lease abstracts, customer information, document scans, property data and servicing information.  Our IT platform and SUDS may not capture all of the information needed to effectively mitigate the risk of customer default.

We have now, and may have in the future, exposure to contingent rent escalators, which may expose us to inflation risk and can hinder our growth and profitability . 

A substantial portion of our leases contain rent escalators, pursuant to which the base rent payable by the customer under the lease is periodically increased.  Our leases that have contingent rent escalators indexed to future increases in the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, primarily adjust over a one‑year period but may adjust over multiple‑year periods. Generally, these escalators increase rent at the lesser of (i) 1 to 1.25 times the change in the CPI over a specified period or (ii) a fixed percentage.  Under this formula, during periods of deflation or low inflation, small increases or decreases in the CPI will subject us to the risk of receiving lower rental revenue than we otherwise would have been entitled to receive if our rent escalators were based solely on fixed, rather than variable, rates.  Conversely, in periods when inflation is higher, contingent rent increases may not keep up with the rate of inflation.  In either event, our growth and profitability may be adversely affected.  Higher inflation may also have an adverse impact on our customers if increases in their operating expenses exceed increases in revenue, which may adversely affect our customers’ ability to satisfy their financial obligations to us.

We depend on key personnel; the loss of their full service could materially impair our ability to operate successfully.    

As an internally managed company, our overall success and the achievement of our investment objectives depends upon the performance of our senior leadership team, including, in particular, Christopher H. Volk, our Chief Executive Officer and Mary Fedewa, our Chief Operating Officer.  We rely on our senior leadership team to, among other things, identify and consummate acquisitions, design and implement our financing strategies, manage our investments and conduct our day‑to‑day operations.   We cannot guarantee the continued employment of any of the members of our senior leadership team, who may choose to leave our company for any number of reasons, such as other business opportunities, differing views on our strategic direction or other personal reasons.  We rely on the experience, efforts and abilities of these individuals, each of whom would be difficult to replace.  The employment agreements we have entered into with each of these executives do not guarantee their continued service to us.  The loss of services of one or more members of our senior leadership team, or our inability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, could adversely affect our

business, diminish our investment opportunities and weaken our relationships with lenders, business partners, existing and prospective customers and industry personnel, all of which could materially and adversely affect us.

We may be unable to identify and complete acquisitions of suitable properties, which may impede our growth. 

We acquire and intend to continue to acquire STORE Properties.  Our ability to continue to acquire properties we believe to be suitable may be constrained by numerous factors, including the following:

We typically acquire only a small percentage ( approximately 6%) of all properties that we evaluate (which we refer to as our “pipeline”).  To the extent any of the foregoing decreases our pipeline or otherwise impacts our ability to continue to acquire suitable properties, our ability to grow our business will be adversely affected.

We face significant competition for customers and the acquisition of STORE Properties, which may decrease or prevent increases in the occupancy and rental rates of our properties, and may reduce the number of acquisitions we are able to complete or may increase the cost of these acquisitions.  

We compete with numerous developers, owners and operators of properties, many of which own properties similar to ours in the same markets in which our properties are located. If our competitors rent properties at rates below that which we currently charge our customers, we may be pressured to reduce our rental rates or to offer more substantial rent abatements, customer improvements, early termination rights, below-market renewal options or other lease incentive payments in order to retain customers when our leases expire or obtain new customers. Competition for customers could negatively impact the occupancy and rental rates of our properties, which could materially and adversely affect us.

We also face competition for acquisitions of real property from investors, including traded and non-traded public REITs, private equity investors and other institutional investment funds, as well as private wealth management advisory firms that serve high net worth investors (also known as family offices), some of which have greater financial resources than we do, a greater ability to borrow funds to acquire properties and the willingness to accept more risk than we can prudently manage. This competition may increase the demand for the types of properties in which we typically invest and, therefore, reduce the number of suitable acquisition opportunities available to us and increase the prices we must pay for such acquisition properties.

Some of our customers rely on government funding, and their failure to continue to qualify for such funding could adversely impact their ability to make timely lease payments to us.    

Some of our customers operate businesses that depend, to various extents, on government funding or reimbursements. For example, customers operating in the education industry often rely extensively on local, state and federal government funding for their students’ tuition payments. In addition, customers in the healthcare and childcare‑related industries typically receive local, state or federal funding, subsidies or reimbursements. The amount and timing of these government payments depend on various factors beyond our or our customers’ control, including

government budgets and policies and political issues. Some of these customers also must satisfy certain licensure or certification requirements in order to qualify for government funding, subsidies or reimbursements. As we continue to grow our investment portfolio, we likely will continue to invest in properties leased by customers operating in these industries and expand our business into other industries that rely significantly on payments from government payors.  If these customers fail to receive government funding, when and as needed, including as a result of tightened government budgets, revised funding policies or otherwise, or fail to comply with related regulations, their cash flow could be materially affected leading them to default on their leases and causing an adverse impact on our business.

Some of our customers operate under franchise or license agreements, which, if terminated or not renewed prior to the expiration of their leases with us, would likely impair their ability to pay us rent.    

