Item 1. Business.

We are a diversified REIT with a retail focus. We own a diversified portfolio of commercial properties which are net leased primarily to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants and, as a result of the Mergers (as defined below), a portfolio of retail properties consisting primarily of power centers and lifestyle centers. Prior to the Mergers, we acquired a diversified portfolio of commercial properties comprised primarily of freestanding single-tenant properties that are net leased to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants. We intend to focus our future acquisitions primarily on net leased retail properties. As of December 31, 2017 , we owned 540 properties with an aggregate purchase price of $3.4 billion , comprised of 19.4 million rentable square feet, which were 95.2% leased, including 505 of net leased commercial properties ( 465 which are retail properties) and 35 retail properties which were acquired in the Mergers that are not net leased.

Incorporated on January 22, 2013 , we are a Maryland corporation that elected and qualified to be taxed as a REIT beginning with the taxable year ended December 31, 2013. Substantially all of our business is conducted through American Finance Operating Partnership, L.P. (the “OP”), a Delaware limited partnership, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

On April 4, 2013, we commenced our initial public offering (the “IPO”) on a “reasonable best efforts” basis of up to 68.0 million shares of common stock, $0.01 par value per share, at a price of $25.00 per share, subject to certain volume and other discounts. The IPO closed in October 2013. As of December 31, 2017 , we had 105.2 million shares of common stock outstanding, including unvested restricted shares and shares issued pursuant to our distribution reinvestment plan (the “DRIP”), and had received total proceeds from the IPO and the DRIP, net of share repurchases, of $1.7 billion . In 2017, we issued approximately 38.2 million shares of common stock pursuant to the Merger.

On March 17, 2017, our board of directors approved an estimated net asset value per share of our common stock (“ Estimated Per-Share NAV ”) equal to $23.37 as of December 31, 2016, which was published on March 20, 2017. We intend to publish an updated Estimated Per-Share NAV as of December 31, 2017 shortly following the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, thereafter, periodically at the discretion of the Board, provided that such estimates will be made at least once annually.

We have no employees. We have retained the Advisor to manage our affairs on a day-to-day basis. American Finance Properties, LLC (the “Property Manager”) serves as our property manager. The Advisor and the Property Manager are wholly owned subsidiaries of AR Global, as a result of which, they are related parties of ours, and each have received or may receive, as applicable, compensation, fees and expense reimbursements for services related to managing our business. Lincoln and its affiliates provide services to the Advisor in connection with our retail properties acquired in the Mergers that are not net leased.

On August 8, 2017, our application to list our common stock on The NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbol “AFIN” (the “Listing”), was approved by NASDAQ subject to our being in compliance with all applicable listing standards on the date our common stock begins trading on NASDAQ. While we intend to list our common stock at a time yet to be determined by our board of directors, there can be no assurance as to when or if our common stock will commence trading or of the price at which our common stock may trade.

Completed Mergers

American Realty Capital — Retail Centers of America, Inc. Merger

On February 16, 2017, the Company and the OP completed (a) the merger of American Realty Capital — Retail Centers of America, Inc. (“RCA”) with and into a subsidiary of the Company referred to as the “Merger Sub,” with the Merger Sub surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”) and (b) the merger of American Realty Capital Retail Operating Partnership, L.P. (the “RCA OP”) with and into the OP, with the OP as the surviving entity (the “Partnership Merger”, and together with the Merger, the “Mergers”). Pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) entered into by the Company and the OP with RCA, the RCA OP and the Merger Sub, at the effective time of the Mergers on February 16, 2017 (the “Effective Time”), each outstanding share of common stock of RCA, $0.01 par value per share (“RCA Common Stock”) (including any restricted shares of RCA Common Stock and fractional shares), was converted into (x) 0.385 shares of the Company’s common stock (the “Stock Consideration”) and (y) cash from the Company, in an amount equal to $0.95 per share (the “Cash Consideration,” and together with the Stock Consideration, the “Merger Consideration”).

In addition, at the Effective Time, (i) each unit of partnership interest of the RCA OP designated as an OP unit issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (other than those held by RCA as described in clause (ii) below) was automatically converted into 0.424 validly issued units of limited partnership interest of the OP (the “Partnership Merger Consideration”); (ii) each unit of partnership interest of the RCA OP designated as either an OP unit or a GP unit held by RCA and issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was automatically converted into 0.385 validly issued units of limited partnership interest of the OP; (iii) each unit of partnership interest of the RCA OP designated as a Class B Unit held by RCA’s advisor and a sub- advisor issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into the Partnership Merger Consideration (the “Class B Consideration,” and together with the Partnership Merger Consideration and the Merger Consideration, the “Total Merger Consideration”), and (iv) the interest of American Realty Capital Retail Advisor, LLC, the special limited partner of the RCA OP (the “RCA Advisor”), in the RCA OP was redeemed for a cash payment, determined in accordance with the existing terms of the RCA OP’s agreement of limited partnership.

In addition, as provided in the Merger Agreement, all outstanding restricted shares of RCA Common Stock previously issued by RCA became fully vested and entitled to receive the Merger Consideration.

In 2017, we issued approximately 38.2 million shares of our common stock as consideration in the Merger and paid approximately $94.5 million as Cash Consideration.

In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, the OP entered into a binding commitment, pursuant to which UBS Securities LLC, UBS AG, Stamford Branch and Citizens Bank, N.A. have committed to provide a $360.0 million bridge loan facility, subject to customary conditions. We did not borrow any funds under the bridge loan facility.

Prior to the Merger, the Company and RCA each were sponsored, directly or indirectly, by AR Global. AR Global and its affiliates provide investment and advisory services to us, and previously provided such services to RCA, pursuant to written advisory agreements. In 2017, in connection with, and subject to the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, RCA OP units held by AR Global and its affiliates were exchanged for OP Units of the Company and certain special limited partner interests in the RCA OP held by AR Global and its affiliates were, consistent with the terms of the RCA OP partnership agreement, redeemed for a cash payment of approximately $2.8 million .

In addition, on February 16, 2017, we, the OP, and certain other subsidiaries of ours acting as guarantors, entered into an amendment, assumption, joinder and reaffirmation of guaranties to an unsecured amended and restated credit agreement, dated December 2, 2014, by and among the RCA OP to which the OP is successor by merger, BMO Harris Bank N.A., as administrative agent, letter of credit issuer, swingline lender and a lender, and the other parties thereto, relating to a revolving credit facility (the “Amended Credit Facility”).

The Advisor informed us that the Advisor engaged Lincoln as an independent service provider to provide real estate-related services similar to the services provided by Lincoln to the RCA Advisor prior to the Effective Time. Lincoln will continue to provide, subject to the Advisor’s or its affiliates’ oversight, asset management, property management and leasing services for those multi-tenant properties acquired by the Company from RCA in the Mergers. The Advisor informed us that the Advisor agreed to pass through to Lincoln a portion of the fees and/or other expense reimbursements otherwise payable to the Advisor or its affiliates by the Company for services rendered by Lincoln. We have no direct obligation to Lincoln.

Acquisitions and Dispositions

In addition to the properties acquired in the Mergers, we have acquired 75 net leased commercial properties during the year ended December 31, 2017 for an aggregate contract price of $149.2 million, comprised of 0.6 million rentable square feet. These acquisitions were funded through a combination of mortgage debt, draws on the Amended Credit Facility, proceeds from dispositions of properties and available cash on hand.

During the year ended December 31, 2017 , we closed on the sale of 25 properties, including 18 properties operated by SunTrust, for an aggregate contract price of $291.5 million , excluding closing related costs. In connection with these sales, we repaid $103.0 million of mortgage debt, leaving net proceeds available for other uses of $188.5 million.

Investment Objectives

We seek to preserve and protect capital, provide attractive and stable cash distributions and increase the value of our assets in order to generate capital appreciation by using the following strategies:

In addition, the Company may, at its discretion, originate and acquire commercial real estate debt investments.

Acquisition and Investment Policies

Real Estate Investment Focus

We own a diversified portfolio with a retail focus comprised of commercial properties which are net leased primarily to investment grade and other creditworthy tenants and, as a result of the Mergers, a portfolio of retail properties, consisting primarily of power centers and lifestyle centers.

Our investment objectives are (a) to provide current income for investors through the payment of cash distributions and (b) to preserve and return investors’ capital and to maximize risk-adjusted returns. We do not expect to make investments outside of the United States.

There is no limitation on the number, size or type of properties that we may acquire. The number and mix of properties depend upon real estate market conditions and other circumstances existing at the time of acquisition of properties.

Investing in Real Property

We consider relevant real estate and financial factors when evaluating prospective investments in real property, including the location of the property, the leases and other agreements affecting the property, the creditworthiness of major tenants, its income-producing capacity, its physical condition, its prospects for appreciation, its prospects for liquidity, tax considerations and other factors. Our Advisor has substantial discretion with respect to the selection of specific investments, subject to board approval.

The following table lists the tenants (including, for this purpose, all affiliates of such tenants) from which we derive annualized rental income on a straight-line basis constituting 5.0% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis for all portfolio properties as of December 31, 2017 :

Acquisition Structure

To date, we have acquired fee interests (a “fee interest” is the absolute, legal possession and ownership of land, property, or rights) and leasehold interests (a “leasehold interest” is a right to enjoy the exclusive possession and use of an asset or property for a stated definite period as created by a written lease) in properties. We anticipate continuing to do so if we acquire properties in the future, although other methods of acquiring a property may be utilized if we deem it to be advantageous. For example, we may acquire properties through a joint venture or the acquisition of substantially all of the interests of an entity which in turn owns the real property.

