ITEM 1A. Risk Factors
This section discusses material factors that affect our business, operations and financial condition. It does not describe all risks and uncertainties applicable to us, our industry or ownership of our securities. If any of the following risks, or any other risks and uncertainties that are not addressed below or that we have not yet identified, actually occur, we could be materially adversely affected and the value of our securities could decline.
As set forth below, we believe that the risks we face generally fall into the following categories:
•COVID-19 Risks
•Our Business Operations and Strategy Risks
•Environmental, Economic and Market Risks
•Our Capital Structure Risks
•Our Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Risks
•Our REIT Status Risks
COVID-19 Risks
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and measures intended to prevent its spread have had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic and measures to prevent its spread have materially negatively impacted our businesses in a number of ways and is expected to continue to do so. For instance, operating costs at our senior housing communities have increased as a result of the introduction of public health measures and other operational and regulatory changes affecting our properties and our operations, while occupancy and revenue have decreased. Certain of our tenants and managers have incurred significant costs or losses as a result of the pandemic, and may continue to do so, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
Although we continue to undertake extensive efforts to ensure the safety of our properties, employees and residents and to provide operator support in this regard, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our facilities could result in additional operational costs. The effects of shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders, including remote work arrangements for an extended period of time, could strain our business continuity plans, introduce operational risk, including but not limited to cybersecurity risks, and impair our ability to manage our business. Further, we have and may continue to implement mitigation and other measures to support and protect our employees, which could result in increased labor costs.
Senior housing facilities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has, to varying degrees during the course of the pandemic, prevented prospective occupants and their families from visiting our senior housing communities and limited the ability of new occupants to move into our senior housing communities due to heightened move-in criteria and screening.Although the ongoing impact of the pandemic and vaccine deployment on occupancy remain uncertain, occupancy of our senior housing and triple-net properties could further decrease, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could adversely affect demand for senior housing for an extended period.Such a decrease could affect the net operating income of our senior housing properties and the ability of our triple-net tenants to make contractual payments to us, which in turn, could adversely affect our financial condition, including our ability to pay dividend distributions at expected levels or at all.
Additionally, across our property types, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic creates a heightened risk of tenant, borrower, manager or other obligor bankruptcy or insolvency due to factors such as decreased occupancy, medical practice disruptions resulting from stay-at-home orders, increased health and safety and labor expenses or litigation resulting from developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the risks associated with such events elsewhere in these risk factors, various federal, state and local governments have enacted, and may continue to enact, laws regulations and moratoriums or take other actions that could limit our ability to evict tenants as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although many of these moratoriums are expected to be temporary in nature, they may be in place for a significant period of time until the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. While we generally have arrangements and other agreements that give us the right under specified circumstances to terminate a lease or evict a tenant for nonpayment, such laws, regulations and moratoriums will generally prohibit our ability to begin eviction proceedings even where no rent or only partial rent is being paid for so long as such law, regulation or moratorium remains in effect. We may incur significant costs and it may take a significant amount of time to ultimately evict any tenant who is not meeting its contractual rent obligations. If we cannot transition a leased property to a
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new tenant due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or for other reasons, we may take possession of that property, which may expose us to certain successor liabilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic and reactions to it have also adversely affected the U.S. economy and global financial markets and, in the longer term, could result in a global economic downturn and a recession, or inflation, which may, in turn negatively impact our results of operations. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased, and may continue to increase, the magnitude of many of the other risks described herein.
The trajectory and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains highly uncertain. The extent of the pandemic’s continuing and ultimate effect on our operational and financial performance will depend on a variety of factors, including the speed at which available vaccines can be successfully deployed; the rate of acceptance of available vaccines, particularly among the residents and staff in our senior housing communities; the impact of new variants of the virus and the effectiveness of available vaccines against those variants; ongoing clinical experience, which may differ considerably across regions and fluctuate over time; and on other future developments, including the ultimate duration, spread and intensity of the outbreak, the availability of testing, the extent to which governments impose, rollback or re-impose preventative restrictions and the availability of ongoing government financial support to our business, tenants and operators. Due to these uncertainties, we are not able at this time to estimate the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
There is a high degree of uncertainty regarding the implementation and impact of the CARES Act and other pandemic-related legislation and any future COVID-19 relief measures. There can be no assurance as to the total amount of financial assistance we or our tenants or borrowers will receive or that we will be able to benefit from provisions intended to increase access to resources and ease regulatory burdens for healthcare providers.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CARES Act, the PPPHCE Act, and the CAA authorize a total of $178 billion to be distributed to healthcare providers through the Provider Relief Fund, which is administered by HHS. These grants are intended to reimburse eligible providers for healthcare-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to COVID-19. Recipients are not required to repay distributions from the Provider Relief Fund, provided that they attest to and comply with certain terms and conditions, including reporting requirements, limitations on balance billing, and not using grants received from the Provider Relief Fund to reimburse expenses or losses that other sources are obligated to reimburse maintaining records, and cooperating with any government audits.
HHS began distributing Provider Relief Fund grants in April 2020 and has made grants available to various provider groups in phases. We applied for grants under Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Provider Relief Fund on behalf of the assisted living communities in our senior living operations segment and may apply for additional grants in the future. While we have received all amounts under our Phase 2 applications, and have begun to receive amounts under our Phase 3 applications, there can be no assurance that all our remaining applications will be approved or that additional grants will ultimately be received in full or in part. Any grants that are ultimately received and retained by us are not expected to fully offset the losses incurred in our senior living operating portfolio that are attributable to COVID-19. Further, although we continue to monitor and evaluate the terms and conditions associated with the Provider Relief Fund distributions, we cannot assure you that we will be in compliance with all requirements related to the payments received under the Provider Relief Fund. If we or any of our tenants fail to comply with all of the terms and conditions, we or they may be required to repay some or all of the grants received and may be subject to other enforcement action, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition.
The CARES Act and related legislation also make other forms of financial assistance available to healthcare providers, including through Medicare and Medicaid payment adjustments and an expansion of the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program, which makes available accelerated payments of Medicare funds in order to increase cash flow to providers in the form of loans that must be repaid. In addition to financial assistance, the CARES Act and related legislation include provisions intended to increase access to medical supplies and equipment and ease legal and regulatory burdens on healthcare providers. Many of these measures are effective only for the duration of the federal public health emergency that was declared as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current public health emergency determination expires April 21, 2021, and HHS has indicated that it likely will be extended but the duration of the extension is unclear. The HHS Secretary may choose to renew the declaration for successive 90-day periods for as long as the emergency continues to exist and may terminate the declaration whenever he determines that the public health emergency no longer exists.
Due to the recent enactment of the CARES Act, and other enacted legislation, there is still a high degree of uncertainty surrounding their implementation. Further, the federal government is considering additional financial measures, federal agencies continue to issue related regulations and guidance, and the public health emergency continues to evolve. It is difficult to predict the extent to which anticipated ongoing negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on us and our tenants and
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borrowers will be offset by benefits which we may recognize or receive in the future under existing or future financial measures. Further, there can be no assurance that the terms and conditions of the Provider Relief Fund grants or other programs will not change or be interpreted in ways that affect our ability to comply with such terms and conditions (which could affect our ability to retain any grants that we receive), the amount of total financial grants we may ultimately receive or our eligibility to participate in any future funding. We continue to assess the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and government responses to the pandemic on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our Business Operations and Strategy Risks
Market conditions, including, but not limited to, economic and financial market events or conditions and the actual and perceived state of the real estate markets and public capital markets generally could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are dependent on the capital markets and any disruption to the capital markets or our ability to access such markets could impair our ability to fulfill our dividend requirements, make payments to our security holders or otherwise finance our business operations. The markets in which we operate are affected by a number of factors that are largely beyond our control but may nevertheless have a significant negative impact on us. Adverse developments affecting economies throughout the world, including a general tightening of availability of credit (including the price, terms and conditions under which it can be obtained), the state of the public capital markets, decreased liquidity in certain financial markets, increased interest rates, foreign exchange fluctuations, declining consumer confidence, the actual or perceived state of the real estate market, sustained high levels of unemployment or significant declines in stock markets, as well as concerns regarding pandemics, epidemics and the spread of contagious diseases, could impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, unfavorable changes in general economic conditions, including recessions, economic slowdowns, high unemployment and rising prices or the perception by consumers of weak or weakening economic conditions may reduce disposable income and impact consumer spending in healthcare or seniors housing, for example, which could adversely affect our financial results.
In addition, increased inflation may have a pronounced negative impact on the interest expense we pay in connection with our outstanding indebtedness, in our general and administrative expenses, as these costs could increase at a rate higher than our rents, or in the wages that our managers or tenants are obligated to pay. Conversely, deflation may result in a decline in general price levels, often caused by a decrease in the supply of money or credit. The predominant effects of deflation are high unemployment, credit contraction and weakened consumer demand. Restricted lending practices may impact our ability to obtain financing for our properties, which could adversely impact our growth and profitability.
To the extent there is turmoil in the global financial markets, this turmoil has the potential to adversely affect (i) the value of our properties; (ii) the availability or the terms of financing that we have or may be able to obtain; (iii) our ability to make principal and interest payments on, or refinance when due, any outstanding debt; (iv) our ability to pay a dividend and (v) the ability of our tenants to enter into new leasing transactions or satisfy rental payments under existing leases. Disruptions in the capital and credit markets may also adversely affect the market price of our securities.
Third parties must operate our non-Office assets, limiting our control and influence over operations and results.
Although we often have certain general oversight approval rights (e.g., with respect to budgets, material contracts, etc.) and the right to review operational and financial reporting information with respect to a majority of our portfolio, our third-party managers and tenants are ultimately in control of the day-to-day business of the property. As a result, we have limited rights to direct or influence the business or operations of the properties in our portfolio and we depend on third parties to operate these properties in a manner that complies with applicable law, minimizes legal risk and maximizes the value of our investment. The failure by such third parties to operate these properties efficiently and effectively and adequately manage the related risks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our operating assets may expose us to various operational risks, liabilities and claims that could adversely affect our ability to generate revenues or increase our costs and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Despite our limited rights to direct or influence the business or operations of the properties in our senior living operations segment, as the owner and operator of senior housing operating properties, we are ultimately responsible for all operational risks and other liabilities of such properties, other than those arising out of certain actions by our managers, such as gross negligence or willful misconduct. These risks include, and our resulting revenues are impacted by, among other things, fluctuations in occupancy levels, the inability to achieve economic resident fees (including anticipated increases in those fees), increases in the cost of food, materials, energy, labor (as a result of unionization or otherwise) or other services, rent control
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regulations, national and regional economic conditions, the imposition of new or increased taxes, capital expenditure requirements, changes in management or equity, accounting misstatements, professional and general liability claims, and the availability and cost of insurance. Any one or a combination of these factors could result in deficiencies in our senior living operations segment, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such operational risks could also arise as a result of our ownership of office buildings, and which could also adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, we generally hold the applicable healthcare license and enroll in applicable government healthcare programs on behalf of the properties in our senior living operations segment. This subjects us to potential liability under various healthcare laws and regulations. Healthcare laws and regulations are wide-ranging, and noncompliance may result in the imposition of civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, including: the loss or suspension of accreditation, licenses or CONs; suspension of or non-payment for new admissions; denial of reimbursement; fines; suspension, decertification, or exclusion from federal and state healthcare programs; or facility closure.
Decreases in our tenants’, borrowers’ or managers’ revenues, or increases in their expenses, could affect their ability to meet their financial and other contractual obligations to us, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have limited control over the success or failure of our tenants’, borrowers’ and managers’ businesses, regardless of whether our relationship is structured as a triple-net lease, a management contract or as a lender to our tenants. While we do not expressly take on liability on the properties in our triple-net leased or office operations segments, our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer as a result of the risks outlined below. Any of our tenants, borrowers or managers may experience a downturn in their business that materially weakens their financial condition.For example, many of our tenants, borrowers and managers have experienced significant downturns in their businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including as a result of interruptions in their operations, lost revenues, increased costs, financing difficulties and labor shortages.As a result, they may be unable or unwilling to make payments or perform their obligations when due.Although we generally have arrangements and other agreements that give us the right under specified circumstances to terminate a lease, evict a tenant or terminate our management agreements, or demand immediate repayment of outstanding loan amounts or other obligations to us, we may not be able to enforce such rights or we may determine not to do so if we believe that enforcement of our rights would be more detrimental to our business than seeking alternative approaches.
