Item 1A. Risk Factors
Set forth below are the risks that we believe are material to Unitholders and prospective investors. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and the various other factors identified in or incorporated by reference into any other documents filed by us with the SEC in evaluating our company and our business. The risks discussed herein can materially adversely affect our business, liquidity, operating results, prospects, financial condition and ability to make distributions to our Unitholders, and may cause the market price of our securities to decline. The risk factors described below are not the only risks that may affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or not presently deemed material by us, also may materially adversely affect our business, liquidity, operating results, prospects, financial condition and ability to make distributions to our Unitholders.
Summary Risk Factors
These risks are discussed more fully below and include, but are not limited to, risks related to:
Risks Related to our Business and Investments
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Our MRBs, GILs, property loans and investments in unconsolidated entities are illiquid assets and our valuation estimates are subject to inherent uncertainty.
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The receipt of contractual interest and principal payments on our MRBs, GILs and property loans will be affected by the economic results of the secured properties.
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The rent restrictions and occupant income limitations imposed on properties securing our MRBs and GILs may limit the revenues of such properties.
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There are risks related to the lease-up of newly constructed or renovated properties that may affect the MRBs, GILs and property loans secured by these properties.
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Changes in market interest rates pose various risks to our MRBs, GILs and property loans.
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The repayment of principal of our MRBs, GILs, and property loans is principally dependent upon proceeds from the sale or refinancing of the secured properties.
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We are subject to various risks associated with our MRB and property loan investments secured by seniors housing and skilled nursing properties.
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There are various risks associated with our investments in unconsolidated entities.
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There are risks related to the construction of properties securing our MRBs, GILs and property loans and the multifamily properties that underlie our equity investments in unconsolidated entities.
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Increases in interest rates may make it difficult for us to finance or refinance our debt obligations and could reduce the number of investments we can acquire as well as cash flow from operations.
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Our variable-rate debt financing and the market value of assets may be adversely impacted by increasing interest rates.
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Inflation, and its resulting impact on interest rates, could adversely affect the Partnership’s business and financial results.
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Conditions in the low income housing tax credit markets due to known or potential changes in U.S. corporate tax rates may increase our cost of borrowing, make financing difficult to obtain or restrict our ability to invest in MRBs and other investments, each of which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our business.
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There are various risks associated with our commitments to fund investments on a draw-down or forward basis.
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If we acquire ownership of properties securing our MRBs, GILs and/or property loans, we will be subject to all the risks normally associated with the ownership of such properties.
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Properties securing our MRBs and investments in unconsolidated entities are geographically concentrated in certain states.
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There is a concentration risk for guarantees related to our GILs and property loans.
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There is a risk that a third-party developer that has provided guarantees of our returns on investments in unconsolidated entities may not perform.
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There are risks associated with the financial performance of our investments in MF Properties.
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There are additional risks when we make property loans to properties securing our MRBs.
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Properties securing our MRBs, GILs, and property loans as our MF Properties and investments in unconsolidated entities, may not be completely insured against damages from natural disasters.
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The properties securing our MRBs, GILs, and property loans, our MF Properties and our investments in unconsolidated entities may be subject to liability for environmental contamination which could increase the risk of default or loss on our investment.
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We are subject to reinvestment risk from maturities and prepayments of our investments.
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We are managed by our general partner and engage in transactions with related parties.
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The effects of the outbreak and continued spread of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19"), or an outbreak of another highly infectious or contagious disease, may adversely affect our business activities, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Debt Financings and Derivative Instruments
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Our investment strategy involves significant leverage, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
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There are risks associated with debt financing programs that involve securitization of our investment assets including, but not limited to:
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Changes in interest rates can adversely affect the cost of the asset securitization financing.
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Payments on our residual interests are subordinate to payments on the senior securities and to payment of all trust-related fees.
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Termination of an asset securitization financing can occur for many reasons which could result in the liquidation of the securitized assets and result in additional losses.
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An insolvency or receivership of the program sponsor could impair our ability to recover the assets and other collateral pledged in connection with a bond securitization financing.
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We may be required to post additional collateral if the securitized assets experience a decline in value.
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There is risk that we will not meet financial covenants, non-financial covenants and risk retention requirements.
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We are subject to various risks associated with our derivative agreements.
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We are subject to various risks associated with our secured line of credit arrangements.
Risks Related to Ownership of Beneficial Unit Certificates and Preferred Units
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Cash distributions related to BUCs may change at the discretion of the Partnership’s general partner.
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Any future issuances of additional BUCs could cause their market value to decline.
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Certain rights of our BUC holders are limited by and subordinate to the rights of the holders of our Series A Preferred Units and, if issued, our Series A-1 Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, and these rights may have a negative effect on the value of the BUCs.
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Holders of Preferred Units have extremely limited voting rights.
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The Partnership’s general partner has the authority to declare cash distributions related to the Preferred Units.
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Holders of Preferred Units may have liability to repay distributions.
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We may be required to redeem Preferred Units in the future.
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The assets held by the Partnership may not be considered qualified investments under the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) by the bank regulatory authorities.
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Under certain circumstances, investors may not receive CRA credit for their investment in the Preferred Units.
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The Partnership’s portfolio investment decisions may create CRA strategy risks.
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The Preferred Units are subordinated to existing and future debt obligations, and the interests could be diluted by the issuance of additional units, including additional Preferred Units, and by other transactions.
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Holders of the Preferred Units may be required to bear the risks of an investment for an indefinite period of time.
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Treatment of distributions on our Preferred Units is uncertain.
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There is no public market for the Preferred Units, which may prevent an investor from liquidating its investment.
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Market interest rates may adversely affect the value of the Preferred Units.
Risks Related to Income Taxes
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Not all the income received by us is exempt from taxation.
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To the extent we generate taxable income, Unitholders will be subject to income taxes on this income, whether or not they receive cash distributions.
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There are limits on the ability of our Unitholders to deduct Partnership losses and expenses allocated to them.
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Unitholders may incur tax liability if any of the interest on our MRBs or GILs is determined to be taxable.
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If we are determined to be an association taxable as a corporation, it will have adverse economic consequences for us and our Unitholders.
Risks Related to Governmental and Regulatory Matters
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We are not registered under the Investment Company Act.
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Any downgrade, or anticipated downgrade, of U.S. sovereign credit ratings or the credit ratings of the U.S. Government-sponsored entities (“GSEs”) by the various credit rating agencies may materially adversely affect our business.
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The federal conservatorship of Freddie Mac and related efforts, along with any changes in laws and regulations affecting the relationship between Freddie Mac and the U.S. Government, may materially adversely affect our business.
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The Partnership faces legislative and regulatory risks in connection with its assets and operations, including under the CRA.
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The replacement of the London Interbank Bank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”) with an alternative reference rate may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
General Risk Factors
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We face possible risks associated with the effects of climate change and severe weather.
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We are increasingly dependent on information technology, and potential disruption, cyber-attacks, security problems, and expanding social media vehicles present new risks.
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Risks Related to our Business and Investments
Our MRBs, GILs, property loans and investments in unconsolidated entities are illiquid assets and our valuation estimates are subject to inherent uncertainty.
Our MRBs, GILs, property loans and investments in unconsolidated entities are relatively illiquid, and there is no existing trading market for them. There are no market makers, price quotations, or other indications of a developed trading market for these investments. In addition, no rating has been issued on any of our investment assets. Accordingly, any buyer of these investment assets would need to perform its own due diligence prior to a purchase. The Partnership’s ability to sell its investment assets and the price it may receive upon their sale, will be affected by the number of potential buyers, the number of similar securities on the market at the time and by other market conditions. As a result, a sale of an investment could result in a loss to the Partnership.
We estimate values of MRBs, GILs, property loans, and investments in unconsolidated entities in the preparation of our financial statements. While the determination of the fair value of our investment assets generally takes into consideration data from third-party pricing services or internally developed models using commonly accepted valuation techniques, the final determination of fair values for our investment assets is based on our judgment, and such valuations may differ from those provided by other pricing services and the true exit price for such investments. Due to the illiquid nature of our investments, valuations may be difficult to obtain, may not be reliable, or may be sensitive to assumptions used in our valuation processes. Depending on the complexity and illiquidity of an asset, valuations of the same asset can vary substantially from one market participant to another. Our results of operations, financial condition and business could be materially adversely affected if our fair value determinations of these assets are materially higher than what could actually be realized in the market.
The receipt of contractual interest and principal payments on our MRBs, GILs and property loans will be affected by the economic results of the secured properties.
Our MRBs require the borrower to make regular principal and interest payments during their contractual term. Although our MRBs are issued by state or local governments, their agencies, and authorities, they are not general obligations of these governmental entities and are not backed by any taxing authority. Instead, each MRB is backed by a non-recourse obligation of the owner of the secured property. Because of the non-recourse nature, the sole source of cash to make regular principal and interest on the MRB is the net cash flow generated by the operation of the secured property and the net proceeds from the ultimate sale or refinancing of the property (except in cases where a property owner or its affiliates has provided a limited guarantee of certain payments). This makes our investments in these MRBs subject to risks usually associated with direct investments in such properties. If a property is unable to sustain net cash flow at a level necessary to pay its debt service obligations on our MRB, a default may occur. Net cash flow and net sale proceeds from a property are applied only to debt service payments of the MRB secured by that property and are not available to satisfy debt service obligations on other MRBs that we hold. In addition, the value of a property at the time of its sale or refinancing will be a direct function of its perceived future profitability. Therefore, the amount of interest that we earn on our MRBs, and whether or not we will receive the entire principal balance of the MRBs as and when due, will depend to a large degree on the economic results of the secured properties.
Our GILs and related property loans require regular interest payments during their contractual term. Although our GILs are issued by state or local governments, their agencies, and authorities, they are not general obligations of these governmental entities and are not backed by any taxing authority. Instead, each GIL is a non-recourse obligation of the owner of the secured property. In addition, the property loans related to properties securing our GILs are on parity with the related GILs and share a first mortgage lien position on all real and personal property. Contractual interest payments during the contractual term are initially paid using capitalized interest in the property’s development budget. However, once the capitalized interest has been exhausted for each property, interest is payable from net operating cash flows of the secured property, which is dependent to a large degree on the property’s operating results.
The net cash flow from the operation of a multifamily property may be affected by many things, such as the number of tenants, rental and fee rates, payroll costs, operating expenses, the cost of repairs and maintenance, taxes, government regulation, competition from other similar multifamily or student residential properties, mortgage rates for single-family housing, adverse developments or conditions resulting from or associated with climate change, and general and local economic conditions. In most of the markets in which the properties securing our MRBs and GILs are located, there is significant competition from other multifamily and single-family housing that is either owned or leased by potential tenants. Low mortgage interest rates and federal tax deductions for interest and real estate taxes make single-family home ownership more accessible to persons who may otherwise rent apartments.
The rent restrictions and occupant income limitations imposed on properties securing our MRBs and GILs may limit the revenues of such properties.
Properties securing our MRBs and GILs are subject to certain federal, state and/or local requirements with respect to the permissible income of their tenants. Since federal rent subsidies are not generally available on these properties, tenant rents are limited in the LIHTC properties to 30% of the related tenant income for the designated portion of the property’s units. The issuing state or local government, agency or authority may also impose additional rent restrictions as a condition to the allocation of LIHTCs and private activity bond volume cap. As a result, the income from these restricted rents in combination with rents on market rate units may not be sufficient to cover all operating costs of the property and debt service on the applicable MRB or GIL.
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There are risks related to the lease-up of newly constructed or renovated properties that may affect the MRBs, GILs and property loans secured by these properties.
We acquire MRBs, GILs and property loans to finance properties in various stages of construction or renovation. As construction or renovation is completed, these properties will move into the lease-up phase. The lease-up of these properties may not be completed on schedule or at anticipated rent levels, resulting in a greater risk of default versus investments secured by mortgages on properties that are stabilized or fully leased. The properties may not achieve expected occupancy or debt service coverage levels. While we may require owners and their affiliates to provide certain payment guarantees during the construction and lease-up phases, we may not be able to do so in all cases or such guarantees may not fully protect us in the event a property is not leased to an adequate level of rents or economic occupancy as anticipated.
Changes in market interest rates pose various risks to our MRBs, GILs and property loans.