International Investments

We do not intend to invest in real estate outside of the United States or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or make other real estate investments related to assets located outside of the United States.

Development and Construction of Properties

We do not intend to acquire undeveloped land, develop new properties, or substantially redevelop existing properties.

Joint Ventures

We may enter into joint ventures, partnerships and other co-ownership arrangements (including preferred equity investments) for the purpose of making investments. Some of the potential reasons to enter into a joint venture would be to acquire assets we could not otherwise acquire, to reduce our capital commitment to a particular asset, or to benefit from certain expertise that a partner might have.

Our general policy is to invest in joint ventures only when we will have a right of first refusal to purchase the co-venturer’s interest in the joint venture if the co-venturer elects to sell such interest. If the co-venturer elects to sell property held in any such joint venture, however, we may not have sufficient funds to exercise our right of first refusal to buy the other co-venturer’s interest in the property held by the joint venture. If any joint venture with an affiliated entity holds interests in more than one property, the interest in each such property may be specifically allocated based upon the respective proportion of funds invested by each co-venturer in each such property.

Financing Strategies and Policies

We may obtain financing for acquisitions and investments at the time an asset is acquired or an investment is made, or at a later time. In addition, debt financing may be used from time to time for property improvements, tenant improvements, leasing commissions and other working capital needs. The form of our indebtedness for future financings will vary and could be long-term or short-term, secured or unsecured, or fixed-rate or floating rate. We will not enter into interest rate swaps or caps, or similar hedging transactions or derivative arrangements for speculative purposes but may do so in order to manage or mitigate our interest rate risks on variable rate debt. We expect to be able to secure various forms of fixed- and floating-rate debt financing, including mortgage financing secured by our portfolio, collateralized loan obligation issuances and bank financing.

We will not borrow from our Advisor or its affiliates unless a majority of our directors, including a majority of our independent directors, not otherwise interested in the transaction approves the transaction as being fair, competitive and commercially reasonable and no less favorable to us than comparable loans between unaffiliated parties.

We may reevaluate and change our financing policies without a stockholder vote. Factors that we would consider when reevaluating or changing our debt policy include: then-current economic conditions, the relative cost and availability of debt and equity capital, our expected investment opportunities, the ability of our investments to generate sufficient cash flow to cover debt service requirements and other similar factors.

Tax Status

We elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2013. We believe that, commencing with such taxable year, we have been organized and operated in a manner so that we qualify for taxation as a REIT under the Code. We intend to continue to operate in such a manner, but no assurance can be given that we will operate in a manner so as to remain qualified as a REIT. In order to continue to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we must distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income as calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”)), determined without regard for the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and must comply with a number of other organizational and operational requirements. If we continue to qualify for taxation as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal corporate income tax on that portion of our REIT taxable income that we distribute to our stockholders. Even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain state and local taxes on our income and properties, and federal income and excise taxes on our undistributed income.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law by the U.S. President. We are not aware of any provision in the final tax reform legislation or any pending tax legislation that would adversely affect our ability to operate as a REIT or to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, new legislation, as well as new regulations, administrative interpretations, or court decisions may be introduced, enacted, or promulgated from time to time, that could change the tax laws or interpretations of the tax laws regarding qualification as a REIT, or the federal income tax consequences of that qualification, in a manner that is adverse to our qualification as a REIT.

Competition

The net leased property and retail real estate markets are highly competitive. We compete for tenants in all of our markets with other owners and operators of retail real estate. We compete based on a number of factors that include location, rental rates, security, suitability of the property’s design to prospective tenants’ needs and the manner in which the property is operated and marketed. The number of competing properties in a particular market could have a material effect on our occupancy levels, rental rates and on the operating expenses of certain of our properties.

In addition, we compete with other entities engaged in real estate investment activities to locate suitable properties to acquire and to locate tenants and purchasers for our properties. These competitors include Global Net Lease, Inc. (“GNL”). a REIT sponsored by an affiliate of AR Global, with an investment strategy similar to our investment strategy, other REITs, specialty finance companies, savings and loan associations, banks, mortgage bankers, insurance companies, mutual funds, institutional investors, investment banking firms, lenders, governmental bodies and other entities. There are also other REITs with asset acquisition objectives similar to ours and others may be organized in the future. Some of these competitors, including larger REITs, have substantially greater marketing and financial resources than we have and generally may be able to accept more risk than we can prudently manage, including risks with respect to the creditworthiness of tenants. In addition, these same entities and our Company seek financing through similar channels. Therefore, we compete for financing in a market where funds for real estate investment may decrease.

Competition from these and other third party real estate investors may limit the number of suitable investment opportunities available to us. It also may result in higher prices, lower yields and a narrower spread of yields over our borrowing costs, making it more difficult for us to acquire new investments on attractive terms.

Regulations

Our investments are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws, ordinances and regulations, including, among other things, zoning regulations, land use controls, environmental controls relating to air and water quality, noise pollution and indirect environmental impacts such as increased motor vehicle activity. We believe that we have all permits and approvals necessary under current law to operate our investments.

Environmental

As an owner of real estate, we are subject to various environmental laws of federal, state and local governments. Compliance with existing laws has not had a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations, and management does not believe it will have such an impact in the future. However, we cannot predict the impact of unforeseen environmental contingencies or new or changed laws or regulations on properties in which we hold an interest, or on properties that may be acquired directly or indirectly in the future. We hire third parties to conduct Phase I environmental reviews of the real property that we intend to purchase.

Employees

As of December 31, 2017 , we had no employees. The employees of the Advisor and other entities under common control with our Sponsor perform a full range of real estate services for us, including acquisitions, property management, accounting, legal, asset management, wholesale brokerage and investor relations services.

We are dependent on these companies for services that are essential to us, including asset acquisition decisions, property management and other general administrative responsibilities. In the event that any of these companies were unable to provide these services to us, we would be required to provide such services ourselves or obtain such services from other sources.

Financial Information About Industry Segments

Our current business consists of owning, managing, operating, leasing, acquiring, investing in and disposing of real estate assets. Substantially all of our consolidated revenues are from our consolidated real estate properties. We internally evaluate operating performance on an individual property level and view all of our real estate assets as one industry segment, and, accordingly, all of our properties are aggregated into one reportable segment. Our CRE Debt Investments, in aggregate, do not meet any of the consolidated quantitative thresholds that would require us to present their information separately, and thus we do not consider our CRE Debt Investments to be a reportable segment.

Available Information

We electronically file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports, and proxy statements, with the SEC. You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549, or you may obtain information by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an internet address at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy statements and information statements, and other information, which you may obtain free of charge. In addition, copies of our filings with the SEC may be obtained at www.americanfinancetrust.com . Access to these filings is free of charge. We are not incorporating our website or any information from the website into this Form 10-K.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Set forth below are the risk factors that we believe are material to our investors. The occurrence of any of the risks discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, ability to pay distributions and the value of an investment in our common stock.

Risks Related to Our Properties and Operations

We may be unable to enter into and consummate property acquisitions on advantageous terms or our property acquisitions may not perform as we expect.

Our goal is to grow through acquiring additional properties, and pursuing this investment objective exposes us to numerous risks, including:

We rely upon our Advisor and the real estate professionals affiliated with our Advisor to identify suitable investments, and there can be no assurance that our Advisor will be successful in obtaining suitable further investments on financially attractive terms or that our objectives will be achieved. In the event we are unable to timely locate suitable investments, we may be unable or limited in our ability to pay distributions and we may not be able to meet our investment objectives.

The acquisition of properties entails various risks, including the risks that our investments may not perform as we expect, that we may be unable to integrate our new acquisitions into our existing operations quickly and efficiently, and that market conditions may result in future vacancies and lower-than expected rental rates.

Our common stock has never been traded on a national securities exchange and as such has no trading history, and there can be no assurance that the trading price of our common stock will equal or exceed Estimated Per-Share NAV.

Presently there is not an established market for our shares. On August 8, 2017, our application to list our common stock on NASDAQ under the symbol “AFIN” was approved by NASDAQ, subject to our being in compliance with all applicable listing standards on the date our common stock begins trading on NASDAQ.

Our board of directors has not yet determined when it will request that our common stock be listed and commence trading and any decision with respect to the timing of any listing of our shares will be based on market conditions and other factors. There can be no assurance as to when or if our common stock will commence trading or as to the price at which our common stock will trade. There can be no assurance that the trading price of our common stock will equal or exceed our Estimated Per-Share NAV.

The current lack of liquidity for shares of our common stock could adversely affect the market price of our common stock upon Listing.

Because there is no established market for our shares of common stock, stockholders desiring to sell their shares have had limited opportunities and options. Once our common stock is listed on a national securities exchange, there may be substantial downward pressure in trading price resulting from stockholders desiring to sell or the perception that sales might occur.

The Estimated Per-Share NAV may be lower or higher than the price of our shares of common stock on a national securities exchange.

Our Estimated Per-Share NAV does not represent, and we can give no assurance as to, (1) the price at which our shares will trade on a national securities exchange or the per share price a third party would pay to acquire us, (2) the amount a stockholder would obtain if he or she tried to sell his or her shares, or (3) the amount stockholders would receive if we sold substantially all our assets and distributed the proceeds after paying all of its expenses and liabilities. In addition, our Estimated Per-Share NAV does not reflect events subsequent to the date as of which the Estimated Per-Share NAV is determined that may have affected the value of our shares.

