ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES REALTY TRUST, INC. - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

OR

For the transition period from                      to

Commission File Number 001-38530

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES ☒ NO ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. YES ☐ NO ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. YES ☒ NO ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). YES ☒ NO ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company, “and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). YES ☐ NO ☒  

As of June 28, 2019 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the registrant's shares of common stock, $0.01 par value, held by non-affiliates of the registrant, was $985.8 million based on the last reported sale price of $20.04 per share on the New York Stock Exchange on June 28, 2019.

The number of shares of registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of March 2, 2020 was 91,949,849.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions the Definitive Proxy Statement for the registrant’s 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report. The registrant expects to file such proxy statement within 120 days after the end of its fiscal year.

Table of Contents

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PART I

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we refer to Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including, Essential Properties, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and its operating partnership (the “Operating Partnership”), as “we,” “us,” “our” or “the Company” unless we specifically state otherwise or the context otherwise requires.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). In particular, statements pertaining to our business and growth strategies, investment, financing and leasing activities and trends in our business, including trends in the market for long-term, net leases of freestanding, single-tenant properties, contain forward-looking statements. When used in this annual report, the words “estimate,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seek,” “approximately” and “plan,” and variations of such words, and similar words or phrases, that are predictions of future events or trends and that do not relate solely to historical matters, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans, beliefs or intentions of management.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results of operations or plans expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements; accordingly, you should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements depend on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise, and may not be realized. We do not guarantee that the transactions and events described will happen as described (or that they will happen at all). The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those set forth or contemplated in the forward-looking statements:

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You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this annual report. While forward-looking statements reflect our good faith beliefs, they are not guarantees of future events or of our performance. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, data or methods, future events or other changes, except as required by law.

Because we operate in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment, new risks emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such risks, nor can management assess the impact of all such risks on our business or the extent to which any risk, or combination of risks, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual events or results.

Item 1. Business.

We are an internally managed real estate company that acquires, owns and manages primarily single-tenant properties that are net leased on a long-term basis to middle-market companies operating service-oriented or experience-based businesses. We have assembled a diversified portfolio using an investment strategy that focuses on properties leased to tenants in businesses such as restaurants (including quick service and casual and family dining), car washes, automotive services, medical services, convenience stores, entertainment, early childhood education and health and fitness. We believe that, in general, properties leased to tenants in these businesses are essential to the generation of the tenants’ sales and profits, that these businesses have favorable growth potential and that they are more insulated from e-commerce pressure than many others.

We were organized on January 12, 2018 as a Maryland corporation and qualified to be taxed as a REIT beginning with our taxable year ended December 31, 2018. As of December 31, 2019, 94.4% of our $151.2 million of annualized base rent was attributable to properties operated by tenants in service-oriented and experience-based businesses. “Annualized base rent” means annualized contractually specified cash base rent in effect on December 31, 2019 for all of our leases (including those accounted for as loans or direct financing leases) commenced as of that date and annualized cash interest on our mortgage loans receivable as of that date.

Our objective is to maximize stockholder value by generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through owning, managing and growing a diversified portfolio of commercially desirable properties. We have grown strategically since commencing investment activities in June 2016. As of December 31, 2019, we had a portfolio of 1,000 properties, 897 of which were owned properties (eight being accounted for as direct financing leases or loans), 12 of which were ground lease interests (one building being accounted for as a direct financing lease), and 91 of which were collateral securing our investments in six loans receivable built on the following core attributes:

Diversified Portfolio.    Our portfolio was 100% occupied by 205 tenants operating 265 different concepts (i.e., generally brands), in 16 industries across 44 states, with none of our tenants contributing more than 3.4% of our annualized base rent. Our goal is that, over time, no more than 5.0% of our annualized base rent will be derived from any single tenant or more than 1% from any single property.

Remaining Lease Term of 14.6 Years.    Our leases had a weighted average remaining lease term of 14.6 years (based on annualized base rent), with only 6.8% of our annualized base rent attributable to leases expiring prior to January 1, 2025. Our properties are subject to, long-term net leases that we believe provide us a stable base of revenue from which to grow our portfolio.

Significant Use of Master Leases.   60.3% of our annualized base rent was attributable to master leases.

Healthy Rent Coverage Ratio and Extensive Tenant Financial Reporting.    Our portfolio’s weighted average rent coverage ratio was 2.9x, and 98.2% of our leases (based on annualized base rent) obligate the tenant to periodically provide us with specified unit-level financial reporting. “Rent coverage ratio” means, as of a specified date, the ratio of (x) tenant-reported or, when unavailable, management’s estimate (based on tenant-reported financial information) of annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and cash rent attributable to the leased property (or properties, in the case of a master lease) to (y) the annualized base rental obligation.

Contractual Base Rent Escalation.  98.6% of our leases (based on annualized base rent) provided for increases in future base rent at a weighted average rate of 1.5%  per year.

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Differentiated Investment Approach.    Our average investment per property was $2.0 million (which equals our aggregate investment in our properties (including transaction costs, lease incentives and amounts funded for construction in progress) divided by the number of properties owned at December 31, 2019), and we believe investments of similar size should allow us to grow our portfolio without concentrating a large amount of capital in individual properties and should allow us to limit our exposure to events that may adversely affect a particular property.

2019 Financial and Operating Highlights

Our Target Market

We are an active investor in single-tenant, net leased real estate. Our target properties are generally freestanding commercial real estate facilities where a middle-market tenant conducts activities that are essential to the generation of its sales and profits. We believe that this market is underserved from a capital perspective and offers attractive investment opportunities.

Within this market, we emphasize investment in properties leased to tenants engaged in a targeted set of service-oriented or experience-based businesses, such as restaurants (including quick service and casual and family dining), car washes, automotive services, medical services, convenience stores, entertainment, early childhood education, and health and fitness because we believe these businesses are generally more insulated from e-commerce pressure than many

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others. In addition, we believe that many of these businesses are favorably impacted by current macroeconomic trends that support consumer spending, such as generally declining unemployment and positive consumer sentiment.

We also focus on properties leased to middle-market companies, which we define as regional and national operators with between 10 and 250 locations and $20 million to $500 million in annual revenue, and we opportunistically invest in properties leased to smaller companies, which we define as regional operators with fewer than 10 locations and less than $20 million in annual revenue. Although it is not our primary investment focus, we will opportunistically consider investments leased to large companies. While most of our targeted tenants are not rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, we primarily seek to invest in properties leased to companies that we determine have attractive credit characteristics and stable operating histories.

Despite the market’s size, the market for single-tenant, net leased real estate is highly fragmented. In particular, we believe that there is a limited number of participants addressing the long-term capital needs of unrated middle-market and small companies. We believe that many publicly traded REITs that invest in net leased properties concentrate their investment activity in properties leased to investment grade-rated tenants, which tend to be larger organizations, with the result that unrated, middle-market and small companies are relatively underserved and offer us an attractive investment opportunity.

Furthermore, we believe that there is strong demand for our net-lease solutions among middle-market and small owner-operators of commercial real estate, in part, due to the bank regulatory environment, which, since the turmoil in the housing and mortgage industries from 2007-2009, has generally been characterized by increased scrutiny and regulation. We believe that this environment has made commercial banks less responsive to the long-term capital needs of unrated middle-market and small companies, many of which have historically depended on commercial banks for their financing; accordingly, we see an attractive opportunity to address the capital needs of these companies by offering them an efficient alternative to financing their real estate with traditional mortgage or bank debt and their own equity.

Accordingly, while we believe our net-lease financing solutions may be attractive to a wide variety of companies, we believe our most attractive opportunity is owning properties net leased to middle-market and small companies that are generally unrated and have less access to efficient sources of long-term capital than larger, rated companies.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe the following competitive strengths distinguish us from our competitors and allow us to compete effectively in the single-tenant, net-lease market:

We focus on investing in properties leased to tenants operating in service-oriented or experience-based businesses, such as restaurants (including quick service and casual and family dining), car washes, automotive services, medical services, convenience stores, entertainment, early childhood education and health and fitness, which we believe are generally more insulated from e-commerce pressure than many others. As of December 31, 2019, 94.4% of our annualized base rent was attributable to tenants operating service-oriented and experience-based businesses.

We believe that our portfolio’s diversity and recent underwriting decreases the impact on us of an adverse event affecting a specific tenant, industry or region, and our focus on leasing to tenants in industries that we believe are well-positioned to withstand competition from e-commerce increases the stability of our rental revenue.

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Our senior management team has been responsible for our refined investment strategy and for developing and implementing our investment sourcing, underwriting, closing and asset management functions, which we believe can support significant investment growth without a proportionate increase in our operating expenses. As of December 31, 2019, 81.4% of our portfolio’s annualized base rent was attributable to internally originated sale-leaseback transactions and 86.4% was acquired from parties who had previously engaged in one or more transactions that involved a member of our senior management team (including operators and tenants and other participants in the net lease industry, such as brokers, intermediaries and financing sources), exclusive of our investment in the GE Seed Portfolio. The “GE Seed Portfolio” refers to a portfolio of 262 net leased properties that we acquired on June 16, 2016 in our first investment from General Electric Capital Corporation for an aggregate purchase price of $279.8 million (including transaction costs). The substantial experience, knowledge and relationships of our senior leadership team provide us with an extensive network of contacts that we believe allows us to originate attractive investment opportunities and effectively grow our business.

Net debt and Annualized Adjusted EBITDAre are non-GAAP financial measures. For definitions of net debt and Annualized Adjusted EBITDAre, reconciliations of these measures to total debt and net income, respectively, the most directly comparable financial measures calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), and a statement of why our management believes the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and a discussion of how management uses these measures, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

In April 2019, we entered into the Revolving Credit Facility, which is a four-year, senior unsecured revolving credit facility that allows for up to $400.0 million in principal borrowings and is available for general corporate purposes, including funding future acquisitions. As of December 31, 2019, we had borrowed $46.0 million under the Revolving Credit Facility and had an available borrowing capacity of $354.0 million. Our borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility bear interest at an annual rate of (i) applicable LIBOR plus an applicable margin between 1.25% and 1.85%; or (ii) the base rate (which rate is equal to the greatest of the prime rate, the federal funds effective rate plus 0.5% or LIBOR plus 1.0%) plus an applicable margin of between 0.25% and 0.85%.

Our $200 million April 2019 Term Loan has been fully funded and matures on April 12, 2024. Our borrowings under the April 2019 Term Loan bear interest at an annual rate of (i) applicable LIBOR plus an applicable margin between 1.20% and 1.75%; or (ii) the base rate (which rate is equal to the greatest of the prime rate, the federal funds effective rate plus 0.5% or LIBOR plus 1.0%) plus an applicable margin of between 0.20% and 0.75%.

Our November 2019 Term Loan provides for a loan of up to $430 million, and, as of December 31, 2019, we had borrowed $250 million of this amount. The November 2019 Term Loan matures on November 26, 2026. Our borrowings under the November 2019 Term Loan bear interest at an annual rate of (i) applicable LIBOR plus an applicable margin between 1.50% and 2.20%; or (ii) the base rate (which rate is equal to the greatest of the prime rate, the federal funds effective rate plus 0.5% or LIBOR plus 1.0%) plus an applicable margin of between 0.50% and 1.20%.