Our GILs and certain MRBs and property loans bear interest at variable rates based on various market indices. Certain investments have interest floors which set a minimum interest rate such that if market interest rates fall below the floor rate, we will not experience further decline in interest received. However, in situations in which floors are not in place, decreases in market interest rates will cause a decrease in our interest income and will reduce our operating cash flows.
Furthermore, increases in market interest rates will increase the interest rate of our GILs and certain MRBs and property loans and may increase the cost of construction of the secured properties. Each secured property has established capitalized interest reserves as part of the construction financing structure, but such reserves may be insufficient if the interest rate is significantly higher than anticipated and may cause cost overruns, which could negatively impact the borrower’s ability to make contractual debt service payments.
The repayment of principal of our MRBs, GILs, and property loans is principally dependent upon proceeds from the sale or refinancing of the secured properties.
The principal of most of our MRBs does not fully amortize by their stated maturity dates such that there is a lump-sum “balloon” payment due at maturity. The ability of the property owners to repay the MRBs with balloon payments is dependent upon their ability to sell the properties securing our MRBs or obtain adequate refinancing. The MRBs are not personal obligations of the property owners, and we rely solely on the value of the properties securing these MRBs for collection. Accordingly, if an MRB goes into default, our only recourse is to foreclose on the underlying property. If the value of the underlying property securing the MRB is less than the outstanding principal balance plus accrued interest on the MRB, we will incur a loss.
Our GILs and property loans only require interest payments during their contractual term and do not require the borrower to make principal payments, so all principal will be repaid at the end of their term. The GILs are primarily repaid through a conversion to permanent financing pursuant to a forward commitment from Freddie Mac. Through a Freddie Mac-approved seller/servicer, Freddie Mac will purchase each of the Partnership’s GILs once certain conditions are met, at a price equal to the outstanding principal plus accrued interest and convert the GIL into a Freddie Mac Tax Exemption Loan (“TEL”) financing. The execution of Freddie Mac’s forward commitments is dependent on completion of construction and various other conditions that each property must meet. If such conditions are not met, then Freddie Mac is not required to purchase the GIL and we will pursue collection via other means. The property loans related to our GILs are primarily to be repaid from future equity contributions by investors and other forward financing commitments provided by various parties. If Freddie Mac is not required to purchase the GIL and payment of the property loans from available sources is not made, the GIL and property loan will have defaulted and our recourse is to foreclose on the underlying property and enforce the guarantee provisions against affiliates of the individual property borrower. If the value of the secured property is less than the outstanding principal balance plus accrued interest on the GIL and related property loan, and we are unable to recoup any shortfall through enforcement of guarantees against affiliates of the borrower, then we will incur a loss.
We are subject to various risks associated with our MRB and property loan investments secured by seniors housing and skilled nursing properties.
We have begun acquiring MRBs and properties secured by seniors housing and skilled nursing properties. By their nature, such properties have different operational and financial risks than traditional affordable multifamily properties. The financial and operational risks of such properties may negatively impact a property’s ability to pay contractual debt service on our MRB or property loan investment. Such differences will also impact the availability and interest rates for debt financing associated with such investments.
The net cash flow from the operation of a seniors housing property may be affected by many things, such as the number of tenants, rental rates, service revenues, payroll costs, operating expenses, the cost of repairs and maintenance, taxes, government regulation, competition from other seniors housing properties, the availability of alternative housing options such as single-family housing, adverse developments or conditions resulting from or associated with climate change, and general and local economic conditions. In most of the
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markets in which the properties securing our MRBs and property loans are located, there is significant competition from other multifamily and single-family housing that is either owned or leased by potential tenants.
The net cash flow from the operation of a skilled nursing property may be affected by many things, such as the number of patient care days, patient acuity mix, patient payor mix and insurance reimbursement rates, availability and cost of nurses and staff, costs of care, general operating expenses, the cost of repairs and maintenance, taxes, government regulation, competition from similar properties, adverse developments or conditions resulting from or associated with climate change, and general and local economic conditions. Many such properties are reliant on relationships with physician and hospital networks for patient referrals and support, a lack of which could negatively impact operating results.
There are various risks associated with our investments in unconsolidated entities.
Our investments in unconsolidated entities represent equity investments in limited liability companies created to develop, construct and operate market-rate multifamily rental properties. We are entitled to certain distributions under the terms of the property-specific limited liability company’s governing documents based on the availability of cash to pay such distributions. The only sources of cash flows for such distributions are either the net cash flows from the operation of the property, the cash proceeds from a sale of the property, or through permanent financing in the form of an MRB or other permanent financing. The net cash flow from the operation of a property may be affected by many factors, such as the number of tenants, the rental and fee rates, operating expenses, the cost of repairs and maintenance, taxes, debt service requirements, competition from other similar multifamily rental properties and general and local economic conditions. Sale proceeds are primarily dependent, among other things, on the value of a property to a prospective buyer at the time of its sale. If there are no net cash flows from operations or insufficient proceeds from a sale or a refinancing event, we are unlikely to receive distributions from our investments and we may be unable to recover our investments in these entities.
There are risks related to the construction of properties securing our MRBs, GILs and property loans and the multifamily properties that underlie our equity investments in unconsolidated entities.
We invest in MRBs, GILs and property loans secured by new construction or acquisition/rehabilitation multifamily and seniors housing properties, and we make equity investments in limited liability companies created to develop, construct and operate multifamily rental properties. Construction of such properties generally takes 18 to 36 months to complete. There is a risk that construction of the properties may be substantially delayed or never completed. This may occur for many reasons including (i) insufficient financing to complete the project due to underestimated construction costs or cost overruns; (ii) failure of contractors or subcontractors to perform under their agreements; (iii) availability of construction materials and appliances; (iv) inability to obtain governmental approvals; (v) labor disputes; and (vi) adverse weather and other unpredictable contingencies beyond the control of the developer. While we may be able to protect ourselves from some of these risks by obtaining construction completion guarantees from developers or other parties, agreements of construction lenders to purchase our bonds if construction is not completed on time, and/or payment and performance bonds from contractors, we may not be able to do so in all cases, or such guarantees or bonds may not fully protect us in the event a property is not completed. In other cases, we may decide to forego certain types of available security if we determine that the security is not necessary or is too expensive to obtain in relation to the risks covered.
If a property is not completed on time or costs more to complete than anticipated, it may cause us to receive less than the full amount of interest owed to us on the MRB, GIL and/or property loan secured by such property or otherwise result in a default. In such case, we may be forced to foreclose on the incomplete property and sell it in order to recover the principal and accrued interest on our MRB, GIL and/or property loan. We may suffer a loss of capital as a result. Alternatively, we may decide to finance the remaining construction of the property, in which event we will need to invest additional funds into the property, either as equity or a property loan. Any return on this additional investment would be taxable. Also, if we foreclose on a property, we will no longer receive interest on the MRB, GIL and/or property loan secured by the property. The overall return to us from our investment in this circumstance is likely to be less than if the construction had been completed on time or within budget.
As it relates to our equity investments, if a property is not completed or costs more to complete than anticipated, it may cause us to receive a lower distribution than expected. Furthermore, we may be prevented from receiving a return on our investments or recovering our initial investment, which would adversely affect our results of operations.
Increases in interest rates may make it difficult for us to finance or refinance our debt obligations and could reduce the number of investments we can acquire as well as cash flow from operations.
If debt is unavailable at acceptable rates, we may not be able to purchase and finance additional investments at an acceptable levered return. If we have previously financed the acquisition of an investment, we may be unable to refinance such debt at maturity or may be unable to refinance at acceptable terms. If we refinance our debt at higher rates of interest, our interest expense will increase and our cash flows from operations will be reduced.
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Our variable-rate debt financing and the market value of assets may be adversely impacted by increasing interest rates.
We have financed the acquisition of certain assets using variable-rate debt financing. The interest that we pay on these financings fluctuates with either the market or specific interest rate indices. Certain MRBs securing variable-rate debt financings earn income at fixed rates and the amount of interest we earn on these investments will not change with general movements in market-based interest rates. Accordingly, an increase in the cost of our variable-rate debt financing will cause an increase in our interest expense and will reduce our operating cash flows. We may use derivatives designed to mitigate some but not all the exposure we may have to the negative impact of rising interest rates. In addition, certain GILs and property loans with variable interest rates have floors on the variable rate indices that are greater than the current variable rate index. For such investments, increases in the variable rate index will result in greater interest expense without similar increases in interest income on the GILs and property loans until the variable rate indices exceed the floor rates.
An increase in interest rates could also cause a decrease in the market value of our assets, which may decrease the amount realized on the sale of our investments. During periods of low prevailing interest rates, the interest rates we earn on new interest-bearing assets we acquire may be lower than the interest rates on our existing portfolio of interest-bearing assets.
Inflation, and its resulting impact on interest rates, could adversely affect the Partnership’s business and financial results.
Inflation typically is accompanied by higher interest rates, which could adversely impact borrowers’ ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, thereby decreasing MRBs, GILs and property loan investment opportunities. Such higher interest rates due to inflation may also cause an increase the Partnership’s borrowing costs which will decrease the net return on our investments. Higher interest rates due to inflation may also depress investment asset values due to a decrease in demand or increasing cost of operations, such that the Partnership may record charges against its earnings for asset impairments that may be material.
Inflation could cause increases in the operating costs at our MF Properties, investments in unconsolidated entities, and the Partnership’s general operations, decreasing the Partnership’s operating cash flows. The majority of tenant leases at our MF Properties and investments in unconsolidated entities are for one year or less. The short-term nature of these leases generally serves to reduce the risk to the properties of the adverse effects of inflation; however, market conditions may prevent such properties from increasing rental rates in amounts sufficient to offset higher operating expenses.
Conditions in the low income housing tax credit markets due to known or potential changes in U.S. corporate tax rates may increase our cost of borrowing, make financing difficult to obtain or restrict our ability to invest in MRBs and other investments, each of which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our business.
Conditions in the low income housing tax credit market due to changes in the U.S. corporate tax rates have previously had, and may in the future have, an adverse impact on our cost of borrowings and may also restrict our ability to invest in MRBs and other investments. These conditions, as well as the cost and availability of financing has been, and may continue to be, adversely affected in all markets in which we operate. Concern about the stability of the low income housing tax credit markets has led many lenders and institutional investors to reduce, and in some cases cease providing, funding to borrowers. Our access to debt financing may be adversely affected. Changes in the U.S. tax rates, and the resulting impacts to the low income housing tax credit market, may limit our ability to replace or renew maturing debt financing on a timely basis, may impair our ability to acquire MRBs and other investments and may impair our access to capital markets to meet our liquidity and growth requirements which may have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
There are various risks associated with our commitments to fund investments on a draw-down or forward basis.
We have committed to advance funds for various investments on a draw-down basis during construction. We may also forward commit to purchase MRBs at a future date, contingent upon stabilization of an affordable multifamily rental property. Our total outstanding investment commitments were approximately $350.3 million as of December 31, 2021. We manage our debt financing arrangements and liquidity sources to maintain the financial capacity to fund our investment commitments over time. However, if our traditional liquidity sources are insufficient to fund our investment commitments, we will need to obtain funds by other methods, including, but not limited to, alternative financing arrangements or sales of assets in order to meet our investment commitments. This could negatively impact our results of operations through higher costs or lower investment returns.
If we acquire ownership of properties securing our MRBs, GILs and/or property loans, we will be subject to all the risks normally associated with the ownership of such properties.
We may acquire ownership of multifamily, seniors housing or skilled nursing properties securing our MRBs, GILs and property loans in the event of a default, which will subject us to all the risks normally associated with the ownership and operation of such properties. Such risks include, but are not limited to, declines in property values, occupancy and rental rates, increases in operating expenses, and the ability to finance or refinance related debt, if needed. We may also be subject to government regulations, natural
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disasters, and environmental issues, any of which could have an adverse effect on our financial results, cash flows and our ability to sell the properties.
Properties securing our MRBs and investments in unconsolidated entities are geographically concentrated in certain states.
The properties securing our MRBs are geographically dispersed throughout the United States, with significant concentrations in Texas, California, and South Carolina. Such concentrations expose us to potentially negative effects of local or regional economic downturns, which could prevent us from collecting principal and interest on our MRBs.