Our common stock is not traded on a national securities exchange, and we only repurchase shares under our SRP in the event of death or disability of a stockholder. Our stockholders may have to hold their shares for an indefinite period of time, and stockholders who sell their shares to us under our SRP may receive less than the price they paid for the shares.

Our SRP includes numerous restrictions that limit a stockholder’s ability to sell shares to us, including that we only repurchase shares in the event of death or disability of a stockholder. Moreover, the total value of repurchases pursuant to our SRP is limited to the amount of proceeds received from issuances of common stock pursuant to the DRIP and repurchases in any fiscal semester are further limited to 2.5% of the average number of shares outstanding during the previous fiscal year. Our board of directors may reject any request for repurchase of shares, or amend, suspend or terminate our SRP upon notice. Therefore, requests for repurchase under the SRP may not be accepted. Repurchases under the SRP will be based on Estimated Per Share NAV and may be at a substantial discount to the price the stockholder paid for the shares.

We are dependent on our Advisor and our Property Manager to provide us with executive officers, key personnel and all services required for us to conduct our operations and our operating performance may be impacted by any adverse changes in the financial health or reputation of our Advisor.

We have no employees. Personnel and services that we require are provided to us under contracts with our Advisor and its affiliate, our Property Manager. We depend on our Advisor and our Property Manager to manage our operations and to acquire and manage our portfolio of real estate assets.

Thus, our success depends to a significant degree upon the contributions of certain of our executive officers and other key personnel of our Advisor, including Edward M. Weil, Jr., our chairman and chief executive officer, and Katie P. Kurtz, our chief financial officer. Our Advisor or its affiliates does not have 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. If any of our key personnel were to cease their affiliation with our Advisor, our business and prospects could suffer. Further, we do not maintain key person life insurance on any person. We believe that our success depends, in large part, upon the ability of our Advisor to hire, retain or contract for services of highly skilled managerial, operational and marketing personnel. Competition for skilled personnel is intense, and there can be no assurance that our Advisor will be successful in attracting and retaining skilled personnel. If our Advisor loses or is unable to obtain the services of key personnel, our Advisor’s ability to manage our business and implement our investment strategies could be delayed or hindered, and the value of an investment in shares of our stock may decline.

On March 8, 2017, the creditor trust established in connection with the bankruptcy of RCS Capital Corp. (“RCAP”), which prior to its bankruptcy filing was under common control with our Advisor, filed suit against AR Global, our Advisor, advisors of other entities sponsored by AR Global, and AR Global’s principals (including Mr. Weil).  The suit alleges, among other things, certain breaches of duties to RCAP. We are neither a party to the suit, nor are there allegations related to the services our Advisor provides to us. On May 26, 2017, the defendants moved to dismiss. On November 30, 2017, the court issued an opinion partially granting the defendant’s motion. Our Advisor has informed us that it believes the suit is without merit and intends to defend against it vigorously.

Any adverse changes in the financial condition or financial health of, or our relationship with, our Advisor, including any change resulting from an adverse outcome in any litigation, 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.

In addition, our Advisor has engaged Lincoln as an independent service provider to provide real estate-related services to the Advisor with respect to our multi-tenant retail properties. Subject to the oversight of our Advisor, Lincoln performs asset management, property management and leasing services with respect to those properties. Our Advisor has informed us that our Advisor has agreed to pass through to Lincoln a portion of the fees and expense reimbursements otherwise payable to our Advisor or its affiliates by us for services rendered by Lincoln. While we have no direct obligation to Lincoln, we do depend on Lincoln to provide us, indirectly through our Advisor, with services, and, therefore, any adverse changes in the financial condition or financial health of Lincoln, or in our Advisor’s relationship with Lincoln, could adversely affect us. In addition, Lincoln and its affiliates face conflicts of interest in allocating its employees’ time between providing real estate-related services to the Advisor and other programs and activities in which they are presently involved or may be involved in the future.

If we internalize our management functions, we would be required to pay a substantial internalization fee and would not have the right to retain our management or personnel. We may be unable to obtain key personnel, and our ability to achieve our investment objectives could be delayed or hindered.

We may engage in an internalization transaction and become self-managed in the future. If we internalize our management functions, under the terms of our advisory agreement we would be required to pay a substantial internalization fee to our Advisor. We also would not have any right to retain our executive officers or other personnel of our Advisor who currently manage our day-to-day operations. An inability to manage an internalization transaction effectively could thus result in our incurring excess costs and suffering deficiencies in our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting. Such deficiencies could cause us to incur additional costs, and our management’s attention could be diverted from most effectively managing our investments, which could result in litigation and resulting associated costs in connection with the internalization transaction.

We may be unable to maintain cash distributions or increase distributions over time.

In June 2017, we decreased the rate at which we pay distributions from an annual rate of $1.65 per share to $1.30 per share. There is no assurance, however, that we will continue to pay distributions at this level or at all. There are many factors that can affect the availability and timing of cash distributions to stockholders, including the amount of cash flows available from operations. The amount of cash available for distributions is affected by many factors, such as our ability to buy properties, rental income from such properties and our operating expense levels, as well as many other variables. Actual cash available for distributions may vary substantially from estimates. There is no assurance we will be able to maintain our current level of distributions or that distributions will increase over time. We cannot give any assurance that rents from the properties we acquire will increase, that the securities we buy will increase in value or provide constant or increased distributions over time, or that future acquisitions of real properties, mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loans or any investments in securities will increase our cash available for distributions to stockholders. Our actual results may differ significantly from the assumptions used by our board of directors in establishing the distribution rate to stockholders. We may not have sufficient cash from operations to make a distribution required to maintain our REIT status, which may materially adversely affect our stockholders’ investments.

We have not generated, and in the future may not generate, operating cash flows sufficient to fund all of the distributions we pay to our stockholders, and, as such, we may be forced to fund distributions from other sources, including borrowings, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at all.

Our cash flows provided by operations were $92.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we paid distributions of $143.5 million, of which 85.6% was funded from cash flows from operations and proceeds from issuances of common stock under our DRIP with the remainder funded from available cash on hand, which consists of proceeds from sale of real estate investments and proceeds from borrowings.

If we do not generate sufficient cash flows from our operations in the future we may have to reduce our distribution rate or continue to fund distributions from other sources, such as from borrowings or the sale of properties, loans or securities, and we may continue to fund distributions with the proceeds from issuances of common stock pursuant to our DRIP and available cash on hand. Moreover, our board of directors may change our distribution policy, in its sole discretion, at any time to either reduce the amount of distributions that we pay or use other sources to fund distributions such as borrowing monies, using the proceeds from asset sales or using the proceeds from the sale of shares, including shares sold under our DRIP. Funding distributions from borrowings could restrict the amount that we can borrow for investments. Funding distributions with the sale of assets may affect our ability to generate additional operating cash flows. Funding distributions from the sale of additional securities could dilute each stockholder’s 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 distributions from these sources could restrict our ability to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, affect our profitability of affect the distributions payable to stockholders upon a liquidity event, any or all of which may have an adverse effect on an investment in our shares.

Our business could suffer if 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 cybersecurity.

Despite system redundancy, the implementation of security measures and the existence of a disaster recovery plan for the internal information technology networks and related systems of our Advisor and other parties that provide us with services essential to our operations, these systems are vulnerable to damage 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 result in a material disruption to our business. We may also incur additional costs to remedy damages caused by these 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 result in third parties gaining unauthorized access to systems to disrupt operations, corrupt data, or steal confidential information. As

reliance on technology has increased, so have the risks posed to the systems of our Advisor and other parties that provide us with services essential to our operations. 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 information technology 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 faces conflicts of interest relating to the purchase and leasing of properties, and these conflicts may not be resolved in our favor, which could adversely affect our investment opportunities.

We rely on our Advisor and the executive officers and other key real estate professionals at our Advisor 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 AR Global and its other public programs. Many investment opportunities that are suitable for us may also be suitable for other programs sponsored directly or indirectly by AR Global. For example, GNL seeks, like us, to invest in sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant net-leased commercial properties, in the U.S. Thus, the executive officers and real estate professionals of our Advisor could direct attractive investment opportunities to other entities, such as GNL.

We and other programs sponsored directly or indirectly by AR Global also rely on these real estate professionals , to supervise the property management and leasing of properties. Our executive officers and key real estate professionals, as well as AR Global, are not prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any business or from possessing interests in other businesses and 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 return on our stockholders’ investments.

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 enters 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. Due to the role of our Advisor and its affiliates, agreements and transactions between the co-venturers with respect to any 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 Advisor, AR Global and their officers and employees and certain of our executive officers and other key personnel face competing demands relating to their time, and this may cause our operating results to suffer.

Our Advisor, AR Global and their officers and employees and certain of our executive officers and other key personnel and their respective affiliates are key personnel, general partners and sponsors of other real estate programs, including AR Global-sponsored REITs, having investment objectives and legal and financial obligations similar to ours and may have other business interests as well. Because these persons have competing demands on their time and resources, they may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time between our business and these other activities. If this occurs, the returns on our investments may suffer.

All of our executive officers, some of our directors and the key real estate and other professionals assembled by our Advisor and our Property Manager face conflicts of interest related to their positions or interests in affiliates of AR Global, which could hinder our ability to implement our business strategy.