We frequently invest in properties operated by our customers under franchise or license agreements.  Generally, franchise agreements have terms that end earlier than the respective expiration dates of the related leases.  In addition, a customer’s rights as a franchisee or licensee typically may be terminated and the customer may be precluded from competing with the franchisor or licensor upon termination.  A franchisor’s or licensor’s termination or refusal to renew a franchise or license agreement would likely have a material adverse effect on the ability of the customer to make payments under its lease or loan with us, which could materially and adversely affect us. In addition, we usually have no notice or cure rights with respect to such a termination and have no rights to assignment of any such franchise agreement.  This may have an adverse effect on our ability to mitigate losses arising from a default by a terminated franchisee on any of our leases or loans. 

If a customer defaults under either the ground lease or mortgage loan of a hybrid lease, we may be required to undertake foreclosure proceedings on the mortgage before we can re‑lease or sell the property . 

In certain circumstances, we may enter into hybrid leases with customers.  A hybrid lease is a modified sale‑leaseback transaction, where the customer sells us land and then we lease the land back to the customer under a ground lease and simultaneously make a mortgage loan to the customer secured by the improvements the customer continues to own.  If a customer defaults under a hybrid lease, we may: (i) evict the customer under the ground lease and assume ownership of the improvements; or (ii) if required by a court, foreclose on the mortgage loan that is secured by the improvements.  Under a ground lease, we as ground lessor generally become the owner of the improvements on the land at lease maturity or if the customer defaults.  If, upon default, a court requires us to foreclose on the mortgage rather than evicting the customer, we might encounter delays and expenses in obtaining possession of the improvements, which in turn could delay our ability to sell or re‑lease the property in a prompt manner, which could materially and adversely affect us.

As leases expire, we may be unable to renew those leases or re‑lease the space on favorable terms or at all . 

As of December 31, 2017, leases and loans representing approximately 14.0% of our annualized base rent and interest will expire prior to 2028.  We cannot guarantee that we will be able to renew leases or re‑lease space without an interruption in the rental revenue from those properties, at or above our current rental rates or without having to offer substantial rent abatements, customer improvement allowances, early termination rights or below‑market renewal options.  The difficulty, delay and cost of renewing leases, re‑leasing space and leasing vacant space could materially and adversely affect us.

Defaults by customers on mortgages we hold could lead to losses on our investments. 

From time to time, we make or assume commercial mortgage loans.  We have also made a limited amount of investments on properties we own or finance in the form of loans secured by equipment or other fixtures owned by our customers.  A default by a customer on its loan payments to us that would prevent us from earning interest or receiving a return of the principal of our loan could materially and adversely affect us.  In the event of a default, we may also experience delays in enforcing our rights as lender and may incur substantial costs in collecting the amounts owed to us and in liquidating any collateral.

Foreclosure and other similar proceedings used to enforce payment of real estate loans are generally subject to principles of equity, which are designed to relieve the indebted party from the legal effect of that party’s default.  Foreclosure and other similar laws may limit our right to obtain a deficiency judgment against the defaulting party after a

foreclosure or sale.  The application of any of these principles may lead to a loss or delay in the payment on loans we hold.  Further, in the event we have to foreclose on a property, the amount we receive from the foreclosure sale of the property may be inadequate to fully pay the amounts owed to us by the customer and our costs incurred to foreclose, repossess and sell the property.  Any of such events could materially and adversely affect us.

We are subject to litigation in the ordinary course of our business, which could materially and adversely affect us.    

From time to time, we are subject to litigation in connection with the ordinary course operation of our business, including instances in which we are named as defendants in lawsuits arising out of accidents causing personal injuries or other events that occur on the properties operated by our customers.  We generally seek to have our customers defend, and assume liability for, the matters involving their properties.  In other cases, we may defend ourselves, invoke our insurance coverage or the coverage of our customers, and/or pursue our rights to indemnification that we include in our leases.  Resolution of these types of matters against us may result in our incurrence of significant legal fees and/or require us to pay significant fines, judgments or settlements, which, to the extent uninsured or in excess of insured limits, or not subject to indemnification, could adversely impact our earnings and cash flows, thereby materially and adversely affecting us.   We also may become subject to litigation relating to our financing and other transactions.  Certain types of litigation, if determined adversely to us, may affect the availability or cost of some of our insurance coverage, which could materially and adversely impact us, expose us to increased risks that would be uninsured and materially and adversely impact our ability to attract directors and officers.

Construction and renovation risks could adversely affect our profitability.  

In certain instances, we provide financing to our customers for the construction and/or renovation of their properties. We are therefore subject to the risks that this construction or renovation may not be completed.  Construction and renovation costs for a property may exceed a customer’s original estimates due to increased costs for materials or labor or other costs that are unexpected.  A customer may also be unable to complete construction or renovation of a property on schedule, which could result in increased debt service expense or construction costs.  These additional expenses may affect the ability of the customer to make payments to us.