Eight of our 12 investments in unconsolidated entities as of December 31, 2021 are related to multifamily properties in Texas. In addition, one of our JV Equity Investments for a property in Texas is reported as a consolidated VIE as of December 31, 2021. Such concentration exposes us to potentially negative effects of local or regional economic downturns, which could prevent us from realizing returns on our investments and recovery of our investment capital.
There is a concentration risk for guarantees related to our GILs and property loans.
Two entities, which are affiliates of one of our developer relationships, have provided limited-to-full payment guarantees of the principal and interest for nine of our GILs and seven property loans. The entities are required to meet certain net worth and liquidity covenants under the terms of the guarantees. However, significant defaults causing enforcement of guarantees against the two entities will negatively impact our ability to enforce our guarantees in the event of multiple defaults on our GIL and property loan investments.
There is a risk that a third-party developer that has provided guarantees of our returns on investments in unconsolidated entities may not perform.
A third party guarantor has provided a guarantee of returns on each of our investments in unconsolidated entities through the fifth anniversary of construction commencement, up to a maximum amount for each investment. If the underlying multifamily rental properties do not generate sufficient cash proceeds, either through net cash flows from operations or upon a sale event or refinancing, then we are entitled to enforce the guarantee against the guarantor. If the guarantor is unable to perform on the guarantee, we may be prevented from realizing the returns earned on our investments in unconsolidated entities during the guarantee period, which will result in the recognition of losses.
There are risks associated with the financial performance of our investments in MF Properties.
The financial performance of our investments in MF Properties depends on the rental and occupancy rates of the properties and the level of operating expenses. Occupancy rates and rents are directly affected by the supply of, and demand for, apartments in the market area in which a property is located. This, in turn, is affected by several factors such as local or national economic conditions, and the amount of new apartment construction and interest rates on single-family mortgage loans. In addition, factors such as government regulation, inflation, real estate and other taxes, labor problems, and natural disasters can affect the economic operations of the properties. The MF Properties are adjacent to universities and serve primarily university students. The implementation of remote learning due to COVID-19, or for any other reason, would have a negative impact on economic occupancy and physical occupancy. We may be in competition with other residential rental properties located in the same geographic areas as the properties securing our MRBs, GILs and property loans.
There are additional risks when we make property loans to properties securing our MRBs.
The property loans that we make to owners of the properties securing our MRBs are recourse obligations of the property owner and may not be secured by the related property. However, the primary source of principal and interest payments on these property loans is the net cash flow generated by these properties or the net proceeds from the sale or refinancing of these properties after payment of the related MRBs. The net cash flow from the operation of a property may be impacted by many factors as previously discussed. In addition, any payment of principal and interest is subordinate to payment of all principal and interest of the MRB secured by the property. As a result, there is a greater risk of default on a property loan than on the associated MRB. If a property is unable pay current debt service obligations on its property loan, a default may occur. Property loans may not be secured by the underlying properties and we do not expect to pursue foreclosure or other remedies against a property upon default of a property loan if the property is not in default on the MRB.
Properties securing our MRBs, GILs, and property loans as our MF Properties and investments in unconsolidated entities, may not be completely insured against damages from natural disasters.
If a property underlying an investment was to be damaged by a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, major storm or wildfire, the amount of uninsured losses could be significant, and the property owner may not have the resources to fully rebuild the property. In addition, the damage to a property may result in all or a portion of the rental units not being rentable for a period of time. If a property
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owner does not carry rental interruption insurance, the loss of rental income would reduce the cash flow available to pay principal and interest on MRBs, GILs and property loans secured by these properties. In addition, the property owner could also lose their LIHTCs if the property was not repaired. A loss of rental income would also reduce the ability of our MF Properties and investments in unconsolidated entities to pay us distributions.
The properties securing our MRBs, GILs, and property loans, our MF Properties and our investments in unconsolidated entities may be subject to liability for environmental contamination which could increase the risk of default or loss on our investment.
The owner or operator of real property may become liable for the costs of removal or remediation of hazardous substances released on its property. Various federal, state and local laws often impose such liability without regard to whether the owner or operator of real property knew of, or was responsible for, the release of such hazardous substances. We cannot assure that the properties that secure our MRBs, GILs, and property loans, our MF Properties and our investments in unconsolidated entities are or will not be contaminated. The costs associated with the remediation of any such contamination may be significant and may exceed the value of a property or result in the property owner defaulting on the MRB. GIL or property loan secured by the property or otherwise result in a loss of our investment in the property.
We are subject to reinvestment risk from maturities and prepayments of our investments.
MRBs may have optional call dates that may be exercised by either the borrower or the Partnership that are earlier than the contractual maturity at either par or premiums to par. In addition, our GILs and most property loans are prepayable at any time without penalty. Borrowers may choose to redeem our investments if prevailing market interest rates are lower than the interest rate on our investment asset or for other reasons. In order to maintain or grow our investment portfolio size and earnings, we must reinvest repayment proceeds in new assets. New MRB, GIL and property loan opportunities may not generate the same returns as our current investments such that our reported operating results may decline over time.
Similarly, we are subject to reinvestment risk on the return of capital from sales of investments in unconsolidated entities. Our strategy involves making equity investments in unconsolidated entities for the development, stabilization and sale of market-rate multifamily rental properties. Our initial equity contributions are returned upon sale of the properties underlying the unconsolidated entities, at which time we will reinvest the capital into new unconsolidated entities or other investments. New investment opportunities may not generate the same returns as our prior investments due to factors including, but not limited to, increasing competition in the development of market-rate multifamily rental properties, rising interest rates and increasing construction costs. Lower returns on new investment opportunities will result in declining operating results over time.
We are managed by our general partner and engage in transactions with related parties.
The Partnership’s general partner is controlled by affiliates of Greystone. Employees of Greystone Manager are responsible for the Partnership’s operations, including the Partnership’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. The Partnership’s general partner manages our investments, performs administrative services for us and earns administrative fees that are paid by either the borrowers related to our MRBs, GILs or by us. The Partnership may enter into various arrangements for services provided by entities controlled by or affiliates of Greystone. Our arrangements with Greystone and its affiliates are considered related party transactions. By their nature, related party transactions may not be considered to have been negotiated at arm’s length. These relationships may also cause a conflict of interest in other situations where we are negotiating with Greystone or its affiliates. See Note 23 of the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements for additional details.
The effects of the outbreak and continued spread of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19"), or an outbreak of another highly infectious or contagious disease, may adversely affect our business activities, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business is dependent in large part on the willingness and ability of real estate developers to construct and operate the multifamily, seniors housing, skilled nursing and commercial properties securing MRBs, GILs, property loans and other investments. The spread of a highly infectious or contagious disease, such as COVID-19, may cause severe disruptions in the U.S. economy, which may in turn disrupt the business, activities, and operations of properties securing or related to our investments, as well as our business and operations.
The spread of COVID-19 or another highly contagious disease may cause elevated levels of unemployment or reduced economic output in our market areas and has or will cause financial hardship for tenants of multifamily and seniors housing properties, which may decrease rent collections. The U.S. government has or may institute various relief measures intended to provide economic assistance to businesses and individuals, but it is uncertain if such relief measures will be sufficient for the tenants of multifamily and seniors housing properties to avoid defaulting on their rent obligations, which would result in lower rent collections by project owners. In addition, many state and local governments have or may issue regulations preventing the eviction of tenants for a period of time, which limits the ability of multifamily and seniors housing properties to replace non-paying tenants, which may further negatively impact rent collections. In
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addition, shelter-in-place and social distancing measures imposed as a result of COVID-19, or another highly infectious or contagious disease, will create challenges for the leasing of units and stabilization of projects that have completed construction. Lower rent collections and occupancy will negatively impact the ability of properties securing our MRBs, GILs, and property loans to meet debt service obligations. Lower rent collections and occupancy will also negatively impact the operating results of our MF Properties and the distributions and returns from our investments in unconsolidated entities
COVID-19, or another highly infectious or contagious disease, may cause significant volatility in the financial markets and the operating performance of properties related to our investments, which may negatively impair the value of our investments and cause us to recognize impairments. Such impairments may also require us to post additional collateral for our trust securitization financing arrangements, inhibit our ability to renew or obtain leverage for our investments, and lower the potential proceeds received on the sale of our investments. In addition, financial market volatility may prevent us from issuing additional BUCs or Preferred Units, which would negatively impact our access to additional capital and liquidity.
COVID-19, or another highly infectious or contagious disease, may disrupt the supply chain for materials and labor required for the construction of multifamily and seniors housing properties securing our MRBs, GILs, and property loans and multifamily properties that underlie our investments in unconsolidated entities, causing delays in construction leading to additional costs to complete construction.
COVID-19, or another highly infectious or contagious disease, may necessitate employees of Greystone that manage our operations to work remotely or, if such employees are infected, may limit their ability to perform essential tasks. Though we maintain policies and contingencies if such employees are unavailable, there may be temporary disruptions to our day-to-day operations. In addition, COVID-19, or another highly infectious or contagious disease may also negatively impact the business and operations of third-party service providers who perform critical services for us.
Risks Related to Debt Financings and Derivative Instruments
Our investment strategy involves significant leverage, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We may increase our investment risk exposure by funding a portion of new investments with debt financing or other borrowing arrangements. To the extent that income derived from such levered assets exceeds our interest expense, hedging expense and other costs of the financing, our net income will be greater than if we had not borrowed funds and had not invested in such assets on a leveraged basis. Conversely, if the revenue from our investment do not sufficiently cover the interest expense, hedging expense and other costs of the financing, our net income will be less or our net loss will be greater than if we had not borrowed funds. Because of the credit and interest rate risks inherent in our investment strategies, we closely monitor the leverage of our investment portfolio. From time to time, our leverage ratio may increase or decrease due to several factors, including changes in the value of the underlying portfolio, changes in investment allocations and the timing and amount of acquisitions.
There are risks associated with debt financing programs that involve securitization of our investment assets.
We obtain debt financing through various securitization programs related to our MRBs, GILs and property loans. The terms of these securitization programs differ, but in general require our investment assets be placed into a trust or other special purpose entity that issues a senior security to unaffiliated investors while we retain a residual interest. The trust administrator receives all the principal and interest payments from the underlying assets and distributes proceeds to holders of the various security interests. The senior securities are paid contractual principal and interest at a variable or fixed rate, depending on the terms of the security. As the holder of the residual interest, we are entitled to any remaining principal and interest after payment of all trust-related fees (i.e. trustee fees, remarketing agent fees, liquidity provider fees, credit enhancement fees, etc.). Specific risks generally associated with these asset securitization programs include the following:
Changes in interest rates can adversely affect the cost of the asset securitization financing.
The interest rates payable on certain senior securities are variable. The senior securities associated with our M33 TEBS and TOB Trust securitizations have variable interest rates that reset on a weekly basis. The interest rate is determined by the respective remarketing agents based on the rate third party purchasers are willing to receive to purchase the senior securities at par. Changes in such rates are generally, though not always, consistent with movements in market interest rate indices. In addition, because the senior securities may typically be tendered back to the trust, causing the trust to remarket the senior securities from time to time, an increase in interest rates may be required in order to successfully remarket these securities. Any increase in the interest rate payable on the senior securities will cause an increase in our interest expense and decrease the amount of residual cash flows available to us. Higher short-term interest rates will reduce, and could even eliminate, our return on residual interests.
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Payments on our residual interests are subordinate to payments on the senior securities and to payment of all trust-related fees.
Our residual interests are subordinate to the senior securities and payment of all trust-related fees. As a result, none of the interest received by such a trust will be paid to us as the holder of a residual interest until all payments currently due on the senior securities have been paid in full and all trust expenses satisfied. As the holder of residual interests in these trusts, we can look only to the assets of the trust remaining after payment of these senior obligations for payment on the residual interests. No third party guarantees the payment of any return to be received for our residual interests.
Termination of an asset securitization financing can occur for many reasons which could result in the liquidation of the securitized assets and result in additional losses.