All of our executive officers, some of our directors and the key real estate and other professionals assembled by our Advisor and Property Manager are also executive officers, directors, managers, key professionals or holders of a direct or indirect controlling interests in our Advisor and our Property Manager or other entities under common control with AR Global. As a result, they have loyalties to each of these entities, which loyalties could conflict with the fiduciary duties they owe to us and could result in action or inaction detrimental to our business. Conflicts with our business and interests are most likely to arise from (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, affiliated entities, (c) development of our properties by affiliates, (d) investments with affiliates of our Advisor, (e) compensation to our Advisor and (f) our relationship with our Advisor and our Property Manager. If we do not successfully implement our business strategy, we may be unable to generate the cash needed to make distributions to our stockholders and to maintain or increase the value of our assets.

We may be unable to terminate our advisory agreement, even for poor performance by our Advisor.

The advisory agreement with our Advisor, which was entered into on April 29, 2015 and amended and restated effective as of February 16, 2017, does not expire until April 29, 2035, is automatically extended for successive 20-year terms, and may only be terminated under limited circumstances. 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 generally available to externally-managed REITs for similar services.

The conflicts of interest inherent in the incentive fee structure of our arrangements with our Advisor and its affiliates could result in actions that are not necessarily in the long-term best interests of our stockholders.

Under our advisory agreement and the limited partnership agreement of our OP, or the partnership agreement, American Finance Special Limited Partner, LLC (the “Special Limited Partner”) and its affiliates are entitled to fees, distributions and other amounts that are structured in a manner intended to provide incentives to our Advisor to perform in our best interests. However, because our Advisor does not maintain a significant equity interest in us and is entitled to receive substantial minimum compensation regardless of performance, its interests may not be wholly aligned with those of our stockholders. In addition, the advisory agreement provides for payment of incentive compensation based on exceeding certain Core Earnings (as defined in the advisory agreement) thresholds in any period. Losses in one period do not affect these incentive compensation thresholds in subsequent periods. As a result, our Advisor could be motivated to recommend riskier or more speculative investments in order to increase Core Earnings and thus its fees. In addition, the Special Limited Partner and its affiliates’ entitlement to fees and distributions upon the sale of our assets and to participate in sale proceeds could result in our Advisor recommending sales of our investments at the earliest possible time at which sales of investments would produce the level of return that would entitle our Advisor and its affiliates, including the Special Limited Partner, to compensation relating to those sales, even if continued ownership of those investments might be in our best long-term interest.

Moreover, the partnership agreement requires our OP to pay a performance-based distribution to the Special Limited Partner or its assignees if we terminate the advisory agreement, even for poor performance by our Advisor or in connection with an internalization of management. This distribution is also payable in connection with a Listing and in respect of Special Limited Partner’s participation in net sales proceeds. However, the Special Limited Partners is not entitled to receive any part of this distribution that has already been paid under other circumstances, such as a termination of the advisory agreement. To avoid paying this distribution, our independent directors may decide against terminating the advisory agreement prior to Listing or disposition of our investments even if, but for the termination distribution, termination of the advisory agreement would be in our best interest. Similarly, because this distribution would still be due even if we terminate the advisory agreement for poor performance, our Advisor may be incentivized to focus its resources and attention on other matters or otherwise fail to use its best efforts on our behalf. Upon Listing, the Special Limited Partner will be entitled to receive an amount calculated based on the market price of common stock during a 30-day trading period commencing 180 days after Listing, which may incentivize our Advisor to pursue short-term goals that may not be beneficial to us in the long term.

In addition, the requirement to pay the distribution to the Special Limited Partner or its assignees at termination could cause us to make different investment or disposition decisions than we would otherwise make, in order to satisfy our obligation

to pay the distribution to the special limited partner or its assignees. Moreover, our Advisor will have the right to terminate the advisory agreement upon a change of control of us and thereby trigger the payment of the termination distribution, which could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing the change of control. Further, pursuant to the outperformance agreement approved by our board of directors that will become effective upon Listing, our Advisor will be issued limited partnership interests in our OP which will be eligible to be earned based on the achievement of certain total stockholder return thresholds, which could encourage our Advisor to recommend riskier or more speculative investments. See Note 14 — Related Party Transactions and Arrangements in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

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 our outstanding shares of our capital 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 capital 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 authorize the issuance of 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 350,000,000 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 into other classes or series and establish the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications or 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 distributions 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 have a staggered board, which may which may discourage a takeover that could otherwise result in a premium price to our stockholders.

In accordance with our charter, our board of directors is divided into three staggered classes of directors. At each annual meeting, directors of one class elected to serve for a term of three years, until the annual meeting of stockholders held in the third year following the year of their election and until their successors are duly elected and qualify. The staggered terms of our directors 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.

Maryland law prohibits certain business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us to be acquired and may limit our stockholders’ ability to exit the investment.

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 of directors.

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 at least stockholders entitled to cast 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 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 registrations 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 our 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 us or any of our 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 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.

We are an “emerging growth company” under the federal securities laws and are currently subject to reduced public company reporting requirements .

We are an “emerging growth company” under the federal securities laws and are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from, or reduced disclosure obligations relating to, various reporting requirements that are normally applicable to public companies.

We will remain an “emerging growth company” until December 31, 2018, the last day of the fiscal year in which the fifth anniversary of the commencement of our initial public offering will occur, or, if earlier, the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three-year period. Emerging growth companies are not required to (1) provide an auditor’s attestation report on management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (2) comply with any new requirements adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, (“PCAOB”) that require mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report in which the auditor must provide additional information about the audit and the issuer’s financial statements, (3) comply with new audit rules adopted by the PCAOB after April 5, 2012 (unless the SEC determines otherwise), (4) provide certain disclosures relating to executive compensation generally required for larger public companies or (5) hold stockholder advisory votes on executive compensation. We have generally taken advantage of these exemptions to the extent they are applicable to us.

Additionally, an “emerging growth company” may take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies. This means an “emerging growth company” can delay adopting certain accounting standards until such standards are otherwise applicable to private companies. However, we have elected to “opt out” of such extended transition period, and will therefore comply with new or revised accounting standards on the applicable dates on which the adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. Our decision to opt out of such extended transition period for compliance with new or revised accounting standards is irrevocable.

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

Our board of directors may change our investment policies 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 our stockholders’ investments could change without their consent.

Because our Advisor is indirectly wholly owned by AR Global, the interests of our Advisor and AR Global are not separate and, as a result, our Advisor may act in a way that is not necessarily in our stockholders’ interest.

Our Advisor is indirectly wholly owned by AR Global. Therefore, the interests of our Advisor and AR Global are not separate and our Advisor’s decisions may not be independent from AR Global and may result in our Advisor making decisions to act in ways that are not in our stockholders’ interests.

Our stockholders’ interest in us will be diluted if we issue additional shares, which could adversely affect the value of their investments.

Our stockholders do not have preemptive rights to any shares issued by us in the future. Our charter currently authorizes us to issue 350,000,000 shares of stock, of which 300,000,000 shares are classified as common stock and 50,000,000 are classified as preferred stock. Subject to any limitations set forth under Maryland law, 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 without the necessity of obtaining stockholder approval. Stockholders will suffer dilution of their equity investment in us, if we: (a) sell additional shares in public or on private offerings in the future, including those issued pursuant to any distribution reinvestment plan; (b) sell securities that are convertible into shares of our common stock; (c) issue restricted share awards to our directors; (d) issue shares to our Advisor or its successors or assigns, in payment of an outstanding fee obligation as set forth under our advisory agreement; or (e) issue shares of our common stock to sellers of properties acquired by us in connection with an exchange of limited partnership interests of the OP, stockholders will likely experience dilution of their equity investment in us. In addition, the partnership agreement for the OP contains provisions that would allow, under certain circumstances, other entities, including other AR Global-sponsored programs, to merge into or cause the exchange or conversion of their interest for interests of the OP. Because the limited partnership interests of the OP may, in the discretion of our board of directors, be exchanged for shares of our common stock, any merger, exchange or conversion between the OP and another entity ultimately could result in the issuance of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, thereby diluting the percentage ownership interest of other stockholders.

Future offerings of equity securities which are senior to our common stock for purposes of dividend distributions or upon liquidation, may adversely affect the value of investments in our common stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making additional offerings of equity securities. Under our charter, we may issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock or other classes of common stock with rights that could dilute the value of our stockholders’ shares of common stock. Upon liquidation, holders of our shares of preferred stock will be entitled to receive our available assets prior to distribution to the holders of our common stock. Additionally, any convertible, exercisable or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock and may result in dilution to owners of our common stock. 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 dividend payments that could limit our ability pay distributions 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.

Payment of fees to our Advisor and its affiliates reduces cash available for investment and distributions to our stockholders.

Our Advisor and its affiliates perform services for us in connection with the selection and acquisition of our investments, the management of our properties, the servicing of our mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loans, if any, and the administration of our other investments. They are paid substantial fees for these services, which reduces the amount of cash available for investment in properties or distribution to stockholders.

We depend on our OP and its subsidiaries for cash flow and are effectively structurally subordinated in right of payment to the obligations of our OP and its subsidiaries, which could adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

We have no business operations of our own. Our only significant asset is and will be the general partnership interests of our OP. We conduct, and intend to conduct, all of our business operations through our OP. Accordingly, our only source of cash to pay our obligations is distributions from our OP and its subsidiaries of their net earnings and cash flows. We cannot assure our stockholders that our OP or its subsidiaries will be able to, or be permitted to, make distributions to us that will enable us to make distributions to our stockholders from cash flows from operations. 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 such entities. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, our assets and those of our OP and its subsidiaries will be able to satisfy the claims of our stockholders only after all of our and our OPs and its subsidiaries liabilities and obligations have been paid in full.