We face risks associated with security breaches through cyber-attacks, cyber intrusions or otherwise, as well as other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems.

We face risks associated with security breaches, through cyber-attacks or cyber intrusions over the internet, malware, computer viruses, attachments to e-mails, persons inside our organization or persons with access to systems inside our organization, and other significant disruptions of our IT networks and related systems. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attack or cyber intrusion, 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. Our IT networks and related systems are essential to the operation of our business and our ability to perform day-to-day operations and, in some cases, may be critical to the operations of certain of our customers. Although we make efforts to maintain the security and integrity of our IT networks and related systems, and we have implemented various measures to manage the risk of a security breach or disruption, there can be no assurance that our security efforts and measures will be effective or that attempted security breaches or disruptions would not be successful or damaging. Even the most well protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques used in such attempted security breaches evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, and in some cases are designed to not be detected and, in fact, may not be detected. Accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate security barriers or other preventative measures, and thus it is impossible for us to entirely mitigate this risk. A security breach or other significant disruption involving our IT networks and related systems could disrupt the proper functioning of our networks and systems; result in misstated financial reports, violations of loan covenants and/or missed reporting deadlines; result in our inability to properly monitor our compliance with the rules and regulations regarding our qualification as a REIT; result in the unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information of ours or others, which others could use to compete against us or for disruptive, destructive or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes; require significant management attention and resources to remedy any damages that result; subject us to claims for breach of contract, damages, credits, penalties or termination of

leases or other agreements; or damage our reputation among our customers and investors generally.

Risks Related to the Financing of Our Business

Our growth depends on external sources of capital, which are outside of our control and affect our ability to seize strategic opportunities, satisfy debt obligations and make distributions to our stockholders.

We rely on third-party sources to fund our capital needs.  Our access to third-party sources of capital depends, in part, on:

In addition, in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we are generally required under the Code to, among other things, distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain, and we will be subject to income tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that we distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and including any net capital gain. Because of these distribution requirements, without access to third-party sources of capital, we may not be able to acquire properties when strategic opportunities exist, meet the capital and operating needs of our existing properties, satisfy our debt service obligations or make the cash distributions to our stockholders necessary to maintain our qualification as a REIT.

Our operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected if we are unable to make required payments on our debt.

Our charter and bylaws do not limit the amount or percentage of indebtedness that we may incur, and we are subject to risks normally associated with debt financing, including the risk that our cash flows will be insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest.  If we are unable to make our debt service payments as required on loans secured by properties we own, a lender could foreclose on the property or properties securing its debt. This could cause us to lose part or all of our investment.

Failure of our subsidiaries to make required payments on borrowings secured by a significant portion of our assets could materially and adversely affect us.    

A significant portion of our investment portfolio consists of assets owned by our consolidated, bankruptcy remote, special purpose entity subsidiaries that have been pledged to secure the long‑term borrowings of those subsidiaries.  As of December 31, 2017, the total outstanding principal balance of non‑recourse debt obligations of our consolidated special purpose entity subsidiaries was $1.8 billion and approximately $2.9 billion in assets held by those subsidiaries had been pledged to secure such borrowings.  We or our other consolidated subsidiaries are the equity owners of these special purpose entities, meaning we are entitled to the excess cash flows after debt service and all other required payments are made on the debt of these entities.  If our subsidiaries fail to make the required payments on such indebtedness, distributions of excess cash flows to us may be reduced or suspended and the indebtedness may become immediately due and payable.  If the subsidiaries are unable to pay the accelerated indebtedness, the pledged assets could be foreclosed upon and distributions of excess cash flows to us may be suspended or terminated, which could have a material adverse impact on us. 

Current market conditions, including increases in interest rates, could adversely affect our ability to refinance existing indebtedness or obtain additional financing for growth on acceptable terms or at all.  

In the recent past, the credit markets have experienced significant price volatility, displacement and liquidity disruptions, including the bankruptcy, insolvency or restructuring of certain financial institutions. These circumstances have materially impacted liquidity in the financial markets, making financing terms for customers less attractive, and in certain cases, have resulted in the unavailability of various types of debt financing. As a result, we may be unable to obtain debt financing on favorable terms or at all or fully refinance maturing indebtedness with new indebtedness (including indebtedness that requires us to make a lump-sum or “balloon” payment at maturity). Reductions in our available borrowing capacity or inability to obtain credit when required or when business conditions warrant could materially and adversely affect us.  Furthermore, if prevailing interest rates or other factors at the time of refinancing result in higher interest rates upon refinancing, then the interest expense relating to that refinanced indebtedness would increase. Higher interest rates on newly incurred debt may negatively impact us as well. If interest rates increase, our interest costs and overall costs of capital will increase, which could materially and adversely affect us.

The agreements governing some of our indebtedness contain restrictions and covenants which may limit our ability to enter into or obtain funding for certain transactions, operate our business or make distributions to our common stockholders. 