Our Master Trust Funding Program, under which we may, subject to applicable covenants, issue multiple series and classes of notes from time to time to institutional investors in the asset-backed securities market, has provided us with a significant amount of debt financing. As of December 31, 2019, we had Class A Notes and Class B Notes outstanding under our Master Trust Funding Program with an aggregate outstanding principal balance of $239.1 million and a weighted average annual interest rate of 4.17%. These notes were secured by a pool of 355 properties and the related leases as of December 31, 2019.

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We are the property manager and servicer for the leases that are the collateral for the notes under our Master Trust Funding Program and, in that capacity, have discretion in managing the collateral pool. We believe that this discretion enhances our operational flexibility by enabling us to: issue additional notes in future series that reflect the increase in the value of properties or the entire collateral pool; substitute assets in the collateral pool (subject to meeting certain prescribed conditions and criteria); and sell underperforming assets and reinvest the proceeds in better performing properties, subject, in the case of substitutions and sales, to certain limitations unless the substitution or sale is credit- or risk-based. We also have the ability to add properties to the collateral pool between series issuances, thereby further increasing the pool’s size and diversity. By issuing investment grade-rated debt through the Master Trust Funding Program, we seek to lower our borrowing costs and, in turn, to be in a position to deliver more competitive financial terms to our tenants and attractive returns to our stockholders.

We also have 645 unencumbered properties that contribute $102.3 million of annualized base rent as of December 31, 2019. We seek to manage our balance sheet so that we have access to multiple sources of debt capital in the future, such as term borrowings from insurance companies, banks and other sources, single-asset mortgage financing and CMBS borrowings, that may offer us the opportunity to lower our cost of funding and further diversify our sources of debt capital.

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Our Business and Growth Strategies

Our objective is to maximize stockholder value by generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through owning, managing and growing a diversified portfolio of commercially desirable properties. We intend to pursue our objective through the following business and growth strategies.

Leasing.    In general, we seek to enter into leases with (i) relatively long terms (typically with initial terms of 15 years or more and tenant renewal options); (ii) attractive rent escalation provisions; (iii) healthy rent coverage ratios; and (iv) tenant obligations to periodically provide us with financial information, which provides us with information about the operating performance of the leased property and/or tenant and allows us to actively monitor the security of payments under the lease on an ongoing basis. We strongly prefer to use master lease structures, pursuant to which we lease multiple properties to a single tenant on a unitary (i.e., “all or none”) basis. In addition, in the context of our sale-leaseback investments, we generally seek to establish contract rents that are at prevailing market rents, which we believe enhances tenant retention and reduces our releasing risk if a lease is rejected in a bankruptcy proceeding or expires.

Diversification.    We monitor and manage the diversification of our portfolio in order to reduce the risks associated with adverse developments affecting a particular tenant, property, industry or region. Our strategy targets a scaled portfolio that, over time, will (i) derive no more than 5% of its annualized base from any single tenant or more than 1% of its annualized base rent from any single property, (ii) be primarily leased to tenants operating in service-oriented or experience-based businesses and (iii) avoid significant geographic concentration. While we consider these criteria when making investments, we may be opportunistic in managing our business and make investments that do not meet one or more of these criteria if we believe the opportunity presents an attractive risk-adjusted return.

Asset Management.    We are an active asset manager and regularly review each of our properties for changes in the business performance at the property, credit of the tenant and local real estate market conditions. Among other things, we use Moody’s Analytics RiskCalc (“RiskCalc”) to proactively detect credit deterioration. RiskCalc is a model for predicting private company defaults based on Moody’s Analytics Credit Research Database. Additionally, we monitor market rents relative to in-place rents and the amount of tenant capital expenditures in order to refine our tenant retention and alternative use assumptions. Our management team utilizes our internal credit diligence to monitor the credit profile of each of our tenants on an ongoing basis. We believe that this proactive approach enables us to identify and address issues expeditiously and to determine whether there are properties in our portfolio that are appropriate for disposition.

In addition, as part of our active portfolio management, we may selectively dispose of assets that we conclude do not offer a return commensurate with the investment risk, contribute to unwanted geographic, industry or tenant concentrations, or may be sold at a price we determine is attractive. During the year ended December 31, 2019, we sold 37 properties for net sales proceeds of $66.8 million. We believe that our underwriting processes and active asset management enhance the stability of our rental revenue by reducing default losses and increasing the likelihood of lease renewals.

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As of February 28, 2020, we have entered into purchase and sale agreements for 29 properties with an aggregate purchase price of $65.5 million.

In addition, we emphasize investment in properties leased to tenants engaged in service-oriented or experience-based businesses, such as restaurants (including quick service and casual and family dining), car washes, automotive services, medical services, convenience stores, entertainment, early childhood education, and health and fitness, as we believe these businesses are generally more insulated from e-commerce pressure than many others.

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Net debt and Annualized Adjusted EBITDAre are non-GAAP financial measures. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”

Competition

We face competition for acquisitions of real property from investors, including traded and non-traded public REITs, private equity investors and institutional investment funds, some of which have greater economies of scale, lower costs of capital, access to more resources and greater name recognition than we do, and the ability to accept more risk. We also believe that competition for real estate financing comes from middle-market business owners themselves, many of whom have had a historic preference to own, rather than lease, the real estate they use in their businesses. This competition may increase the demand for the types of properties in which we typically invest and, therefore, may reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities available to us and increase the prices paid for such acquisition properties. This competition will increase if investments in real estate become more attractive relative to other forms of investment.

As a landlord, we compete in the multi-billion dollar commercial real estate market with numerous developers and owners of properties, many of which own properties similar to ours in the same markets in which our properties are located. Some of our competitors have greater economies of scale, lower costs of capital, access to more resources and greater name recognition than we do, and the ability to accept more risk. If our competitors offer space at rental rates below current market rates or below the rental rates we currently charge our tenants, we may lose our tenants or prospective tenants, and we may be pressured to reduce our rental rates or to offer substantial rent abatements, tenant improvement allowances, early termination rights or below-market renewal options in order to retain tenants when our leases expire.

Employees

As of December 31, 2019, we had 27 full-time employees. Our staff is mostly comprised of professional employees engaged in origination, underwriting, closing, portfolio management, accounting, financial reporting and capital markets activities essential to our business.

Insurance

Our tenants are generally required to maintain liability and property insurance coverage for the properties they lease from us pursuant to triple-net leases. These leases generally require our tenants to name us (and any of our lenders that have a mortgage on the property leased by the tenant) as additional insureds on their liability policies and additional named insured and/or loss payee (or mortgagee, in the case of our lenders) on their property policies. Depending on the location of the property, losses of a catastrophic nature, such as those caused by earthquakes and floods, may be covered by insurance policies that are held by our tenant with limitations such as large deductibles or co-payments that a tenant may not be able to meet. In addition, losses of a catastrophic nature, such as those caused by wind/hail, hurricanes, terrorism or acts of war, may be uninsurable or not economically insurable. If there is damage to our properties that is not covered by insurance and such properties are subject to recourse indebtedness, we will continue to be liable for the indebtedness, even if these properties are irreparably damaged. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Properties—Insurance on our properties may not adequately cover all losses and uninsured losses could materially and adversely affect us.”

In addition to being a named insured on our tenants’ liability policies, we separately maintain commercial general liability coverage. We also maintain full property coverage on all untenanted properties and other property coverage as may be required by our lenders, which are not required to be carried by our tenants under our leases.

Regulation

General.     Our properties are subject to various laws, ordinances and regulations, including those relating to fire and safety requirements, and affirmative and negative covenants and, in some instances, common area obligations. Our tenants have primary responsibility for compliance with these requirements pursuant to our leases. We believe that each of our properties has the necessary permits and approvals.

Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”).     Under Title III of the ADA, and rules promulgated thereunder, in order to protect individuals with disabilities, public accommodations must remove architectural and communication barriers that are structural in nature from existing places of public accommodation to the extent “readily achievable.” In addition, under the ADA, alterations to a place of public accommodation or a commercial facility are to be made so that, to the maximum extent feasible, such altered portions are readily accessible to and usable by disabled individuals. The “readily achievable” standard takes into account, among other factors, the financial resources of the affected site and the owner, lessor or other applicable person.

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Compliance with the ADA, as well as other federal, state and local laws, may require modifications to properties we currently own or may purchase, or may restrict renovations of those properties. Failure to comply with these laws or regulations could result in the imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants, as well as the incurrence of the costs of making modifications to attain compliance, and future legislation could impose additional obligations or restrictions on our properties. Although our tenants are generally responsible for all maintenance and repairs of the property pursuant to our lease, including compliance with the ADA and other similar laws or regulations, we could be held liable as the owner of the property for a failure of one of our tenants to comply with these laws or regulations.

Environmental Matters

Federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations regulate, and impose liability for, releases of hazardous or toxic substances into the environment. Under various of these laws and regulations, a current or previous owner, operator or tenant of real estate may be required to investigate and clean up hazardous or toxic substances, hazardous wastes or petroleum product releases or threats of releases at the property, and may be held liable to a government entity or to third parties for property damage and for investigation, clean-up and monitoring costs incurred by those parties in connection with the actual or threatened contamination. These laws may impose clean-up responsibility and liability without regard to fault, or whether or not the owner, operator or tenant knew of or caused the presence of the contamination. The liability under these laws may be joint and several for the full amount of the investigation, clean-up and monitoring costs incurred or to be incurred or actions to be undertaken, although a party held jointly and severally liable may seek to obtain contributions from other identified, solvent, responsible parties of their fair share toward these costs. These costs may be substantial, and can exceed the value of the property. In addition, some environmental laws may create a lien on the contaminated site in favor of the government for damages and costs it incurs in connection with the contamination. As the owner or operator of real estate, we also may be liable under common law to third parties for damages and injuries resulting from environmental contamination emanating from the real estate. The presence of contamination, or the failure to properly remediate contamination, on a property may adversely affect the ability of the owner, operator or tenant to sell or rent that property or to borrow using the property as collateral, and may adversely impact our investment in that property.

Some of our properties contain, have contained, or are adjacent to or near other properties that have contained or currently contain storage tanks for the storage of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances. Similarly, some of our properties were used in the past for commercial or industrial purposes, or are currently used for commercial purposes, that involve or involved the use of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances, or are adjacent to or near properties that have been or are used for similar commercial or industrial purposes. These operations create a potential for the release of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances, and we could potentially be required to pay to clean up any contamination. In addition, environmental laws regulate a variety of activities that can occur on a property, including the storage of petroleum products or other hazardous or toxic substances, air emissions, water discharges and exposure to lead-based paint. Such laws may impose fines or penalties for violations, and may require permits or other governmental approvals to be obtained for the operation of a business involving such activities. As a result of the foregoing, we could be materially and adversely affected.

Environmental laws also govern the presence, maintenance and removal of asbestos-containing material (“ACM”). Federal regulations require building owners and those exercising control over a building’s management to identify and warn, through signs and labels, of potential hazards posed by workplace exposure to installed ACM in their building. The regulations also have employee training, record keeping and due diligence requirements pertaining to ACM. Significant fines can be assessed for violation of these regulations. As a result of these regulations, building owners and those exercising control over a building’s management may be subject to an increased risk of personal injury lawsuits by workers and others exposed to ACM. The regulations may affect the value of a building containing ACM in which we have invested. Federal, state and local laws and regulations also govern the removal, encapsulation, disturbance, handling and/or disposal of ACM when those materials are in poor condition or in the event of construction, remodeling, renovation or demolition of a building. These laws may impose liability for improper handling or a release into the environment of ACM and may provide for fines to, and for third parties to seek recovery from, owners or operators of real properties for personal injury or improper work exposure associated with ACM.