The purchase price per share for shares issued pursuant to the DRIP and shares repurchased under the SRP is based on the Estimated Per-Share NAV, which is based upon subjective judgments, assumptions and opinions about future events, and may not reflect the price our stockholders would receive for their shares in a market transaction.

We intend to publish a new Estimated Per-Share NAV as of December 31, 2017 shortly following the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our Advisor has engaged an independent valuer to perform appraisals of our real estate assets in accordance with valuation guidelines established by our board of directors. As with any methodology used to estimate value, the valuation methodologies that will be used by any independent valuer to value our properties involve subjective judgments concerning factors such as comparable sales, rental and operating expense data, capitalization or discount rate, and projections of future rent and expenses.

Estimation of Estimated Per-Share NAV occurs periodically, at the discretion of our board of directors, provided that an estimate is published at least once annually. In connection with any periodic valuation, which are generally expected to be conducted annually, our Advisor’s estimate of the value of our real estate and real estate-related assets is partly based on appraisals of our properties, which generally will only be appraised in connection with a periodic valuation. Any changes in value that may have occurred since the most recent periodic valuation will not be reflected in Estimated Per-Share NAV, and there may be a sudden change in the Estimated Per-Share NAV when new appraisals and other material events, such as the Merger, are reflected. To the extent actual operating results differ from our original estimates, Estimated Per-Share NAV may be affected, but we will not retroactively or proactively adjust Estimated Per-Share NAV because our actual results from operations may be better or worse than what we previously budgeted for any period. If our actual operating results cause value of our properties to change, this change will only be reflected in our Estimated Per-Share NAV when a periodic valuation is completed.

Because valuations only occur periodically, our Estimated Per-Share NAV, may not accurately reflect material events that would impact our net asset value and may suddenly change materially if the appraised values of our properties change materially or the actual operating results differ from what we originally budgeted.

Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to recover claims against our officers, directors and our Advisor are limited, which could reduce our and our stockholders’ 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 obligation 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), our Advisor or an affiliate of our 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, 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 the recovery of our stockholders and our 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 distribution to our stockholders.

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, and we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be profitable or that we will realize growth in the value of our properties.

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

These and other risks may prevent us from being profitable or from realizing growth or maintaining the value of our real estate properties.

A major tenant, including a tenant with leases in multiple locations, may fail to make rental payments to us, because of a deterioration of its financial condition or otherwise, or may choose not to renew its lease.

Our ability to generate cash from operations is dependent on the rents that we are able to charge and collect from our tenants. While we evaluate the creditworthiness of our tenants by reviewing available financial and other pertinent information, there can be no assurance that any tenant will be able to make timely rental payments or avoid defaulting under its lease. At any time, our tenants may experience an adverse change in their business. If any of our tenants’ businesses experience significant adverse changes, they may decline to extend or renew leases upon expiration, fail to make rental payments when due, close a number of stores, exercise early termination rights (to the extent such rights are available to the tenant) or declare bankruptcy. If a tenant defaults, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment.

If any of the foregoing were to occur, it could result in the termination of the tenant’s leases and the loss of rental income attributable to the terminated leases. If a lease is terminated or defaulted on, we may be unable to find a new tenant to re-lease the vacated space at attractive rents or at all, which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our financial condition. Furthermore, the consequences to us would be exacerbated if one of our tenants with leases in multiple locations were to terminate or default on their leases. The occurrence of any of the situations described above would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our financial condition.

We rely significantly on three major tenants (including, for this purpose, all affiliates of such 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, 2017 , the following major tenants had annualized rental income on a straight-line basis, which represented 5.0% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis including, for this purpose, all affiliates of such tenants:

During the year ended December 31, 2017 , we sold 18 properties operated by SunTrust Banks Inc. (“SunTrust”) and had four properties held for sale as of December 31, 2017 . During the first quarter of 2018, we sold five additional properties operated by SunTrust Bank which had annualized rental income on a straight-line basis of $1.1 million. Following these sales, we owned 36 properties operated by SunTrust that had lease terms set to expire between December 31, 2017 and March 31, 2018 which had annualized rental income on a straight-line basis of $4.4 million. As of December 31, 2017, these properties were either being marketed for sale, subject to a non-binding letter of intent (“LOI”) or subject to a definitive purchase and sale agreement (“PSA”). There can be no guarantee that these properties will be sold on the terms contemplated by any applicable LOI or PSA, or at all.

Therefore, a default or lease termination by any of these tenants could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our financial condition. In addition, the value of our investment is historically driven by the credit quality of the underlying tenant, and an adverse change in either the 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.

We are subject to tenant geographic concentrations that make us more susceptible to adverse events with respect to certain geographic areas.

As of December 31, 2017 , properties concentrated in the following states accounted for annualized rental income on a straight-line basis equal to 5.0% or more of our consolidated annualized rental income on a straight-line basis:

As of December 31, 2017 , our tenants operated in 40 states. Any adverse situation that disproportionately affects the states listed above may have a magnified adverse effect on our portfolio. Factors that may negatively affect economic conditions in these states include:

If a tenant declares bankruptcy, we may be unable to collect balances due under relevant leases, which could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Any of our tenants, or any guarantor of a tenant’s lease obligations, could be subject to a bankruptcy proceeding pursuant to Title 11 of the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such a bankruptcy filing 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. Post-bankruptcy debts would be paid currently. 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 and 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. Such an event could cause a decrease or cessation of rental payments that would mean a reduction in our cash flow and the amount available for distributions to our stockholders. In the event of a bankruptcy, we cannot assure our stockholders that the tenant or its trustee will assume our lease. If a given lease, or guaranty of a lease, is not assumed, our cash flow and the amounts available for distributions to our stockholders may be adversely affected.

If a sale-leaseback transaction is re-characterized in a tenant’s bankruptcy proceeding, our financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders could be adversely affected.

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

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

If we enter into 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 tax purposes, thereby allowing us to be treated as the owner of the property for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, we cannot assure our stockholders that the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) will not 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 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 distribution requirement for a taxable year.

Properties may have vacancies for a significant period of time.

A property may have vacancies either due to the continued default of tenants under their leases or the expiration of leases. If vacancies continue for a long period of time, we may suffer reduced revenues resulting in less cash 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 could decline significantly.

We may obtain only limited warranties when we purchase a property and would have only limited recourse if our due diligence did not identify any issues that lower the value of our property, which could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

The seller of a property often sells such property in its “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 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.

We will be required to expend substantial funds for tenant improvements and tenant refurbishments to retain existing tenants or attract new tenants. In addition, we are responsible for any major structural repairs, such as repairs to the foundation, exterior walls and rooftops at all of our properties. Accordingly, if we need additional capital in the future to improve or maintain our properties or for any other reason, we will have to obtain financing from sources, such as cash flow from operations, borrowings, property sales or future equity offerings. These sources of funding may not be available on attractive terms or at all. If we cannot procure additional funding for capital improvements, our investments may generate lower cash flows or decline in value, or both.

We may be unable 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. 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.

We may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure our stockholders that we will have funds available to correct such defects or to make such improvements. Moreover, in acquiring a property, we may agree to restrictions that prohibit the sale of that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These provisions would restrict our ability to sell a property.

We have acquired or financed, and may continue to 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, such as the provisions contained in certain mortgage loans we have entered into, could materially restrict us from selling or otherwise disposing of or refinancing properties, including by requiring the payment of a yield maintenance premium in connection with the required prepayment of principal upon sale, disposition or refinance. Lock-out provisions may also prohibit us from pre-paying the outstanding indebtedness with respect to any properties. Lock-out provisions could also impair our ability to take other actions during the lock-out period that may otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders, such as precluding us from participating in major transactions that would result in a disposition of our assets or a change in control.

Rising expenses could reduce cash flow.

The properties that we own or may acquire are 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. We may experience increases in tax rates, utility costs, operating expenses, insurance costs, repairs and maintenance and administrative expenses. Our multi-tenant retail properties are not leased on a triple-net basis, therefore we are required to pay certain operating expenses (although we are reimbursed for others) . Renewals of leases or future leases for our net lease properties may not be negotiated on a triple-net basis or on a basis requiring the tenants to pay all or some of such expenses, 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.

We may suffer uninsured losses relating to real property or have to pay expensive premiums for insurance coverage.

Our general liability coverage, property insurance coverage and umbrella liability coverage on all our properties may not be adequate to insure against liability claims and provide for the costs of defense. Similarly, we may not have adequate coverage against the risk of direct physical damage or to reimburse us on a replacement cost basis for costs incurred to repair or rebuild each property. Moreover, 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 Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (the “TRIA”), under which the U.S. federal government bears 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 that the TRIA is not renewed or replaced, 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. 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.

Additionally, mortgage lenders insist in some cases that commercial property owners purchase coverage against terrorism as a condition for providing mortgage loans. Accordingly, to the extent terrorism risk insurance policies are not available at reasonable costs, if at all, our ability to finance or refinance our properties could be impaired. In such 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.