The agreements governing some of our indebtedness contain restrictions and covenants, including financial covenants, that limit or will limit our ability to operate our business.   These covenants, as well as any additional covenants to which we may be subject in the future because of additional indebtedness, could cause us to forego investment opportunities, reduce or eliminate distributions to our common stockholders or obtain financing that is more expensive than financing we could obtain if we were not subject to the covenants. In addition, the agreements may have cross default provisions, which provide that a default under one of our financing agreements would lead to a default on some or all of our debt financing agreements.

The covenants and other restrictions under our debt agreements may affect, among other things, our ability to:

Additionally, these restrictions may adversely affect our operating and financial flexibility and may limit our ability to respond to changes in our business or competitive environment, all of which may materially and adversely affect us.

Our hedging strategies may not be successful in mitigating our risks associated with interest rates and could reduce the overall returns on an investment in our company.  

We attempt to mitigate our exposure to interest rate risk by entering into long‑term fixed-rate financing through the combination of periodic debt offerings under our unsecured debt program and STORE Master Funding program, our asset-backed securities conduit, through discrete non‑recourse secured borrowings, through insurance company and bank borrowings, by laddering our borrowing maturities and by using leases that generally provide for rent escalations during the term of the lease.  However, the weighted average term of our borrowings does not match the weighted average term of our investments, and the methods we employ to mitigate our exposure to changes in interest rates involve risks,

including the risk that the debt markets are volatile and tend to reflect the conditions of the then‑current economic climate.  Our efforts may not be effective in reducing our exposure to interest rate changes.  Failure to effectively mitigate our exposure to changes in interest rates may materially and adversely affect us by increasing our cost of capital and reducing the net returns we earn on our portfolio.

We depend on the asset‑backed securities, or ABS, and the commercial mortgage‑backed securities, or CMBS, markets for a substantial portion of our long‑term debt financing.    

Historically, we have raised a significant amount of debt capital through our STORE Master Funding program, which accesses the ABS market, and, to a lesser extent, through our access to the CMBS market.  A substantial portion of the long‑term debt on our balance sheet has been obtained from debt offerings in the ABS and CMBS markets. This ABS debt is issued by bankruptcy remote, special purpose entities that we or our subsidiaries own.  These special purpose entities issue multiple series of investment‑grade ABS notes from time to time as additional collateral is added to the collateral pool.  Our CMBS debt is generally in the form of first mortgage debt incurred by other special purpose entities that we or our subsidiaries own.  Our ABS and CMBS debt is generally non‑recourse.  However, there are customary limited exceptions to recourse for matters such as fraud, misrepresentation, gross negligence or willful misconduct, misapplication of payments, bankruptcy and environmental liabilities.

We have generally used the proceeds from these ABS and CMBS financings to repay debt and fund real estate acquisitions.  Through December 31, 2017, we had issued seven series of notes under our STORE Master Funding program; an aggregate principal balance of $1.5 billion is outstanding as of December 31, 2017 representing six series of notes.  Collectively these notes are referred to as the “Master Trust Notes” and had a weighted average maturity of six years, as of December 31, 2017. In addition, we had CMBS and other mortgage loans with an aggregate outstanding principal balance of $232 million and an average maturity of six years, as of December 31, 2017.  Our obligations under these loans are generally secured by liens on certain of our properties. In the case of our STORE Master Funding program, subject to certain conditions and limitations, we may substitute real estate collateral for assets in the collateral pool from time to time.  No assurance can be given that the ABS or the CMBS markets will be available to us in the future, whether to refinance existing debt or to raise additional debt capital. Moreover, we view our ability to substitute collateral under our STORE Master Funding program favorably, and no assurance can be given that financing facilities offering similar flexibility will be available to us in the future.

In the event of a disruption in the financial markets for ABS or CMBS debt, our ability to obtain long‑term debt may be materially and adversely affected.  As a result, we may acquire real estate assets at a lower than anticipated growth rate, or we may be unable to acquire additional real estate assets.  In addition, this disruption may affect our return on equity as a result of the decrease in the availability of long‑term debt or leverage for us.  Furthermore, a reduction in the difference, or spread, between the rate we earn on our assets and the rate we pay on our liabilities (primarily our long‑term debt), which would occur if the interest rates available to us on future debt issuances increase faster than the lease rates we can charge our customers on STORE Properties we acquire and lease back to them, could have a material and adverse effect on our financial condition.

General Real Estate Risks

Real estate investments are relatively illiquid.

We may desire to sell a property in the future because of changes in market conditions, poor customer performance or default under any mortgage we hold, or to avail ourselves of other opportunities. We may also be required to sell a property in the future to meet debt obligations or avoid a default. Certain types of real estate assets, such as movie theaters, cannot always be sold quickly, and we cannot assure you that we could always obtain a favorable price. In addition, the Code limits our ability to sell our properties. We may be required to invest in the restoration or modification of a property before we can sell it. The inability to respond promptly to changes in the performance of our property portfolio could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to service our debt and pay dividends to our stockholders.

Property vacancies could result in significant capital expenditures. 