In general, the trust or other special purpose entity formed for an asset securitization financing can terminate for many different reasons relating to issues with the assets or issues with the trust itself. Potential termination triggers related to the securitized assets include non-payment of debt service or other defaults or a determination that the interest on the assets is taxable. Potential termination triggers related to a trust include a downgrade in the investment rating of the trust credit enhancer, a ratings downgrade of the liquidity provider for the trust, increases in short term interest rates in excess of the interest paid on the underlying assets, an inability to remarket the senior securities or an inability to obtain credit or liquidity support for the trust. In each of these cases, the trust will be collapsed and the securitized assets held by the trusts will be sold. If the proceeds from the sale of the trust collateral are not sufficient to pay the principal amount of the senior securities plus accrued interest and all trust-related expenses then, we will be required, through our guarantee of the trusts, to fund any such shortfall. The Partnership, as holder of the residual interest in the trust, may lose our investment in the residual interest and realize additional losses to fully repay senior trust obligations.
An insolvency or receivership of the program sponsor could impair our ability to recover the assets and other collateral pledged in connection with a bond securitization financing.
In the event the sponsor of an asset securitization financing program becomes insolvent, it could be placed in receivership. In that situation, it is possible that we would not be able to recover the investment assets or other collateral pledged in connection with the securitization financing or that we will not receive all payments due on our residual interests.
We may be required to post additional collateral if the securitized assets experience a decline in value.
The Partnership may be required to post collateral, typically in cash, related to the TOB Trusts with Mizuho and Barclays. The amount of collateral posting required is dependent on the valuation of the underlying securitized assets in relation to thresholds set by the lenders on each business day. Our net exposure, as calculated by Mizuho, was a positive position of approximately $4.6 million as of December 31, 2021. If the value of the Partnership’s positions with Mizuho, having an aggregate principal of approximately $500.0 million as of December 31, 2021, decreases by over $4.6 million then the Partnership will be required to post cash collateral for the net negative exposure. Our net exposure, as calculated by Barclays was zero as of December 31, 2021.
There is risk that we will not meet financial covenants, non-financial covenants and risk retention requirements.
We are subject to various financial and non-financial covenants according to our master agreements with Mizuho and Barclays. Such covenants included, but are not limited to, maintaining minimum partners’ capital balances, certain limits on declines in net assets over specified time periods, certain limitations on leverage, and requiring that the Partnership remained listed on the NASDAQ. Failure to comply with these covenants could result in an event of default, termination of the trust securitizations, acceleration of all amounts owed, and generally would give the counterparty the right to exercise certain other remedies under the master agreements. Further, certain of our master agreements have cross-default, cross-acceleration or similar provisions, such that if we were to violate a covenant under one trust securitization, that violation could lead to defaults, accelerations, or other adverse events under other trust securitizations as well.
Certain regulations related to our TOB trust securitizations require that we maintain a minimum economic interest in the residual and/or senior interests issued by the trust. Declines in the value of the securitized assets below certain levels will require us to purchase senior securities to satisfy our minimum risk retention requirements, which will negatively impact our liquidity and leveraged returns
We are subject to various risks associated with our derivative agreements.
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We purchase derivative instruments to either (i) mitigate some, but not all, of our exposure to rising interest rates, or (ii) reduce the net interest cost related to our Secured Notes. There is no assurance these instruments will fully insulate us from any adverse financial consequences resulting from rising interest rates. In addition, our risks from derivative instruments include the following:
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The costs to purchase our derivative instruments may not be recovered over the term of the derivative.
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The counterparty may be unable to perform its obligations to us under the instrument.
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If a liquid secondary market does not exist for these instruments, we may be required to maintain a derivative position until exercise or expiration, which could result in losses to us.
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There may be a lack of available counterparties with acceptable credit profiles that are willing to originate derivative instruments for interest rate indices that match our variable interest rate exposure, such as the SIFMA index. In such instances, we may enter into derivative instruments related to different interest rate indices that we believe correlate closely with our variable interest rate exposure. However, we cannot be certain that such close correlation will be realized.
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Changes in interest rates can adversely affect the net interest cost of the total return swaps and related Secured Notes.
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The Partnership is required to post collateral associated with a decline in the fair value of the Secured Notes below the outstanding principal amount.
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Upon termination of the total return swaps, the Partnership is required to cash settle any deficit associated with the fair value of the Secured Notes compared to the outstanding principal amount.
We report our derivative instruments at fair value on our financial statements with changes recorded in current earnings. This can result in significant period to period volatility in our reported net income over the term of these instruments.
We are subject to various risks associated with our secured line of credit arrangements.
We have two secured line of credit facilities that we utilize as temporary financing for our investment acquisitions and for general working capital needs. Balances on our secured line of credit facilities are secured by certain investments assets pledged as collateral. We are subject to certain financial and non-financial covenants, which if not maintained, will cause a default and acceleration of amounts due, negatively impacting our liquidity. Furthermore, declines in collateral values may trigger requirements that we repay balances or a portion of balances early or limit the amount that can be drawn under a borrowing base calculation for one of the facilities. One of our secured line of credit facilities has a deficiency guaranty provided by an affiliate, Greystone Select Incorporated (“Greystone Select”), and is subject to various financial and non-financial covenants. A covenant default by Greystone Select will trigger a default on our obligations under the line of credit facility and accelerate amounts owed to the lenders.
Risks Related to Ownership of Beneficial Unit Certificates and Preferred Units
Cash distributions related to BUCs may change at the discretion of the Partnership’s general partner.
The amount of the cash per BUC distributed by the Partnership may increase or decrease at the determination of the Partnership’s general partner based on its assessment of the amount of cash available to us for this purpose, as well as other factors it deems to be relevant. We may supplement our cash available for distribution with unrestricted cash. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash from operations, we may need to reduce the level of cash distributions per BUC from current levels. In addition, there is no assurance that we will be able to maintain our current level of annual cash distributions per BUC even if we complete our current investment plans. Any change in our distribution policy could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our BUCs.
Any future issuances of additional BUCs could cause their market value to decline.
We may issue additional BUCs from time to time to raise additional equity capital. The issuance of additional BUCs will cause dilution of the existing BUCs and may cause a decrease in the market price of the BUCs.
Certain rights of our BUC holders are limited by and subordinate to the rights of the holders of our Series A Preferred Units and, if issued, our Series A-1 Preferred Units and Series B Preferred Units, and these rights may have a negative effect on the value of the BUCs.
The holders of our Preferred Units, and any other class or series of Partnership interests or securities we may issue in the future that are expressly designated as ranking senior to the BUCs, have rights with respect to anticipated quarterly distributions and rights upon liquidation, dissolution, or the winding-up of the Partnership’s affairs which are senior to those of the holders of BUCs. In addition, upon a liquidation of the Partnership, lenders with respect to our borrowings will be entitled to receive our available assets prior to any
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distributions to the holders of our Preferred Units and BUCs. The holders of our Preferred Units also have the right to have their units redeemed by the Partnership under certain circumstances. The existence of these senior rights and preferences may have a negative effect on the value of the BUCs.
Holders of Preferred Units have extremely limited voting rights.
The voting rights of a holder of Preferred Units are extremely limited. Our BUCs are the only class of our partnership interests carrying full voting rights.
The Partnership’s general partner has the authority to declare cash distributions related to the Preferred Units.
The holders of Preferred Units are entitled to receive non-cumulative cash distributions, when, as, and if declared by the Partnership’s general partner, out of funds legally available therefor, at stated annual rates. Under the terms of the Partnership Agreement, the Partnership’s General Partner has the authority, based on its assessment of the amount of cash available to us for distributions, not to declare distributions to the holders of the Preferred Units.
Holders of Preferred Units may have liability to repay distributions.
Under certain circumstances, holders of the Series A Preferred Units may have to repay amounts wrongfully returned or distributed to them. Under Section 17-607 of the Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, we may not make a distribution if the distribution would cause the Partnership’s liabilities to exceed the fair value of its assets. Liabilities to partners on account of their partnership interests and liabilities that are non-recourse to the Partnership are not counted for purposes of determining whether a distribution is permitted.
Delaware law provides that for a period of three years from the date of an impermissible distribution, limited partners who received the distribution and who knew at the time of the distribution that it violated Delaware law will be liable to the limited partnership for the distribution amount. A purchaser of Preferred Units who becomes a limited partner is liable for the obligations of the transferring limited partner to make contributions to the Partnership that are known to such purchaser of Preferred Units at the time it became a limited partner and for unknown obligations if the liabilities could be determined from our Partnership Agreement.
We may be required to redeem Preferred Units in the future.
Under the terms of the Series A and Series A-1 Preferred Units, upon the sixth anniversary of the closing of the sale to an investor, and upon each anniversary thereafter, each holder of such Preferred Units will have the right, but not the obligation, to cause the Partnership to redeem, in whole or in part, the units held by such holder at a per unit redemption price equal to $10.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all declared and unpaid distributions thereon to the date of redemption. Under the terms of the Series B Preferred Units, upon the eighth anniversary of the closing of the sale to an investor, and upon each anniversary thereafter, each holder of such Preferred Units will have the right, but not the obligation, to cause the Partnership to redeem, in whole or in part, the units held by such holder at a per unit redemption price equal to $10.00 per unit plus an amount equal to all declared and unpaid distributions thereon to the date of redemption. Holders of the Preferred Units must provide written notice to the General Partner of their intent to redeem at least 180 days prior to the redemption date. In addition, if the General Partner determines that the ratio of the aggregate market value of issued and outstanding BUCs to the aggregate value of issued and outstanding Series A Preferred Units and Series A-1 Preferred Units has fallen below 1.0 and has remained below 1.0 for a period of 15 consecutive business days, then each holder of Series A, Series A-1 and Series B Preferred Units will have the right to redeem, in whole or in part, the Preferred Units held by such holder at a per unit redemption price equal to $10.00 per unit plus all declared and unpaid distributions thereon to the date of redemption. If such redemptions occur, we will be required to fund redemption proceeds using, including, but not limited to, our secured line of credit, cash on hand, alternative financing, or the sale of assets. Such actions may limit our ability to make additional investments with accretive returns and may negatively impact our results of operations through higher costs or lower investment returns.
Certain holders of our Series A Preferred Units are nearing the sixth anniversary of the original issuance of their units and, therefore, will become eligible to redeem their units at the option of the holders. We have received no redemption notices from holders as of December 31, 2021.
If we do not have sufficient funds available to fulfill these obligations, we may be unable to satisfy an investor’s redemption right.
The assets held by the Partnership may not be considered qualified investments under the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) by the bank regulatory authorities.
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In most cases, “qualified investments” are required to be responsive to the community development needs of a financial institution’s delineated CRA assessment area or a broader statewide or regional area that includes the institution’s assessment area. For an institution to receive CRA credit with respect to the Partnership’s Preferred Units, the Partnership must hold CRA qualifying investments that relate to the institution’s assessment area.
As defined in the CRA, qualified investments are any lawful investments, deposits, membership shares, or grants that have as their primary purpose community development. The term “community development” is defined in the CRA as: (1) affordable housing (including multifamily rental housing) for low- to moderate-income individuals; (2) community services targeted to low- or moderate-income individuals; (3) activities that promote economic development by financing businesses or farms that meet the size eligibility standards of 13 C.F.R. §121.802(a)(2) and (3) or have gross annual revenues of $1 million or less; or (4) activities that revitalize or stabilize low- or moderate-income geographies, designated disaster areas, or distressed or underserved non-metropolitan middle-income geographies designated by the federal banking regulators.
In June 2020, the OCC adopted amendments to its CRA regulations that resulted in the financial institutions for which it is the primary federal regulator (i.e., national banks and federal savings associations) to be subject to different CRA standards than those that apply to the state-chartered banks for which either the FDIC or FRB is the primary federal regulator. The OCC’s 2020 regulations, among other things, replaced the term “qualified investments” with “community development investments,” which the regulation defined to include lawful investments or legally binding commitments to invest that are reported on the Call Report, Schedule RC–L that meet the expanded community development “qualifying activities” criteria in the rule.
Parts of this June 2020 amendment to the OCC’s CRA regulations became effective on October 1, 2020, but the more material provisions would not have taken effect until January 1, 2023 or January 1, 2024. On September 8, 2021, the OCC issued a proposal to rescind its June 2020 final rule and replace it with a rule largely based on its CRA regulations that existed prior to the adoption of its June 2020 amendments. The OCC stated in the preamble to this proposal that it intended to align its CRA rules with the FRB’s and FDIC’s CRA rules, and thereby reinstitute the regulatory uniformity for all insured depository institutions that existed prior to the OCC’s adoption of its June 2020 rule. On December 14, 2021, the OCC adopted a final rule implementing these changes to its CRA regulations, which became effective on January 1, 2022.