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

Our properties are located in major metropolitan areas as well as densely populated sub-markets that are susceptible to terrorist attack. Because many of our properties are open to the public, they are exposed to a number of incidents that may take place within their premises and that are beyond our control or ability to prevent, which may harm our consumers and visitors. If an act of terror, a mass shooting or other violence were to occur, we may lose tenants or be forced to close one or more of our properties for some time. If any of these incidents were to occur, the relevant property could face material damage to its image and could experience a reduction of business traffic due to lack of confidence in the premises’ security. In addition, we may be exposed to civil liability and be required to indemnify the victims, and our insurance premiums could rise, any of which could adversely affect us.

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 and the value of our properties. 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, including demand for properties and availability of financing. Increased economic volatility could adversely affect our tenants’ abilities 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 distributions to our stockholders.

Real estate related taxes may increase and we may not be able to pass these increases on to tenants.

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 leases will be negotiated on a same basis that passes such tax onto the tenant, which would increase our expenses.

Covenants, conditions and restrictions may restrict our ability to operate a property, which may adversely affect our operating costs.

Some of our properties may be contiguous to other parcels of real property, comprising part of the same commercial center. In connection with such properties, there are significant covenants, conditions and restrictions (“CC&Rs”) restricting the operation of such properties and any improvements on such properties, and related to granting easements on such properties. Moreover, the operation and management of the contiguous properties may impact such properties. Compliance with CC&Rs may adversely affect our operating costs and reduce the amount of funds that we have available to pay distributions.

Our operating results may be negatively affected by potential development and construction delays and resultant increased costs and risks.

We may acquire and develop properties upon which we will construct improvements. We will be subject to uncertainties associated with re-zoning for development, environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups, and our builder’s ability to build in conformity with plans, specifications, budgeted costs, and timetables. If a builder fails to perform, we may resort to legal action to rescind the purchase or the construction contract or to compel performance. A builder’s performance also may be affected or delayed by conditions beyond the builder’s control. Delays in completion of construction could also give tenants the right to terminate preconstruction leases. We may incur additional risks when we make periodic progress payments or other advances to builders before they complete construction. These and other factors can result in increased costs of a project or loss of our investment. In addition, we will be subject to normal lease-up risks relating to newly constructed projects. We also must rely on rental income and expense projections and estimates of the fair market value of property upon completion of construction when agreeing upon a price at the time we acquire the property. If our projections are inaccurate, we may pay too much for a property, and our return on our investment could suffer.

We may invest in unimproved real property. For purposes of this paragraph, “unimproved real property” does not include properties acquired for the purpose of producing rental or other operating income, properties under development or construction, and properties under contract for development or in planning for development within one year. Returns from development of unimproved properties are also subject to risks associated with re-zoning the land for development and environmental concerns of governmental entities and/or community groups. If we invest in unimproved property other than property we intend to develop, our stockholders’ investments will be subject to the risks associated with investments in unimproved real property.

Competition with third parties in acquiring properties and other investments may reduce our profitability and the return on our stockholders’ investments.

We compete with many other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, including individuals, corporations, bank and insurance company investment accounts, other REITs real estate limited partnerships, and other entities engaged in real estate investment activities, many of which have greater resources than we do. Larger REITs may enjoy significant competitive advantages that result from, among other things, a lower cost of capital and enhanced operating efficiencies. In addition, the number of entities and the amount of funds competing for suitable investments may increase. Any such increase would result in increased demand for these assets and therefore increased prices paid for them. If we pay higher prices for properties and other investments, our profitability will be reduced and our stockholders may experience a lower return on their investments.

Our properties face competition for tenants.

Our properties face competition 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 we are able to charge. 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. This type of competition could also require us to make capital improvements to properties that we would not have otherwise made in order to retain tenants, and these expenditures could affect the amount of cash available for distributions.

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 distributions.

All real property and the operations conducted on real property are subject to federal, state and local 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 them, may adversely affect our ability to sell, rent or pledge a 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. 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 make distributions and may reduce the value of our stockholders’ investments.

State and federal laws in this area are constantly evolving, and we monitor these laws and take commercially reasonable steps to protect ourselves from the impact of these laws, including obtaining environmental assessments of most properties that we acquire; however, we do not obtain an independent third-party environmental assessment for every property we acquire. In addition, any such 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. The cost of defending against claims of liability, of compliance with environmental regulatory requirements, of remediating any contaminated property, or of paying personal injury claims would materially adversely affect our business, assets or results of operations and, consequently, amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.

If we sell properties by providing financing to purchasers, defaults by the purchasers would adversely affect our cash flows and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

If we decide to sell any of our properties, 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 distributions 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. If any purchaser defaults under a financing arrangement with us, it could negatively impact our ability to pay cash distributions to our stockholders.

Our recovery of an investment in a mortgage, bridge or mezzanine loan that has defaulted may be limited, resulting in losses to us and reducing the amount of funds available to pay distributions to our stockholders.

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.

Joint venture investments could be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority, our reliance on the financial condition of co-venturers and disputes between us and our co-venturers.

We may enter into joint ventures, partnerships and other co-ownership arrangements (including preferred equity investments) for the purpose of making investments. In such event, we would not be in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding the joint venture. Investments in joint ventures may, under certain circumstances, involve risks not present were a third party not involved, including the possibility that partners or co-venturers might become bankrupt or fail to fund their required capital contributions. Co-venturers may have economic or other business interests or goals which are inconsistent with our business interests or goals, and may be in a position to take actions contrary to our policies or objectives. Such investments may also have the potential risk of impasses on decisions, such as a sale, because neither we nor the co-venturer would have full control over the joint venture. Disputes between us and co-venturers may result in litigation or arbitration that would increase our expenses and prevent our officers and/or directors from focusing their time and effort on our business. Consequently, actions by or disputes with co-venturers might result in subjecting properties owned by the joint venture to additional risk. In addition, we may in certain circumstances be liable for the actions of our co-venturers.

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

Our properties are subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“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, we cannot assure our stockholders that we will be able to acquire properties or allocate responsibilities in this manner. If we cannot, our funds used for Disabilities Act compliance may affect cash available for distributions and the amount of distributions 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. These conditions may materially affect the commercial real estate industry, the businesses of our tenants and the value and performance of our properties, and may affect our ability to pay distributions, and the availability or the terms of financing that we have or may anticipate utilizing. 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:

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 due to increases in the index rates or due to 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. 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.

Net leases may not result in fair market lease rates over time.

The majority of our rental income is generated by net leases, which generally provide the tenant greater discretion in using the leased property than ordinary property leases, such as the right to freely sublease the property, to make alterations in the leased premises and to terminate the lease prior to its expiration under specified circumstances. Furthermore, net leases typically have longer lease terms and, thus, there is an increased risk that contractual rental increases in future years will fail to result in fair market rental rates during those years. As a result, our income and distributions to our stockholders could be lower than they would otherwise be if we did not engage in net leases.

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. 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 Related to Retail Properties

Economic conditions in the United States have had, and may continue to have, an adverse impact on the retail industry generally. Slow or negative growth in the retail industry could result in defaults by retail tenants which could have an adverse impact on our financial operations.

Economic conditions and changes in consumer preferences in the United States have had an adverse impact on the retail industry generally. As a result, the retail industry has recently faced reductions in sales revenues and increased bankruptcies throughout the United States. The continuation of adverse economic conditions and changing preferences may result in an increase in distressed or bankrupt retail companies, which in turn would result in an increase in defaults by tenants at our retail properties. Additionally, slow economic growth is likely to hinder new entrants into the retail market which may make it difficult for us to fully lease the real properties that we plan to acquire. Tenant defaults and decreased demand for retail space would have an adverse impact on the value of our retail properties our results of operations.

Retail conditions may adversely affect our income and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

A retail property’s revenues and value may be adversely affected by a number of factors, many of which apply to real estate investment generally, but which also include trends in the retail industry and perceptions by retailers or shoppers of the safety, convenience and attractiveness of the retail property. Our properties are located in public places such as shopping centers and malls, and any incidents of crime or violence would result in a reduction of business traffic to tenant stores in our properties. Any such incidents may also expose us to civil liability. In addition, to the extent that the investing public has a negative perception of the retail sector, the value of our common stock may be negatively impacted.

Some of our leases provide for base rent plus contractual base rent increases. A number of our retail leases also may include a percentage rent clause for additional rent above the base amount based upon a specified percentage of the sales our tenants generate. Under those leases which contain percentage rent clauses, our revenue from tenants may increase as the sales of our tenants increase. Generally, retailers face declining revenues during downturns in the economy. As a result, the portion of our revenue which we may derive from percentage rent leases could be adversely affected by a general economic downturn.

We are subject to risks related to our multi-tenant retail properties.

We own a portfolio of 35 multi-tenant retail properties representing 38.7% of our annualized rental income on a straight-line basis as of December 31, 2017. Multi-tenant retail properties are subject to increased risk relating to the operation and management of the property, including:

• risks affecting the retail industry generally;

• the reliance on anchor tenants; and

• competition with other retail channels, including e-commerce.

In addition, because our multi-tenant retail properties generally are not net leased, we bear certain costs and expenses of these properties, as opposed to net leased properties that require tenants to bear all, or substantially all, of the costs and expenses of the properties.

Competition with other retail channels may reduce our profitability.

Our retail tenants face changing consumer preferences and increasing competition from other forms of retailing, such as e-commerce, discount shopping centers, outlet centers, upscale neighborhood strip centers, catalogues and other forms of direct marketing, discount shopping clubs and telemarketing. Other retail centers within the market area of our multi-tenant retail properties also compete with our properties for customers, affecting their tenant cash flows and thus affecting their ability to pay rent. In addition, in some cases our leases may require tenants to pay rent based on the amount of sales revenue that they generate. If these tenants experience competition, the amount of their rent may decrease and cash flows will decrease.