When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Indoor air quality issues can also stem from inadequate ventilation, chemical contamination from indoor or outdoor sources, and other biological contaminants such as pollen, viruses and bacteria. Indoor exposure to airborne toxins or irritants above certain levels can be alleged to cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. As a result, the presence of significant mold or other airborne contaminants at any of our properties could require us to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold or other airborne contaminants from the affected property or increase indoor ventilation. In addition, the presence of significant mold or other airborne contaminants could expose us to liability from our tenants, employees of our tenants or others if property damage or personal injury occurs.

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Before completing any property acquisition, we obtain environmental assessments in order to identify potential environmental concerns at the property. These assessments are carried out in accordance with the Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments (ASTM Practice E 1527-13) as set by ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, and generally include a physical site inspection, a review of relevant federal, state and local environmental and health agency database records, one or more interviews with appropriate site-related personnel, review of the property’s chain of title and review of historical aerial photographs and other information on past uses of the property. These assessments are limited in scope. If, however, recommended in the initial assessments, we may undertake additional assessments such as soil and/or groundwater samplings or other limited subsurface investigations and ACM or mold surveys to test for substances of concern. A prior owner or operator of a property or historic operations at our properties may have created a material environmental condition that is not known to us or the independent consultants preparing the site assessments. Material environmental conditions may have arisen after the review was completed or may arise in the future, and future laws, ordinances or regulations may impose material additional environmental liability. If environmental concerns are not satisfactorily resolved in any initial or additional assessments, we may obtain environmental insurance policies to insure against potential environmental risk or loss depending on the type of property, the availability and cost of the insurance and various other factors we deem relevant (i.e., an environmental occurrence affects one of our properties where our lessee may not have the financial capability to honor its indemnification obligations to us). Our ultimate liability for environmental conditions may exceed the policy limits on any environmental insurance policies we obtain, if any.

Generally, our leases require the lessee to comply with environmental law and provide that the lessee will indemnify us for any loss or expense we incur as a result of lessee’s violation of environmental law or the presence, use or release of hazardous materials on our property attributable to the lessee. If our lessees do not comply with environmental law, or we are unable to enforce the indemnification obligations of our lessees, our results of operations would be adversely affected.

We cannot predict what other environmental legislation or regulations will be enacted in the future, how existing or future laws or regulations will be administered or interpreted or what environmental conditions may be found to exist on the properties in the future. Compliance with existing and new laws and regulations may require us or our tenants to spend funds to remedy environmental problems. If we or our tenants were to become subject to significant environmental liabilities, we could be materially and adversely affected.

About Us and Available Information

We were incorporated under the laws of Maryland on January 12, 2018. Since our June 2018 IPO, shares of our common stock have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “EPRT”. Our offices are located at 902 Carnegie Center Blvd., Suite 520, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540. We lease approximately 13,453 square feet of office space from an unaffiliated third party. Our telephone number is (609) 436-0619 and our website is www.essentialproperties.com.

We electronically file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. You may obtain a free copy of our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, on the day of filing with the SEC on our website, or by sending an email message to info@essentialproperties.com.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

There are many factors that affect our business and the results of our operation, some of which are beyond our control. Set forth below are the risks that we believe are material. You should carefully consider the following risks in evaluating us and our business. The occurrence of any of the following risks could materially and adversely impact our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and liquidity, the market price of our common stock, and our ability to, among other things, satisfy our debt service obligations and to make distributions to our stockholders, which in turn could cause our stockholders to lose all or a part of their investment. Some statements in this report including statements in the following risk factors constitute forward-looking statements. Please refer to the section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

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Risks Related to Our Business and Properties

We are subject to risks related to commercial real estate ownership that could reduce the value of our properties.

Our core business is the ownership of real estate that is net leased on a long-term basis to middle-market companies operating service-oriented or experience-based businesses. Accordingly, our performance is subject to risks incident to the ownership of commercial real estate, including:

The occurrence of any of the risks described above may cause our cash flows and the value of our real estate to decline, which could materially and adversely affect us.

Global market and economic conditions may materially and adversely affect us and the ability of our tenants to make rental payments to us pursuant to our leases.

Our results of operations are sensitive to changes in the overall economic conditions that impact our tenants’ financial condition and leasing practices. Adverse economic conditions such as high unemployment levels, interest rates, tax rates and fuel and energy costs may have an impact on the results of operations and financial conditions of our tenants. During periods of economic slowdown, rising interest rates and declining demand for real estate may result in a general decline in rents or an increased incidence of defaults under existing leases. A lack of demand for rental space could adversely affect our ability to maintain our current tenants and gain new tenants, which may affect our growth and profitability. Accordingly, a decline in economic conditions could materially and adversely affect us.

Our business is dependent upon our tenants successfully operating their businesses, and their failure to do so could materially and adversely affect us.

Generally, each of our properties is operated and occupied by a single tenant. Therefore, the success of our investments is materially dependent on the financial stability of our tenants. The success of any one of our tenants is dependent on its individual business and its industry, which could be adversely affected by poor management, economic conditions in general, changes in consumer trends and preferences that decrease demand for a tenant’s products or services or other factors over which neither they nor we have control. Our portfolio consists primarily of properties leased to single tenants that operate in multiple locations, which means we own numerous properties operated by the same tenant. To the extent we own, or finance numerous properties operated by and leased to one company, the general failure of that single tenant or a loss or significant decline in its business could materially and adversely affect us.

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At any given time, any tenant may experience a downturn in its business that may weaken its operating results or the overall financial condition of individual properties or its business as whole. As a result, a tenant may delay lease commencement, fail to make rental payments when due, decline to extend a lease upon its expiration, become insolvent or declare bankruptcy. We depend on our tenants to operate the properties we own in a manner which generates revenues sufficient to allow them to meet their obligations to us, including their obligations to pay rent, maintain certain insurance coverage, pay real estate taxes and maintain the properties in a manner so as not to jeopardize their operating licenses or regulatory status. The ability of our tenants to fulfill their obligations under our leases generally depends, to a significant degree, upon the overall profitability of their operations. Cash flow generated by certain tenant businesses may not be sufficient for a tenant to meet its obligations to us. We could be materially and adversely affected if a number of our tenants were unable to meet their obligations to us.

Our assessment that certain businesses are more insulated from e-commerce pressure than many others may prove to be incorrect, and changes in macroeconomic trends may adversely affect our tenants, either of which could impair our tenants’ ability to make rental payments to us and materially and adversely affect us.

We primarily invest in properties leased to tenants engaged in a targeted set of service-oriented or experience-based businesses, and we believe these businesses are generally more insulated from e-commerce pressure than many others. While we believe this to be the case, businesses previously thought to be internet resistant, such as the retail grocery industry, have proven to be susceptible to competition from e-commerce. Technology and business conditions, particularly in the retail industry, are rapidly changing, and our tenants may be adversely affected by technological innovation, changing consumer preferences and competition from non-traditional sources. To the extent our tenants face increased competition from non-traditional competitors, such as internet vendors, some of which may have different business models and larger profit margins, their businesses could suffer. There can be no assurance that our tenants will be successful in meeting any new competition, and a deterioration in our tenants’ businesses could impair their ability to meet their lease obligations to us and materially and adversely affect us.

Additionally, we believe that many of the businesses operated by our tenants are favorably impacted by current macroeconomic trends that support consumer spending, such as generally declining unemployment and positive consumer sentiment. Economic conditions are cyclical, and developments that discourage consumer spending, such as increasing unemployment, wage stagnation, decreases in the value of real estate and/or financial assets, inflation or increasing interest rates, could adversely affect our tenants, impair their ability to meet their lease obligations to us and materially and adversely affect us.

Single-tenant leases involve significant risks of tenant default.

Our strategy focuses primarily on investing in single-tenant triple-net leased properties throughout the United States. The financial failure of, or default in payment by, a single tenant under its lease is likely to cause a significant or complete reduction in our rental revenue from that property and a reduction in the value of the property. We may also experience difficulty or a significant delay in re-leasing or selling such property. This risk is magnified in situations where we lease multiple properties to a single tenant under a master lease. A tenant failure or default under a master lease could reduce or eliminate rental revenue from multiple properties and reduce the value of such properties. Although the master lease structure may be beneficial to us because it restricts the ability of tenants to remove individual underperforming assets, there is no guarantee that a tenant will not default in its obligations to us or decline to renew its master lease upon expiration. The default of a tenant that leases multiple properties from us or its decision not to renew its master lease upon expiration could materially and adversely affect us.

Our portfolio has geographic market concentrations that make us especially susceptible to adverse developments in those geographic markets.

In addition to general, regional, national and international economic conditions, our operating performance is impacted by the economic conditions of the specific geographic markets in which we have concentrations of properties. Our business includes substantial holdings in the following states as of December 31, 2019 (based on annualized base rent):  Texas (13.2%), Georgia (9.9%), Florida (6.6%), Arkansas (5.8%) and Michigan (5.3%). In addition, a significant portion of our holdings as of that date (based on annualized rent) were located in the South (56.0%) and Midwest (25.7%) regions of the United States (as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau). This geographic concentration could adversely affect our operating performance if conditions become less favorable in any of the states or markets within such states in which we have a concentration of properties. We cannot guarantee that any of our markets will grow, not experience adverse developments or that underlying real estate fundamentals will be favorable to owners and operators of service-oriented or experience-based properties. Our operations may also be affected if competing properties are built in our markets. A downturn in the economy in the states or regions in which we have a concentration of properties, or markets within such states or regions, could adversely affect our tenants operating businesses in those states, impair their ability to pay rent to us and materially and adversely affect us.

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We are subject to risks related to tenant concentration, and an adverse development with respect to a large tenant could materially and adversely affect us.

As of December 31, 2019, Captain D’s (Captain D’s, LLC), our largest tenant, contributed 3.4% of our annualized base rent. Additionally, we derived 2.8%, 2.5% and 2.5% of our annualized base rent as of December 31, 2019 from Mister Car Wash (Car Wash Partners, Inc.), Art Van Furniture (AVF Parent, LLC), and AMC (American Multi-Cinema, Inc.), respectively. As a result, our financial performance depends significantly on the revenues generated from these tenants and, in turn, the financial condition of these tenants. Additionally, as of December 31, 2019, our five largest tenants contributed 13.6% of our annualized base rent, and our ten largest tenants contributed 23.4% of our annualized base rent. Our strategy targets a scaled portfolio that generally, over time, derives no more than 5.0% of its annualized base from any single tenant or more than 1% from any single property. In the future, we may experience additional tenant and property concentrations. If one of these tenants, or another tenant that occupies a significant portion of our properties or whose lease payments represent a significant portion of our rental revenue, were to experience financial weakness or file for bankruptcy, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

The vast majority of our properties are leased to unrated tenants whom we determine are creditworthy via our internal underwriting and credit analysis procedures. However, the tools we use to measure credit quality, such as property-level rent coverage ratio, may not be accurate.