Investments are not typically designated as qualifying investments by the OCC, FRB or FDIC at the time of issuance. Accordingly, the General Partner must evaluate whether each potential investment may be a qualifying investment with respect to a specific Unitholder. The final determinations that Partnership units are qualifying investments are made by the OCC, FRB or FDIC and, where applicable, state bank supervisory agencies during their periodic examinations of financial institutions. There is no assurance that the agencies will concur with the General Partner’s determinations.
Each holder of the Partnership’s Preferred Units is a limited partner of the Partnership, not just of the investments in its Designated Target Region(s). The financial returns on an investor’s investment will be determined based on the performance of all the assets in the Partnership’s geographically diverse portfolio, not just by the performance of the assets in the Designated Target Region(s) selected by the investor.
In determining whether a particular investment is qualified, the General Partner will assess whether the investment has as its primary purpose community development. The General Partner will consider whether the investment: (1) provides affordable housing for low- to moderate-income individuals; (2) provides community services targeted to low- to moderate-income individuals; (3) funds activities that (a) finance businesses or farms that meet the size eligibility standards of the Small Business Administration’s Development Company or Small Business Investment Company programs or have annual revenues of $1 million or less and (b) promote economic development; or (4) funds activities that revitalize or stabilize low- to moderate-income areas. The General Partner may also consider whether an investment revitalizes or stabilizes a designated disaster area or an area designated by those agencies as a distressed or underserved non-metropolitan middle-income area.
An activity may be deemed to promote economic development if it supports permanent job creation, retention, and/or improvement for persons who are currently low- to moderate-income, or supports permanent job creation, retention, and/or improvement in low- to moderate-income areas targeted for redevelopment by federal, state, local, or tribal governments. Activities that revitalize or stabilize a low- to moderate-income geography are activities that help attract and retain businesses and residents. The General Partner maintains documentation, readily available to a financial institution or an examiner, supporting its determination that a Partnership asset is a qualifying investment for CRA purposes.
An investment in the Preferred Units is not a deposit or obligation of, or insured or guaranteed by, any entity or person, including the U.S. Government and the FDIC. The value of the Partnership’s assets will vary, reflecting changes in market conditions, interest rates, and other political and economic factors. There is no assurance that the Partnership can achieve its investment objective, since all
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investments are inherently subject to market risk. There also can be no assurance that either the Partnership’s investments or Preferred Units of the Partnership will receive investment test credit under the CRA.
Under certain circumstances, investors may not receive CRA credit for their investment in the Preferred Units.
The CRA requires the three federal bank supervisory agencies, the FRB, the OCC, and the FDIC, to encourage the institutions they regulate to help meet the credit needs of their local communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Each agency has promulgated rules for evaluating and rating an institution’s CRA performance which, as the following summary indicates, vary according to an institution’s asset size. An institution’s CRA performance can also be adversely affected by evidence of discriminatory credit practices regardless of its asset size.
For an institution to receive CRA credit with respect to an investment in the Preferred Units, the Partnership must hold CRA qualifying investments that relate to the institution’s delineated CRA assessment area. The Partnership expects that an investment in its Preferred Units will be considered a qualified investment under the CRA, but neither the Partnership nor the General Partner has received an interpretative letter from the FFIEC stating that an investment in the Partnership is considered eligible for regulatory credit under the CRA. Moreover, there is no guarantee that future changes to the CRA or future interpretations by the FFIEC will not affect the continuing eligibility of the Partnership’s investments. So that an investment in the Partnership may be considered a qualified investment, the Partnership will seek to invest only in investments that meet the prevailing community investing standards put forth by U.S. regulatory agencies.
In this regard, the Partnership expects that a majority of its investments will be considered eligible for regulatory credit under the CRA, but there is no guarantee that an investor will receive CRA credit for its investment in the Preferred Units. For example, a state banking regulator may not consider the Partnership eligible for regulatory credit. If CRA credit is not given, there is a risk that an investor may not fulfill its CRA requirements.
The Partnership’s portfolio investment decisions may create CRA strategy risks.
Portfolio investment decisions take into account the Partnership’s goal of holding MRBs and other securities in designated geographic areas and will not be exclusively based on the investment characteristics of such assets, which may or may not have an adverse effect on the Partnership’s investment performance. CRA qualified assets in geographic areas sought by the Partnership may not provide as favorable return as CRA qualified assets in other geographic areas. The Partnership may sell assets for reasons relating to CRA qualification at times when such sales may not be desirable and may hold short-term investments that produce relatively low yields pending the selection of long-term investments believed to be CRA-qualified.
The Preferred Units are subordinated to existing and future debt obligations, and the interests could be diluted by the issuance of additional units, including additional Preferred Units, and by other transactions.
The Preferred Units are subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness, including indebtedness outstanding under any senior bank credit facility. The Partnership may incur additional debt under its senior bank credit facility or future credit facilities. The payment of principal and interest on its debt reduces cash available for distribution to Unitholders, including the Preferred Units.
The Series A Preferred Units and Series A-1 Preferred Units are pari passu and senior to the Series B Preferred Units. The issuance of additional units pari passu with or senior to the existing series of Preferred Units would dilute the interests of the holders of the Preferred Units, and any issuance of senior securities, parity securities, or additional indebtedness could affect the Partnership’s ability to pay distributions on or redeem the Preferred Units.
Holders of the Preferred Units may be required to bear the risks of an investment for an indefinite period of time.
Holders of the Preferred Units may be required to bear the financial risks of an investment in the Preferred Units for an indefinite period of time. In addition, the Preferred Units will rank junior to all Partnership current and future indebtedness (including indebtedness outstanding under the Partnership’s senior bank credit facility) and other liabilities, and any other senior securities we may issue in the future with respect to assets available to satisfy claims against the Partnership.
Treatment of distributions on our Preferred Units is uncertain.
The tax treatment of distributions on our Preferred Units is uncertain. We will treat the holders of Preferred Units as partners for tax purposes and will treat distributions paid to holders of Preferred Units as being made to such holders in their capacity as partners. If the Preferred Units are not partnership interests, they likely would constitute indebtedness for U.S. federal income tax purposes and distributions to the holders of Preferred Units would constitute ordinary interest income to holders of Preferred Units. If Preferred Units
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are treated as partnership interests, but distributions to holders of Preferred Units are not treated as being made to such holders in their capacity as partners, then these distributions likely would be treated as guaranteed payments for the use of capital. Guaranteed payments generally would be taxable to the recipient as ordinary income, and a recipient could recognize taxable income from the accrual of such a guaranteed payment even in the absence of a contemporaneous distribution. Potential investors should consult their tax advisors with respect to the consequences of owning our Preferred Units.
There is no public market for the Preferred Units, which may prevent an investor from liquidating its investment.
The Preferred Units may not be resold unless the Partnership registers the securities with the SEC or an exemption from the registration requirement is available. It is not expected that any market for the Preferred Units will develop or be sustained in the future. The lack of any public market for the Preferred Units severely limits the ability to liquidate the investment, except for the right to put the Preferred Units to the Partnership under certain circumstances.
Market interest rates may adversely affect the value of the Preferred Units.
One of the factors that will influence the value of the Preferred Units will be the distribution rate on the Preferred Units (as a percentage of the price of the units) relative to market interest rates. An increase in market interest rates, which continue to remain at low levels relative to historical rates, may lower the value of the Preferred Units and also would likely increase the Partnership’s borrowing costs.
Risks Related to Income Taxes
Not all the income received by us is exempt from taxation.
Income from our property loans, taxable MRBs, taxable GILs, MF Properties, investments in unconsolidated entities and related gains or losses on sale are subject to federal and state income taxes. Furthermore, income and gains generated by assets within our wholly owned subsidiary (the “Greens Hold Co”) and its subsidiaries are subject to federal, state and local income taxes as the Greens Hold Co is a “C” corporation for income tax purposes.
To the extent we generate taxable income, Unitholders will be subject to income taxes on this income, whether or not they receive cash distributions.
As a partnership, our Unitholders are individually liable for income tax on their proportionate share of any taxable income realized by us, whether or not we make cash distributions.
There are limits on the ability of our Unitholders to deduct Partnership losses and expenses allocated to them.
The ability of Unitholders to deduct their proportionate share of the losses and expenses generated by us will be limited in certain cases, and certain transactions may result in the triggering of the Alternative Minimum Tax for Unitholders who are individuals.
Unitholders may incur tax liability if any of the interest on our MRBs or GILs is determined to be taxable.
In each MRB and GIL transaction, the governmental issuer, as well as the underlying borrower, has covenanted and agreed to comply with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements necessary to establish and maintain the tax-exempt status of interest earned on the MRBs and GILs. Failure to comply with such requirements may cause interest on the related investment to be includable in gross income for federal income tax purposes retroactive to the date of issuance, regardless of when such noncompliance occurs. Should the interest income on an MRB or GIL be deemed to be taxable, the governing documents include a variety of rights and remedies that we have concluded would help mitigate the economic impact of taxation of the interest income on the affected MRBs or GILs. Under such circumstances, we would enforce all such rights and remedies as set forth in the related governing documents as well as any other rights and remedies available under applicable law. In addition, in the event the tax-exemption of interest income on any MRB or GIL is challenged by the IRS, we would participate in the tax and legal proceedings to contest any such challenge and would, under appropriate circumstances, appeal any adverse final determinations. The loss of tax-exemption for any individual MRB or GIL would not, in and of itself, result in the loss of tax-exemption for any unrelated MRBs or GILs. However, the loss of such tax-exemption could result in the distribution to our Unitholders of taxable income relating to such MRBs and GILs.
In addition, we have, and may in the future, obtain debt financing through asset securitization programs in which we place MRBs and GILs into trusts and are entitled to a share of the interest received by the trust on these bonds after the payment of interest on senior securities and related expenses issued by the trust. It is possible that the characterization of our residual interest in such a securitization trust could be challenged and the income that we receive through these instruments could be treated as ordinary taxable income includable in our gross income for federal tax purposes.
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If we are determined to be an association taxable as a corporation, it will have adverse economic consequences for us and our Unitholders.
We have determined to be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. The purpose of this determination is to eliminate federal and state income tax liability for us and allow us to pass through our interest income on our MRBs and GILs, which we expect and believe to be tax-exempt, to our Unitholders so that they are not subject to federal income tax on this income. If our treatment as a partnership for tax purposes is successfully challenged, we would be classified as an association taxable as a corporation. This would result in the Partnership being taxed on its taxable income, if any, and, in addition, would result in all cash distributions made by us to Unitholders being treated as taxable dividend income to the extent of our earnings and profits. The payment of these dividends would not be deductible by us. The listing of our BUCs for trading on the NASDAQ causes us to be treated as a “publicly traded partnership” under Section 7704 of the IRC. A publicly traded partnership is generally taxable as a corporation unless 90% or more of its gross income is “qualifying” income. Qualifying income includes interest, dividends, real property rents, gain from the sale or other disposition of real property, gain from the sale or other disposition of capital assets held to produce interest or dividends, and certain other items. While we believe that all interest income is qualifying income, it is possible that some or all our income could be determined not to be qualifying income. In such a case, if more than ten percent of our annual gross income in any year is not qualifying income, we will be taxable as a corporation rather than a partnership for federal income tax purposes. We have not received, and do not intend to seek, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service regarding our status as a partnership for tax purposes.
Risks Related to Governmental and Regulatory Matters
We are not registered under the Investment Company Act.
We are not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”) because we operate under an exemption therefrom. As a result, none of the protections of the Investment Company Act (such as provisions relating to disinterested directors, custody requirements for securities, and regulation of the relationship between a fund and its advisor) are applicable to us.
Any downgrade, or anticipated downgrade, of U.S. sovereign credit ratings or the credit ratings of the U.S. Government-sponsored entities (“GSEs”) by the various credit rating agencies may materially adversely affect our business.
Our TEBS financing facilities are an integral part of our business strategy and those financings are dependent upon an investment grade rating of Freddie Mac. If Freddie Mac were to be downgraded to below investment grade, it would have a negative effect on our ability to finance our MRB portfolio on a longer-term basis and could negatively impact our cash flows from operations and our ability to continue distributions to our Unitholders at current levels.