Our senior housing tenants and managers primarily depend on private pay sources consisting of the income or assets of residents or their family members to pay fees. Costs associated with independent and assisted living services generally are not reimbursable under government reimbursement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Accordingly, our tenants and managers of our senior housing business depend on attracting seniors with appropriate levels of income and assets, which may be affected by many factors, including: (i) prevailing economic and market trends, including the ongoing economic downturn and high unemployment rates; (ii) consumer confidence; (iii) demographics; (iv) property condition and safety, including as a result of a severe cold and flu season, an epidemic or any other widespread illness, such as seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic; (v) public perception about such properties; and (vi) social and environmental factors.Consequently, if our tenants or managers on our behalf fail to effectively conduct their operations, or to maintain and improve our properties, it could adversely affect our business reputation as the owner of the properties, as well as the business reputation of our tenants or managers and their ability to attract and retain patients and residents in our properties, which could have an adverse effect on our and our tenant’s or manager’s business, financial condition and results of operations.Further, if widespread default or nonpayment of outstanding obligations from a large number of tenants or managers occurs at a time when terminating such agreement or replacing such tenants or managers may be extremely difficult or impossible, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we may elect instead to amend such agreements with such tenants or managers.However, such amendment may be on terms that are less favorable to us than the original agreement and may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Our senior housing tenants and managers may also rely on reimbursements from governmental programs for a portion of the revenues from certain properties. Changes in reimbursement policies and other governmental regulation, that may result from actions by Congress or executive orders, may result in reductions in our tenants’ or managers’ revenues, operations and cash flows and affect our tenants’ or managers’ ability to meet their obligations to us. In addition, failure to comply with reimbursement regulations or other laws applicable to healthcare providers could result in penalties, fines, litigation costs, lost revenue or other consequences, which could adversely impact our tenants’ ability to make contractual rent payments to us under a triple-net lease or our cash flows from operations under a management arrangement.
Our tenants and managers have, and may continue to seek to, offset losses by obtaining funds under the recently adopted CARES Act or other similar legislative initiatives at the state and local level. It is indeterminable when or if these
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government funds will ultimately be received by our tenants and managers or whether these funds may materially offset the cash flow disruptions experienced by them. If they are unable to obtain these funds within a reasonable time period or at all, or the conditions precedent to receiving these funds are overly burdensome or not feasible, it may substantially affect their ability to make payments or perform their obligations when due to us.
A significant portion of our revenues and operating income is dependent on a limited number of tenants and managers, including Brookdale Senior Living, Ardent, Kindred, Atria and Sunrise.
As of December 31, 2020, Atria and Sunrise, collectively, managed 258 of our consolidated senior housing communities pursuant to long-term management agreements. Additionally, as of December 31, 2020, our three largest tenants, Brookdale Senior Living, Ardent and Kindred leased from us 121 properties, 12 properties and 32 properties respectively. These properties represent a substantial portion of our portfolio, based on their gross book value, and account for a significant portion of our revenues and NOI.
We depend on Brookdale Senior Living, Ardent and Kindred to pay all property-related expenses, including maintenance, utilities, repairs, taxes, insurance and capital expenditures, and to comply with the terms of the mortgage financing documents, if any, affecting the properties they lease from us. We cannot assure you that they will have sufficient assets, income and access to financing to enable them to satisfy their obligations to us, and any failure, inability or unwillingness by them to do so could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any failure by any one of Brookdale Senior Living, Ardent or Kindred to conduct effectively its operations or to maintain and improve the properties it leases from us could adversely affect its business reputation and its ability to attract and retain patients or residents in such properties, which could in turn adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These tenants have agreed to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless from and against various claims, litigation and liabilities arising in connection with their respective businesses. We cannot assure you that they will have sufficient assets, income, access to financing and insurance coverage to enable them to satisfy those obligations.
We rely on a relatively small number of third-party managers, including Atria and Sunrise, to manage a significant number of the properties in our senior living operations segment and to set appropriate resident fees, provide accurate property-level financial results for our properties in a timely manner and otherwise operate our senior housing communities in compliance with the terms of our management agreements and all applicable laws and regulations. Any adverse developments in such managers’ business and affairs or financial condition could impair their ability to manage our properties efficiently and effectively and could adversely affect the financial performance of our properties and our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any one of our managers experience financial, legal, accounting or regulatory difficulties, such difficulties could result in, among other adverse events, impacts to its financial stability, acceleration of its indebtedness, impairment of its continued access to capital, the enforcement of default remedies by its counterparties, or the commencement of insolvency proceedings by or against it, any one or a combination of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the event that any of our tenants or managers merge with one another, our dependence on a small group of significant third parties would increase, as would our exposure to the risks described above.
If we need to replace any of our tenants or managers, we may be unable to do so on as favorable terms, or at all, and we could be subject to delays, limitations and expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our tenants may not renew their leases with us, and our managers may not renew their management agreements with us, beyond their current terms. Our leases and management agreements also provide us, our tenants and our managers with termination rights in certain circumstances. If our leases or management agreements are not renewed or are otherwise terminated, we would attempt to reposition those properties with another tenant or manager, as applicable. We may not be successful in identifying suitable replacements or entering into leases, management agreements or other arrangements with new tenants or managers on a timely basis or on terms as favorable to us as our current leases or management agreements, if at all, and we may be required to fund certain expenses and obligations (e.g., real estate taxes, debt costs and maintenance expenses) to preserve the value of, and avoid the imposition of liens on, our properties while they are being repositioned.
During transition periods to new tenants or managers, the attention of existing tenants or operators may be diverted from the performance of the properties, which could cause the financial and operational performance at those properties to decline. Our ability to reposition our properties with a suitable replacement tenant or manager could be significantly delayed or limited by state licensing, receivership, certificates of need (“CON”) or other laws, as well as by the Medicare and Medicaid
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change-of-ownership rules, and we could incur substantial additional expenses in connection with any licensing, receivership or change-of-ownership proceedings.
In the case of our leased properties, following expiration of a lease term or if we exercise our right to replace a tenant in default, rental payments on the related properties could decline or cease altogether while we reposition the properties with a suitable replacement tenant. This risk could be exacerbated by new laws and regulations enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic that limit our ability to take remedial action against defaulted tenants. Further, our competitors may offer space at rental rates below current market rates or below the rental rates we currently charge, we may lose potential tenants, and we may be pressured to reduce our rental rates below those we currently charge to retain tenants when leases expire. Our ability to locate and attract suitable replacement tenants also could be impaired by the specialized healthcare uses or contractual restrictions on use of the properties, and we may be forced to spend substantial amounts to adapt the properties to other uses.
In the event of borrower defaults, we may be unable to foreclose successfully on the collateral securing our loans and other investments, and even if we are successful in our foreclosure efforts, we may be unable to sell successfully any acquired equity interests or reposition any acquired properties, which could adversely affect our ability to recover our investments.
If a borrower defaults under mortgage or other loans for which we are the lender, we may attempt to foreclose on the collateral securing those loans, including by acquiring any pledged equity interests or acquiring title to the subject properties, to protect our investment. In response, the defaulting borrower may contest our enforcement of foreclosure or other available remedies, seek bankruptcy protection against our exercise of enforcement or other available remedies, or bring claims against us for lender liability. Any such delay or limit on our ability to pursue our rights or remedies could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if we successfully foreclose on the collateral securing our mortgage loans and other investments, costs related to enforcement of our remedies, high loan-to-value ratios or declines in the value of the collateral could prevent us from realizing the full amount of our loans, and we could be required to record a valuation allowance for such losses. Moreover, the collateral may include equity interests that may have incurred unexpected liabilities or other limiting characteristics that may result in us not having full recourse to assets within that entity’s subsidiary structure. For example, our mezzanine loan investments are subordinate to senior secured loans held by other investors that encumber the same real estate, and, in certain circumstances, affords them the ability to extinguish our rights in the collateral, subject to our rights under market and customary co-lender contractual arrangements. In addition, we may not be able to sell the acquired assets or equity interests due to securities law restrictions or otherwise. We may be unable to reposition the properties with new tenants, borrowers or managers on a timely basis, if at all, or without making improvements or repairs. Any delay or costs incurred in selling or repositioning acquired collateral could adversely affect our ability to recover our investments.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to attract and retain talented employees, and the loss of any one of our key personnel could adversely impact our business.
The success of our business depends, in part, on the leadership and performance of our executive management team and key employees. Failure to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified employees, or failure to develop and implement a viable succession plan, could result in inadequate depth of institutional knowledge, an ineffective culture or lack of certain skill sets, significantly impacting our future performance and adversely affecting our business. Competition for talented employees is intense, and we cannot assure you that we will retain our key officers and employees or that we will be able to attract and retain other highly qualified individuals in the future. COVID-19 could also negatively affect the health, availability and productivity of our current personnel and could impact our ability to recruit and attract new employees and retain current employees, particularly as remote work arrangements and their impact on the market for talent remains uncertain. In addition, while we have long-term compensation plans designed to retain our senior executives, if our retention and succession plans are not effective, or if we lose any one or more of our key officers and employees, our business could be adversely affected.
Our investments are concentrated across a variety of assets classes within healthcare real estate, making us more vulnerable to adverse changes in those asset classes and the real estate industry generally.
We invest in a variety of assets classes in healthcare real estate, including senior housing, R&I and healthcare properties. While we endeavor to invest in a diversified portfolio, there can be no assurance that in a particular economic or operational environment that all assets will perform equally well or that our balance sheet will be appropriately balanced. Each of our asset classes are subject to their own dynamics and their own specific operational, financial, compliance, regulatory and market risks.
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Additionally, a broad downturn or slowdown in the healthcare real estate sector could have a greater adverse impact on our business than if we had investments in multiple industries and could negatively impact the ability of our tenants, borrowers and managers to meet their obligations to us. A downturn or slowdown in any one of our asset classes could adversely affect the value of our properties in such asset class and our ability to sell such properties at prices or on terms acceptable or favorable to us.
In addition, we are exposed to the risks inherent in concentrating our investments in real estate. Real estate investments are relatively illiquid, and our ability to quickly sell or exchange our properties in response to changes in economic or other conditions is limited. In the event we market any of our properties for sale, the value of those properties and our ability to sell at prices or on terms acceptable to us could be adversely affected by a downturn in the real estate industry. In addition, transfers of healthcare real estate may be subject to regulatory approvals that are not required for transfers of other types of commercial real estate. We cannot assure you that we will recognize the full value of any property that we sell for liquidity or other reasons, and the inability to respond quickly to changes in the performance of our investments could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our investments in and acquisitions of properties may be unsuccessful or fail to meet our expectations.
We have made and expect to continue to make significant acquisitions and investments as part of our overall business strategy. Investments in and acquisitions of healthcare real estate entail risks associated with real estate investments generally, including risks that the investment will not achieve expected returns, that the cost estimates for necessary property improvements will prove inaccurate or that a tenant, borrower or manager will fail to meet performance expectations. Investments outside the United States raise legal, economic and market risks associated with doing business in foreign countries, such as currency exchange fluctuations, costly regulatory requirements and foreign tax risks. Domestic and international real estate development and redevelopment projects present additional risks, including construction delays or cost overruns that increase expenses, the inability to obtain required zoning, occupancy and other governmental approvals and permits on a timely basis, and the incurrence of significant costs prior to completion of the project. Furthermore, healthcare real estate properties are often highly customized, and the development or redevelopment of such properties may require costly tenant-specific improvements. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will achieve the economic benefit we expect from acquisition, investment, development and redevelopment opportunities. Our significant acquisition and investment activity presents certain risks to our business and operations, including, among other things, that:
•We may be unable to integrate successfully the operations, personnel or systems of acquired companies, maintain consistent standards, controls, policies and procedures, or realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and other investments within the anticipated time frame, or at all;
•We may be unable to monitor and manage our expanded portfolio of properties effectively, retain key employees or attract highly qualified new employees;
•Projections of estimated future revenues, costs savings or operating metrics that we develop during the due diligence and integration planning process might be inaccurate;
•Our leverage could increase or our per share financial results could decline if we incur additional debt or issue equity securities to finance acquisitions and investments;
•Acquisitions and other new investments could divert management’s attention from our existing assets; or
•The value of acquired assets or the market price of our common stock may decline.