The loss of a customer, either through lease expiration or customer bankruptcy or insolvency, may require us to spend significant amounts of capital to renovate the property before it is suitable for a new customer and cause us to incur significant costs in the form of ongoing expenses for property maintenance, taxes, insurance and other expenses. 

Uninsured losses relating to real property may adversely affect our returns.    

Our leases and loan agreements typically require that our customers maintain insurance of the types and in the amounts that are usual and customary for similar types of commercial property, as reviewed by our independent insurance consultant.  Under certain circumstances, however, we may permit certain customers to self‑insure.  Depending on the location of the property or nature of its use, losses of a catastrophic nature, such as those caused by earthquakes, floods, or other accidents may be covered by insurance policies that are held by our customers with limitations, such as large deductibles or co‑payments that a customer may not be able to meet.  In addition, factors such as inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations and others, including terrorism or acts of war, may make any insurance proceeds we receive insufficient to repair or replace a property if it is damaged or destroyed.  In that situation, the insurance proceeds we receive may not be adequate to restore our economic position with respect to the affected real property.  In the event we experience a substantial or comprehensive loss of any of our properties, we may not be able to rebuild such property to its existing specifications without significant capital expenditures, which may exceed any amounts received under insurance policies, as reconstruction or improvement of such a property would likely require significant upgrades to meet zoning and building code requirements.  The loss of our capital investment in, or anticipated future returns from, our properties due to material uninsured losses could materially and adversely affect us.

Certain provisions of our leases or loan agreements may be unenforceable, which could adversely impact us . 

Our rights and obligations with respect to our leases, mortgage loans or other loans are governed by written agreements. A court could determine that one or more provisions of such an agreement are unenforceable, such as a particular remedy (including rights to indemnification), a loan prepayment provision or a provision governing our security interest in the underlying collateral of a customer. We could be adversely impacted if, for example, this were to happen with respect to a master lease governing our rights relating to multiple properties.

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and fire, safety and other regulations may require us to make significant unanticipated expenditures that could materially and adversely affect us. 

Our properties are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.  Under the ADA, all public accommodations must meet federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons.  Compliance with the ADA could require us to modify the properties we own or may purchase to remove architectural and communication barriers in order to make our properties readily accessible to and usable by disabled individuals, and may restrict renovations on our properties.  Failure to comply with the ADA could result in the imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants, as well as the incurrence of the costs of making modifications to attain compliance.  Future legislation could impose additional obligations or restrictions on our properties.  Our customers are generally responsible to maintain and repair our properties pursuant to our lease and loan agreements, including compliance with the ADA and other similar laws and regulations, but we could be held liable as the owner of the property for their failure to comply with the ADA or other similar laws and regulations.  Any required changes could involve greater expenditures than anticipated or the changes might be made on a more accelerated basis than anticipated, either of which could adversely affect the ability of our customers to cover such costs.  If we are subject to liability under the ADA or similar laws and regulations as an owner and our customers are unable to cover the cost of compliance or if we are required to expend our own funds to comply with the ADA or similar laws and regulations, we could be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, our properties are subject to various laws and regulations relating to fire, safety and other regulations, and in some instances, common‑area obligations.  Our customers have primary responsibility for compliance with these requirements pursuant to our lease and loan agreements.  Our customers may not have the financial ability to fully comply with these regulations.  If our customers are unable to comply with these regulations, they may be unable to pay rent on time or may default, or we may have to make substantial capital expenditures to comply with these regulations, which we may not be able to recoup from our customers.  We may also face owner liability for failure to comply with these

regulations, which may lead to the imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants.  Therefore, the failure of our customers to comply with these regulations could materially and adversely affect us.

Environmentally hazardous conditions may adversely affect our operating results.

Our properties may be subject to known and unknown environmental liabilities under various federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to human health and the environment.  Certain of these laws and regulations may impose joint and several liability on certain statutory classes of persons, including owners or operators, for the costs of investigation or remediation of contaminated properties.  These laws and regulations apply to past and present business operations on the properties, and the use, storage, handling and recycling or disposal of hazardous substances or wastes.  We may face liability regardless of our knowledge of the contamination, the timing of the contamination, the cause of the contamination or the party responsible for the contamination of the property.  Our leases and loans typically impose obligations on our customers to indemnify us from all or most compliance costs we may experience as a result of the environmental conditions on our properties, but if a customer fails to, or cannot, comply, we may be required to pay such costs.  We cannot predict whether in the future, new or more stringent environmental laws will be enacted or how such laws will impact the operations of businesses on our properties.  Costs associated with an adverse environmental event could be substantial, and the potential liability as to any of our properties is generally not limited under such laws and regulations and could significantly exceed the value of such property.

Under the laws of many states, contamination on a site may give rise to a lien on the site for clean‑up costs.  In several states, such a lien has priority over all existing liens, including those of existing mortgages.  In these states, a lien of a mortgage may lose its priority to such a “super lien.”  If any of the properties on which we have a mortgage are or become contaminated and subject to a super lien, we may not be able to recover the full value of our investment and may be materially and adversely affected.