The vast majority of our properties are leased to unrated tenants whom we determine, through our internal underwriting and credit analysis, to be creditworthy. Substantially all of our tenants are required to provide corporate-level financial information to us periodically or, in some instances, at our request. This financial information generally includes balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement data, or other financial and operating data, on an annual basis. Additionally, as of December 31, 2019, leases contributing 98.2% of our annualized base rent required tenants to provide us with specified unit-level financial information and leases contributing 98.6% of our annualized base rent required tenants to provide us with corporate-financial information. To assist us in determining a tenant’s credit quality, we utilize RiskCalc. RiskCalc is a model for predicting private company defaults, based on Moody’s Analytics Credit Research Database. RiskCalc provides an estimated default frequency (“EDF”) and a “shadow rating” that we use, together with a lease’s property-level rent coverage ratio, to evaluate credit.

Our methods may not adequately assess the risk of an investment. An EDF score and shadow rating from RiskCalc are not the same as a published credit rating and lacks the extensive company participation that is typically involved when a rating agency publishes a rating; accordingly, an EDF score or a shadow rating may not be as indicative of creditworthiness as a rating published by Moody’s Investors Services, Inc. (“Moody’s”), S&P Global Ratings, a division of S&P Global, Inc. (“S&P”), or another nationally recognized statistical rating organization. An EDF is only an estimate of default probability based, in part, on assumptions incorporated into the product. Our calculations of EDFs, shadow ratings and rent coverage ratios are unaudited and are based on financial information provided to us by our tenants and prospective tenants without independent verification on our part, and we must assume the appropriateness of estimates and judgments that were made by the party preparing the financial information. If our assessment of credit quality proves to be inaccurate, we may be subject to defaults, and our cash flows may be less stable. The ability of an unrated tenant to meet its obligations to us may be more speculative than that of a rated tenant.

Decreases in demand for restaurant and retail space or other industries may materially and adversely affect us.

As of December 31, 2019, leases representing approximately 23.4% and 3.9% of our annualized base rent were with tenants in the restaurant and retail industries, respectively. In the future we may acquire additional restaurant and retail properties. Accordingly, decreases in the demand for restaurant and/or retail spaces may have a greater adverse effect on us than if we had fewer investments in these industries. The market for restaurant and retail space has been, and could continue to be, adversely affected by weakness in the national, regional and local economies, the adverse financial condition of some large restaurant and retail companies, the ongoing consolidation in the restaurant and retail industries, the excess amount of restaurant and retail space in a number of markets and, in the case of the retail industry, increasing consumer purchases through the internet. To the extent that these conditions continue, they are likely to negatively affect market rents for restaurant and retail space and could materially and adversely affect us. Similarly, while our portfolio is diversified by industry, it is possible that adverse trends could affect multiple industries simultaneously and reduce or eliminate the benefits our industry diversification is intended to achieve.

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

Our results of operations depend on our ability to continue to strategically lease space in our properties, including renewing expiring leases, leasing vacant space and re-leasing space in properties where leases are expiring, optimizing our tenant mix or leasing properties on more economically favorable terms. As of December 31, 2019, leases representing approximately 0.5% of our annualized base rent will expire during 2020. As of December 31, 2019, exclusive of one vacant land parcel that we own, our occupancy was 100%. Current tenants may decline, or may not have the financial resources available, to renew current leases, and we cannot guarantee that leases that are renewed will have terms that are as economically favorable to us as the expiring lease terms. If tenants do not renew the leases as they expire, we will have to find new tenants to lease our properties and there is no guarantee that we will be able to find new tenants or that our properties will be re-leased at rental rates equal to or above the current average rental rates or that substantial rent abatements, tenant improvement allowances, early termination rights or below-market renewal options will not be offered to attract new tenants. We may experience significant costs in connection with re-leasing a significant number of our properties, which could materially and adversely affect us.

As we continue to acquire properties, we may decrease or fail to increase the diversity of our portfolio.

While we seek to maintain or increase our portfolio’s tenant, geographic and industry diversification with future acquisitions, it is possible that we may determine to consummate one or more acquisitions that actually decrease our portfolio’s diversity. If our portfolio becomes less diverse, our business will be more sensitive to the bankruptcy or insolvency of fewer tenants, to changes in trends affecting a particular industry and to a general economic downturn in a particular geographic area.

We have investments in industries that depend upon discretionary spending by consumers. A reduction in the willingness or ability of consumers to use their discretionary income in the businesses of our tenants and potential tenants could reduce the demand for our properties.

Most of our portfolio is leased to tenants operating service-oriented or experience-based businesses at our properties. Restaurants (including quick service and casual and family dining), car washes, medical services, home furnishings, convenience stores, automotive services, entertainment (including movie theaters), early childhood education and health and fitness represent the largest industries in our portfolio. Captain D’s, Mister Car Wash, Art Van Furniture, AMC Theaters, Circle K, Zips Car Wash, The Malvern School, R-Store, Vasa Fitness, and Boston Sports Club, represent the largest concepts in our portfolio. The success of most of these businesses depends on the willingness of consumers to use discretionary income to purchase their products or services. A downturn in the economy could cause consumers to reduce their discretionary spending, which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

Our ability to realize future rent increases on some of our leases may vary depending on changes in the CPI.

Our leases often provide for periodic contractual rent escalations. As of December 31, 2019, leases contributing 98.6% of our annualized base rent provided for increases in future annual base rent, generally ranging from 1.0% to 4.0% annually, with a weighted average annual escalation equal to 1.5% of base rent. Although many of our rent escalators increase rent at a fixed amount on fixed dates, approximately 5.5% of our rent escalators relate to an increase in the CPI over a specified period.

Therefore, during periods of low inflation or deflation, small increases or decreases in the CPI will subject us to the risk of receiving lower rental revenue than we otherwise would have been entitled to receive if our rent escalators were based on higher fixed percentages or amounts.

Inflation may materially and adversely affect us and our tenants.

While our tenants are generally obligated to pay property-level expenses relating to the properties they lease from us (e.g., maintenance, insurance and property taxes), we incur other expenses, such as general and administrative expense, interest expense relating to our debt (some of which bears interest at floating rates) and carrying costs for vacant properties. These expenses would increase in an inflationary environment, and such increases may exceed any increase in revenue we receive under our leases. Additionally, increased costs may have an adverse impact on our tenants if increases in their operating expenses exceed increases in their revenue, which may adversely affect the tenants’ ability to pay rent owed to us.

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

As of December 31, 2019, tenants contributing 18.1% of our annualized base rent operated under franchise or license agreements. Generally, franchise agreements have terms that end earlier than the respective expiration dates of the related leases. In addition, a tenant’s rights as a franchisee or licensee typically may be terminated and the tenant may be precluded from competing with the franchisor or licensor upon termination. Usually, we have no notice or cure rights with respect to such a termination and have no rights to assignment of any such franchise agreement. This may have an adverse effect on our ability to mitigate losses arising from a default on any of our leases. A franchisor’s or licensor’s termination or refusal to renew a franchise or license agreement would likely have a material adverse effect on the ability of the tenant to make payments under its lease, which could materially and adversely affect us.

The bankruptcy or insolvency of a tenant could result in the termination or modification of such tenant’s lease.

The occurrence of a tenant bankruptcy or insolvency could diminish the income we receive from that tenant’s lease or leases or force us to “take back” a property as a result of a default or a rejection of a lease by a tenant in bankruptcy. If a tenant becomes bankrupt, the automatic stay created by the bankruptcy will prohibit us from collecting pre-bankruptcy debts from that tenant, or from its property, or evicting such tenant based solely upon such bankruptcy or insolvency, unless we obtain an order permitting us to do so from the bankruptcy court. In addition, a bankrupt or insolvent tenant may be authorized to reject and terminate its lease or leases with us. Any claims against such bankrupt tenant for unpaid future rent would be subject to statutory limitations that would likely result in our receipt of rental revenues that are substantially less than the contractually specified rent we are owed under the lease or leases. In addition, any claim we have for unpaid past rent, if any, may not be paid in full. We may also be unable to re-lease a terminated or rejected space or to re-lease it on comparable or more favorable terms. As a result, a significant number of tenant bankruptcies may materially and adversely affect us.

Tenants who are considering filing for bankruptcy protection may request that we agree to amendments of their master leases to remove certain of the properties they lease from us under such master leases. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to sell or re-lease properties that we agree to release from tenants’ leases in the future or that lease termination fees, if any, will be sufficient to make up for the rental revenues lost as a result of lease amendments.

Property vacancies could result in significant capital expenditures.

The loss of a tenant, either through lease expiration or tenant bankruptcy or insolvency, may require us to spend significant amounts of capital to renovate the property before it is suitable for a new tenant and cause us to incur significant costs. Many of the leases we enter into or acquire are for properties that are specially suited to the particular business of our tenants. Because these properties have been designed or physically modified for a particular tenant, if the current lease is terminated or not renewed, we may be required to renovate the property at substantial costs, decrease the rent we charge or provide other concessions in order to lease the property to another tenant. In addition, if we are required to sell the property, we may have difficulty selling it to a party other than the tenant due to the special purpose for which the property may have been designed or modified. This potential illiquidity may limit our ability to quickly modify our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions, including tenant demand. These limitations may materially and adversely affect us.

Defaults by borrowers on mortgages we hold could lead to losses.

From time to time, we have made and may, in the future, assume a limited number of mortgage or other loans to extend financing to tenants at our properties. A default by a borrower on its loan payments to us that would prevent us from earning interest or receiving a return of the principal of our loan could materially and adversely affect us. In the event of a default, we may also experience delays in enforcing our rights as lender and may incur substantial costs in collecting the amounts owed to us and in liquidating any collateral.

Foreclosure and other similar proceedings used to enforce payment of real estate loans are generally subject to principles of equity, which are designed to relieve the indebted party from the legal effect of that party’s default. Foreclosure and other similar laws may limit our right to obtain a deficiency judgment against the defaulting party after a foreclosure or sale. The application of any of these principles may lead to a loss or delay in the payment on loans we hold. Further, in the event we have to foreclose on a property, the amount we receive from the foreclosure sale of the property may be inadequate to fully pay the amounts owed to us by the borrower and our costs incurred to foreclose, repossess and sell the property. Any of such events could materially and adversely affect us.

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We may be unable to identify and complete acquisitions of suitable properties, which may impede our growth, and our future acquisitions may not yield the returns we seek.

Our ability to expand through acquisitions requires us to identify and complete acquisitions or investment opportunities that are compatible with our growth strategy and to successfully integrate newly acquired properties into our portfolio. We continually evaluate investment opportunities and may acquire properties when strategic opportunities exist. Our ability to acquire properties on favorable terms and successfully operate them may be constrained by the following significant risks:

If any of these risks are realized, we may be materially and adversely affected.

We may not acquire the properties that we evaluate in our pipeline.

We generally maintain a pipeline of investment opportunities. Transactions may fail to close for a variety of reasons, including the discovery of previously unknown liabilities or other items uncovered during our diligence process. Similarly, we may never execute binding purchase agreements with respect to properties that are currently subject to non-binding letters of intent, and properties with respect to which we are negotiating may never lead to the execution of any letter of

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intent. For many other reasons, we may not ultimately acquire the properties currently in our pipeline. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the concept of a pipeline as we have referred to in this Annual Report.

Illiquidity of real estate investments could significantly impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties and harm our financial condition.