Competition may impede our ability to renew leases or re-let space as leases expire and require us to undertake unbudgeted capital improvements, which could harm our operating results.

We may compete for tenants with respect to the renewal of leases and re-letting of space as leases expire. Any competitive properties that are developed close to our existing properties also may impact our ability to lease space to creditworthy tenants. Increased competition for tenants may require us to make capital improvements to properties that we would not have otherwise planned to make. Any unbudgeted capital improvements may negatively impact our financial position. Also, to the extent we are unable to renew leases or re-let space as leases expire, it would result in decreased cash flow from tenants and reduce the income produced by our properties. Excessive vacancies (and related reduced shopper traffic) at one of our properties may hurt sales of other tenants at that property and may discourage them from renewing leases.

Several of our properties may rely on tenants who are in similar industries or who are affiliated with certain large companies, which would magnify the effects of downturns in those industries, or companies and have a disproportionate adverse effect on the value of our investments.

Certain tenants of our properties are concentrated in certain industries or retail categories and we have a large number of tenants that are affiliated with certain large companies. As a result, any adverse effect to those industries, retail categories or companies generally would have a disproportionately adverse effect on our portfolio.

The performance of our properties is linked to the market for retail space generally.

The market for retail space has been and could be adversely affected by weaknesses in the national, regional and local economies, the adverse financial condition of some large retailing companies, the ongoing consolidation in the retail sector, excess amounts of retail space in a number of markets and competition for tenants with other shopping centers in the markets, as well as the increasing use of the Internet by retailers and consumers. Customer traffic to these shopping areas may be adversely affected by the closing of stores in the same shopping center, or by a reduction in traffic to these stores resulting from a regional economic downturn, a general downturn in the local area where our property is located, or a decline in the desirability of the shopping environment of a particular retail property.

Further, a retail property’s revenues and value may be adversely affected by a number of factors, many of which apply to real estate investment generally, but which also include trends in the retail industry and perceptions by retailers or shoppers of the safety, convenience and attractiveness of the retail property. Our multi-tenant retail properties are public places and any incidents of crime or violence would result in a reduction of business traffic to our tenants’ stores. Any such incidents may also expose us to civil liability. In addition, to the extent that the investing public has a negative perception of the retail sector, the value of our properties or the value of our common stock may be negatively impacted.

Some of our leases provide for base rent plus contractual base rent increases. A number of our retail leases also include a percentage rent clause for additional rent above the base amount based upon a specified percentage of the sales the tenant generates. Under those leases which contain percentage rent clauses, our revenue from tenants may increase as the sales of our tenants increase. Generally, retailers face declining revenues during downturns in the economy. As a result, the portion of our revenue which it may derive from percentage rent leases could be adversely affected by a general economic downturn.

Our operating results may be negatively affected by potential construction delays and resultant increased costs and risks.

If we construct improvements on our properties, we will be subject to uncertainties associated with re-zoning, environmental concerns of governmental entities and community groups, and the builder’s ability to build in conformity with plans, specifications, budgeted costs, and timetables. If a builder fails to perform, we may resort to legal action to rescind the purchase or the construction contract or to compel performance. A builder’s performance also may be affected or delayed by conditions beyond the builder’s control. Delays in completion of construction could also give tenants the right to terminate preconstruction leases. We may incur additional risks when it makes periodic progress payments or other advances to builders before they complete construction. These and other factors can result in increased costs of a project or the loss of an investment. We also must rely on rental income and expense projections and estimates of the fair market value of property upon completion of construction when agreeing upon a price at the time we acquire the property. If our projections are inaccurate, we may pay too much for a property, and the return on its investment could suffer.

Our revenue is impacted by the success and economic viability of our anchor retail tenants. Our reliance on single or significant tenants in certain buildings may decrease its ability to lease vacated space.

In the retail sector, any tenant occupying a large portion of the gross leasable area of a retail center, commonly referred to as an anchor tenant, or a tenant that is an anchor tenant at more than one retail center, may become insolvent, may suffer a downturn in business, or may decide not to renew its lease. Any of these events would result in a reduction or cessation in rental payments to us. A lease termination by an anchor tenant could result in lease terminations or reductions in rent by other tenants whose leases permit cancellation or rent reduction if another tenant’s lease is terminated. We own properties where the tenants may have rights to terminate their leases if certain other tenants are no longer open for business. These “co-tenancy” provisions also may exist in some leases where we own a portion of a retail property and one or more of the anchor tenants lease space in that portion of the center not owned or controlled by us. If these tenants were to vacate their space, tenants with co-tenancy provisions would have the right to terminate their leases or seek a rent reduction. In such event, we may be unable to re-lease the vacated space. Similarly, the leases of some anchor tenants may permit the anchor tenant to transfer its lease to another retailer. The transfer to a new anchor tenant could cause customer traffic in the retail center to decrease and thereby reduce the income generated by that retail center. Many expenses associated with properties (such as operating expenses and capital expenses) cannot be reduced when there is a reduction in income from the properties. A lease transfer to a new anchor tenant could also allow other tenants to make reduced rental payments or to terminate their leases at the retail center. If we are unable to re-lease the vacated space to a new anchor tenant, we may incur additional expenses in order to remodel the space to be able to re-lease the space to more than one tenant.

Risks Related to Debt Financing

Our level of indebtedness may increase our business risks.

As of December 31, 2017, we had total outstanding indebtedness of approximately $1.4 billion, net. In addition, we may incur additional indebtedness in the future. The amount of this indebtedness could have material adverse consequences for us, including:

• hindering our ability to adjust to changing market, industry or economic conditions;

• making us more vulnerable to economic or industry downturns, including interest rate increases.

In most instances, we acquire real properties by using either existing financing or borrowing new funds. In addition, we may incur mortgage debt and pledge all or some of our real properties as security for that debt to obtain funds to acquire additional real properties. We may also borrow if we need funds to satisfy the REIT tax qualification requirement that we generally 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 any 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 distributions 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 stockholders’ investments. 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 this event, we may be unable to pay the amount of distributions 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 repaying the debt if it is not paid by the 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 distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected which could result in our losing our REIT status.

The Amended Credit Facility, which expires in May 2018, and certain of our other indebtedness, contains restrictive covenants that limit our ability to pay distributions and otherwise limit our operating flexibility.

The Amended Credit Facility (as defined herein) imposes certain affirmative and negative covenants on us including restrictive covenants with respect to, among other things, liens, indebtedness, investments, distributions (which are limited, with certain exceptions, to a percentage of MFFO as defined in the Amended Credit Facility), mergers, asset sales and replacing the Advisor, as well as financial covenants requiring us maintain, among other things, ratios related to consolidated leverage,

consolidated secured leverage, fixed charge coverage and recourse debt to total asset value, as well as a minimum consolidated tangible net worth. Certain of our other indebtedness, and future indebtedness we may incur, contain or may contain similar restrictions. These or other restrictions may adversely affect our flexibility and our ability to achieve our investment and operating objectives.

Moreover, the Amended Credit Facility matures in May 2018. If the Amended Credit Facility is not renewed on favorable terms or at all, and we are forced to seek alternative financing, this financing may not be available on favorable terms, in sufficient amounts or at all, and our business and results of operations could be adversely affected. Also, if the Amended Credit Facility is not renewed and we use our available cash to repay it, this would require us to use substantially all of our available cash, and could adversely affect our ability to pay distributions and use cash for other corporate purposes.

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

We have incurred, and may continue to incur, mortgage debt. We run the risk of being unable to refinance our properties encumbered with mortgage loans 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 refinance the properties and we may be required to obtain equity financing to repay the mortgage or the property may be subject to foreclosure.

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

We have incurred, and may continue to incur, variable-rate debt. Increases in interest rates on our variable-rate debt would increase our interest cost. 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 these investments.

Risks Related to Our Debt Investments

Disruptions in the financial markets and challenging economic conditions could adversely impact the commercial mortgage market, as well as the market for real estate-related debt investments generally.

We may allocate a percentage of our portfolio to real estate-related investments such as mortgage, mezzanine, bridge and other loans; debt and derivative securities related to real estate assets, including mortgage-backed securities; and the equity securities of other REITs and real estate companies. The returns available to investors in these investments are determined by (a) the supply and demand for these investments, (b) the performance of the assets underlying the investments, and (c) the existence of a market for these investments, which includes the ability to sell or finance these investments.

During periods of volatility, the number of investors participating in the market may change at an accelerated pace. As liquidity or “demand” increases the returns available to investors on new investments will decrease. Conversely, a lack of liquidity will cause the returns available to investors on new investments to increase.

Interest rate fluctuations will affect the value of our mortgage assets, net income and common stock.

Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations and other factors beyond our control. Interest rate fluctuations can adversely affect our income in many ways and present a variety of risks including the risk of variances in the yield curve, a mismatch between asset yields and borrowing rates, and changing prepayment rates.