We cannot assure you that our acquisitions, developments, redevelopments and other investments will be successful or meet our expectations without encountering difficulties or that any such difficulties will not adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ongoing strategy depends, in part, upon identifying and consummating future investments and effectively managing our expansion opportunities.
An important part of our business strategy is to continue to expand and diversify our portfolio, directly or indirectly with third parties, through accretive acquisition, investment, development and redevelopment activities in domestic and international healthcare real estate. Our execution of this strategy by successfully identifying, securing and consummating beneficial transactions is made more challenging by increased competition and can be affected by many factors, including our
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relationships with current and prospective clients and partners, our ability to obtain debt and equity capital at costs comparable to or better than our competitors and lower than the yield we earn on our acquisitions or investments, and our ability to negotiate favorable terms with property owners seeking to sell and other contractual counterparties. We compete for these opportunities with a broad variety of potential investors, including other healthcare REITs, real estate partnerships, healthcare providers, healthcare lenders and other investors, including developers, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, government-sponsored entities and private equity firms, some of whom may have greater financial resources and lower costs of capital than we do. See “Business—Competition” included in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report. If we are unsuccessful at identifying and capitalizing on investment, acquisition, development and redevelopment opportunities and otherwise expanding and diversifying our portfolio, our growth and profitability may be adversely affected.
For example, we recently expanded into R&I and life sciences. When expanding into areas that are new to us, we face numerous risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with (i) the required investment of capital and other resources; (ii) the possibility that we have insufficient expertise to engage in such activities profitably or without incurring inappropriate amounts of risk; (iii) the diversion of management’s attention from our other businesses; (iv) the increasing demands on or issues related to operational and management systems and controls; (v) compliance with additional legal or regulatory requirements with which we are not familiar; and (vi) the broadening of our geographic footprint, including the risks associated with conducting operations in non-U.S. jurisdictions. We cannot assure you that any new strategies, markets or businesses that we enter into will be successful or meet our expectations without encountering difficulties or that any such difficulties will not adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our investments in co-investment vehicles, joint ventures and minority interests may subject us to risks and liabilities that we would not otherwise face.
We have and may continue to develop and acquire properties in joint ventures with other persons or entities when circumstances warrant the use of these structures. In 2020, we formed the Ventas Investment Management Platform to consolidate our private capital management capabilities, which includes our Ventas Life Science and Healthcare Real Estate Fund, L.P. (the “Ventas Fund”), our joint venture with GIC and other partnerships with institutional capital vehicles, under a single platform. As of December 31, 2020, we had over $3 billion in assets under management in this platform. In the future, we may enter into additional co-investments, partnerships and joint ventures, either through the Ventas Investment Management Platform or otherwise. We also own minority investments in properties and unconsolidated operating entities which entitle us to rights and protections typical of minority investments, but that inherently involve a lesser degree of control over business operations.
There can be no assurance that we will be able to form new co-investment vehicles or attract third-party investment through additional investments or otherwise. Further, there can be no assurance that we are able to realize value from such investments.
These ventures involve risks not present with respect to our wholly owned properties, including the following:
•We may be unable to take actions that are opposed by our partners under arrangements that require us to share decision-making authority over major decisions;
•For ventures in which we have a noncontrolling interest, our partners may take actions that we oppose;
•If our partners become bankrupt or otherwise fail to fund their share of required capital contributions, we may choose to or be required to contribute such capital;
•We may be subject to transfer restrictions that apply to our interest in the venture;
•Our partners may have business interests or goals that conflict with our business interests and goals, including the timing, terms and strategies for any investments, and what levels of debt to incur or carry;
•Our partners may have competing interests in our markets that could create conflicts of interest;
•We could experience an impasse on certain decisions where we do not have sole decision-making authority, which could require us to expend additional resources on resolving such impasses or potential disputes;
•Disagreements with our partners could result in litigation or arbitration;
•Our partners might become insolvent, fail to fund their share of required capital contributions or fail to fulfill their obligations as a partner, which may require us to infuse our own capital into the venture on behalf of the partner despite other competing uses for such capital; and
•We may suffer other losses as a result of actions taken by our partners with respect to our venture investments.
In some instances, our partners may have the right to cause us to sell our interest, or acquire our partner’s interest, at a time when we otherwise would not have initiated such a transaction. Our ability to acquire our partner’s interest will be limited
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if we do not have sufficient cash, available borrowing capacity or other capital resources.This would require us to sell our interest in the venture when we would otherwise prefer to retain it.
Additionally, certain ventures require Ventas to assume the role of managing member with increased duties to the partnership. In the event of certain events or conflicts, our partners may have recourse against Ventas, including monetary penalties, the ability to force a sale or exit the venture, as well as other remedies.
Development, redevelopment and construction risks could affect our profitability.
We invest in various development and redevelopment projects. In deciding whether to make an investment in a project, we make certain assumptions regarding the expected future performance of the property. Our assumptions are subject to risks generally associated with development and redevelopment projects, including, among others, that:
•Tenants may not lease space at the quantity or rental rate levels or on the schedule projected, including due to increased competition in the market and other market and economic conditions;
•We may not complete the project on schedule or within budgeted amounts;
•We may not be able to recognize rental revenue in some cases although cash rent is being paid and the lease has commenced;
•We may encounter delays in obtaining or we may fail to obtain all necessary zoning, land use, building, occupancy, environmental and other governmental permits and authorizations, or underestimate the costs necessary to develop or redevelop the property to market standards;
•We may be unable to obtain financing for the project on favorable terms or at all, including at the maturity of an applicable construction loan;
•Construction or other delays may provide tenants or residents the right to terminate preconstruction leases or cause us to incur additional costs, including through rent abatement;
•Volatility in the price of construction materials or labor may increase our project costs;
•In the case of our MOB and R&I developments, hospitals, health systems, or university partners may maintain significant decision-making authority with respect to the development schedule;
•Our builders or development managers may fail to perform or satisfy the expectations of our clients or prospective clients; and
•We may incorrectly forecast risks associated with development in new geographic regions, including new markets where we may not have sufficient depth of market knowledge.
If any of the risks described above occur, our development and redevelopment projects may not yield anticipated returns, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face potential adverse consequences from the bankruptcy, insolvency or financial deterioration of our tenants, borrowers, managers and other obligors.
We lease our properties to unaffiliated tenants or operate them through independent third-party managers. We are also a direct or indirect lender to various tenants and managers. We have limited control over the success or failure of our tenants’, borrowers’ and managers’ businesses, and, at any time, a tenant, borrower or manager may experience a downturn in its business that weakens its financial condition. If that happens, the tenant, borrower or manager may fail to make its payments to us when due. Although our lease, loan and management agreements give us the right to exercise certain remedies in the event of default on the obligations owing to us, we may decide not to exercise those remedies if we believe that enforcement of our rights would be more detrimental to our business than seeking alternative approaches. We may also decide not to enforce other contractual protections, such as annual rent escalators, or the properties may not generate sufficient revenue to achieve the specified rent escalation parameters, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. This risk could be exacerbated by new laws and regulations enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic that limit our ability to enforce contractual escalators against tenants affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A downturn in any one of our tenants’, borrowers’ or managers’ businesses could ultimately lead to its bankruptcy if it is unable to timely resolve the underlying causes, which may be largely outside of its control. Bankruptcy and insolvency laws afford certain rights to a party that has filed for bankruptcy or reorganization that may render certain of our rights and remedies unenforceable, or, at the least, delay our ability to pursue such rights and remedies and realize any recoveries in connection therewith. For example, we cannot evict a tenant solely because of its bankruptcy filing. Additionally, a debtor-lessee may reject our lease in a bankruptcy proceeding, and any claim we have for unpaid rent might not be paid in full. We also may be required to fund certain expenses and obligations (e.g., real estate taxes, debt costs and maintenance expenses) to preserve the value of our properties, avoid the imposition of liens on our properties or transition our properties to a new tenant or manager.
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Bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings may result in increased costs and significant management distraction. If we are unable to transition affected properties efficiently and effectively, such properties could experience prolonged operational disruption, leading to lower occupancy rates and further depressed revenues. Publicity about a tenant’s, borrowers’ or manager’s financial condition and insolvency proceedings may also negatively impact their and our reputations, which could result in decreased customer demand and revenues. Any or all of these risks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These risks would be magnified where we lease multiple properties to a single third party under a master lease, as a failure or default under a master lease would expose us to these risks across multiple properties.
We own certain properties subject to ground lease, air rights or other restrictive agreements that limit our uses of the properties, restrict our ability to sell or otherwise transfer the properties and expose us to loss of the properties if such agreements are breached by us or terminated.
Our investments in MOBs, R&I buildings and facilities as well as other properties may be made through leasehold interests in the land on which the buildings are located, leases of air rights for the space above the land on which the buildings are located, or other similar restrictive arrangements. Many of these ground lease, air rights and other restrictive agreements impose significant limitations on our uses of the subject properties, restrict our ability to sell or otherwise transfer our interests in the properties or restrict the leasing of the properties. These restrictions may limit our ability to timely sell or exchange the properties, impair the properties’ value or negatively impact our ability to find suitable tenants for the properties. In addition, we could lose our interests in the subject properties if the ground lease, air rights or other restrictive agreements are breached by us or terminated.
Environmental, Economic and Market Risks
Increased construction and development in the markets in which our properties are located could adversely affect our future occupancy rates, operating margins and profitability.
The oversupply of healthcare real estate could adversely affect our business. In many jurisdictions, limited barriers to entry could lead to the development of new properties that outpaces demand across our various asset classes. If existing supply and development collectively outpaces demand for those assets in the markets in which our properties are located, those markets may become saturated and we could experience decreased occupancy, reduced operating margins and lower profitability, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
General economic conditions and other events or occurrences that affect areas in which our properties are geographically concentrated may impact financial results.
We are exposed to general economic conditions, local, regional, national and international economic conditions and other events and occurrences that affect the markets in which we own properties. Our operating performance is impacted by the economic conditions of the specific markets in which we have concentrations of properties and could be adversely affected if conditions become less favorable in any such markets. For example, a shortage of skilled workers in a particular region, including nurses or other trained personnel, may force our third-party managers to enhance their pay and benefits package to compete effectively for such personnel, but such managers may not be able to offset these added costs by increasing the rates charged to residents, which may result in less revenue to our business.
A substantial portion of our value is derived from properties in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania and Illinois, and as a result, we are subject to increased exposure to adverse conditions affecting these regions, including downturns in the local economies or changes in local real estate conditions, changing demographics, increased construction and competition or decreased demand for our properties, regional climate events and changes in state-specific legislation, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
To the extent that we or our tenants, borrowers and managers are unable to navigate successfully the trends impacting our or their businesses and the industries in which we or they operate, we may be adversely affected.
Our tenants, borrowers and managers include senior housing operators, hospitals, post-acute facilities and other healthcare systems, medical offices and life sciences and technology companies that are subject to a complex set of trends affecting their businesses and the industries in which they operate. If we or they are unable to successfully navigate such trends, our business, financial condition and results of operators could be adversely affected.
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There have been, and could be additional, advances or changes in technology, payment models, healthcare delivery models, regulation or consumer behavior or perception that could over time reduce demand for on-site activities provided at our properties. For example, the effects of shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders, including remote work arrangements for an extended period of time, could broadly impact market demand for real estate and could cause long term structural changes in the marketplace. If our tenants and managers are not able to adapt to long-term changes in demand, their financial condition could be materially impacted, and our business could suffer. In addition, our tenants, borrowers and managers face an increasingly competitive labor market, which has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. An inability to attract and retain trained personnel could negatively impact the ability of our tenants, borrowers and managers to meet their obligations to us. A shortage of care givers or other trained personnel, union activities, minimum wage laws, or general inflationary pressures on wages may force tenants, borrowers and managers to enhance pay and benefits packages to compete effectively for skilled personnel, or to use more expensive contract personnel, but they may be unable to offset these added costs by increasing the rates charged to residents.