Our investments are relatively difficult to sell quickly. As a result of this illiquidity, our ability to promptly sell one or more properties in our portfolio in response to changing economic, financial or investment conditions is limited. Return of capital and realization of gains, if any, from an investment generally will occur upon disposition or refinancing of the underlying property. We may be unable to realize our investment objective by sale, other disposition or refinancing at attractive prices within any given period of time or may otherwise be unable to complete any exit strategy. In particular, these risks could arise from weakness in or even the lack of an established market for a property, changes in the financial condition or prospects of prospective purchasers, changes in national or international economic conditions and changes in laws, regulations or fiscal policies of the jurisdiction in which the property is located.

In addition, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), imposes restrictions on a REIT’s ability to dispose of properties that are not applicable to other types of real estate companies. In particular, the tax laws applicable to REITs effectively require that we hold our properties for investment, rather than primarily for sale in the ordinary course of business, which may cause us to forgo or defer sales of properties that otherwise would be in our best interest. Therefore, we may not be able to vary our portfolio in response to economic or other conditions promptly or on favorable terms, which may materially and adversely affect us.

We face significant competition for acquisitions, which may reduce the number of acquisitions we are able to complete and increase the costs of these acquisitions.

We face competition for acquisitions of real property from investors, including traded and non-traded public REITs, private equity investors and institutional investment funds, some of which have greater financial resources than we do, a greater ability to borrow funds to acquire properties and the ability to accept more risk than we can prudently manage. This competition may increase the demand for the types of properties in which we typically invest and, therefore, reduce the number of suitable investment opportunities available to us and increase the prices paid for such acquisition properties. This competition will increase if investments in real estate become more attractive relative to other types of investment. Accordingly, competition for the acquisition of real property could materially and adversely affect us.

Our growth depends on third-party sources of capital that are outside of our control and may not be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

In order to qualify 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 the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain. In addition, we will be subject to income tax at the corporate rate to the extent that we distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and including any net capital gain. Because of these distribution requirements, we may not be able to fund future capital needs, including any necessary acquisition financing, from operating cash flow. Consequently, we rely on third-party sources to fund our capital needs, including for funding acquisitions and refinancing indebtedness as it matures. We may not be able to obtain the financing on favorable terms or at all. Any additional debt we incur will increase our leverage and likelihood of default. Our access to third-party sources of debt and equity capital depends, in part, on:

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If we cannot obtain capital from third-party sources, we may not be able to acquire properties when strategic opportunities exist, meet the capital and operating needs of our existing properties, satisfy our debt service obligations or make the cash distributions to our stockholders necessary to qualify as a REIT. Periods of volatility in the credit and capital markets negatively affect the amounts, sources and cost of capital available to us. If sufficient sources of third-party financing are not available to us on cost effective terms, we could be forced to limit our acquisition activity and/or to take other actions to fund our business activities and repayment of debt, such as selling assets. To the extent that we access capital at a higher cost (reflected in higher interest rates for debt financing or lower stock price for equity financing), our investment returns, earnings per share and cash flow could be adversely affected.

We have engaged in hedging transactions and may engage in additional hedging transactions in the future; such transactions may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.

We use hedging strategies, in a manner consistent with the REIT qualification requirements, in an effort to reduce our exposure to changes in interest rates. As of December 31, 2019, we were party to six interest rate swap agreements with third party financial institutions having an aggregate notional amount of $450.0 million that are designated as cash flow hedges and designed to effectively fix the LIBOR component of the interest rate on a portion of the debt outstanding under our term loans. While these transactions are designed to reduce interest rate risk, unanticipated changes in interest rates may result in poorer overall investment performance than if we had not engaged in any such hedging transactions. Interest rate hedging may fail to protect or could adversely affect us, because, among other things, it may not fully eliminate interest rate risk, it exposes us to counterparty and default risk that may result in greater losses or the loss of unrealized profits, and it creates additional expense, while any income it generates to offset losses may be limited by federal tax provisions applicable to REITs. Thus, hedging activity, while intended to limit losses, may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.

A significant portion of our assets have been pledged to secure the borrowings of our subsidiaries.

A significant portion of our investment portfolio consists of assets owned by our consolidated, bankruptcy remote, special purpose entity subsidiaries that have been pledged to secure the long-term borrowings of those subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2019, we had 355 properties comprising $601.3 million of net investments pledged as collateral under our Master Trust Funding Program. We or our other consolidated subsidiaries are the equity owners of these special purpose entities, meaning we are entitled to the excess cash flows after debt service and all other required payments are made on the debt of these entities. If our subsidiaries fail to make the required payments on this indebtedness, distributions of excess cash flow to us may be reduced or eliminated and the indebtedness may become immediately due and payable. If the subsidiaries are unable to pay the accelerated indebtedness, the pledged assets could be foreclosed upon and distributions of excess cash flow to us may be suspended or terminated. In that case, our ability to make distributions to our stockholders could be materially and adversely affected.

Loss of senior executives with long-standing business relationships could materially impair our ability to operate successfully.

Our continued success and our ability to manage anticipated future growth depend, in large part, upon the efforts of certain of our senior executives, including our President and Chief Executive Officer, Peter M. Mavoides, and Gregg A. Seibert, our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Messrs. Mavoides and Seibert have extensive market knowledge and relationships and exercise substantial influence over our operational, financing, acquisition and disposition activity. Among the reasons that Messrs. Mavoides and Seibert are important to our success is that each has a national or regional industry reputation that attracts business and investment opportunities and assists us in negotiations with lenders, existing and potential tenants and industry personnel.

Many of our other executive personnel also have extensive experience and strong reputations in the real estate industry and have been important in setting our strategic direction, operating our business, identifying, recruiting and training key personnel and arranging necessary financing. In particular, the extent and nature of the relationships that these individuals have developed with financial institutions and existing and prospective tenants is important to the success of our business.

We cannot guarantee the continued employment of any of our management team, who may choose to leave our company for any number of reasons, such as other business opportunities, differing views on our strategic direction or other personal reasons. The loss of services of one or more members of our management team, or our inability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel, could adversely affect our business, diminish our investment opportunities and

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weaken our relationships with lenders, business partners, existing and prospective tenants and industry personnel, which could materially and adversely affect us.

Any material failure, weakness, interruption or breach in security of our information systems could prevent us from effectively operating our business.

We rely on information systems across our operations and corporate functions, including finance and accounting, and depend on such systems to ensure payment of obligations, collection of cash, data warehousing to support analytics, and other various processes and procedures. Our ability to efficiently manage our business depends significantly on the reliability and capacity of these systems. The failure of these systems to operate effectively, maintenance problems, upgrading or transitioning to new platforms, or a breach in security of these systems, such as in the event of cyber-attacks, could adversely affect us.  Although we make efforts to maintain the security and integrity of our information systems, and we have implemented various measures to manage the risk of a security breach or disruption, there can be no assurance that our security efforts and measures will be effective or that attempted security breaches or disruptions would not be successful or damaging. Even the best-protected information, networks, systems and facilities remain potentially vulnerable because the techniques used in such attempted security breaches evolve and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, and in some cases are designed to not be detected and, in fact, may not be detected. Accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate security barriers or other preventative measures, and thus it is impossible for us to entirely mitigate this risk. A security breach or other significant disruption involving our information systems could disrupt the proper functioning of our networks and systems; result in misstated financial reports, violations of loan covenants and/or missed reporting deadlines; result in our inability to properly monitor our compliance with the rules and regulations regarding our qualification as a REIT; result in the unauthorized access to, and destruction, loss, theft, misappropriation or release of proprietary, confidential, sensitive or otherwise valuable information of ours or others, which others could use to compete against us or for disruptive, destructive or otherwise harmful purposes and outcomes; require significant management attention and resources to remedy any damages that result; subject us to claims for breach of contract, damages, credits, penalties or termination of leases or other agreements; or damage our reputation among our tenants and investors generally.

In addition, we implemented a new enterprise resource planning system in 2019. We may experience difficulties with this system, which could result in disruptions to our accounting procedures or adversely affect our internal control over financial reporting. For example, inaccuracies in importing our electronic data into the new system and difficulties integrating the various components and processes of the system could occur and disrupt our financial reporting process or other business processes. Additionally, we may incur significant additional costs as we continue to refine the system’s functionality.

We are subject to litigation, which could materially and adversely affect us.

We are party to various lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings. These matters may involve significant expense and may result in judgments or settlements, which may be significant. There can be no assurance that insurance will be available to cover losses related to legal proceedings or that our tenants will meet any indemnification obligations that they have to us. In the future, we may become subject to additional litigation. Some of these claims may result in significant defense costs and potentially significant judgments against us, some of which are not, or cannot be, insured against. Resolution of these types of matters against us may result in our having to pay significant fines, judgments or settlements, which, if uninsured, or if the fines, judgments, and settlements exceed insured levels, could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Certain litigation or the resolution of certain litigation may affect the availability or cost of some of our insurance coverage, which could materially and adversely impact us, expose us to increased risks that would be uninsured, and materially and adversely impact our ability to attract directors and officers.

Material weaknesses or a failure to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting could prevent us from accurately reporting our financial results in a timely manner, which could materially and adversely affect us.

As a publicly traded company, we are required to report annual audited financial statements and quarterly unaudited interim financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. We rely on our internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. More broadly, effective internal control over financial reporting is a necessary component of our program to seek to prevent, and detect any, fraud and to operate successfully as a public company. There can be no guarantee that we will not identify material weaknesses in the future or that our internal control over financial reporting will be effective in accomplishing all of its objectives. Furthermore, as we grow, our business, and hence our internal control over financial reporting, will likely become more complex, and we may require significantly more resources to develop and maintain effective controls. Designing and implementing an effective system of internal control

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over financial reporting is a continuous effort that requires significant resources, including the expenditure of a significant amount of time by senior members of our management team.

In connection with our ongoing monitoring of our internal control over financial reporting or audits of our financial statements, we or our auditors may identify deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that may be significant or rise to the level of material weaknesses. Any failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or to timely effect any necessary improvements to such controls could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations (which could affect the listing of our common stock on the NYSE). Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect our ability to prevent or detect fraud, harm our reputation and cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

If we fail to implement and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures, we may not be able to meet applicable reporting requirements or prevent or detect fraud, which could harm our reputation, cause investors to lose confidence in our reports, and materially and adversely affect us.

We are subject to the informational requirements of the Exchange Act and are required to file reports and other information with the SEC. As a publicly traded company, we are required to maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file with, or submit to, the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. They include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports filed with, or submitted to, the SEC is accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive and principal financial officers, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Effective disclosure controls and procedures are necessary for us to provide reliable reports, effectively prevent and detect fraud, and to operate successfully as a public company. Designing and implementing effective disclosure controls and procedures is a continuous effort that requires significant resources and devotion of time. We may discover deficiencies in our disclosure controls and procedures that may be difficult or time consuming to remediate in a timely manner. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures or to timely effect any necessary improvements thereto could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations (which could affect the listing of our common stock on the NYSE). Additionally, ineffective disclosure controls and procedures could also adversely affect our ability to prevent or detect fraud, harm our reputation and cause investors to lose confidence in our reports filed with, or submitted to, the SEC, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

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

We incur, and will continue to incur, significant legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses as a result of being a public company. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), as well as related rules implemented by the SEC and the NYSE, have required changes in corporate governance practices of public companies. As of December 31, 2019, we ceased to qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012, and as a result of the additional regulatory and other requirements, we will experience an increase in legal, accounting, insurance and certain other expenses. In addition, rules that the SEC is implementing or is required to implement pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act are expected to require additional changes. Compliance with these and other similar laws, rules and regulations, including compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, may substantially increase our expenses, including our legal and accounting costs, and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We also expect these laws, rules and regulations to make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage, which may make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified directors and officers.