Certain federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances govern the use, removal and/or replacement of underground storage tanks in the event of a release on, or an upgrade or redevelopment of, certain properties.  Such laws, as well as common‑law standards, may impose liability for any releases of hazardous substances associated with the underground storage tanks and may provide for third parties to seek recovery from owners or operators of such properties for damages associated with such releases.  If hazardous substances are released from any underground storage tanks on any of our properties, we may be materially and adversely affected.

In a few states, transfers of some types of sites are conditioned upon cleanup of contamination prior to transfer, including in cases where a lender has become the owner of the site through a foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure or otherwise.  If any of our properties are subject to such contamination, we may be subject to substantial clean‑up costs before we are able to sell or otherwise transfer the property.

Certain federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances govern the removal, encapsulation or disturbance of asbestos‑containing materials, ACMs, in the event of the remodeling, renovation or demolition of a building. Such laws, as well as common‑law standards, may impose liability for releases of ACMs and may impose fines and penalties against us or our customers for failure to comply with these requirements or provide for third parties to seek recovery from us or our customers.

In addition, our properties may contain or develop harmful mold.  Exposure to mold may cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions.  If our customers or their employees or customers are exposed to mold at any of our properties, we could be required to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold from the affected property.  In addition, exposure to mold by our customers or others could subject us to liability if property damage or health concerns arise. 

If we or our customers become subject to any of the above‑mentioned environmental risks, we may be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to Our Tax Status and Other Tax Related Matters

Failure to qualify as a REIT would reduce our net earnings available for investment or distribution .    

We have elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Code. Our qualification as a REIT requires us to satisfy numerous requirements, some on an annual and quarterly basis, established under highly technical and complex Code provisions for which there are only limited judicial or administrative interpretations, and which involves the determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. We expect that our current organization and methods of operation will enable us to continue to qualify as a REIT, but we may not so qualify or we may not be able to remain so qualified in the future.

If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, we would be subject to federal income tax (including any applicable alternative minimum tax for taxable years ending prior to January 1, 2018) on our taxable income at regular corporate rates, and would not be allowed to deduct dividends paid to our stockholders in computing our taxable income. Also, unless the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, granted us relief under certain statutory provisions, we could not re-elect REIT status until the fifth calendar year after the year in which we first failed to qualify as a REIT. The additional tax liability from the failure to qualify as a REIT would reduce or eliminate the amount of cash available for investment or distribution to our stockholders. This would likely have a significant adverse effect on the value of our securities and our ability to raise additional capital. In addition, we would no longer be required to make distributions to our stockholders. Even if we continue to qualify as a REIT, we will continue to be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and property.

Changes to tax law could affect our ability to qualify as a REIT and could adversely affect our stockholders.

U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs and other corporations and the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended at any time, potentially with retroactive effect. For example, the recently enacted tax reform bill, informally known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”), made significant changes to the U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to individuals and corporations, including REITs and their shareholders, and may lessen the relative competitive advantage of operating as a REIT rather than as a C corporation. Technical corrections or other amendments to the TCJA or administrative guidance interpreting the TCJA may be forthcoming at any time. We cannot predict the long-term effect of the TCJA or any future changes on REITs and their shareholders. Prospective stockholders are urged to consult with their tax advisors with respect to the TCJA and any other regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our securities. Future legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT or adversely affect our stockholders.

Even if we qualify as a REIT for purposes of the Code, we may be subject to other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders .    

As a REIT, we are subject to annual distribution requirements, which limit the amount of cash we retain for other business purposes, including amounts to fund our growth.  We generally must distribute annually at least 90% of our net REIT taxable income to our stockholders, excluding any net capital gain, in order for our distributed earnings to not be subject to corporate income tax.  Additionally, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which distributions we pay in any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from prior years.  If we have net income from the sale of foreclosure property that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business or other non-qualifying income from foreclosure property, we must pay a tax on that income at the highest corporate income tax rate.  Further, if we sell an asset, other than foreclosure property, that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business, our gain would be subject to the 100% “prohibited transaction” tax unless such sale were made by our taxable REIT subsidiary, or TRS, or if we qualify for a safe harbor from tax.

We intend to make distributions to our stockholders to comply with the requirements of the Code.  However, differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash could require us to sell assets or borrow funds on a short‑term or long‑term basis to meet the 90% distribution requirement of the Code, even if the prevailing market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings.

Dividends paid by REITs generally do not qualify for reduced tax rates.    

In general, the maximum U.S. federal income tax rate for dividends that constitute “qualified dividend income” paid to individuals, trusts and estates is 20%. Unlike dividends received from a corporation that is not a REIT, our distributions generally are not eligible for the reduced rates. Beginning in 2018 and for taxable years prior to 2026, individual stockholders are generally allowed to deduct up to 20% of the aggregate amount of ordinary dividends distributed by us, subject to certain limitations, which would reduce the maximum marginal effective tax rate for individuals on the receipt of such ordinary dividends to 29.6%. Although these rules do not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, investors who are individuals, trusts and estates may perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non‑REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could materially and adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including the per share trading price of our common stock.