Additionally, controls imposed by Medicare, Medicaid and commercial third-party payors designed to reduce admissions and lengths of stay, commonly referred to as “utilization reviews,” have affected and are expected to continue to affect certain of our tenants, specifically acute care hospitals and post-acute facilities. Telehealth and increased use of home healthcare may also reduce demand for activities at our properties. The U.S. Congress and certain state legislatures have introduced and passed a number of proposals and legislation designed to make major changes in the healthcare system, including changes that directly or indirectly affect reimbursement. Several of these laws, including the Affordable Care Act, have promoted shifting from traditional fee-for-service reimbursement models to alternative payment models that tie reimbursement to quality and cost of care, such as accountable care organizations and bundled payments. See “Government Regulation—United States Healthcare Regulation, Licensing and Enforcement” included in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report. These and other trends could significantly and adversely affect the profitability of these tenants, which could affect their ability to make rental payments to us or their willingness to renew their leases on terms that are as favorable to us, or at all.
The hospitals on or near the campuses where our MOBs are located and their affiliated health systems could fail to remain competitive or financially viable, which could adversely impact their ability to attract physicians and physician groups to our MOBs and our other properties that serve the healthcare industry.
Our MOBs and other properties that serve the healthcare industry depend on the competitiveness and financial viability of the hospitals on or near the campuses where our properties are located and their ability to attract physicians and other healthcare-related clients to our properties. The viability of these hospitals, in turn, depends on factors such as the quality and mix of healthcare services provided, competition for patients, physicians and physician groups, demographic trends in the surrounding community, market position and growth potential as well as the ability of the affiliated health systems to provide economies of scale and access to capital. If a hospital on or near the campus where one of our properties is located fails or becomes unable to meet its financial obligations, and if an affiliated health system is unable to support that hospital, that hospital may be unable to compete successfully or could be forced to close or relocate, which could adversely impact its ability to attract physicians and other healthcare-related clients. Because we rely on proximity to and affiliations with hospitals to create leasing demand in our properties, a hospital’s inability to remain competitive or financially viable, or to attract physicians and physician groups, could adversely affect our properties and our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our life science, R&I tenants face unique levels of regulation, expense and uncertainty.
Our life science, R&I tenants develop and sell products and services in an industry that is characterized by rapid and significant changes, evolving industry standards and uncertainty over the implementation of new healthcare reform legislation, which may cause them to lose competitive positions and adversely affect their operation. These tenants, particularly those involved in developing and marketing pharmaceutical products, require significant outlays of funds for the research and development, clinical testing, manufacture and commercialization of their products and technologies, as well as to fund their obligations, including rent payments due to us, and our tenants’ ability to raise capital depends on the viability of their products and technologies, their financial and operating condition and outlook, and the overall financial, banking and economic environment. If private investors, the federal government, universities, public markets or other sources of funding are unavailable to support such development, including as a result of general economic conditions, adverse market conditions or government shutdowns that limit our tenants’ ability to raise capital, such as those resulting from the current COVID-19 pandemic, a tenant may not be able to pay rent on the terms agreed or at all, its business may fail and in certain cases, its lease may automatically terminate without any further obligation to pay us rent.
Additionally, the research and development, clinical testing, manufacture and marketing of some of our tenants’ products require federal, state and foreign regulatory approvals. The approval process is typically long, expensive and uncertain. Even if our tenants have sufficient funds to seek approvals, one or all of their products may fail to obtain the
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required regulatory approvals on a timely basis or at all. Furthermore, our tenants may only have a small number of products under development. If one product fails to receive the required approvals at any stage of development, it could significantly adversely affect such tenant’s entire business and its ability to pay rent. Our tenants depend on the commercial success of certain products, and they may be unable to manufacture their products successfully or economically; may be unable to adapt to the rapid technological advances in the industry and to adequately protect their intellectual property under patent, copyright or trade secret laws or may face expiration of patent protection; may be faced with later discovery of safety concerns; may face competition from new products; or may not receive acceptance of their products.
We cannot assure you that any of our life science, R&I tenants will be successful in their businesses. Any tenant that is unable to avoid, or sufficiently mitigate, the risks described above may have difficulty making rental payments or satisfying its other lease obligations to us or may have difficulty maintaining the value of our investment, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Merger, acquisition and investment activity in our industries resulting in a change of control of, or a competitor’s investment in, one or more of our tenants, borrowers or managers could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The seniors housing and healthcare industries have experienced and may continue to experience consolidation, including among owners of real estate, tenants and care providers. In connection with any change of control of a tenant, borrower or manager, such tenant’s, borrower’s or manager’s strategy, financial condition, management team or real estate needs may change, any of which could adversely affect our relationship with such party and our revenues and results of operations. In addition, a competitor’s investment in one of our tenants, borrowers or managers could enable our competitor to directly or indirectly influence that tenant’s, borrower’s or manager’s business and strategy in a manner that impairs our relationship with the tenant, borrower or manager or is otherwise adverse to our interests. Depending on our contractual agreements and the specific facts and circumstances, we may not have the right to consent to a competitor’s investment in, a change of control of, or other transactions impacting a tenant, borrower or manager.
Damage from catastrophic or extreme weather and other natural events and the physical effects of climate change could result in losses to the Company.
Certain of our properties are in areas particularly susceptible to revenue loss, cost increase or damage caused by catastrophic or extreme weather and other natural events, including fires, snow or ice storms, windstorms or hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding or other severe weather. These adverse weather and natural events could cause substantial damages or losses to our properties which could exceed our or our tenants’, borrowers’ or managers’ property insurance coverage. Operationally, such events could cause a major power outage, leading to a disruption of our systems and operations. In the event of a loss in excess of insured limits, we could lose our capital invested in the affected property, as well as anticipated future revenue from that property. Any such loss could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Climate change may also have indirect effects on our business by increasing the cost of (or making unavailable) property insurance on terms we find acceptable.
To the extent that significant changes in the climate occur in areas where our properties are located, we may experience extreme weather and changes in precipitation and temperature, all of which may result in physical damage to or a decrease in demand for properties located in these areas or affected by these conditions. Should the impact of climate change be material in nature, including destruction of our properties, or occur for lengthy periods of time, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be adversely affected.
In addition, changes in federal and state legislation and regulation on climate change could result in increased capital expenditures to improve the energy efficiency of our existing properties and could also require us to spend more on our new development properties without a corresponding increase in revenue.
Our Capital Structure Risks
We may become more leveraged.
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $11.9 billion of outstanding indebtedness. The instruments governing our existing indebtedness permit us to incur substantial additional debt, including secured debt, and we may satisfy our capital and liquidity needs through additional borrowings. A high level of indebtedness would require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to the payment of debt service, thereby reducing the funds available to
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implement our business strategy and make distributions to stockholders. A high level of indebtedness on an absolute basis or as a ratio to our cash flow could also have the following consequences:
•Potential limits on our ability to adjust rapidly to changing market conditions and vulnerability in the event of a downturn in general economic conditions or in the real estate or healthcare industries;
•Potential impairment of our ability to obtain additional financing to execute on our business strategy; and
•Potential downgrade in the rating of our debt securities by one or more rating agencies, which could have the effect of, among other things, limiting our access to capital and increasing our cost of borrowing.
In addition, from time to time, we mortgage certain of our properties to secure payment of indebtedness. If we are unable to meet our mortgage payments, then the encumbered properties could be foreclosed upon or transferred to the mortgagee with a resulting loss of income and asset value.
We are highly dependent on access to the capital markets. Limitations on our ability to access capital could have an adverse effect on us, including our ability to make required payments on our debt obligations, make distributions to our stockholders or make future investments necessary to implement our business strategy.
We cannot assure you that we will be able to raise the capital necessary to meet our debt service obligations, make distributions to our stockholders or make future investments necessary to implement our business strategy, if our cash flow from operations is insufficient to satisfy these needs, and the failure to do so could adversely affect our business. We cannot assure you that conditions in the capital markets will not deteriorate or that our access to capital and other sources of funding will not become constrained, which could adversely affect the availability and terms of future borrowings, renewals or refinancings and our results of operations and financial condition. If we cannot access capital at an acceptable cost or at all, we may be required to liquidate one or more investments in properties at times that may not permit us to maximize the return on those investments or that could result in adverse tax consequences to us.
As a public company, our access to debt and equity capital depends, in part, on the trading prices of our senior notes and common stock, which, in turn, depend upon market conditions that change from time to time, such as the market’s perception of our financial condition, our growth potential and our current and expected future earnings and cash distributions. Our failure to meet the market’s expectation regarding future earnings and cash distributions or a significant downgrade in the ratings assigned to our long-term debt could impact our ability to access capital or increase our borrowing costs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused, and is likely to continue to cause, severe economic, market and other disruptions worldwide. We cannot assure you that conditions in the bank lending, capital and other financial markets will not continue to deteriorate as a result of the pandemic, or that our access to capital and other sources of funding will not become constrained, which could adversely affect the availability and terms of future borrowings, renewals or refinancings. The continuance of decreased revenue and NOI as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to downgrades of our long-term credit rating. Such future downgrades could increase our borrowing costs, which would make it more difficult or expensive to obtain additional financing or refinance existing obligations and commitments. In addition, the deterioration of global economic conditions as a result of the pandemic has decreased occupancy levels and pricing across our portfolio as senior residents and tenants reduce or defer their spending.
We also rely on the financial institutions that are parties to our revolving credit facilities. If these institutions become capital constrained, tighten their lending standards or become insolvent or if they experience excessive volumes of borrowing requests from other borrowers within a short period of time, they may be unable or unwilling to honor their funding commitments to us, which would adversely affect our ability to draw on our revolving credit facilities and, over time, could negatively impact our ability to consummate acquisitions, repay indebtedness as it matures, fund capital expenditures or make distributions to our stockholders.
We may be adversely affected by fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
Our ownership of properties in Canada and the United Kingdom currently subjects us to fluctuations in the exchange rates between U.S. dollars and Canadian dollars or the British pound, which may, from time to time, impact our financial condition and results of operations. If we continue to expand our international presence through investments in, or acquisitions or development of, senior housing or healthcare assets outside the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom, we may transact business in other foreign currencies. Although we may pursue hedging alternatives, including borrowing in local
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currencies, to protect against foreign currency fluctuations, we cannot assure you that such fluctuations will not adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are exposed to increases in interest rates, which could reduce our profitability and adversely impact our ability to refinance existing debt, sell assets or engage in acquisition, investment, development and redevelopment activity, and our decision to hedge against interest rate risk might not be effective.
We receive a significant portion of our revenues by leasing assets under long-term triple-net leases that generally provide for fixed rental rates subject to annual escalations, while certain of our debt obligations are floating rate obligations with interest and related payments that vary with the movement of LIBOR, Bankers’ Acceptance or other indexes. The generally fixed rate nature of a significant portion of our revenues and the variable rate nature of certain of our debt obligations create interest rate risk. Although our operating assets provide a partial hedge against interest rate fluctuations, if interest rates rise, the costs of our existing floating rate debt and any new debt that we incur would increase. These increased costs could reduce our profitability, impair our ability to meet our debt obligations, or increase the cost of financing our acquisition, investment, development and redevelopment activity. An increase in interest rates also could limit our ability to refinance existing debt upon maturity or cause us to pay higher rates upon refinancing, as well as decrease the amount that third parties are willing to pay for our assets, thereby limiting our ability to promptly reposition our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions.
We may seek to manage our exposure to interest rate volatility with hedging arrangements that involve additional risks, including the risks that counterparties may fail to honor their obligations under these arrangements, that these arrangements may not be effective in reducing our exposure to interest rate changes, that the amount of income we earn from hedging transactions may be limited by federal tax provisions governing REITs, and that these arrangements may cause us to pay higher interest rates on our debt obligations than otherwise would be the case. Moreover, no amount of hedging activity can fully insulate us from the risks associated with changes in interest rates. Failure to hedge effectively against interest rate risk, if we choose to engage in such activities, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in the method pursuant to which the LIBOR rates are determined and potential phasing out of LIBOR may affect our financial results.