Variances in the yield curve may reduce our net income. The relationship between short-term and longer-term interest rates is often referred to as the “yield curve.” Short-term interest rates are ordinarily lower than longer-term interest rates. If short-term interest rates rise disproportionately relative to longer-term interest rates (a flattening of the yield curve), our borrowing costs may increase more rapidly than the interest income earned on our assets. Because our assets may bear interest based on longer-term rates than our borrowings, a flattening of the yield curve would tend to decrease our net income and the market value of our mortgage loan assets. Additionally, to the extent cash flows from investments that return scheduled and unscheduled principal are reinvested in mortgage loans, the spread between the yields of the new investments and available borrowing rates may decline, which would likely decrease our net income. It is also possible that short-term interest rates may exceed longer-term interest rates (a yield curve inversion), in which event our borrowing costs may exceed our interest income and we could incur operating losses in our debt investments.

Any hedging strategies we utilize may not be successful in mitigating our risks.

We may enter into hedging transactions 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. To the extent that we use derivative financial instruments in connection with these risks, we will be exposed to credit, basis and legal enforceability risks. Derivative financial instruments may include interest rate swap contracts, interest rate cap or floor contracts, futures or forward contracts, options or repurchase agreements. In this context, credit risk is the failure of the counterparty to perform under the terms of the derivative contract. If the fair value of a derivative contract is positive, the counterparty owes us, which creates credit risk for us. Basis risk occurs when the index upon which the contract is based is more or less variable than the index upon which the hedged asset or liability is based, thereby making the hedge less effective. Finally, legal enforceability risks encompass

general contractual risks, including the risk that the counterparty will breach the terms of, or fail to perform its obligations under, the derivative contract. If we are unable to manage these risks effectively, our results of operations, financial condition and ability to make distributions to our stockholders will be adversely affected.

The CRE Debt Investments we invest in could be subject to delinquency, loss and bankruptcy, which could result in losses.

Commercial real estate loans are often secured by commercial real estate and may therefore be subject to risks of delinquency, foreclosure, loss and bankruptcy of the borrower, all of which are and will continue to be prevalent if the overall economic environment does not continue to approve. The ability of a borrower to repay a loan secured by, or dependent on revenue derived from, commercial real estate is typically dependent primarily upon the successful operation of such property rather than upon the existence of independent income or assets of the borrower. If the net operating income of the property is reduced or is not increased, depending on the borrower’s business plan, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Net operating income of a property can be affected by, each of the following factors, among other things:

Any one or a combination of these factors may cause a borrower to default on a loan or to declare bankruptcy. If a default or bankruptcy occurs in respect of an unsecured loan, or a loan secured by property for which the proceeds of liquidation (net of expenses) is less than the loan amount, we will suffer a loss.

In the event of any default under a commercial real estate loan held directly by us, we will bear a risk of loss of principal or accrued interest to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the collateral and the principal and accrued interest of the commercial real estate loan, which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flow from operations. In the event of a default by a borrower on a non-recourse commercial real estate loan, we will only have recourse to the underlying asset (including any escrowed funds and reserves) collateralizing the commercial real estate loan. If a borrower defaults on one of the our CRE Debt Investments and the underlying property collateralizing the commercial real estate debt is insufficient to satisfy the outstanding balance of the debt, we may suffer a loss of principal or interest. In addition, even if we have recourse to a borrower’s assets, we may not have full recourse to such assets in the event of a borrower bankruptcy as the loan to such borrower will be deemed to be secured only to the extent of the value of the mortgaged property at the time of bankruptcy (as determined by the bankruptcy court), and the lien securing the loan will be subject to the avoidance powers of the bankruptcy trustee or debtor-in-possession to the extent the lien is unenforceable under state law. We are also exposed to these risks though the commercial real estate loans underlying a commercial real estate security we hold may result in us not recovering a portion or all of our investment in such commercial real estate security.

CRE Debt Investments and other commercial real estate investments are subject to the risks typically associated with commercial real estate.

CRE Debt Investments we originate and invest in may be secured by a lien on real property. Where our investment is secured by such a lien, the occurrence of a default on a CRE Debt Investment could result in us acquiring ownership of the property. There can be no assurance that the values of the properties ultimately securing CRE Debt Investments will remain at the levels existing on the dates of origination of such loans. If the value of the properties decline, our risk will increase because of both the lower value of the security and the reduction in borrower equity associated with such loans. In this manner, real estate values could impact the values of CRE Debt Investments and commercial real estate security investments. Therefore, our commercial real estate debt and securities investments are subject to the risks typically associated with real estate.

Our operating results may be adversely affected by a number of risks generally incident to holding real estate, including, without limitation:

The value of each property is affected significantly by its ability to generate cash flow and net income, which in turn depends on the amount of rental or other income that can be generated net of expenses required to be incurred with respect to the property. Many expenses associated with properties (such as operating expenses and capital expenses) cannot be reduced when there is a reduction in income from the properties.

These factors may have a material adverse effect on the ability of our borrowers to pay their loans and the ability of the borrowers on the underlying loans securing the our securities to pay their loans, as well as on the value and the return that we can realize from assets it acquires and originates.

We may invest in types of commercial real estate debt that involve greater risk of loss to AFIN.

To the extent we acquire or originate subordinate commercial real estate debt, including subordinate mortgage and mezzanine loans and participations in such loans, these types of investments may involve a higher degree of risk than first mortgage loans secured by real property. Furthermore, some of our debt investments may not conform to conventional loan standards applied by traditional lenders and either will not be rated or will be rated as non-investment grade by the rating agencies, which typically result from the overall leverage of the loans, the lack of a strong operating history for the properties underlying the loans, the borrowers’ credit history, the properties’ underlying cash flow or other factors. As a result, these investments may have a higher risk of default and loss than first mortgage loans and investment grade rated assets.

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 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. However, we may terminate our REIT qualification, if our board of directors determines that not qualifying as a REIT is in our best interests, 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. 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 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 satisfy all requirements for 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 the corporate rate. 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 distribution 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 with our REIT qualification, in certain circumstances, we may incur tax liabilities that would reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

Even with our REIT qualification, 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 OP 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 our stockholders.

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 and reduce our stockholders’ overall return.

In order 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 any 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 pay 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 qualify as a REIT, it is possible that we might not always be able to do so.

Certain of our business activities are potentially subject to the prohibited transaction tax, which could reduce the return on our stockholders’ investments.

For so long as we 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 the net income 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 OP, 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 (a) conducting activities that may otherwise be considered prohibited transactions through a taxable REIT subsidiary (but such taxable REIT subsidiary would incur corporate rate income taxes with respect to any income or gain recognized by it), (b) conducting our operations in such a manner so that no sale or other disposition of an asset we own, directly or indirectly through any subsidiary, will be treated as a prohibited transaction or (c) 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 OP, 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 20% (25% for taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2018) 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 REIT taxable income. In addition, the taxable REIT subsidiary rules limit the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a taxable REIT subsidiary to its parent REIT to assure that the taxable REIT subsidiary is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. 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.

If our OP 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.

We intend to maintain the status of our OP as a partnership or a disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, if the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of our OP 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 OP could make to us. This also would result in our failing to qualify as a REIT, and becoming subject to a corporate level tax on our income. This substantially would reduce our cash available to pay distributions and the yield on our stockholders’ investments. In addition, if any of the partnerships or limited liability companies through which our OP 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 OP. Such a recharacterization of an underlying property owner could also threaten our ability to maintain our REIT qualification.

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

In connection with our 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 distribution 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.

The taxation of distributions to our stockholders can be complex; however, distributions that we make to our stockholders generally will be taxable as ordinary income, which may reduce our stockholders’ 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. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, noncorporate stockholders are entitled to a 20% deduction with respect to these ordinary REIT dividends which would, if allowed in full, result in a maximum effective federal income tax rate on them of 29.6% (or 33.4% including the 3.8% surtax on net investment 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, taxable at capital gains rates, 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 tax basis of a stockholder’s investment in our common stock. Distributions that exceed our current and accumulated earnings and profits and a stockholder’s tax basis in our common stock generally will be taxable as capital gain.

Our stockholders may have tax liability on distributions that they elect to reinvest in common stock, but they would not receive the cash from such distributions to pay such tax liability.

If our stockholders participate in any distribution reinvestment plan, they will be deemed to have received, and for U.S. federal income tax purposes will be taxed on, the amount reinvested in shares of our common stock to the extent the amount reinvested was not a tax-free return of capital. In addition, our stockholders will be treated for tax purposes as having received an additional distribution to the extent the shares are purchased at a discount to fair market value. As a result, unless a stockholder is a tax-exempt entity, it may have to use funds from other sources to pay its tax liability on the value of the shares of common stock received.

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 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 maintain our qualification 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 securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries, 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 (other than securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries, government securities and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, no more than 25% of the value of our assets may be securities, excluding government securities, stock issued by our qualified REIT subsidiaries, and other securities that qualify as real estate assets, and no more than 20% of the value of our total assets may consist of stock or 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 distribution to our stockholders.

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 our stockholders.

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 elect and qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we may not elect to be treated as a REIT or may terminate our REIT election if we determine that qualifying 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 we cannot assure our stockholders 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. Our stockholders are urged to consult with their tax advisor with respect to the impact of recent legislation on their 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. Our stockholders should also 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 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 insure 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 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 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 so 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 pension plan, entities wholly owned by a qualified pension plan and certain foreign publicly traded entities) as if such gain were effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business. However, a capital gain distribution 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. We do not anticipate that our shares will be “regularly traded” on an established securities market for the foreseeable future, and therefore, this exception is not expected to apply.

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 cannot assure our stockholders, 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. However, it is not anticipated that our common stock will be “regularly traded” on an established market. We encourage our stockholders to consult their tax advisor to determine the tax consequences applicable to our stockholders if they are non-U.S. stockholders.

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.