The federal conservatorship of Freddie Mac and related efforts, along with any changes in laws and regulations affecting the relationship between Freddie Mac and the U.S. Government, may materially adversely affect our business.
The problems faced by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac commencing in 2008 resulting in them being placed into federal conservatorship and receiving significant U.S. Government support have sparked serious debate among federal policy makers regarding the continued role of the U.S. Government in providing liquidity and credit enhancement for mortgage loans, including single family and multifamily mortgages. As a result, the future roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be reduced (perhaps significantly) and the nature of their guarantee obligations could be considerably limited relative to historical measurements. Alternatively, it is still possible that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could be dissolved entirely or privatized, and, as mentioned above, the U.S. Government could determine to stop providing liquidity support of any kind to the mortgage market. Any changes to the nature of the GSEs or their guarantee obligations could have broad adverse implications for the housing market and our business, operations, and financial condition. If Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac were to be eliminated, or their structures were to change radically (i.e., limitation or removal of the guarantee obligation, reduction in the size and scope of activities, etc.), our ability to utilize TEBS financings facilities would be materially and adversely impacted.
The Partnership faces legislative and regulatory risks in connection with its assets and operations, including under the CRA.
Many aspects of the Partnership’s investment objectives are directly affected by the national and local legal and regulatory environments. Changes in laws, regulations, or the interpretation of regulations could all pose risks to the successful realization of the Partnership’s investment objectives.
It is not known what changes, if any, may be made to the CRA in the future and what impact these changes could have on regulators or the various states that have their own versions of the CRA. Changes in the CRA might affect Partnership operations and might pose a risk to the successful realization of the Partnership’s investment objectives. Repeal of the CRA would significantly reduce
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the attractiveness of an investment in the Partnership’s Preferred Units for regulated investors. There is no guarantee that an investor will receive CRA credit for its investment in the Preferred Units.
The replacement of the London Interbank Bank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”) with an alternative reference rate may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
The United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has announced that it will phase out certain LIBOR tenors by the end of 2021 and certain US-based LIBOR tenors by the end of 2023. It is unclear whether new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021. Our investments with interests indexed to LIBOR consisted of two MRBs, one taxable MRB and three property loans as of December 31, 2021. The Partnership generally controls the determination of alternative reference rates for such investments. Regarding our liabilities, one of our secured lines of credit, our Secured Notes, and total return swaps have interest rates or terms indexed to LIBOR as of December 31, 2021. In addition, three of our investments in unconsolidated entities have construction loan obligations with interest rates indexed to LIBOR as of December 31, 2021. If LIBOR ceases to exist, we and unconsolidated entities in which we are invested will need to amend these agreements referencing LIBOR rates based on the terms of each agreement or protocols issued by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.
The phasing out of LIBOR could impact short-term interest rates in general which could potentially increase the cost of our debt financing arrangements. The transition to an alternative rate will require careful and deliberate consideration and implementation so as not to disrupt the stability of financial markets. There is no guarantee that a transition from LIBOR to an alternative index will not result in, among other things, financial market disruptions.
General Risk Factors
We face possible risks associated with the effects of climate change and severe weather.
The physical effects of climate change could have a material adverse effect on our investments and operating results. To the extent climate change causes changes in weather patterns, our markets could experience increases in storm intensity and rising sea-levels. These conditions may negatively impact the pace and cost of properties under construction. Over time, these conditions could result in declining demand and operating results for properties related to investments. Climate change may also have indirect effects on our business by increasing the cost and/or availability of property insurance and increased repair and maintenance costs. There can be no assurance that climate change will not have a material adverse effect on our investments and operating results.
We are increasingly dependent on information technology, and potential disruption, cyber-attacks, security problems, and expanding social media vehicles present new risks.
We are increasingly dependent on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to process, transmit, and store electronic and financial information, to manage and support a variety of business processes and activities, and to comply with regulatory, legal, and tax requirements. Certain critical components of our information systems are hosted and supported by third-party service providers and affiliates of Greystone. If we and our service providers do not allocate and effectively manage the resources necessary to build and sustain the proper technology infrastructure and to maintain and protect the related automated and manual control processes, we could be subject to business disruptions or damage resulting from security breaches. If any of our information technology systems suffer severe damage, disruption, or shutdown, and our business continuity plans do not effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner, our revenues, financial condition, and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. We could also experience delays in reporting our financial results. In addition, we may be negatively impacted by business interruption, litigation, and reputational damages from leakage of confidential information or from systems conversions when, and if, they occur in the normal course of business.
Our third-party service providers and Greystone affiliates are primarily responsible for the security of their own information technology environments and in certain instances, we rely significantly on third-party service providers to supply and store our sensitive data in a secure manner. All such third-party vendors face risks relating to cybersecurity similar to ours which could disrupt their businesses and therefore adversely impact us. While we provide guidance and specific requirements in some cases, we do not directly control any of such parties’ information technology security operations, or the amount of investment they place in guarding against cybersecurity threats. Accordingly, we are subject to any flaws in or breaches to their information technology systems or those which they operate for us.
Although no material incidents have occurred to date, we cannot be certain that our security efforts and measures will be effective or that our financial results will not be negatively impacted by such an incident should one occur.
The inappropriate use of certain media could cause brand damage or information leakage. Negative posts or comments about the Partnership on any social networking web site could seriously damage its reputation. In addition, the disclosure of non-public
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information through external media channels could have a negative impact to the Partnership. Identifying new points of entry as social media continues to expand presents new challenges. Any business interruptions or damage to our reputation could negatively impact our financial condition, results of operations, and the market price of our BUCs.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None
Item 2. Properties.
The Partnership conducts its business operations from and maintains its corporate office at 14301 FNB Parkway, Suite 211, Omaha, Nebraska 68154. The Partnership believes that this office is adequate to meet its business needs for the foreseeable future.
Each of the Partnership’s MRBs and GILs are collateralized by multifamily or senior housing properties or commercial property. The Partnership may have property loans that are also secured by these properties but does not hold title or any other interest in the properties. One of the Partnership’s property loans is secured by a skilled nursing facility.
The Partnership owned the Suites on Paseo and The 50/50 MF Properties and certain land held for development that are reported within the MF Properties segment as of December 31, 2021. The Partnership recorded one JV Equity Investment as a consolidated VIE and it is reported within the Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments segment as of December 31, 2021. The Partnership’s Real Estate Assets are summarized as follows:
Real Estate Assets as of December 31, 2021
Less accumulated depreciation (20,701,922 )
(1)
The assets are owned by a consolidated VIE for the development of a market-rate multifamily property. See Note 5 of the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 for further information.
(2)
Land held for development consists of land and development costs for parcels of land in Richland County, SC and Omaha, NE.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
The Partnership is periodically involved in ordinary and routine litigation incidental to its business. In our judgment, there are no material pending legal proceedings to which the Partnership is a party or to which any of the properties associated with its investments are subject, in which a resolution is expected to have a material adverse effect on the Partnership’s consolidated results of operations, cash flows, or financial condition.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not Applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. Market for the Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Security Holder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
The Partnership’s BUCs trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the trading symbol “ATAX.”
BUC Holder Information
As of December 31, 2021, we had 66,049,908 BUCs outstanding held by a total of approximately 15,600 holders of record. In addition, the Partnership had outstanding unvested restricted unit awards (“RUA” or “RUAs”) for 232,566 BUCs held by 14 individuals as of December 31, 2021.
Distributions
Future distributions paid by the Partnership per BUC will be at the discretion of its General Partner and will be based upon financial, capital, and cash flow considerations. In addition, the holders of outstanding Preferred Units are entitled to receive non-cumulative cash distributions, when, as, and if declared by the General Partner, out of funds legally available therefor, in accordance with the terms and in the amount set forth in the Partnership Agreement. Distributions to the BUCs rank junior to distributions to the Preferred Units, and, therefore, such distributions may be limited under certain circumstances. See Note 20 to the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements for a further description of the Preferred Units. The Partnership currently expects to continue to pay distributions on its Preferred Units and BUCs in the future.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
The following table provides information with respect to compensation plans under which equity securities of the Partnership are currently authorized for issuance as of December 31, 2021:
Plan Category (a) (b) (c)
Equity compensation plans approved by Unitholders 232,566 $ - 1,635,476 (1)
Equity compensation plan not approved by Unitholders - - -
Unregistered Sale of Equity Securities
The Partnership did not sell any BUCs in 2021 or 2020 that were not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. There were no sales of unregistered Preferred Units in 2021 or 2020.
The Partnership did not repurchase any outstanding BUCs during the fourth quarter of 2021.
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
General
In this Management’s Discussion and Analysis, all references to “we,” “us,” and the “Partnership” refer to America First Multifamily Investors, L.P., its consolidated subsidiaries, and consolidated VIEs as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Executive Summary
The Partnership was formed in 1998 for the primary purpose of acquiring a portfolio of mortgage revenue bonds (“MRBs”) that are issued by state and local housing authorities to provide construction and/or permanent financing for affordable multifamily, seniors housing and commercial properties. We also invest in governmental issuer loans (“GILs”), which are similar to MRBs, to provide construction financing for affordable multifamily properties. We expect and believe the interest received on our MRBs and GILs is excludable from gross income for federal income tax purposes. We may also invest in other types of securities and investments that may or may not be secured by real estate to the extent allowed by the Partnership Agreement.
The Partnership includes the assets, liabilities, and results of operations of the Partnership, our wholly owned subsidiaries and consolidated VIEs. All significant transactions and accounts between the Partnership and the consolidated VIEs have been eliminated in consolidation. See Note 2 to the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements for additional details.
Historically, we operated in four reportable segments: (1) Mortgage Revenue Bond Investments, (2) MF Properties, (3) Other Investments, and (4) Public Housing Capital Fund Trusts. However, effective as of December 1, 2021 we established a new reportable segment designated as Seniors and Skilled Nursing MRB Investments, which provides acquisition, construction and/or permanent financing for seniors housing and skilled nursing properties. Seniors housing consists of a combination of independent living, assisted living and memory care units. In addition, as of December 1, 2021, we renamed our Mortgage Revenue Bond Investments segment as “Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments”, and our Other Investments segment was renamed to “Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments”. Therefore, as of December 31, 2021, we had five reportable segments: (1) Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments, (2) Seniors and Skilled Nursing MRB Investments, (3) MF Properties, (4) Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments, and (5) Public Housing Capital Fund Trusts. All activity in the Public Housing Capital Fund Trusts segment ceased with the sale of the PHC Certificates in January 2020, as described further below. The Partnership separately reports its consolidation and elimination information because it does not allocate certain items to the segments. All comparisons and discussion throughout this “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” are based on the new segment presentation implemented during the fourth quarter of 2021, as discussed above. See Notes 2 and 25 to the Partnership’s consolidated financial statements for additional details.
Corporate Responsibility
The Partnership is committed to corporate responsibility and the importance of developing environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) policies and practices consistent with that commitment. We believe the implementation and maintenance of such policies and practices benefit the employees that serve the Partnership, support long-term performance for our Unitholders, and have a positive impact on society and the environment.
Environmental Responsibility
Achieving environmental and sustainability goals in connection with our affordable housing investment activity is important to us. Opportunities for positive environmental investments are open to us because private activity bond volume cap and LIHTC allocations are key components of the capital structure for most new construction or acquisition/rehabilitation affordable housing properties financed by our MRB and GIL investments. These resources are allocated by individual states to our property sponsors through a competitive application process under a state-specific qualified allocation plan (“QAP”) as required under Section 42 of the IRC. Each state implements its public policy objectives through an application scoring or ranking system that rewards certain project features. Some of the common features rewarded under individual state QAPs are transit amenities (proximity to various forms of public transportation), proximity to public services (parks, libraries, full scale supermarkets, or a senior center), and energy efficiency/sustainability. Some state-specific QAPs have minimum energy efficiency standards that must be met, such as use of low water need landscaping, Energy Star appliances and hot water heaters, and GREENGUARD Gold certified insulation. Since we can only finance properties with successful applications, we work with our sponsor clients to maximize these environmental features such that their applications can earn the most points possible under the individual state’s QAP. During 2021, properties related to our MRB investments in Jackson Manor Apartments and Residency at the Mayer and all our six new GIL investments were awarded both private activity bond cap and LIHTC allocations through state-specific QAPs. Our MRB investment in Meadow Valley received only private activity bond cap allocation but was done in conjunction with commercial property assessed clean energy financing from another lender.