LIBOR and certain other interest “benchmarks” may be subject to regulatory guidance and/or reform that could cause interest rates under our current or future debt agreements to perform differently than in the past or cause other unanticipated consequences. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, has announced that it intends to stop encouraging or requiring banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR rates after 2021. While there is no consensus on what rate or rates may become accepted alternatives to LIBOR, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of U.S. financial market participants, selected the Secured Overnight Finance Rate (“SOFR”) as an alternative to LIBOR. SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash in the overnight U.S. treasury repo market, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York started to publish the SOFR in May 2018. At this time, it is impossible to predict whether the SOFR or another reference rate will become an accepted alternative to LIBOR. The discontinuation, reform or replacement of LIBOR or any other benchmark rates may have an unpredictable impact on contractual mechanics in the credit markets or cause disruption to the broader financial markets, and could have an adverse effect on LIBOR-based interest rates on our current or future debt obligations.
Covenants in the instruments governing our and our subsidiaries’ existing indebtedness limit our operational flexibility, and a covenant breach could materially adversely affect our operations.
The terms of the instruments governing our existing indebtedness require us to comply with certain customary financial and other covenants, such as maintaining debt service coverage, leverage ratios and minimum net worth requirements. Our continued ability to incur additional debt and to conduct business in general is subject to our compliance with these covenants, which limit our operational flexibility. Breaches of these covenants could result in defaults under the applicable debt instruments and could trigger defaults under any of our other indebtedness that is cross-defaulted against such instruments, even if we satisfy our payment obligations. In addition, covenants contained in the instruments governing our subsidiaries’ outstanding mortgage indebtedness may restrict our ability to obtain cash distributions from such subsidiaries for the purpose of meeting our debt service obligations. Financial and other covenants that limit our operational flexibility, as well as defaults resulting from our breach of any of these covenants, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Our Legal, Compliance and Regulatory Risks
Significant legal or regulatory proceedings could subject us or our tenants or managers to increased operating costs and substantial uninsured liabilities, which could materially adversely affect our or their liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time, we or our tenants or managers may be subject to lawsuits, investigations, claims and other legal or regulatory proceedings arising out of our alleged actions or the alleged actions of our tenants and managers. These claims may include, among other things, professional liability and general liability claims, commercial liability claims, unfair business practices claims and employment claims, as well as regulatory proceedings, including proceedings related to our senior living operations, where we are typically the holder of the applicable healthcare license.
In our operating assets, including those in our senior living operations and office segments, we are generally responsible for all liabilities of such properties, including any lawsuits, investigations, claims and other legal or regulatory proceedings, other than those arising out of certain actions by our managers, such as those caused by gross negligence or willful misconduct. As a result, we have exposure to, among other things, professional and general liability claims, employment law claims and the associated litigation and other costs related to defending and resolving such claims. In our senior living operations in particular, if one of our managers fails to comply with applicable law or regulation, we may be deemed responsible, which could subject us to the imposition of civil, criminal and administrative penalties, including: the loss or suspension of accreditation, licenses or CONs; suspension of or non-payment for new admissions; denial of reimbursement; fines; suspension, decertification, or exclusion from federal and state healthcare programs; or facility closure.
In certain circumstances, our tenants or managers may be contractually obligated to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless in whole or in part with respect to certain actions, legal or regulatory proceedings. In addition, third parties from whom we acquired certain of our assets and, in some cases, their affiliates may be required by the terms of the related conveyance documents to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless against certain actions, investigations and claims related to the acquired assets and arising prior to our ownership or related to excluded assets and liabilities. In some cases, a portion of the purchase price consideration is held in escrow for a specified period of time as collateral for these indemnification obligations. We cannot assure you that these third parties will be able to satisfy their defense and indemnification obligations to us or that any purchase price consideration held in escrow will be sufficient to satisfy claims for which we are entitled to indemnification.
An unfavorable resolution of any such lawsuit, investigation, claims or other legal or regulatory proceeding could materially adversely affect our or our tenants’ or managers’ liquidity, financial condition and results of operations, and may not be subject to sufficient insurance coverage. In addition, even with a favorable resolution of any such litigation or proceeding, the effect of litigation and other potential litigation and proceedings may materially increase operating costs incurred by us or our tenants or managers. Negative publicity with respect to any lawsuits, claims or other legal or regulatory proceedings may also negatively impact their or our or the properties’ reputation.
The COVID-19 pandemic may cause our senior housing and healthcare business to face increased exposure to lawsuits or other legal or regulatory proceedings filed at the same time across multiple jurisdictions, such as professional or general liability litigation alleging wrongful death and negligence claims, some of which may result in large damage awards and not be indemnified or subject to sufficient insurance coverage, may require our support as a result of our indemnification agreements or may result in restrictions in the operations of our or our tenants’ or managers’ business.
We and our tenants, borrowers and managers may be adversely affected by regulation and enforcement.
We and our tenants, borrowers and managers are subject to or impacted by extensive and frequently changing federal, state, local and international laws and regulations. For example, the healthcare industry is subject to laws and regulations that relate to, among other things, licensure and CON, conduct of operations, ownership of facilities, construction of new facilities and addition of equipment, governmental reimbursement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, allowable costs, services, prices for services, qualified beneficiaries, appropriateness and classification of care, patient rights, resident health and safety, data privacy and security laws, wage and hour laws, fraud and abuse and financial and other arrangements that may be entered into by healthcare providers. We generally hold the applicable healthcare licenses and enroll in applicable government healthcare programs on behalf of the properties in our senior living operations segment, which subjects us to potential liability under certain of such related healthcare laws and regulations. See “Government Regulation—United States Healthcare Regulation, Licensing and Enforcement” included in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report. In addition, many of our R&I tenants
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are subject to laws and regulations that govern the research, development, clinical testing, manufacture and marketing of drugs, medical devices and similar products.
The laws and regulations that apply to us and our tenants, borrowers and managers are complex and may change rapidly, and efforts to comply and keep up with them require significant resources. Any changes in scope, interpretation or enforcement of the regulatory framework could require us or our tenants, borrowers or managers to invest significant resources responding to such changes. If we or our tenants, borrowers or managers fail to comply with the extensive laws, regulations and other requirements applicable to our or their businesses and the operation of our or their properties, we or they could face a number of remedial actions, including forced closure, loss of accreditation, bans on admissions of new patients or residents, imposition of fines, ineligibility to receive reimbursement from governmental and private third-party payor programs or civil or criminal penalties. In any such event, our and our tenants’, borrowers’ and managers’ respective businesses, results of operations (including results of properties) and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Our investments may expose us to unknown liabilities.
We may acquire or invest in properties or businesses that are subject to liabilities and without any recourse, or with only limited recourse, against the prior owners or other third parties with respect to unknown liabilities. As a result, if a liability were asserted against us based upon ownership of those properties, we might have to pay substantial sums to settle or contest it, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow.
We may assume or incur liabilities, including, in some cases, contingent liabilities, and be exposed to actual or potential claims in connection with our acquisitions that adversely affect us, such as:
•Liabilities relating to the clean-up or remediation of environmental conditions;
•Unasserted claims of vendors or other persons dealing with the sellers;
•Liabilities, claims and litigation, including indemnification obligations, whether incurred in the ordinary course of business, relating to periods prior to or following our acquisition;
•Claims for indemnification by general partners, directors, officers and others indemnified by the sellers; and
•Liabilities for taxes relating to periods prior to our acquisition.
If the liabilities we assume in connection with acquisitions are greater than expected, or if we discover obligations relating to the acquired properties or businesses of which we were not aware at the time of acquisition, our business and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We could incur substantial liabilities and costs if any of our properties are found to be contaminated with hazardous substances or we become involved in any environmental disputes.
Under federal and state environmental laws and regulations, a current or former owner of real property may be liable for costs related to the investigation, removal and remediation of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum that are released from or are present at or under, or that are disposed of in connection with such property. Owners of real property may also face other environmental liabilities, including government fines and penalties imposed by regulatory authorities and damages for injuries to persons, property or natural resources. Environmental laws and regulations often impose liability without regard to whether the owner was aware of, or was responsible for, the presence, release or disposal of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum. In certain circumstances, environmental liability may result from the activities of a current or former operator of the property. Although we generally have indemnification rights against the current tenants of our properties for contamination caused by them, such indemnification may not adequately cover all environmental costs. See “Government Regulation—Environmental Regulation” included in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report.
The occurrence of cyber incidents could disrupt our operations, result in the loss of confidential information or damage our business relationships and reputation.
Cybersecurity incidents and cyber-attacks have been occurring globally at a more frequent and severe level and will likely continue to increase in frequency in the future. As our reliance on technology has increased, our business is subject to greater risk from cyber incidents, including attempts to gain unauthorized access to our or our managers’ or venture partners’ systems to disrupt operations, corrupt data or steal confidential information, and other electronic security breaches. While we,
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our managers and our business partners have implemented measures to help mitigate these threats, such measures cannot guarantee that we or they will be successful in preventing a cyber incident. Our information technology networks and related systems are essential to our ability to perform day-to-day operations of our business and the occurrence of a cyber incident could result in a data center outage, disrupting our systems and operations, or the operations of our managers or business partners, compromise the confidential information of our employees, partners or the residents in our senior housing communities, and damage our business relationships and reputation. Although we have implemented various measures to manage risks relating to these types of events, such systems could prove to be inadequate and, if compromised, could become inoperable for extended periods of time, cease to function properly or fail to adequately secure private information. We do not control the cybersecurity plans and systems put in place by third-party providers, and such third-party providers may have limited indemnification obligations to us, which could cause us to be negatively impacted as a result. Breaches such as those involving covertly introduced malware, impersonation of authorized users and industrial or other espionage may not be identified even with sophisticated prevention and detection systems, potentially resulting in further harm and preventing them from being addressed appropriately. The failure of these systems or of disaster recovery plans for any reason could cause significant interruptions in our operations and result in a failure to maintain the security, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data, including personal information, material nonpublic information and intellectual property and trade secrets and other sensitive information in our possession. We could be required to make a significant investment to remedy the effects of any such failures, including but not limited to harm to our reputation, legal claims that we and our partners may be subjected to, regulatory or enforcement action arising out of applicable privacy and other laws, adverse publicity, or other events that may affect our business and financial performance.
The amount and scope of insurance coverage provided by our policies and policies maintained by our tenants, managers or other counterparties may not adequately insure against losses.
We maintain or require in our lease, management and other agreements that our tenants, managers or other counterparties maintain comprehensive insurance coverage on our properties and their operations with terms, conditions, limits and deductibles that we believe are customary for similarly situated companies in each industry. Although we frequently review our insurance programs and requirements, we cannot assure you that we or our tenants, managers or other counterparties, will be able to procure or maintain adequate levels of insurance. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of insurance is expected to increase, and such insurance may not cover certain claims related to COVID-19. We also cannot assure you that we or our tenants, managers or other counterparties will maintain the insurance coverage required under our lease, management and other agreements, that we will continue to require the same levels of insurance under our lease, management and other agreements, that such insurance will be available at a reasonable cost in the future or at all or that the policies maintained will fully cover all losses on our properties upon the occurrence of a catastrophic event. Furthermore, we cannot make any guaranty as to the future financial viability of the insurers that underwrite our policies and the policies maintained by our tenants, managers and other counterparties. If we sustain losses in excess of our insurance coverage, we may be required to pay the difference and we could lose our investment in, or experience reduced profits and cash flows from our operations.
In certain cases, we and our tenants and managers may be subject to professional liability, general liability, employment, premise, privacy, environmental, unfair business practice and contracts claims brought by plaintiffs’ attorneys seeking significant damages and attorneys’ fees, some of which may not be insured or indemnified and some of which may result in significant damage awards. Due to the historically high frequency and severity of professional liability claims against senior housing and healthcare providers, the availability of professional liability insurance has decreased and the premiums on such insurance coverage remain costly. In addition, insurance for other claims such as wage and hour, certain environmental, privacy and unfair business practices may no longer be available, and the premiums on such insurance coverage, to the extent it is available, remain costly. As a result, insurance protection against such claims may not be sufficient to cover all claims against us or our tenants or managers and may not be available at a reasonable cost or otherwise on terms that provide adequate coverage. If we or our tenants and managers are unable to maintain adequate insurance coverage or are required to pay damages, we or they may be exposed to substantial liabilities and the adverse impact on our or our tenants’ and managers’ respective financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be material, and could adversely affect our tenants’ and managers’ ability to meet their obligations to us.