The costs of compliance with or liabilities related to environmental laws may materially and adversely affect us.

The properties we own or have owned in the past may subject us to known and unknown environmental liabilities. Under various federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the environment, as a current or former owner or operator of real property, we may be liable for costs and damages resulting from environmental matters, including the presence or discharge of hazardous or toxic substances, waste or petroleum products at, on, in, under or migrating from such property, including costs to investigate or clean up such contamination and liability for personal injury, property damage or harm to natural resources. We may face liability regardless of:

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There may be environmental liabilities associated with our properties of which we are unaware. We obtain Phase I environmental site assessments on all properties we finance or acquire. The Phase I environmental site assessments are limited in scope and therefore may not reveal all environmental conditions affecting a property. Therefore, there could be undiscovered environmental liabilities on the properties we own. Some of our properties use, or may have used in the past, underground tanks for the storage of petroleum-based products or waste products that could create a potential for release of hazardous substances or penalties if tanks do not comply with legal standards. If environmental contamination exists on our properties, we could be subject to strict, joint and/or several liability for the contamination by virtue of our ownership interest. Some of our properties may contain asbestos-containing materials (“ACM”). Environmental laws govern the presence, maintenance and removal of ACM and such laws may impose fines, penalties, or other obligations for failure to comply with these requirements or expose us to third-party liability (e.g., liability for personal injury associated with exposure to asbestos). Environmental laws also apply to other activities that can occur on a property, such as storage of petroleum products or other hazardous toxic substances, air emissions, water discharges and exposure to lead-based paint. Such laws may impose fines and penalties for violations and may require permits or other governmental approvals to be obtained for the operation of a business involving such activities.

The known or potential presence of hazardous substances on a property may adversely affect our ability to sell, lease or improve the property or to borrow using the property as collateral. In addition, environmental laws may create liens on contaminated properties in favor of the government for damages and costs it incurs to address such contamination. Moreover, if contamination is discovered on our properties, environmental laws may impose restrictions on the manner in which they may be used or businesses may be operated, and these restrictions may require substantial expenditures.

In addition, although our leases generally require our tenants to operate in compliance with all applicable laws and to indemnify us against any environmental liabilities arising from a tenant’s activities on the property, we could be subject to strict liability by virtue of our ownership interest. We cannot be sure that our tenants will, or will be able to, satisfy their indemnification obligations, if any, under our leases. Furthermore, the discovery of environmental liabilities on any of our properties could lead to significant remediation costs or to other liabilities or obligations attributable to the tenant of that property or could result in material interference with the ability of our tenants to operate their businesses as currently operated. Noncompliance with environmental laws or discovery of environmental liabilities could each individually or collectively affect such tenant’s ability to make payments to us, including rental payments and, where applicable, indemnification payments.

Our environmental liabilities may include property and natural resources damage, personal injury, investigation and clean-up costs, among other potential environmental liabilities. These costs could be substantial. Although we may obtain insurance for environmental liability for certain properties that are deemed to warrant coverage, our insurance may be insufficient to address any particular environmental situation and we may be unable to continue to obtain insurance for environmental matters, at a reasonable cost or at all, in the future. If our environmental liability insurance is inadequate, we may become subject to material losses for environmental liabilities. Our ability to receive the benefits of any environmental liability insurance policy will depend on the financial stability of our insurance company and the position it takes with respect to our insurance policies. If we were to become subject to significant environmental liabilities, we could be materially and adversely affected.

Our properties may contain or develop harmful mold, which could lead to liability for adverse health effects and costs of remediation.

When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Concern about indoor exposure to mold has been increasing, as exposure to mold may cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. As a result, should our tenants or their employees or customers be exposed to mold at any of our properties we could be required to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold from the affected property. In addition, exposure to mold by our tenants or others could subject us to liability if property damage or health concerns arise. If we were to become subject to significant mold-related liabilities, we could be materially and adversely affected.

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Insurance on our properties may not adequately cover all losses and uninsured losses could materially and adversely affect us.

Our tenants are required to maintain liability and property insurance coverage for the properties they lease from us pursuant to triple-net leases. Pursuant to such leases, our tenants are required to name us (and any of our lenders that have a mortgage on the property leased by the tenant) as additional insureds on their liability policies and additional named insured and/or loss payee (or mortgagee, in the case of our lenders) on their property policies. All tenants are required to maintain casualty coverage and most carry limits at 100% of replacement cost. Depending on the location of the property, losses of a catastrophic nature, such as those caused by earthquakes and floods, may be covered by insurance policies that are held by our tenant with limitations such as large deductibles or co-payments that a tenant may not be able to meet. In addition, losses of a catastrophic nature, such as those caused by wind/hail, hurricanes, terrorism or acts of war, may be uninsurable or not economically insurable. If there is damage to our properties that is not covered by insurance and such properties are subject to recourse indebtedness, we will continue to be liable for the indebtedness, even if these properties are irreparably damaged.

Inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations and other factors, including terrorism or acts of war, may make any insurance proceeds we receive insufficient to repair or replace a property if it is damaged or destroyed. In that situation, the insurance proceeds received may not be adequate to restore our economic position with respect to the affected real property.  Furthermore, if we experience a substantial or comprehensive loss of one of our properties, we may not be able to rebuild such property to its existing specifications without significant capital expenditures which may exceed any amounts received pursuant to insurance policies, as reconstruction or improvement of such a property would likely require significant upgrades to meet zoning and building code requirements. The loss of our capital investment in or anticipated future returns from our properties due to material uninsured losses could materially and adversely affect us.

Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, other acts of violence or war, or other unexpected events could materially and adversely impact us.

Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, other acts of violence or war or other unexpected events could materially interrupt our business operations (or those of our tenants), cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or result in increased volatility in the U.S. and worldwide financial markets and economy. They also could result in or prolong an economic recession in the United States. Any of these occurrences could materially and adversely affect us.

Compliance with the ADA and fire, safety and other regulations may require us to make unanticipated expenditures.

Our properties are subject to the ADA. Under the ADA, all public accommodations must meet federal requirements related to access and use by disabled persons. Compliance with the ADA requirements could require removal of access barriers and non-compliance could result in imposition of fines by the U.S. government or an award of damages to private litigants, or both. While our tenants are obligated by law to comply with the ADA and typically obligated under our leases to cover costs associated with compliance, if required changes involve greater expenditures than anticipated or if the changes must be made on a more accelerated basis than anticipated, the ability of our tenants to cover costs could be adversely affected, and we could be required to expend our own funds to comply with the provisions of the ADA.

In addition, we are required to operate our properties in compliance with fire and safety regulations, building codes and other land use regulations. We may be required to make substantial capital expenditures to comply with those requirements and may be required to obtain approvals from various authorities with respect to our properties, including prior to acquiring a property or when undertaking renovations of any of our existing properties. There can be no assurance that existing laws and regulatory policies will not adversely affect us or the timing or cost of any future acquisitions or renovations, or that additional regulations will not be adopted that increase such delays or result in additional costs. Additionally, failure to comply with any of these requirements could result in the imposition of fines by governmental authorities or awards of damages to private litigants. While we intend to only acquire properties that we believe are currently in substantial compliance with all regulatory requirements, these requirements may change and new requirements may be imposed which could require significant unanticipated expenditures by us.

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Changes in accounting standards may materially and adversely affect us.

From time to time the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and the SEC, who create and interpret accounting standards, may change the financial accounting and reporting standards or their interpretation and application of these standards that will govern the preparation of our financial statements. These changes could materially and adversely affect our reported financial condition and results of operations, and, under certain circumstances, may cause us to fail to comply with financial covenants contained in agreements relating to our indebtedness. In some cases, we could be required to apply a new or revised standard retroactively, resulting in restating prior period financial statements. Similarly, these changes could materially and adversely affect our tenants’ reported financial condition or results of operations and affect their preferences regarding leasing real estate.

In the future, we may acquire properties through transactions where a party contributes such properties to our Operating Partnership in exchange for interests therein that are exchangeable for shares of our common stock, which could result in stockholder dilution and limit our ability to sell such properties.

In the future we may acquire properties through tax deferred contribution transactions in exchange for interests in our Operating Partnership that are exchangeable for shares of our common stock, which may result in stockholder dilution. This acquisition structure may have the effect of, among other things, reducing the amount of tax depreciation we could deduct over the tax life of the acquired properties, and may require that we agree to protect the contributors’ ability to defer recognition of taxable gain through restrictions on our ability to dispose of the acquired properties and/or the allocation of partnership debt to the contributors to maintain their tax bases. These restrictions could limit our ability to sell an asset at a time, or on terms, that would be favorable absent such restrictions.

Risks Related to Our Indebtedness

As of December 31, 2019, we had $735.1 million principal balance of indebtedness outstanding, which requires substantial cash flow to service, subjects us to covenants and refinancing risk and the risk of default.

As of December 31, 2019, we had $735.1 million of indebtedness outstanding. This indebtedness consisted of $239.1 million aggregate principal amount of Class A Notes and Class B Notes issued under our Master Trust Funding Program, which allows us to issue multiple series of rated notes from time to time to institutional investors in the asset-backed securities market, $46.0 million of borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility and $450.0 million of combined borrowings under the April 2019 Term Loan and the November 2019 Term Loan. Payments of principal and interest on indebtedness may leave us with insufficient cash resources to meet our cash needs or make the distributions to our common stockholders currently contemplated or necessary to continue to qualify as a REIT. Our level of indebtedness and the limitations imposed on us by our debt agreements could have significant adverse consequences, including the following:

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The occurrence of any of these events could materially and adversely affect us.

Market conditions could adversely affect our ability to refinance existing indebtedness or obtain additional financing for growth on acceptable terms or at all.

Credit markets may experience significant price volatility, displacement and liquidity disruptions, including the bankruptcy, insolvency or restructuring of certain financial institutions. Such circumstances could materially impact liquidity in the financial markets, making financing terms for borrowers less attractive, and potentially result in the unavailability of various types of debt financing. As a result, we may be unable to obtain debt financing on favorable terms or at all or fully refinance maturing indebtedness with new indebtedness. Reductions in our available borrowing capacity or inability to obtain credit when required or when business conditions warrant could materially and adversely affect us.

If prevailing interest rates or other factors at the time of refinancing result in higher interest rates upon refinancing, then the interest expense relating to that refinanced indebtedness would increase. Higher interest rates on newly incurred debt may negatively impact us as well. If interest rates increase, our interest costs and overall costs of capital will increase, which could materially and adversely affect us and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

Changes to, or the elimination of, LIBOR may adversely affect interest expense related to borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility, the April 2019 Term Loan and the November 2019 Term Loan.

We pay interest under our Revolving Credit Facility, our April 2019 Term Loan and our November 2019 Term Loan based on LIBOR.

In July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) that regulates LIBOR announced it intends to stop compelling banks to submit rates for the calculation of LIBOR after 2021. As a result, the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York organized the Alternative Reference Rates Committee which identified the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") as its preferred alternative to USD-LIBOR in derivatives and other financial contracts. The Company is not able to predict when LIBOR will cease to be available or when there will be sufficient liquidity in the SOFR markets. Any changes adopted by FCA or other governing bodies in the method used for determining LIBOR may result in a sudden or prolonged increase or decrease in reported LIBOR. If that were to occur, our interest payments could change. In addition, uncertainty about the extent and manner of future changes may result in interest rates and/or payments that are higher or lower than if LIBOR were to remain available in its current form.