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We are committed to minimizing the overall environmental impact of our corporate operations. As only 13 employees of Greystone Manager are responsible for the Partnership’s operations, we have a relatively modest environmental impact and have adequate facilities to grow our employee base without acquiring additional physical space.
Social Responsibility
Our investment activity in MRBs and GILs directly supports the construction, rehabilitation, and stabilized operation of decent, safe, and sanitary affordable multifamily housing across the United States. Each of the properties securing our MRB and GIL investments is required to maintain a minimum percentage of units set-aside for low-income tenants in accordance with IRC guidelines, and the owners of the properties often agree to exceed the minimum IRC requirements. In addition, the rent charged to low-income tenants at MRB or GIL properties is often restricted to a certain percentage of the tenants’ income, making them more affordable. These properties provide valuable support to both low-income and market-rate tenants and create housing diversity in the geographic and social communities in which they are located.
Corporate Governance
Greystone Manager, as the general partner of the Partnership’s general partner, is committed to corporate governance that aligns with the interests of our Unitholders and stakeholders. The Board of Managers of Greystone Manager brings a diverse set of skills and experiences across industries in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. The composition of the Greystone Manager Board of Managers is in compliance with the NASDAQ listing rules and SEC rules applicable to the Partnership. All the members of the Audit Committee of Greystone Manager are independent under the applicable SEC and NASDAQ independence requirements, two of whom qualify as “audit committee financial experts.” Of the seven Managers of Greystone Manager, one Manager is female.
Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments Segment
Effective December 2021, we renamed our Mortgage Revenue Bond Investments segment as "Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments". There was no change in the composition of investments within this segment upon the effective date of the name change. As of December 31, 2021, we owned 74 MRBs with aggregate outstanding principal of $697.6 million and nine GILs with aggregate outstanding principal of $184.8 million. Most of these MRBs and the GILs were issued by various state and local housing authorities to provide construction and/or permanent financing for 76 multifamily and seniors housing properties containing a total of 12,584 rental units located in 17 states in the United States.
As of December 31, 2020, we owned 77 MRBs with aggregate outstanding principal of $673.6 million and three GILs with aggregate outstanding principal of $64.9 million. Most of these MRBs and the GILs were issued by various state and local housing authorities to provide construction and/or permanent financing for 71 multifamily properties containing a total of 11,851 rental units located in 15 states in the United States.
Our MRBs, GILs and certain property loans are secured by a mortgage or deed of trust. One MRB is secured by ground, facility, and equipment of a commercial ancillary health care facility in Tennessee. Property loans related to multifamily properties are also included in this segment and may or may not be secured by a mortgage or deed of trust.
The following table compares operating results for the Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments segment for the periods indicated (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments
Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
Total revenues increased for 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020 due primarily to:
•
An increase of approximately $3.4 million in interest income from our various GIL investments;
•
Contingent interest income of approximately $1.8 million recognized in July 2021 upon the redemption of the Rosewood Townhomes – Series A and South Pointe Apartments – Series A MRBs at a premium to outstanding principal;
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•
An increase of approximately $676,000 in interest income from new MRB investments; and
•
A decrease of approximately $1.7 million in interest income from MRB investments due to redemptions and principal paydowns.
Total interest expense increased for 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020 due primarily to:
•
The execution of the Secured Notes in September 2020;
•
An increase in the average outstanding principal of $175.2 million;
•
Offset by generally lower SIFMA index rates during 2021 resulting in lower interest expense on our variable rate debt financings. The SIFMA index averaged 0.04% and 0.55% during 2021 and 2020, respectively. See tables below for additional information regarding the impact of rate changes on the Partnership’s variable rate debt financings;
•
The termination of five fixed rate Term A/B financings with interest rates of approximately 4.50% that were replaced by five new TOB financings with an initial variable interest rate of approximately 2.09% in April 2020;
•
Approximately $454,000 of additional interest expense and approximately $285,000 of deferred financing costs that were written off during 2020 with the termination of the Deutsche Bank Term A/B trust financings in April 2020; and
•
Approximately $364,000 of previously unamortized deferred financing costs that were recognized as interest expense upon collapse of certain TOB financings in September 2020.
Segment net income for 2021 increased as compared to the same period in 2020 due to:
•
The changes in total revenues and total interest expense detailed in the tables below;
•
A decrease in the recognized provision for credit loss of approximately $2.0 million related to the Provision Center 2014-1 MRB and $3.5 million related to the Live 929 Apartments – Series A MRB;
•
A decrease in the recognized provision for loan loss of approximately $467,000 in 2021 as compared to 2020 related to the Live 929 Apartments property loan;
•
Offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses due to increases of approximately $461,000 related to administration fees paid to AFCA2 due to greater assets under management, approximately $241,000 related to salaries and benefits, approximately $260,000 related to restricted unit compensation expense, approximately $225,000 related to referral fees paid to an affiliate of Greystone on closing of new investments during 2021, and approximately $496,000 related to professional and consulting fees from increased transactional activity during 2021.
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The following tables summarize the segment’s net interest income, average balances, and related yields earned on interest-earning assets and incurred on interest-bearing liabilities, as well as other income included in total revenues for 2021 and 2020. The net of interest income from interest-earning assets and interest expense for interest-bearing liabilities is the segment’s net interest income. The average balances are based primarily on monthly averages during the respective periods. All dollar amounts are in thousands.
For the Years Ended December 31,
Interest-earning assets:
Contingent interest income 1,849 -
Non-investment income 112 76
Interest-bearing liabilities:
Amortization of deferred finance costs N/A 968 N/A N/A 1,334 N/A
Derivative fair value adjustments N/A (23 ) N/A N/A (117 ) N/A
(1)
Interest expense is reported net of income/loss on the Partnership’s two total return swaps.
(2)
The decrease in the average interest rate was due primarily to approximately $454,000 of additional interest expense related to termination of the Term A/B financings with Deutsche Bank in April 2020. Excluding such items, the average interest rate in 2020 was approximately 4.2%.
(3)
Net interest income equals the difference between total interest income from interest-earning assets minus total interest expense from interest-bearing assets. Net interest spread equals annualized net interest income divided by the average interest-bearing assets during the period.
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The following tables summarize the changes in interest income and interest expense between 2021 and 2020, and the extent to which these variances are attributable to 1) changes in the volume of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities, or 2) changes in the interest rates of the assets and liabilities. All dollar amounts are in thousands.
Total Change AverageVolume $ Change AverageRate $ Change
Interest-earning assets:
Mortgage revenue bonds $ (1,587 ) $ (631 ) $ (956 )
Interest-bearing liabilities:
Lines of credit $ (226 ) $ (172 ) $ (54 )
Fixed TEBS financing (133 ) (141 ) 8
Variable TEBS financing (501 ) (26 ) (475 )
Fixed Term A/B & TOB financing (1,311 ) (922 ) (2) (389 )
Amortization of deferred finance costs (366 ) (3) N/A (366 )
Derivative fair value adjustments 94 N/A 94
Total interest-bearing liabilities $ 560 $ 3,203 $ (2,643 )
(1)
Interest expense is reported net of income/loss on the Partnership’s two total return swaps.
(2)
The Partnership terminated all Fixed Term A/B & TOB financings with Deutsche Bank in April 2020 and subsequently closed new variable TOB financings with Mizuho.
(3)
Due primarily to approximately $285,000 of deferred finance costs written off with the termination of the Deutsche Bank Term A/B trust financings in April 2020 and approximately $364,000 of previously unamortized deferred financing costs that were recognized as interest expense upon collapse of certain TOB financings in September 2020.
Operational Matters
We regularly discuss operations and the impacts of COVID-19 with property owners and property management service providers of multifamily properties securing our MRBs. We believe federal and state COVID-19 relief measures have helped certain tenants to stay current on their contractual rental payments. In addition, we have noted in conversations with certain property managers that rent payment relief programs are still being utilized by some of the tenant population. We have noted slight declines in occupancy and operating results at our multifamily properties securing MRBs due to COVID-19. However, operating results, plus the availability of reserves, have allowed all properties to be current on contractual debt service payments on our MRBs and we have received no requests for forbearance of contractual debt service payments. If property operating results significantly decline, we may choose to provide support to the properties through supplemental property loans to prevent defaults on the related MRBs.
During 2020 and the first half of 2021, COVID-19 had a significant impact on Live 929 Apartments, our sole student housing MRB property. As of December 31, 2021, Live 929 Apartments is 95% occupied, which is higher than occupancy levels prior to the onset of COVID-19. The nearby educational institution, Johns Hopkins University, substantially resumed in-person, on-campus classes beginning with the Fall 2021 semester. The property continued to operate under a forbearance agreement through December 2021. In January 2022, the borrower completed a restructuring of all senior debt secured by the property. The restructuring transaction provided additional funds to resolve certain payables, fund a debt service reserve, fund repairs and capital improvements, and improve the debt service coverage going forward. In the restructuring transaction, our Live 929 Apartments – Series A and Series B MRBs were redeemed at par plus accrued interest and we purchased a new MRB with principal of $66.4 million and a taxable MRB of $3.6 million, both with fixed interest rates of 4.30%. We believe the restructured debt and estimated results of property operations will eliminate the need for further forbearance.
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COVID-19 has negatively impacted the performance of the commercial property associated with the Provision Center 2014-1 MRB in the form of lower patient volume and revenues. These results, in conjunction with declines in the general creditworthiness of proton therapy centers in the United States, have resulted in the reduction of the financial performance and support of the property. The borrower filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code in December 2020. In January 2022, the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee approved a sale of the Knoxville facility to Covenant Health, a Tennessee non-profit corporation, for a purchase price of $45.3 million. The net sale proceeds and funds held by the trustee will be distributed to bondholders upon closing of the sale. The Partnership owns approximately 9.2% of the outstanding senior MRBs, and we expect to receive approximately $4.6 million of net proceeds upon closing.
Properties securing our GILs and related property loans are currently under construction and have not yet commenced leasing operations. To date, these properties have not experienced any material supply chain disruptions for either construction materials or labor or incurred material construction cost overruns due to COVID-19.
Seniors and Skilled Nursing MRB Investments Segment
Effective December 1, 2021, we established a new reportable segment designated as Seniors and Skilled Nursing MRB Investments, which provides acquisition, construction and permanent financing for seniors housing and skilled nursing properties. Seniors housing consists of a combination of the independent living, assisted living and memory care units.
As of December 31, 2021, we owned one MRB with aggregate outstanding principal of $100,000, with an outstanding commitment to provide additional funding of $43.9 million on a draw-down basis during construction. This private placement MRB was issued to finance the construction and stabilization of a combined independent living, assisted living and memory care property in Traverse City, MI, with 154 total units. Furthermore, in 2021 we funded a property loan with outstanding principal of $13.4 million as of December 31, 2021, secured by a 128-bed skilled nursing facility in Houston, TX, to position ourselves for a future MRB investment.
The following table compares operating results for the Seniors and Skilled Nursing MRB Investments segment for the periods indicated (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Seniors and Skilled Nursing Investments
Total revenues $ 78 $ - $ 78 N/A
Interest expense - - - N/A
Segment net income 72 - 72 N/A
Operations in this segment began in December 2021.
Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments Segment
Effective December 1, 2021, our Other Investments segment was renamed to “Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments”. There was no change in the composition of investments within this segment upon the effective date of the name change.
The Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments segment consists of the operations of ATAX Vantage Holdings, LLC, which holds noncontrolling equity investments in certain market-rate multifamily projects and property loans due from market-rate multifamily projects.
The following table compares operating results for the Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments segment for the periods indicated (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments
Gain on sale of investments in unconsolidated entities 15,521 - 15,521 N/A
Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
The increase in total revenues in 2021 as compared to 2020 was due to the following factors:
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•
An increase of approximately $862,000 in investment income recognized upon the sale of Vantage at Germantown in March 2021, partially offset by a decrease of approximately $680,000 in recurring investment income due to having reached the maximum guaranteed preferred return for Vantage at Germantown during 2020;
•
An increase of approximately $2.4 million in investment income from amounts recognized upon the sale of Vantage at Powdersville in May 2021;
•
An increase of approximately $1.0 million in investment income primarily from amounts recognized upon the sale of Vantage at Bulverde in August 2021;
•
A net increase of approximately $4.3 million in investment income due to preferred return distributions from Vantage at Stone Creek and Vantage at Coventry in November 2021;
•
A net increase of approximately $2.2 million in investment income due to additional investments in unconsolidated entities in 2021 and 2020; and
•
Offset by approximately $1.5 million in investment income from amounts recognized upon the sale of Vantage at Waco in June 2020.