Additionally, we and those of our tenants and managers who self-insure or who transfer risk of losses to a wholly owned captive insurance company could incur large funded and unfunded property and liability expenses, which could materially adversely affect theirs or our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
Failure to maintain effective internal controls could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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Pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we are required to provide a report by management on internal control over financial reporting, including management’s assessment of the effectiveness of such control. Because of its inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error, the circumvention or overriding of controls, or fraud, effective internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatement and can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls over financial reporting and our operating internal controls, including any failure to implement required new or improved controls as a result of changes to our business or otherwise, or if we experience difficulties in their implementation, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected and we could fail to meet our reporting obligations.
Our REIT Status Risks
Loss of our status as a REIT would have significant adverse consequences for us and the value of our common stock.
If we lose our status as a REIT (currently or with respect to any tax years for which the statute of limitations has not expired), we will face serious tax consequences that will substantially reduce the funds available to satisfy our obligations, to implement our business strategy and to make distributions to our stockholders for each of the years involved because:
•We would not be allowed a deduction for distributions to stockholders in computing our taxable income and would be subject to regular U.S. federal corporate income tax;
•We could be subject to increased state and local taxes; and
•Unless we are entitled to relief under statutory provisions, we could not elect to be subject to tax as a REIT for four taxable years following the year during which we were disqualified.
In addition, in such event we would no longer be required to pay dividends to maintain REIT status, which could adversely affect the value of our common stock.
Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) for which there are only limited judicial and administrative interpretations. The determination of factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control, as well as new legislation, regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions, may adversely affect our investors or our ability to remain qualified as a REIT for tax purposes. In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must satisfy a number of requirements, generally including requirements regarding the ownership of our stock, requirements regarding the composition of our assets, a requirement that at least 95% of our gross income in any year must be derived from qualifying sources, and we must make distributions to our stockholders aggregating annually at least 90% of our net taxable income, excluding capital gains. Although we believe that we currently qualify as a REIT, we cannot assure you that we will continue to qualify for all future periods.
The 90% distribution requirement will decrease our liquidity and may limit our ability to engage in otherwise beneficial transactions.
To comply with the 90% distribution requirement applicable to REITs and to avoid the nondeductible excise tax, we must make distributions to our stockholders. Such distributions reduce the funds we have available to finance our investment, acquisition, development and redevelopment activity and may limit our ability to engage in transactions that are otherwise in the best interests of our stockholders.
From time to time, we may not have sufficient cash or other liquid assets to satisfy the REIT distribution requirements. For example, timing differences between the actual receipt of income and actual payment of deductible expenses, on the one hand, and the inclusion of that income and deduction of those expenses in arriving at our taxable income, on the other hand, or non-deductible expenses such as principal amortization or repayments or capital expenditures in excess of non-cash deductions may prevent us from having sufficient cash or liquid assets to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement.
In the event that timing differences occur or we decide to retain cash or to distribute such greater amount as may be necessary to avoid income and excise taxation, we may seek to borrow funds, issue additional equity securities, pay taxable stock dividends, distribute other property or securities or engage in a transaction intended to enable us to meet the REIT distribution requirements. Any of these actions may require us to raise additional capital to meet our obligations; however, see “—Our Capital Structure Risks—We are highly dependent on access to the capital markets. Limitations on our ability to access capital could have an adverse effect on us, including our ability to make required payments on our debt obligations, make
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distributions to our stockholders or make future investments necessary to implement our business strategy.” The terms of the instruments governing our existing indebtedness restrict our ability to engage in certain of these transactions.
To preserve our qualification as a REIT, our certificate of incorporation contains ownership limits with respect to our capital stock that may delay, defer or prevent a change of control of our company.
To assist us in preserving our qualification as a REIT, our certificate of incorporation provides that if a person acquires beneficial ownership of more than 9.0% of our outstanding common stock or more than 9.9% of our outstanding preferred stock, the shares that are beneficially owned in excess of the applicable limit are considered “excess shares” and are automatically deemed transferred to a trust for the benefit of a charitable institution or other qualifying organization selected by our Board of Directors. The trust is entitled to all dividends with respect to the excess shares and the trustee may exercise all voting power over the excess shares. In addition, we have the right to purchase the excess shares for a price equal to the lesser of (i) the price per share in the transaction that created the excess shares or (ii) the market price on the day we purchase the shares. If we do not purchase the excess shares, the trustee of the trust is required to transfer the shares at the direction of our Board of Directors. These ownership limits could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or might otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
Our use of TRSs is limited under the Code.
Under the Code, no more than 20% of the value of the gross assets of a REIT may be represented by securities of one or more TRSs. This limitation may affect our ability to increase the size of our TRSs’ operations and assets, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the applicable limitation, or that such compliance will not adversely affect our business. Also, our TRSs may not, among other things, operate or manage certain healthcare facilities, which may cause us to forgo investments we might otherwise make. Finally, we may be subject to a 100% excise tax on the income derived from certain transactions with our TRSs that are not on an arm's-length basis. We believe our arrangements with our TRSs are on arm's-length terms and intend to continue to operate in a manner that allows us to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to avoid application of that tax.
Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities (including investing in our tenants) or liquidate otherwise attractive investments.
To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our common stock. In order to meet these tests, we may be required to forego investments we might otherwise make (including investments in our tenants) or to liquidate otherwise attractive investments. This limited investment scope could also lead to financial risks or limit our flexibility during times of operating instability.
The lease of qualified healthcare properties to a TRS is subject to special requirements.
We lease certain healthcare properties to TRSs, which lessees contract with third-party managers to manage the healthcare operations at these properties. The rents we receive from a TRS pursuant to this arrangement are treated as qualifying rents from real property if the healthcare property is a qualified healthcare property (as defined in the Code), the rents are paid pursuant to an arm’s-length lease with a TRS and the manager qualifies as an eligible independent contractor (as defined in the Code). We have structured the applicable leases and related arrangements in a manner intended to meet these requirements, but there can be no assurance that these conditions will be satisfied. If any of these conditions is not satisfied with respect to a particular lease, then the rents we receive with respect to such lease will not be qualifying rents, which could have an adverse effect on our ability to comply with REIT income tests and thus on our ability to qualify as a REIT unless we are able to avail ourselves of certain relief provisions.
The tax imposed on REITs engaging in “prohibited transactions” may limit our ability to engage in transactions which would be treated as sales for federal income tax purposes.
A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% penalty tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business, unless certain safe harbor exceptions apply. Although we do not intend to hold any properties that would be characterized as held for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our business, such characterization is a factual determination and no guarantee can be given that the IRS would agree with our characterization of our properties or that we will always be able to make use of the available safe harbors.
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Legislative or other actions affecting REITs could have a negative effect on our stockholders or us.
The rules dealing with federal income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department. Changes to the tax laws, with or without retroactive application, could adversely affect our investors or us. New legislation, U.S. Treasury Department regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions could significantly and negatively affect our ability to qualify as a REIT, the federal income tax consequences of such qualification, or the federal income tax consequences of an investment in us. Also, the law relating to the tax treatment of other entities, or an investment in other entities, could change, making an investment in such other entities more attractive relative to an investment in a REIT.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “2017 Tax Act”) significantly changed the U.S. federal income taxation of U.S. businesses and their owners, including REITs and their stockholders. The 2017 Tax Act is unclear in many respects and could be subject to potential amendments and technical corrections, as well as interpretations and implementing regulations by the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS, any of which could lessen or increase the impact of the 2017 Tax Act. In addition, it is unclear how these U.S. federal income tax changes will affect state and local taxation, which often use federal taxable income as a starting point for computing state and local tax liabilities.
ITEM 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
ITEM 2. Properties
Senior Housing and Healthcare Properties
As of December 31, 2020, we owned or managed through unconsolidated real estate entities approximately 1,200 properties (including properties classified as held for sale), consisting of senior housing communities, medical office buildings (“MOBs”), life science, research and innovation centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities (“IRFs”) and long-term acute care facilities (“LTACs”), and health systems. We had 13 properties under development, three of which are owned by unconsolidated real estate entities. We believe that maintaining a balanced portfolio of high-quality assets diversified by investment type, geographic location, asset type, tenant/operator, revenue source and operating model makes us less susceptible to single-state regulatory or reimbursement changes, regional climate events and local economic downturns and diminishes the risk that any single factor or event could materially harm our business.
As of December 31, 2020, we had $2.2 billion aggregate principal amount of mortgage loan and secured revolving construction credit facility indebtedness outstanding, secured by 80 of our properties. Excluding the portion of such indebtedness attributable to our joint venture partners, our share of mortgage loan and secured revolving construction credit facility indebtedness outstanding was $2.0 billion.
The following table provides additional information regarding the geographic diversification of our consolidated portfolio of properties as of December 31, 2020 (excluding properties owned through investments in unconsolidated real estate entities and properties classified as held for sale).
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Arkansas 4 302 — — 1 5 — — — — — —
District of Columbia — — — — 2 102 — — — — — —
Idaho 1 70 — — — — — — — — — —
Kansas 8 515 — — — — — — — — — —
Louisiana 1 58 — — 5 362 — — — — — —
Maine 6 452 — — — — — — — — — —
Mississippi — — — — 1 51 — — — — — —
Montana 3 222 — — — — — — — — — —
Nebraska 1 133 — — — — — — — — — —
New Hampshire 1 126 — — — — — — — — — —
South Dakota 4 182 — — — — — — — — — —
Utah 3 321 — — — — — — — — — —
West Virginia 2 123 4 326 — — — — — — — —
Wyoming 2 169 — — — — — — — — — —
Canada 74 13,943 — — — — — — — — — —
(1)Square Feet are in thousands. Totals may not foot due to rounding.
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Corporate Offices
Our headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois and we have an additional corporate office in Louisville, Kentucky. We lease all of our corporate offices.
ITEM 3. Legal Proceedings
The information contained in “Note 14 – Commitments and Contingencies” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report is incorporated by reference into this Item 3. Except as set forth therein, we are not a party to, nor is any of our property the subject of, any material pending legal proceedings.
ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
Our common stock, par value $0.25 per share, is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “VTR.” As of February 18, 2021, there were 374.7 million shares of our common stock outstanding, held by approximately 3,802 stockholders of record.
Dividends and Distributions
We pay regular quarterly dividends to holders of our common stock to comply with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), governing REITs. In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we are required under the Code, among other things, to distribute annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to any net capital gain. In addition, we will be subject to income tax at the regular corporate rate to the extent we distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, including any net capital gains. We expect to distribute at least 100% of our taxable net income, after the use of any net operating loss carryforwards, to our stockholders for 2021.
In general, our Board of Directors makes decisions regarding the nature, frequency and amount of our dividends on a quarterly basis. Because the Board considers many factors when making these decisions, including our present and future liquidity needs, our current and projected financial condition and results of operations and the performance and credit quality of our tenants, borrowers and managers, we cannot assure you that we will maintain the practice of paying regular quarterly dividends to continue to qualify as a REIT. Please see “Cautionary Statements” and the risk factors included in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report for a description of other factors that may affect our distribution policy.
Director and Employee Stock Sales
Certain of our directors, executive officers and other employees have adopted or, from time to time in the future, may adopt non-discretionary, written trading plans that comply with Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act, or otherwise monetize, gift or transfer their equity-based compensation. These transactions typically are conducted for estate, tax and financial planning purposes and are subject to compliance with our Amended and Restated Securities Trading Policy and Procedures (“Securities Trading Policy”), the minimum stock ownership requirements contained in our Guidelines on Governance and all applicable laws and regulations.
Our Securities Trading Policy expressly prohibits our directors, executive officers and employees from buying or selling derivatives with respect to our securities or other financial instruments that are designed to hedge or offset a decrease in the market value of our securities and from engaging in short sales with respect to our securities. In addition, our Securities Trading Policy prohibits our directors and executive officers from holding our securities in margin accounts or pledging our securities to secure loans without the prior approval of our Audit and Compliance Committee. Each of our directors and executive officers has advised us that he or she is in compliance with the Securities Trading Policy and has not pledged any of our equity securities to secure margin or other loans.