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

The IRS may take the position that specific sale‑leaseback transactions that we treat as leases are not true leases for federal income tax purposes but are, instead, financing arrangements or loans.  If a sale‑leaseback transaction were so re‑characterized, we might fail to satisfy the REIT asset tests, the income tests or distribution requirements and consequently lose our REIT status effective with the year of re‑characterization unless we elect to make an additional distribution to maintain our REIT status.  Alternatively, the amount of our REIT taxable income could be recalculated which might also cause us to fail to meet the distribution requirement for a taxable year.

As a result of acquiring C corporations in carry-over basis transactions, we may inherit material tax liabilities and other tax attributes from such acquired corporations, and we may be required to distribute earnings and profits. 

From time to time, we have and may continue to acquire C corporations in transactions in which the basis of the corporations’ assets in our hands is determined by reference to the basis of the assets in the hands of the acquired corporations, or carry-over basis transactions.

If we acquire any asset from a corporation that is or has been a C corporation in a carry-over basis transaction, and we subsequently recognize gain on the disposition of the asset during the five-year period beginning on the date on which we acquired the asset, then we will be required to pay tax on such a built-in gain at the highest regular corporate tax rate on this gain to the extent of the excess of (1) the fair market value of the asset over (2) our adjusted basis in the asset, in each case determined as of the date on which we acquired the asset. Any taxes we pay as a result of such gain would reduce the amount available for distribution to our stockholders. The imposition of such tax may require us to forgo an otherwise attractive disposition of any assets we acquire from a C corporation in a carry-over basis transaction, and as a result may reduce the liquidity of our portfolio of investments. In addition, in such a carry-over basis transaction, we will succeed to any tax liabilities and earnings and profits of the acquired C corporation. To qualify as a REIT, we must distribute any non-REIT earnings and profits accumulated by the C corporation prior to the acquisition by the close of the taxable year in which we acquire the corporation.

We could face possible state and local tax audits and adverse changes in state and local tax laws .    

As discussed in the risk factors above, because we are organized and qualify as a REIT, we are generally not subject to federal income taxes, but we are subject to certain state and local taxes.  From time to time, changes in state and local tax laws or regulations are enacted, which may result in an increase in our tax liability.  A shortfall in tax revenues for states and municipalities in which we own properties may lead to an increase in the frequency and size of such changes.  If such changes occur, we may be required to pay additional state and local taxes.  These increased tax costs could adversely affect our financial condition and the amount of cash available for the payment of distributions to our stockholders.  In the normal course of business, entities through which we own real estate may also become subject to tax

audits.  If such entities become subject to state or local tax audits, the ultimate result of such audits could have an adverse effect on our financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure

Our board of directors may change our investment strategy, financing strategy or leverage policies without stockholder consent.    

Our board of directors has overall authority to oversee our operations and determine our major corporate policies.  This authority includes significant flexibility.  For example, our board of directors can do the following:

Any of these actions could increase our operating expenses, impact our ability to make distributions or reduce the value of our assets without giving our stockholders the right to vote.

Our board   of directors’ power to increase the number of authorized shares of our stock without stockholder approval may negatively impact our existing stockholders.    

Our charter authorizes us to issue up to 375,000,000 shares of common stock, and up to 125,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.01 par value per share. Our charter authorizes our board of directors, with the approval of a majority of the board of directors and without stockholder approval, to amend our charter to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of any class or series of stock that we are authorized to issue.  Accordingly, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of shares of common stock or another class or series of stock, including a class or series of preferred stock, that could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us that our existing stockholders may view as favorable.  In addition, our board of directors may increase our authorized stock in order to issue additional shares in connection with future financings and other transactions.  These additional issuances could dilute the ownership interests of our existing stockholders.

Limitations on share ownership and limitations on the ability of our stockholders to effect a change in control of us restrict the transferability of our stock and may prevent takeovers that are beneficial to our stockholders.    

One of the requirements for maintenance of our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes is that no more than 50% in value of our outstanding capital stock may be owned by five or fewer individuals, including entities specified in the Code, during the last half of any taxable year.  Our charter contains ownership and transfer restrictions relating to our stock to assist us in complying with this and other REIT ownership requirements, among other purposes.  However, the restrictions may have the effect of preventing a change of control that does not threaten REIT status.  These restrictions include a provision in our charter that generally limits ownership by any person of more than 9.8% of the value of our outstanding stock or 9.8% (in value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive) of our outstanding common stock, unless our board of directors exempts the person from such ownership limitation.  Absent

such an exemption from our board of directors, the transfer of our stock to any person in excess of the applicable ownership limit, or any transfer of shares of such stock in violation of the ownership requirements of the Code for REITs, may be void under certain circumstances, and the intended transferee of such stock will acquire no rights in such shares.  These provisions of our charter may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing someone from taking control of us, even though a change of control might involve a premium price for our stockholders or might otherwise be in our stockholders’ best interests.

Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited. 