Interest expense for 2021 is related to our secured line of credit with BankUnited, N.A. that is secured primarily by our investments in unconsolidated entities that was initiated in June 2021.
The gain on sale of investments in unconsolidated entities is related to the sale of the Vantage at Germantown property in March 2021 for a gain of approximately $2.8 million, the sale of the Vantage at Powdersville property in May 2021 for a gain of approximately $5.5 million and the sale of the Vantage at Bulverde property in August 2021 for a gain of approximately $7.0 million. In addition, the we received cash of approximately $294,000 in November 2021 upon the resolution of gain contingencies related to the sale of Vantage at Panama City Beach in September 2019.
The increase in net income in 2021 as compared to 2020 was due to the increases in total revenues, interest expense and gain on sale of investments in unconsolidated entities described above.
Operational Matters
Certain materials supply chains and labor needed to construct the properties underlying our investments in unconsolidated entities have been constrained in the current environment, but to date, projects under construction have not experienced any material supply chain disruptions. We have also noted volatile market prices for construction materials, particularly lumber and commodities, yet we have noted no material construction cost overruns to date. Despite leasing challenges from social distancing measures due to COVID-19, all properties that have completed construction are either stabilized or very near stabilization.
MF Properties Segment
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the Partnership owned the Suites on Paseo and The 50/50 MF Properties containing a total of 859 rental units.
The following table compares operating results for the MF Properties segment for the periods indicated (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the Years Ended December 31,
MF Properties
Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
The increase in total revenues for 2021 as compared to 2020 is due primarily to higher occupancy at the Suites on Paseo MF Property. Higher occupancy is a result of the resumption of on-campus, in-person classes for the Fall 2021 semester at San Diego State University after having suspended on-campus, in-person classes for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters due to COVID-19 concerns.
The decrease in interest expense for 2021 as compared to 2020 was due to the refinancing of The 50/50 Mortgage and TIF loans to lower interest rates in February 2020 and slightly lower average outstanding principal balances.
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The decrease in segment net loss for 2021 as compared to 2020 was due to the changes in total revenues and interest expense described above and approximately $483,000 of net savings from closure of food service operations at the Suites on Paseo MF Property in 2020.
Operational Matters
Both MF Properties are adjacent to universities and serve primarily university students. Certain universities in the United States have reverted to temporary remote learning in early 2022 due to the spread of COVID-19. Currently, the universities near our MF Properties are holding on-campus classes, though further spread could cause the universities to implement remote learning.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which is adjacent to The 50/50 MF Property, is currently holding on-campus, in-person classes. The property is 88% occupied as of December 31, 2021, which remains below occupancy levels prior to the onset of COVID-19. However, the property has generated sufficient operating cash flows to meet all mortgage payment and operational obligations through December 31, 2021.
San Diego State University, which is adjacent to the Suites on Paseo MF Property, resumed on-campus, in-person classes for the Fall 2021 semester. The university temporarily reverted to remote learning in January 2022 due to community spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 but resumed in-person classes on February 7th. Physical occupancy at the Suites on Paseo MF Property was 97% as of December 31, 2021, which is higher than occupancy levels prior to the onset of COVID-19. There is currently no direct debt associated with the Suites on Paseo MF Property and the property’s operating cash flows have been sufficient to meet all operational obligations through December 31, 2021.
Public Housing Capital Fund Trusts Segment
The PHC Certificates within this segment consisted of custodial receipts evidencing loans made to public housing authorities. In January 2020, we sold all our PHC Certificates to an unrelated third party.
The following table compares operating results for the Public Housing Capital Fund Trustssegment for the periods indicated (dollar amounts in thousands):
For the Years Ended December 31,
Public Housing Capital Fund Trusts
Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
There were no reported operations for 2021 due to the sale of the PHC Certificates in January 2020 and the collapse and payment in full of all principal and interest due on the TOB Trust financings secured by the PHC Certificates.
Discussion of Occupancy at Investment-Related Properties
The following tables outline information regarding the properties securing our MRB and GIL investments. The tables also contain information about the MF Properties and properties associated with our investments in unconsolidated entities. The narrative discussion that follows provides a brief operating analysis of each category as of and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.
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Non-Consolidated Properties - Stabilized
The owners of the following properties either do not meet the definition of a VIE and/or we have evaluated and determined we are not the primary beneficiary of the VIE. As a result, we do not report the assets, liabilities and results of operations of these properties on a consolidated basis. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, these properties have met the stabilization criteria (see footnote 3 below the table). Debt service on our MRBs for the stabilized properties was current as of December 31, 2021. The amounts presented below were obtained from records provided by the property owners and their related property management service providers.
MRB Multifamily Properties-Stabilized (3)
Harmony Court Bakersfield CA 96 96 % 97 % 91 % 90 %
Lutheran Gardens (4) CA 76 96 % n/a 98 % n/a
Montecito at Williams Ranch Apartments CA 132 98 % 95 % 106 % 105 %
The Palms at Premier Park Apartments SC 240 100 % 97 % 92 % 92 %
Arbors at Hickory Ridge (6) TN 348 n/a n/a n/a n/a
(1)
Physical occupancy is defined as the total number of units occupied divided by total units at the date of measurement.
(2)
Economic occupancy is defined as the net rental income received divided by the maximum amount of rental income to be derived from each property. This statistic is reflective of rental concessions, delinquent rents and non-revenue units such as model units and employee units. Physical occupancy is a point in time measurement while economic occupancy is a measurement over the period presented. Therefore, economic occupancy for a period may exceed the actual occupancy at any point in time.
(3)
A property is considered stabilized once it reaches 90% physical occupancy for 90 days and an achievement of 1.15 times debt service coverage ratio on amortizing debt service for a period after construction completion or completion of the rehabilitation.
(4)
Prior year occupancy data is not available as the related investment was acquired in 2021. The property was considered stabilized upon acquisition of the related MRB.
(5)
The Ohio Properties consist of Crescent Village, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, Willow Bend, located in Columbus (Hilliard), Ohio and Postwoods, located in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
(6)
The MRB was defeased and the underlying property was sold during 2021. As such, the Partnership will not report property occupancy information.
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Physical occupancy as of December 31, 2021 was slightly higher compared with the same period in 2020 due primarily to the large increase in physical occupancy at Live 929 Apartments. Economic occupancy for the year ended December 31, 2021 wasslightly lower compared with the same period in 2020 due primarily to lower economic occupancy at Live 929 Apartments and certain properties located in Texas during the first half of 2021. The Decatur Angle and Bruton Apartments properties experienced significant declines due to higher than historical bad debt reserve write-offs.
The Live 929 Apartments, a student housing property, was more significantly impacted by COVID-19 than affordable multifamily properties but has generally recovered from an occupancy standpoint for the Fall 2021 semester. The nearby educational institution, Johns Hopkins University, has resumed in-person, on-campus classes for the Fall 2021 semester. As of December 31, 2021, Live 929 Apartmentswas 95% occupied, which is higher than occupancy prior to the onset of COVID-19. Economic occupancy reported above remains low due to lower physical occupancy in Spring 2021, but we expect operations and economic occupancy to improve over the coming quarters as a result of increased occupancy.
Non-Consolidated Properties - Not Stabilized
The owners of the following properties do not meet the definition of a VIE and/or we have evaluated and determined we are not the primary beneficiary of each VIE. As a result, we do not report the assets, liabilities and results of operations of these properties on a consolidated basis. For the year ended December 31, 2021 these properties have not met the stabilization criteria (see footnote 3 below the table). As of December 31, 2021, debt service on the MRB and GILs for the non-stabilized properties was current. The amounts presented below were obtained from records provided by the property owners and their related property management service providers.
MRB Multifamily Properties-Non Stabilized (3)
Ocotillo Springs (4) CA 75 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Residency at the Mayer (4) CA 79 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Jackson Manor Apartments (5) MS 60 97 % n/a 86 % n/a
GIL Multifamily Properties-Non Stabilized (3)
Hope on Avalon (4) CA 88 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Hope on Broadway (4) CA 49 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Centennial Crossings (4) CO 209 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Osprey Village (4) FL 383 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Willow Place Apartments (4) GA 182 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Oasis at Twin Lakes (4) MN 228 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Legacy Commons at Signal Hills (4) MN 247 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Hilltop at Signal Hills (4) MN 146 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Scharbauer Flats Apartments (4) TX 300 n/a n/a n/a n/a
MRB Seniors Housing and Skilled Nursing Properties-Non Stabilized (3)
Meadow Valley (4) MI 154 n/a n/a n/a n/a
(1)
Physical occupancy is defined as the total number of units occupied divided by total units at the date of measurement.
(2)
Economic occupancy is defined as the net rental income received divided by the maximum amount of rental income to be derived from each property. This statistic is reflective of rental concessions, delinquent rents and non-revenue units such as model units and employee units. Physical occupancy is a point in time measurement while economic occupancy is a measurement over the period presented. Therefore, economic occupancy for a period may exceed the actual occupancy at any point in time.
(3)
The property is not considered stabilized as it has not met the criteria for stabilization. A property is considered stabilized once it reaches 90% physical occupancy for 90 days and an achievement of 1.15 times debt service coverage ratio on amortizing debt service for a period after completion of the rehabilitation.
(4)
Physical and economic occupancy information is not available for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 as the property is under construction.
(5)
Physical and economic occupancy information is not available for the year ended December 31, 2020 as the related investment was acquired during 2021.
As of December 31, 2021, all non-stabilized properties except for Jackson Manor were under construction and have no operating metrics to report. Jackson Manor has commenced an in-place rehabilitation that is nearing completion.
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MF Properties
As of December 31, 2021, we owned two MF Properties that we report on a consolidated basis. The 50/50 MF Property is encumbered by mortgage loans with an aggregate principal balance of $25.1 million as of December 31, 2021. Debt service on our mortgages payable was current as of December 31, 2021.
MF Properties
(1)
Physical occupancy is defined as the total number of units occupied divided by total units at the date of measurement.
(2)
Economic occupancy is defined as the net rental income received divided by the maximum amount of rental income to be derived from each property. This statistic is reflective of rental concessions, delinquent rents and non-revenue units such as model units and employee units. Physical occupancy is a point in time measurement while economic occupancy is a measurement over the period presented. Therefore, economic occupancy for a period may exceed the actual occupancy at any point in time.
The physical occupancy and economic occupancy as of and for the year ended December 31, 2021 increased as compared to the same period in 2020 due to an increase in occupancy at the Suites on Paseo MF Property. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which is adjacent to the 50/50 MF Property, is currently holding on-campus, in-person classes but occupancy is below occupancy levels prior to the onset of COVID-19. San Diego State University, which is adjacent to the Suites on Paseo MF Property, resumed on-campus, in-person classes in the Fall 2021 semester after having suspended on-campus, in-person classes for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters due to COVID-19 concerns. Current occupancy at the Suites on Paseo MF Property is higher than occupancy levels prior to the onset of COVID-19.
Investments in Unconsolidated Entities
We are the limited member investor in various unconsolidated entities formed for the purpose of constructing market-rate, multifamily real estate properties. The Partnership is the primary beneficiary of Vantage at San Marcos and reports this VIE on a consolidated basis as of December 31, 2021. For all other investments, the Partnership determined the unconsolidated entities are VIEs but that the Partnership is not the primary beneficiary. As a result, the Partnership does not report the assets, liabilities and results of operations of these properties on a consolidated basis. Our limited membership interests entitle us to shares of certain operating cash flows the unconsolidated entities and upon the occurrence of certain capital transactions, such as a refinancing or sale. The amounts presented below were obtained from records provided by the property management service providers.
Numberof Units as of December 31, Physical Occupancy (1) as of December 31,
Vantage at Powdersville (2) SC n/a n/a 95 %