Stock Repurchases
The table below summarizes repurchases of our common stock made during the quarter ended December 31, 2020:
(1)Repurchases represent shares withheld to pay taxes on the vesting of restricted stock granted to employees under our 2006 Incentive Plan or 2012
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Incentive Plan or restricted stock units granted to employees under the Nationwide Health Properties, Inc. (“NHP”) 2005 Performance Incentive Plan and assumed by us in connection with our acquisition of NHP. The value of the shares withheld is the closing price of our common stock on the date the vesting or exercise occurred (or, if not a trading day, the immediately preceding trading day) or the fair market value of our common stock at the time of the exercise, as the case may be.
Stock Performance Graph
The following performance graph compares the cumulative total return (including dividends) to the holders of our common stock from December 31, 2015 through December 31, 2020, with the cumulative total returns of the NYSE Composite Index, the FTSE Nareit Composite REIT Index (the “Composite REIT Index”) and the S&P 500 Index over the same period. The comparison assumes $100 was invested on December 31, 2015 in our common stock and in each of the foregoing indexes and assumes reinvestment of dividends, as applicable. We have included the NYSE Composite Index in the performance graph because our common stock is listed on the NYSE, and we have included the S&P 500 Index because we are a member of the S&P 500. We have included the Composite REIT Index because we believe that it is most representative of the industries in which we compete, or otherwise provides a fair basis for comparison with us, and is therefore particularly relevant to an assessment of our performance. The figures in the table below are rounded to the nearest dollar.
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ITEM 6. Selected Financial Data
The selected financial data has been derived from our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report and previous Annual Reports. You should read the following selected financial data in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report and our Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report, as acquisitions, dispositions, changes in accounting policies and other items may impact the comparability of the financial data.
As of and For the Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
Operating Data
Per Share Data
Income from continuing operations:
Net income attributable to common stockholders:
Other Data
Balance Sheet Data
(1)We consider Funds From Operations attributable to common stockholders (“FFO”) and normalized FFO attributable to common stockholders to be appropriate supplemental measures of operating performance of an equity REIT. In particular, we believe that normalized FFO is useful because it allows investors, analysts and our management to compare our operating performance to the operating performance of other real estate companies and between periods on a consistent basis without having to account for differences caused by non-recurring items and other non-operational events such as transactions and litigation. In some cases, we provide information about identified non-cash components of FFO and normalized FFO because it allows investors, analysts and our management to assess the impact of those items on our financial results.
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FFO and normalized FFO presented in this Annual Report, or otherwise disclosed by us, may not be comparable to FFO and normalized FFO presented by other real estate companies due to the fact that not all real estate companies use the same definitions. FFO and normalized FFO should not be considered as alternatives to net income attributable to common stockholders (determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”)) as indicators of our financial performance or as alternatives to cash flow from operating activities (determined in accordance with GAAP) as measures of our liquidity, nor are FFO and normalized FFO necessarily indicative of sufficient cash flow to fund all of our needs.
We use the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“Nareit”) definition of FFO. Nareit defines FFO as net income attributable to common stockholders (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains or losses from sales of real estate property, including gains or losses on remeasurement of equity method investments, and impairment write-downs of depreciable real estate, plus real estate depreciation and amortization, and after adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures will be calculated to reflect FFO on the same basis. We define normalized FFO as FFO excluding the following income and expense items (which may be recurring in nature): (a) merger-related costs and expenses, including amortization of intangibles, transition and integration expenses, and deal costs and expenses, including expenses and recoveries relating to acquisition lawsuits; (b) the impact of any expenses related to asset impairment and valuation allowances, the write-off of unamortized deferred financing fees, or additional costs, expenses, discounts, make-whole payments, penalties or premiums incurred as a result of early retirement or payment of our debt; (c) the non-cash effect of income tax benefits or expenses, the non-cash impact of changes to our executive equity compensation plan, derivative transactions that have non-cash mark-to-market impacts on our Consolidated Statements of Income and non-cash charges related to leases; (d) the financial impact of contingent consideration, severance-related costs and charitable donations made to the Ventas Charitable Foundation; (e) gains and losses for non-operational foreign currency hedge agreements and changes in the fair value of financial instruments; (f) gains and losses on non-real estate dispositions and other unusual items related to unconsolidated entities; (g) expenses related to the reaudit and re-review in 2014 of our historical financial statements and related matters; (h) net expenses or recoveries related to natural disasters; and (i) other incremental items set forth in the normalized FFO reconciliation included herein.
See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report for a reconciliation of FFO and normalized FFO to our GAAP earnings.
ITEM 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion provides information that management believes is relevant to an understanding and assessment of the consolidated financial condition and results of operations of Ventas, Inc. You should read this discussion in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report and our Risk Factors included in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report.
Business Summary and Overview of 2020
Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) operating at the intersection of healthcare and real estate, with a highly diversified portfolio of senior housing; life science, research and innovation; and healthcare properties; which we generally refer to as “healthcare real estate,” located throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. As of December 31, 2020, we owned or managed through unconsolidated real estate entities approximately 1,200 properties (including properties classified as held for sale), consisting of senior housing communities, medical office buildings (“MOBs”), life science, research and innovation centers, inpatient rehabilitation facilities (“IRFs”) and long-term acute care facilities (“LTACs”), and health systems. Our company was originally founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with an additional office in Louisville, Kentucky.
We primarily invest in a diversified portfolio of healthcare real estate assets through wholly owned subsidiaries and other co-investment entities. We operate through three reportable business segments: triple-net leased properties, senior living operations, which we also refer to as SHOP, and office operations. See our Consolidated Financial Statements and the related notes, including “Note 2 – Accounting Policies” and “Note 19 – Segment Information,” included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report. Our senior housing properties are either operated under triple-net leases in our triple-net leased properties segment or through independent third-party managers in our senior living operations segment.
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We aim to enhance shareholder value by delivering consistent, superior total returns by (1) generating reliable and growing cash flows, (2) maintaining a balanced, diversified portfolio of high-quality assets and (3) preserving our financial strength, flexibility and liquidity.
Our ability to access capital in a timely and cost-effective manner is critical to the success of our business strategy because it affects our ability to satisfy existing obligations, including the repayment of maturing indebtedness, and to make future investments. Factors such as general market conditions, interest rates, credit ratings on our securities, expectations of our potential future earnings and cash distributions, and the trading price of our common stock impact our access to and cost of external capital. For that reason, we generally attempt to match the long-term duration of our investments in real property with long-term financing through the issuance of shares of our common stock or the incurrence of long-term fixed rate debt.
COVID-19 Update
During fiscal 2020 and continuing into fiscal 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected our businesses in a number of ways and is expected to continue to do so.
Operating Results.Our senior living operations segment, which we also refer to as SHOP, was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Occupancy decreased over the course of 2020, while operating expenses increased as our senior living communities responded to the pandemic, resulting in a significant decline in NOI compared to 2019. Our NNN senior housing tenants’ performance was similarly affected by COVID-19. During the course of 2020, we modified certain NNN senior housing leases to reset rent and provided other modest financial accommodations to certain NNN senior housing tenants who needed it as a result of COVID-19. We also wrote-off previously accrued straight-line rental income related to NNN senior housing tenants due to COVID-19.
However, we benefited from our ongoing strategy of diversification, with our office and NNN healthcare businesses demonstrating resilience in the face of the pandemic. The Company’s NNN healthcare tenants benefited from significant government financial support that was deployed early and has partially offset the direct financial impact of the pandemic. Our office operations segment, which primarily serves MOB and research and innovation tenants that were less impacted by the pandemic, delivered steady performance throughout the year.
Provider Relief Grants.In the third and fourth quarter of 2020, we applied for grants under Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Provider Relief Fund administered by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) on behalf of the assisted living communities in our senior living operations segment to partially mitigate losses attributable to COVID-19. These grants are intended to reimburse eligible providers for expenses incurred to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19 and lost revenues attributable to COVID-19. Recipients are not required to repay distributions from the Provider Relief Fund, provided that they attest to and comply with certain terms and conditions. See “Government Regulation—Governmental Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” in Part I, Item 1 of this Annual Report.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, we received $34.3 million and $0.8 million in grants in connection with our Phase 2 and Phase 3 applications, respectively, and recognized these grants within property-level operating expenses in our Consolidated Statements of Income. Subsequent to December 31, 2020, we received $13.6 million in grants in connection with our Phase 3 applications, which we expect to recognize in 2021. While we have received all amounts under our Phase 2 applications and have begun to receive amounts under our Phase 3 applications, there can be no assurance that our remaining applications will be approved or that additional funds will ultimately be received. Any grants that are ultimately received and retained by us are not expected to fully offset the losses incurred in our senior living operating portfolio that are attributable to COVID-19. Further, although we continue to monitor and evaluate the terms and conditions associated with the Provider Relief Fund distributions, we cannot assure you that we will be in compliance with all requirements related to the payments received under the Provider Relief Fund.
Capital Conservation Actions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we took precautionary steps to increase liquidity and preserve financial flexibility in light of the resulting uncertainty.See “—Liquidity and Capital Resources; Recent Capital Conservation Actions.” As of February 16, 2021, we had approximately $3.0 billion in liquidity, including availability under our revolving credit facility and cash and cash equivalents on hand, with no borrowings outstanding under our commercial paper program and negligible near-term debt maturing.
Continuing Impact. The trajectory and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains highly uncertain. The extent of the pandemic’s continuing and ultimate effect on our operational and financial performance will depend on a variety of factors, including the speed at which available vaccines can be successfully deployed; the rate of acceptance of available vaccines, particularly among the residents and staff in our senior housing communities; the impact of new variants of the virus
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and the effectiveness of available vaccines against those variants; ongoing clinical experience, which may differ considerably across regions and fluctuate over time; and on other future developments, including the ultimate duration, spread and intensity of the outbreak, the availability of testing, the extent to which governments impose, roll-back or re-impose preventative restrictions and the availability of ongoing government financial support to our business, tenants and operators. Due to these uncertainties, we are not able at this time to estimate the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
See “Note 1 - Description of Business - COVID-19 Update” for a description of charges recognized during the year ended December 31, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Select 2020 and Early 2021 Highlights
COVID-19 Response
•Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to actions described under “COVID-19 Update” above, we have consistently prioritized the health and safety of employees, residents, tenants and managers, serving as an important resource for information and best practices and leading our industry in testing, including through an early arrangement with Mayo Clinic Laboratories.
•We executed on a multi-pronged capital conservation strategy to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, including reducing our planned capital expenditures, reducing capital commitments, establishing a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share beginning in the second quarter and adjusting the Company’s corporate cost structure.
Ventas Investment Management
•We established a third party capital platform, Ventas Investment Management (“VIM”), bringing together our third party capital ventures under one umbrella, including the Ventas Life Science and Healthcare Real Estate Fund, L.P. (the “Ventas Fund”) and our research and innovation (“R&I”) development joint venture with GIC (the “R&I Development JV”) described below. As of December 31, 2020, VIM had over $3 billion in assets under management.
•In March 2020, we formed the Ventas Fund, a perpetual life investment vehicle focused on investments in research and innovation centers, medical office buildings and senior housing communities in North America. We are the sponsor and general partner of the Ventas Fund. To seed the Ventas Fund, we contributed six stabilized research and innovation and medical office properties and received cash consideration of $620 million and a 21% interest in the Ventas Fund. In October 2020, the Ventas Fund acquired a portfolio of three life science properties in the South San Francisco life science cluster for $1.0 billion.
•In October 2020, we formed the R&I Development JV with GIC. To seed the R&I Development JV, we contributed our controlling interest in four in-progress university-based research and innovation development projects whose total expected cost approximates $930 million.
Investments and Dispositions
•During the year ended December 31, 2020, we acquired 10 properties for an aggregate consideration of $249.5 million.
•During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized $262.2 million of gains on sale of real estate including 2020, including $225.1 million for the sale of six properties to the Ventas Fund, $13.7 million for the sale of four in-progress development projects to the R&I Development JV and and $23.4 million for the sale of 31 other properties.
•During the year ended December 31, 2020, we received aggregate proceeds of $106.1 million for the full repayment of the principal balances of various loans receivable with a weighted average interest rate of 8.3% that were due to mature between 2020 and 2025, resulting in total gains of $1.4 million.
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Liquidity and Capital
•As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $3.3 billion in liquidity, including availability under our revolving credit facility and cash and cash equivalents on hand, with no borrowings outstanding under our commercial paper program and negligible near-term debt maturing.
•In April 2020, we raised $500.0 million through the issuance of 4.75% senior notes due 2030.