As permitted by Maryland law, our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers to stockholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from:

As a result, we and our stockholders have rights against our directors and officers that are more limited than might otherwise exist. Accordingly, in the event that actions taken in good faith by any of our directors or officers impede the performance of our company, our ability and the ability of our stockholders to recover damages from such director or officer will be limited. In addition, our charter authorizes us to obligate our company, and our bylaws require us, to indemnify our directors and officers for actions taken by them in those and certain other capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law.

We will continue to incur significant expenses as a result of being a public company, which will negatively impact our financial performance.    

We incur, and will continue to incur, significant legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses as a result of being a public company.  The Dodd‑Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, or the Dodd‑Frank Act, and the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act, as well as related rules implemented by the SEC and the NYSE, have required changes in corporate governance practices of public companies.  In addition, rules that the SEC is implementing or is required to implement pursuant to the Dodd‑Frank Act are expected to require additional changes.  We expect that compliance with these and other similar laws, rules and regulations, including compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act, will substantially increase our expenses, including our legal and accounting costs, and make some activities more time‑consuming and costly.  We also expect these laws, rules and regulations to make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage, which may make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as officers.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

Changes in market conditions and volatility of stock prices could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.    

The stock markets, including the NYSE, on which our common stock is listed, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations.  As a result, the market price of our common stock could be similarly volatile, and investors in our common stock may experience a decrease in the value of their shares, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects.  In addition to the risks discussed or referred to in this “Risk Factors” section, a number of factors could negatively affect the price per share of our common stock, including:

Many of the factors listed above are beyond our control.  These factors may cause the market price of shares of our common stock to decline, regardless of our financial condition, results of operations, business or our prospects.

Furthermore, in recent years, the stock markets have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. This volatility has had a significant impact on the market price of securities issued by many companies, including companies in our industry. The changes frequently appear to occur without regard to the operating performance of the affected companies. Hence, the price of our common stock could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with us in particular, and these fluctuations could materially reduce the price of our common stock and materially affect the value of an investment in us.

Increases in market interest rates may have an adverse effect on the value of our common stock if prospective purchasers of our common stock expect a higher dividend yield and increased borrowing costs may decrease our funds available for distribution.    

The market price of our common stock will generally be influenced by the dividend yield on our common stock (as a percentage of the price of our common stock) relative to market interest rates. An increase in market interest rates, which are currently at low levels relative to historical rates, may lead prospective purchasers of shares of our common stock to expect a higher dividend yield. However, higher market interest rates would likely increase our borrowing costs and potentially decrease funds available for distribution. Thus, higher market interest rates could cause the market price of our common stock to decrease.

Future offerings of debt, which would be senior to our common stock upon liquidation, or preferred equity securities, which may be senior to our common stock for purposes of dividend distributions or upon liquidation, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

In the future, we may issue debt or preferred equity securities. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive distributions of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Additional equity offerings, including convertible preferred stock, may dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders or otherwise reduce the market price of our common stock, or both. Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution. Our preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on distribution payments that could limit our ability to make distributions to 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 that future offerings may reduce the market price of our common stock and dilute their stock holdings in us.

A substantial portion of our total outstanding common stock may be sold into the market at any time, which could cause the market price of our common stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well, and make it difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future. 

The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock or the perception that such sales could occur. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at times or prices that we deem appropriate. We filed a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act to register the offer and sale of up to 7,314,221 shares of our common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our common stock that may be issued pursuant to our 2012 Long Term Incentive Plan and our 2015 Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan. Such Form S-8 registration statement automatically became effective upon filing. Accordingly, recipients of shares issued pursuant to such registration statement may generally freely resell those shares in the open market, subject to limitations in the case of any such recipients who are our affiliates. In addition, we issue, and intend to continue to issue, additional equity securities periodically to finance our growth, including through our existing and any future “at the market” offering program.  When we raise additional capital through the issuance of new equity securities, such issuances will dilute the interests of our existing stockholders and could adversely affect the value of their investments.  If our performance or prospects decline and we are unable to access the equity markets when needed in the future, our ability to grow our business will be adversely impacted. 

We may change the dividend policy for our common stock in the future.    

The decision to declare and pay dividends on our common stock, as well as the form, timing and amount of any such future dividends, is at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our earnings, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition, capital requirements, contractual prohibitions or other limitations under our indebtedness, the annual distribution requirements under the REIT provisions of the Code, state law and such other factors as our board of directors considers relevant.  Any change in our dividend policy could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

Stock Performance Graph

The following performance chart compares, for the period from November 18, 2014 (our first trading day on the NYSE) through December 31, 2017, the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with that of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Index, or the S&P 500, and the MSCI U.S. REIT Index.  The chart assumes $100.00 was invested on November 18, 2014 and assumes the reinvestment of any dividends.  The historical stock price performance reflected in the following graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

The performance graph and the related chart and text are being furnished solely to accompany this Annual Report on Form 10-K pursuant to Item 201(e) of Regulation S-K, and are not being filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of ours, whether made before or after the date hereof, regardless of any general incorporation language in such filing.