•In October 2020,we reduced near-term debt maturities by retiring $236.3 million aggregate principal amount then outstanding of our 3.25% senior notes due 2022 at 104.14% of par value, plus accrued and unpaid interest to the payment date.
•During 2020, we sold an aggregate of 1.5 million shares of common stock under our “at-the-market” equity offering program for average gross proceeds of $44.88 per share.
•In January 2021, we entered into an amended and restated unsecured credit facility (the “New Credit Facility”) comprised of a $2.75 billion unsecured revolving credit facility initially priced at LIBOR plus 82.5 basis points.
•In February 2021, in order to reduce near-term maturities, we issued a make whole redemption for the entirety of the $400 million outstanding aggregate principal amount of 3.10% senior notes due January 2023. The redemption is expected to settle in March 2021, principally using cash on hand.
Portfolio
•In July 2020, we entered into a revised master lease agreement (the “Brookdale Lease”) and certain other agreements (together with the Brookdale Lease, the “Agreements”) with Brookdale Senior Living.
•In April 2020, we completed a transaction with affiliates of Holiday Retirement (with its affiliates, collectively, “Holiday”), including entry into a new, terminable management agreement for our 26 independent living assets that were previously subject to a triple-net lease (the “Holiday Lease”) with Holiday.
Environmental, Social and Governance
•During 2020, we continued our leadership in ESG, receiving numerous accolades, including the 2020 Nareit Health Care “Leader in the Light” award for a fourth consecutive year, the 2020 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the second consecutive year, the 2020 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for the second consecutive year and maintaining our industry-leading position in GRESB.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) set forth in the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), as published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”). GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions regarding future events that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. We base these estimates on our experience and assumptions we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. However, if our judgment or interpretation of the facts and circumstances relating to various transactions or other matters had been different, we may have applied a different accounting treatment, resulting in a different presentation of our financial statements. We periodically reevaluate our estimates and assumptions, and in the event they prove to be different from actual results, we make adjustments in subsequent periods to reflect more current estimates and assumptions about matters that are inherently uncertain. We believe that the critical accounting policies described below, among others, affect our more significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our financial statements. For more information regarding our critical accounting policies, see “Note 2 – Accounting Policies” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report.
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Principles of Consolidation
The Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report include our accounts and the accounts of our wholly owned subsidiaries and the joint venture entities over which we exercise control. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation, and our net earnings are reduced by the portion of net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests.
GAAP requires us to identify entities for which control is achieved through means other than voting rights and to determine which business enterprise is the primary beneficiary of variable interest entities (“VIEs”). A VIE is broadly defined as an entity with one or more of the following characteristics: (a) the total equity investment at risk is insufficient to finance the entity’s activities without additional subordinated financial support; (b) as a group, the holders of the equity investment at risk lack (i) the ability to make decisions about the entity’s activities through voting or similar rights, (ii) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity, or (iii) the right to receive the expected residual returns of the entity; and (c) the equity investors have voting rights that are not proportional to their economic interests, and substantially all of the entity’s activities either involve, or are conducted on behalf of, an investor that has disproportionately few voting rights. We consolidate our investment in a VIE when we determine that we are its primary beneficiary. We may change our original assessment of a VIE upon subsequent events such as the modification of contractual arrangements that affects the characteristics or adequacy of the entity’s equity investments at risk and the disposition of all or a portion of an interest held by the primary beneficiary.
We identify the primary beneficiary of a VIE as the enterprise that has both: (i) the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance; and (ii) the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits of the VIE that could be significant to the entity. We perform this analysis on an ongoing basis.
Accounting for Real Estate Acquisitions
When we acquire real estate, we first make reasonable judgments about whether the transaction involves an asset or a business. Our real estate acquisitions are generally accounted for as asset acquisitions as substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or group of similar identifiable assets. Regardless of whether an acquisition is considered a business combination or an asset acquisition, we record the cost of the businesses or assets acquired as tangible and intangible assets and liabilities based upon their estimated fair values as of the acquisition date.
We estimate the fair value of buildings acquired on an as-if-vacant basis or replacement cost basis and depreciate the building value over the estimated remaining life of the building, generally not to exceed 35 years. We determine the fair value of other fixed assets, such as site improvements and furniture, fixtures and equipment, based upon the replacement cost and depreciate such value over the assets’ estimated remaining useful lives as determined at the applicable acquisition date. We determine the value of land either by considering the sales prices of similar properties in recent transactions or based on internal analyses of recently acquired and existing comparable properties within our portfolio. We generally determine the value of construction in progress based upon the replacement cost. However, for certain acquired properties that are part of a ground-up development, we determine fair value by using the same valuation approach as for all other properties and deducting the estimated cost to complete the development. During the remaining construction period, we capitalize project costs until the development has reached substantial completion. Construction in progress, including capitalized interest, is not depreciated until the development has reached substantial completion.
Intangibles primarily include the value of in-place leases and acquired lease contracts. We include all lease-related intangible assets and liabilities within acquired lease intangibles and accounts payable and other liabilities, respectively, on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
The fair value of acquired lease-related intangibles, if any, reflects: (i) the estimated value of any above or below market leases, determined by discounting the difference between the estimated market rent and in-place lease rent; and (ii) the estimated value of in-place leases related to the cost to obtain tenants, including leasing commissions, and an estimated value of the absorption period to reflect the value of the rent and recovery costs foregone during a reasonable lease-up period as if the acquired space was vacant. We amortize any acquired lease-related intangibles to revenue or amortization expense over the remaining life of the associated lease plus any assumed bargain renewal periods. If a lease is terminated prior to its stated expiration or not renewed upon expiration, we recognize all unamortized amounts of lease-related intangibles associated with that lease in operations over the shortened lease term.
We estimate the fair value of purchase option intangible assets and liabilities, if any, by discounting the difference between the applicable property’s acquisition date fair value and an estimate of its future option price. We do not amortize the resulting intangible asset or liability over the term of the lease, but rather adjust the recognized value of the asset or liability
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upon sale.
In connection with an acquisition, we may assume rights and obligations under certain lease agreements pursuant to which we become the lessee of a given property. We generally assume the lease classification previously determined by the prior lessee absent a modification in the assumed lease agreement. We assess assumed operating leases, including ground leases, to determine whether the lease terms are favorable or unfavorable to us given current market conditions on the acquisition date. To the extent the lease terms are favorable or unfavorable to us relative to market conditions on the acquisition date, we recognize an intangible asset or liability at fair value and amortize that asset or liability to interest or rental expense in our Consolidated Statements of Income over the applicable lease term. Where we are the lessee, we record the acquisition date values of leases, including any above or below market value, within operating lease assets and operating lease liabilities on our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
We estimate the fair value of noncontrolling interests assumed consistent with the manner in which we value all of the underlying assets and liabilities.
We calculate the fair value of long-term assumed debt by discounting the remaining contractual cash flows on each instrument at the current market rate for those borrowings, which we approximate based on the rate at which we would expect to incur a replacement instrument on the date of acquisition, and recognize any fair value adjustments related to long-term debt as effective yield adjustments over the remaining term of the instrument.
Impairment of Long-Lived and Intangible Assets
We periodically evaluate our long-lived assets, primarily consisting of investments in real estate, for impairment indicators. If indicators of impairment are present, we evaluate the carrying value of the related real estate investments in relation to the future undiscounted cash flows of the underlying operations. In performing this evaluation, we consider market conditions and our current intentions with respect to holding or disposing of the asset. We adjust the net book value of real estate properties and other long-lived assets to fair value if the sum of the expected future undiscounted cash flows, including sales proceeds, is less than book value. We recognize an impairment loss at the time we make any such determination.
Estimates of fair value used in our evaluation of investments in real estate are based upon discounted future cash flow projections, if necessary, or other acceptable valuation techniques that are based, in turn, upon all available evidence including level three inputs, such as revenue and expense growth rates, estimates of future cash flows, capitalization rates, discount rates, general economic conditions and trends, or other available market data such as replacement cost or comparable transactions. Our ability to accurately predict future operating results and cash flows and to estimate and determine fair values impacts the timing and recognition of impairments. While we believe our assumptions are reasonable, changes in these assumptions may have a material impact on our financial results.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize rental revenues under our leases on a straight-line basis over the applicable lease term when collectability of substantially all rents is probable. We assess the probability of collecting substantially all rents under our leases based on several factors, including, among other things, payment history, the financial strength of the tenant and any guarantors, the historical operations and operating trends of the property, the historical payment pattern of the tenant, the type of property, the value of the underlying collateral, if any, expected future performance of the property and current economic conditions. If our evaluation of these factors indicates it is not probable that we will be able to collect substantially all rents under the lease, we record a charge to rental income. If we change our conclusions regarding the probability of collecting rent payments required by a lease, we may recognize adjustments to rental income in the period we make such change in our conclusions.
Federal Income Tax
We have elected to be treated as a REIT under the applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), for every year beginning with the year ended December 31, 1999. Accordingly, we generally are not subject to federal income tax on net income that we distribute to our stockholders, provided that we continue to qualify as a REIT. However, with respect to certain of our subsidiaries that have elected to be treated as taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRS” or “TRS entities”), we record income tax expense or benefit, as those entities are subject to federal income tax similar to regular corporations. Certain foreign subsidiaries are subject to foreign income tax, although they did not elect to be treated as TRSs.
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We account for deferred income taxes using the asset and liability method and recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in our financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, we determine deferred tax assets and liabilities based on the differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Any increase or decrease in the deferred tax liability that results from a change in circumstances, and that causes us to change our judgment about expected future tax consequences of events, is included in the tax provision when such changes occur. Deferred income taxes also reflect the impact of operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. A valuation allowance is provided if we believe it is more likely than not that all or some portion of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. Any increase or decrease in the valuation allowance that results from a change in circumstances, and that causes us to change our judgment about the realizability of the related deferred tax asset, is included in the tax provision when such changes occur.
We recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position claimed or expected to be claimed on a tax return only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such a position are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than fifty percent likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. We recognize interest and penalties, if applicable, related to uncertain tax positions as part of income tax benefit or expense.
Recently Issued or Adopted Accounting Standards
We adopted ASC Topic 842, Leases (“ASC 842”) on January 1, 2019, which introduced a lessee model that brings most leases on the balance sheet and, among other changes, eliminates the requirement in current GAAP for an entity to use bright-line tests in determining lease classification.
ASC 842 allows for several practical expedients which permit the following: no reassessment of lease classification or initial direct costs; use of the standard’s effective date as the date of initial application; and no separation of non-lease components from the related lease components and, instead, to account for those components as a single lease component if certain criteria are met. We elected these practical expedients using the effective date as our date of initial application. Therefore, financial information and disclosures under ASC 842 are not provided for periods prior to January 1, 2019.
Upon adoption, we recognized both right of use assets and lease liabilities for leases in which we lease land, real property or other equipment. We now also report revenues and expenses within our triple-net leased properties reportable business segment for real estate taxes and insurance that are escrowed and obligations of the tenants in accordance with their respective leases with us. This reporting had no impact on our net income. Resident leases within our senior living operations reportable business segment and office leases also contain service elements. We elected the practical expedient to account for our resident and office leases as a single lease component. Also, we now expense certain leasing costs, other than leasing commissions, as they are incurred. Prior to the adoption of ASC 842, GAAP provided for the deferral and amortization of such costs over the applicable lease term. We are continuing to amortize any unamortized deferred lease costs as of December 31, 2018 over their respective lease terms.
As of January 1, 2019 we recognized operating lease assets of $361.7 million on our Consolidated Balance Sheets which includes the present value of minimum lease payments as well as certain existing above and/or below market lease intangible values associated with such leases. Also upon adoption, we recognized operating lease liabilities of $216.9 million on our Consolidated Balance Sheets. The present value of minimum lease payments was calculated on each lease using a discount rate that approximates our incremental borrowing rate primarily adjusted for the length of the individual lease terms. As of the January 1, 2019 adoption date, we utilized discount rates ranging from 6.15% to 7.60% for our ground leases.
Upon adoption, we recognized a cumulative effect adjustment to retained earnings of $0.6 million primarily relating to certain costs associated with unexecuted leases that were deferred as of December 31, 2018.
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Results of Operations