It is likely that, over time, LIBOR will be replaced by SOFR. However, the manner and timing of this shift is currently unknown. SOFR is an overnight rate instead of a term rate, making SOFR an inexact replacement for LIBOR. Market participants are still considering how various types of financial instruments should react to a discontinuation of LIBOR. Switching existing financial instruments and hedging transactions from LIBOR to SOFR requires calculations of a spread. Industry organizations are attempting to structure the spread calculation in a manner that minimizes the possibility of value transfer between counterparties, borrowers, and lenders by virtue of the transition, but there is no assurance that the calculated spread will be fair and accurate. It is also possible that no transition will occur for many financial instruments, meaning that those instruments would continue to be subject to the weaknesses of the LIBOR calculation process.

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Our debt financing agreements contain restrictions and covenants which may limit our ability to enter into, or obtain funding for, certain transactions, operate our business or make distributions to our common stockholders.

Our debt financing agreements contain financial and other covenants with which we are required to comply and that limit our ability to operate our business. The agreements that include these covenants govern, among other things, the Revolving Credit Facility, the April 2019 Term Loan, the November 2019 Term Loan and the Master Trust Funding Program. These covenants, as well as any additional covenants to which we may be subject in the future because of additional or replacement debt financing, could cause us to have to forego investment opportunities, reduce or eliminate distributions to our common stockholders or obtain financing that is more expensive than financing we could obtain if we were not subject to the covenants. The covenants impose limitations on, among other things, our ability to pay distributions to our stockholders under certain circumstances, subject to certain exceptions relating to our qualification as a REIT under the Code. In addition, these agreements have cross-default provisions that generally result in an event of default if we default under other material indebtedness.

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

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

Under certain circumstances, the subsidiaries included in our Master Trust Funding Program would be prohibited from distributing excess cash flow to us, and the assets of such subsidiaries could be foreclosed upon.

Through our Master Trust Funding Program, certain of our Operating Partnership’s indirect wholly owned subsidiaries have issued net-lease mortgage notes payable with an aggregate outstanding principal balance of $239.1 million as of December 31, 2019. As of December 31, 2019, we had pledged 355 properties, with a net investment amount of $601.3 million, as collateral under this program. As the equity owner of the subsidiaries included in our Master Trust Funding Program, we are only entitled to the excess cash flows from such subsidiaries after debt service and all other required payments are made on the notes. If, at any time, the monthly debt service coverage ratio (as defined) generated by the collateral pool is less than or equal to 1.25x, excess cash flow (as defined) from the subsidiaries included in our Master Trust Funding Program will be deposited into a reserve account to be used for payments on the net-lease mortgage notes in the event there is a shortfall in cash at such subsidiaries to make required payments on the notes. Additionally, if at any time the three month average debt service coverage ratio generated by the collateral pool is less than or equal to 1.15x, excess cash flow from the subsidiaries included in our Master Trust Funding Program will be applied to an early amortization of the notes. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the debt service coverage ratio was approximately 2.33x. If we fail to maintain the required debt service coverage ratios, the excess cash flows we receive from these subsidiaries would be reduced or eliminated. This could materially and adversely affect us, including by reducing our ability to pay cash distributions on our common stock and possibly prevent us from maintaining our qualification for taxation as a REIT. In addition, if the subsidiaries included in our Master Trust Funding Program are unable to repay the notes, including in connection with any acceleration of maturity, the pledged assets could be foreclosed upon and our equity in such assets eliminated.

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Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure

Our charter and bylaws and Maryland law contain provisions that may delay, defer or prevent a change of control transaction, even if such a change in control may be in your interest, and as a result may depress the market price of our common stock. Our charter contains certain restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock.

Our charter contains various provisions that are intended to, among other things, assist us in maintaining our qualification for taxation as a REIT and, subject to certain exceptions, authorizes our directors to take such actions as are necessary or appropriate to cause us to continue to qualify as a REIT. For example, our charter prohibits the actual, beneficial or constructive ownership by any person of more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock or more than 9.8% in value of the aggregate of the outstanding shares of all classes and series of our stock.

Our board of directors, in its sole and absolute discretion, may exempt a person, prospectively or retroactively, from these ownership limits if certain conditions are satisfied. The restrictions on ownership and transfer of our stock may, among other things:

We could increase or decrease the number of authorized shares of stock, classify and reclassify unissued stock and issue stock without stockholder approval.

Our board of directors, without stockholder approval, has the power under our charter to amend our charter to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we are authorized to issue, to authorize us to issue authorized but unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock and to classify or reclassify any unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock into one or more classes or series of stock and to set the terms of such newly classified or reclassified shares. As a result, we may issue one or more classes or series of common stock or preferred stock with preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers or rights, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption that are senior to, or otherwise conflict with, the rights of our common stockholders. Our board of directors could establish a class or series of common stock or preferred stock that could, depending on the terms of such class or series, delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of control that might involve a premium price for our common stock or otherwise be in the best interest of our stockholders.

Termination of the employment agreements with certain members of our senior management team could be costly and could prevent a change in control of our company.

The employment agreements with certain members of our senior management team provide that if their employment with us terminates under certain circumstances (including in connection with a change in control of our company), we may be required to pay them significant amounts of severance compensation, thereby making it costly to terminate their employment. Furthermore, these provisions could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control of our company that might involve a premium paid for shares of our common stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.

Our board of directors may change our investment and financing policies without stockholder approval, including those with respect to borrowing, and we may become more highly leveraged, which may increase our risk of default under our debt obligations.

Our investment and financing policies are exclusively determined by our board of directors. Accordingly, our stockholders do not control these policies. Further, our organizational documents do not limit the amount or percentage of indebtedness, funded or otherwise, that we may incur. Although we are not required by our organizational documents to maintain a particular leverage ratio and may not be able to do so, we generally intend to target a level of net debt (which includes recourse and non-recourse borrowings and any outstanding preferred stock issuance less unrestricted cash and cash equivalents) that, over time, is less than six times our Annualized Adjusted EBITDAre. However, from time to time, our ratio of net debt to our Annualized Adjusted EBITDAre may equal or exceed six times. Our board of directors may alter or eliminate our current policy on borrowing at any time without stockholder approval. If this policy changed, we could

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become more highly leveraged, which could result in an increase in our debt service. Higher leverage also increases the risk of default on our obligations. In addition, a change in our investment policies, including the manner in which we allocate our resources across our portfolio or the types of assets in which we seek to invest, may increase our exposure to interest rate risk, real estate market fluctuations and liquidity risk. Changes to our policies with regard to the foregoing could materially and adversely affect us.

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

As permitted by Maryland law, our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for money damages to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Therefore, our directors and officers are subject to monetary liability resulting only from: actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services; or active and deliberate dishonesty by the director or officer that was established by a final judgment as being material to the cause of action adjudicated.

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

We are a holding company with no direct operations and rely on funds received from our Operating Partnership to make any distributions to stockholders and to pay liabilities.

We are a holding company and conduct substantially all of our operations through our Operating Partnership. We do not have any independent operations, and our only material asset is our interest in our Operating Partnership. As a result, we rely on distributions from our Operating Partnership to pay any distributions we might declare on shares of our common stock. We also rely on distributions from our Operating Partnership to meet any of our obligations, including any tax liability on taxable income allocated to us from our Operating Partnership. In addition, because we are a holding company, claims by our stockholders will be structurally subordinated to all existing and future liabilities and obligations (whether or not for borrowed money) of our Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries. Therefore, in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, our assets and those of our Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries will be able to satisfy the claims of our stockholders only after all of our and our Operating Partnership’s and its subsidiaries’ liabilities and obligations have been paid in full.

In connection with our future acquisition of properties or otherwise, we may issue units of our Operating Partnership to third parties. Such issuances would reduce our ownership in our Operating Partnership. If you do not directly own units of our Operating Partnership, you will not have any voting rights with respect to any such issuances or other partnership level activities of our Operating Partnership.

Conflicts of interest could arise in the future between the interests of our stockholders and the interests of holders of units in our Operating Partnership, which may impede business decisions that could benefit our stockholders.

Conflicts of interest could arise in the future as a result of the relationships between us and our stockholders, on the one hand, and our Operating Partnership and its limited partners, on the other. Our directors and officers have duties to our company under applicable Maryland law in connection with the management of our company. At the same time, one of our wholly owned subsidiaries, Essential Properties General OP Holdings, LLC, as the general partner of our Operating Partnership, has fiduciary duties and obligations to our Operating Partnership and its limited partners under Delaware law and the partnership agreement of our Operating Partnership. The fiduciary duties and obligations of Essential Properties General OP Holdings, LLC, as general partner of our Operating Partnership, to our Operating Partnership and its limited partners may conflict with the duties of our directors and officers to our company and its stockholders.

Under the terms of the partnership agreement of our Operating Partnership, if there is a conflict between the interests of our stockholders, on one hand, and any limited partners, on the other, we will endeavor in good faith to resolve the conflict in a manner not adverse to either our stockholders or any limited partners; provided, however, that so long as we own a controlling economic interest in our Operating Partnership, any conflict that cannot be resolved in a manner not adverse to either our stockholders or any limited partners shall be resolved in favor of our stockholders.

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Certain mergers, consolidations and other transactions require the approval of a majority in interest of the outside limited partners in our Operating Partnership (which excludes us and our subsidiaries), which could prevent certain transactions that may result in our stockholders receiving a premium for their shares or otherwise be in their best interest.

The partnership agreement requires the general partner or us, as the parent of the general partner, to obtain the approval of a majority in interest of the outside limited partners in our Operating Partnership (which excludes us and our subsidiaries) in connection with certain mergers, consolidations or other combinations of us, or a sale of all or substantially all of our assets. This approval right could prevent a transaction that might be in the best interests of our stockholders.

As of December 31, 2019, we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” and, as a result, the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” no longer apply, which will increase our costs as a result of, among other things, compliance requirements with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and increased demands on management.

Because the aggregate worldwide market value of common stock held by our non-affiliate stockholders exceeded $700 million on June 28, 2019, we became a large accelerated filer as of December 31, 2019, and, accordingly, we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company. As such, we will incur significant additional expenses that we did not previously incur in complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and rules implemented by the SEC. The cost of compliance with Section 404 requires us to incur substantial accounting expense and expend significant management time on compliance-related issues as we implement additional corporate governance practices and comply with reporting requirements. Moreover, if we or our independent registered public accounting firm identifies deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting as material weaknesses, we may be required to make prospective or retroactive changes to our financial statements, consider other areas for further attention or improvement, or be unable to obtain the required attestation in a timely manner, if at all. In addition, the market price of our stock could decline and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.

Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT

Failure to continue to qualify as a REIT would materially and adversely affect us and the value of our common stock, and even if we continue to qualify as a REIT, we may be subject to certain additional taxes.

We elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes beginning with our taxable year ended December 31, 2018, and we believe that our current organization and operations have allowed and will continue to allow us to qualify as a REIT. We have not requested and do not plan to request a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, that we qualify as a REIT, and the statements in this Annual Report are not binding on the IRS or any court. Therefore, we cannot assure you that we will remain qualified as a REIT in the future. If we lose our REIT status, we will face significant tax consequences that would substantially reduce our cash available for distribution to you for each of the years involved because:

Any such corporate tax liability could be substantial and would reduce our cash available for, among other things, our operations and distributions to stockholders. In addition, if we fail to remain qualified as a REIT, we will not be required to make distributions to our stockholders. As a result of all these factors, our failure to remain qualified as a REIT also could impair our ability to expand our business and raise capital and could materially and adversely affect the trading price of our common stock.

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Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which there are only limited judicial and administrative interpretations. The determination of various factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control may affect our ability to continue to qualify as a REIT. In order to continue to qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy a number of requirements, including requirements regarding the ownership of our stock, requirements regarding the composition of our assets and a requirement that at least 95% of our gross income in any year must be derived from qualifying sources, such as “rents from real property.” Also, we must make distributions to stockholders aggregating annually at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains. In addition, legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions may materially and adversely affect our investors, our ability to continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes or the desirability of an investment in a REIT relative to other investments.

Even if we continue to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we may be subject to some federal, state and local income, property and excise taxes on our income or property and, in certain cases, a 100% penalty tax, in the event we sell property as a dealer. In addition, any taxable REIT subsidiaries will be subject to tax as regular corporations in the jurisdictions in which they operate.

If our Operating Partnership fails to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, we will cease to qualify as a REIT and suffer other adverse consequences.

We believe that our Operating Partnership will be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, our Operating Partnership will generally not be subject to federal income tax on its income. Instead, for federal income tax purposes, if our Operating Partnership is treated as a partnership, each of its partners, including us, will be allocated, and may be required to pay tax with respect to, such partner’s share of its income. Our Operating Partnership will generally be required to determine and pay an imputed underpayment of tax (plus interest and penalties) resulting from an adjustment of the Operating Partnership’s items of income, gain, loss, deduction or credit at the partnership level. We cannot assure you that the IRS will not challenge the status of our Operating Partnership or any other subsidiary partnership in which we own an interest as a disregarded entity or partnership for federal income tax purposes, or that a court will not sustain such a challenge. If the IRS were successful in treating our Operating Partnership or any such other subsidiary partnership as an entity taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, we will fail to meet the gross income tests and certain of the asset tests applicable to REITs and, accordingly, we will likely cease to qualify as a REIT. Also, the failure of our Operating Partnership or any subsidiary partnerships to qualify as a disregarded entity or partnership could cause it to become subject to federal and state corporate income tax, which will reduce significantly the amount of cash available for debt service and for distribution to its partners, including us.

To maintain our REIT status, we may be forced to borrow funds during unfavorable market conditions, and the unavailability of such capital on favorable terms at the desired times, or at all, may cause us to curtail our investment activities and/or to dispose of assets at inopportune times, which could materially and adversely affect us and the per share trading price of our common stock.

To continue to qualify as a REIT, we generally must distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income each year, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding any net capital gains, and we will be subject to corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income to the extent that we distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and including any net capital gains, each year. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which distributions paid by us in any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from prior years.

In order to maintain our REIT status and avoid the payment of income and excise taxes, we may need to borrow funds to meet the REIT distribution requirements even if market conditions are not favorable for these borrowings.  These borrowing needs could result from, among other things, differences in timing between the actual receipt of cash and recognition of income for federal income tax purposes, or the effect of non-deductible capital expenditures, the creation of reserves or required debt or amortization payments. These sources, however, may not be available on favorable terms or at all. Our access to third-party sources of capital depends on a number of factors, including the market’s perception of our growth potential, our debt level and creditworthiness, the market price of our common stock, and our then current and potential future earnings. We cannot assure you that we will have access to such capital on favorable terms at the desired times, or at all, which may cause us to curtail our investment activities and/or to dispose of assets at inopportune times, and could materially and adversely affect us and the per share trading price of our common stock.

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The IRS may treat sale-leaseback transactions as loans, which could jeopardize our REIT status or require us to make an unexpected distribution.

A significant portion of our investments were obtained through sale-leaseback transactions, where we purchase owner-occupied real estate and lease it back to the seller. We expect that a majority of our future investments will be obtained this way. The IRS may take the position that specific sale-leaseback transactions that we treat as leases are not true leases for federal income tax purposes but, instead, should be re-characterized as financing arrangements or loans.

If a sale-leaseback transaction were so re-characterized, we might fail to satisfy the REIT asset tests, the income tests or distribution requirements and consequently lose our REIT status effective with the year of re-characterization unless we elect to make an additional distribution to maintain our REIT status. The primary risk relates to our loss of previously incurred depreciation expenses, which could affect the calculation of our REIT taxable income and could cause us to fail the REIT distribution test that requires a REIT to distribute at least 90% of its REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding any net capital gain. In this circumstance, we may elect to distribute an additional dividend of the increased taxable income so as not to fail the REIT distribution test. This distribution would be paid to all stockholders at the time of declaration rather than the stockholders existing in the taxable year affected by the re-characterization.

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

The maximum tax rate applicable to income from “qualified dividends” payable to U.S. stockholders that are individuals, trusts and estates is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the 20% rate applicable to “qualified dividends” except to the extent the REIT dividends are attributable to “qualified dividends” received by the REIT itself. However, for non-corporate U.S. stockholders, dividends payable by REITs that are not designated as capital gain dividends or otherwise treated as “qualified dividends” generally are eligible for a deduction of 20% of the amount of such dividends, for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026. More favorable rates will nevertheless continue to apply for regular corporate “qualified dividends.”  Although these rules do not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, if the 20% rate continues to apply to regular corporate qualified dividends, investors who are individuals, trusts and estates may regard investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations.

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. 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, unless a sale or disposition qualifies under certain statutory safe harbors, 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.

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

The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our assets and liabilities. Any income from a hedging transaction that we enter into to manage the risk of interest rate changes with respect to borrowings made or to be made to acquire or carry real estate assets, or from certain terminations of such hedging positions, does not constitute “gross income” for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income tests that apply to REITs, provided that certain identification requirements are met. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions or fail to properly identify such transaction as a hedge, the income is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both of the gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may be required to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement those hedges through a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”). This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because any TRS in which we own an interest may be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to bear. In addition, losses in any TRS in which we own an interest will generally not provide any tax benefit, except that such losses could theoretically be carried forward against future taxable income in such TRS.

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Complying with REIT requirements may affect our profitability and may force us to liquidate or forgo otherwise attractive investments.

To qualify as a REIT, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the nature and diversification of our assets, the sources of our income and the amounts we distribute to our stockholders. We may be required to liquidate or forgo otherwise attractive investments in order to satisfy the asset and income tests or to qualify under certain statutory relief provisions. We also may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. As a result, having to comply with the distribution requirement could cause us to: (i) sell assets in adverse market conditions; (ii) borrow on unfavorable terms; or (iii) distribute amounts that would otherwise be invested in future acquisitions, capital expenditures or repayment of debt. Accordingly, satisfying the REIT requirements could materially and adversely affect us. Moreover, if we are compelled to liquidate our investments to meet any of these asset, income or distribution tests, or to repay obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with one or more of the requirements applicable to REITs or may be subject to a 100% tax on any resulting gain if such sales are prohibited transactions.

There is a risk of changes in the tax law applicable to REITs.

Because the IRS, the United States Treasury Department and Congress frequently review federal income tax legislation, we cannot predict whether, when or to what extent new federal tax laws, regulations, interpretations or rulings will be adopted. Any of such legislative actions may prospectively or retroactively modify our tax treatment and, therefore, may adversely affect taxation of us and/or our investors.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”) has significantly changed the U.S. federal income taxation of U.S. businesses and their owners, including REITs and their stockholders. Changes made by the TCJA that could affect us and our stockholders include:

You are urged to consult with your tax advisor with respect to the status of legislative, regulatory, judicial or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our securities.

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Risks Related to the Ownership of Our Common Stock

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

The market price of our common stock may be volatile. In addition, the NYSE, on which our common stock is listed, and other equity markets, have experienced significant price and volume fluctuations.  The market price of our common stock will fluctuate, and such fluctuations could be significant and frequent; accordingly, our common stockholders may experience a decrease in the value of their shares, including decreases that may be related to technical market factors and may be unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. Similarly, the trading volume of our common stock may decline, and our common stockholders could experience a decrease in liquidity. A number of factors could negatively affect the price per share of our common stock, including:

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

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

Increases in market interest rates may result in a decrease in the value of shares of our common stock.

One of the factors that may influence the price of shares of our common stock is the distribution yield on shares of our common stock (as a percentage of the price of shares of our common stock) relative to market interest rates. An increase in market interest rates, which are currently at low levels relative to historical rates, may lead prospective purchasers of shares of our common stock to expect a higher distribution yield. Additionally, higher interest rates would likely increase our borrowing costs and potentially decrease funds available for distribution. Thus, higher market interest rates could cause the per share trading price of our common stock to decrease.

We may be unable to continue to make distributions at our current distribution level, and our board may change our distribution policy in the future.

While we expect to continue to make regular quarterly distributions to the holders of our common stock, if sufficient cash is not available for distribution from our operations, we may have to fund distributions from working capital, borrow to provide funds for such distributions, or reduce the amount of such distributions. To the extent we borrow to fund distributions, our future interest costs would increase, thereby reducing our earnings and cash available for distribution from what they otherwise would have been. If cash available for distribution generated by our assets is less than expected, or if such cash available for distribution decreases in future periods from expected levels, our inability to make distributions could result in a decrease in the market price of our common stock.

The decision to declare and pay distributions on our common stock, as well as the form, timing and amount of any such future distributions, is at the sole discretion of our board of directors and depends on upon a number of factors, including our actual and projected results of operations, FFO, Core FFO, AFFO, liquidity, cash flows and financial condition, the revenue we actually receive from our properties, our operating expenses, our debt service requirements, our capital expenditures, prohibitions and other limitations under our financing arrangements, our REIT taxable income, the annual REIT distribution requirements, applicable law and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. We may not be able to make distributions in the future, and our inability to make distributions, or to make distributions at expected levels, could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

The incurrence of additional debt, which would be senior to shares of our common stock upon liquidation, and/or preferred equity securities that may be senior to shares of our common stock for purposes of distributions or upon liquidation, may materially and adversely affect the market price of shares of our common stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making additional offerings of debt or preferred equity securities, including by causing our Operating Partnership or its subsidiaries to issue additional debt securities, or by otherwise incurring additional indebtedness. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities, other lenders and creditors, and any holders of preferred stock with a liquidation preference will receive distributions of our available assets prior to our stockholders. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock and may result in dilution to owners of our common stock. Our stockholders are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution. Our preferred stock, if issued, could have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on distribution payments that could limit our right to make distributions to our stockholders. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Our stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing per share trading price of our common stock.

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Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public markets, or the perception that they might occur, could reduce the price of our common stock and may dilute your voting power and your ownership interest in us.

Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable therefor (such as OP Units”), or the perception that such sales might occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Additionally, such sales would dilute the voting power and ownership interest of existing common stockholders. Our charter provides that we may issue up to 500,000,000 shares of common stock, and a majority of our entire board of directors has the power to amend our charter to increase the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we are authorized to issue without stockholder approval. As of December 31, 2019, we had 83,761,151 shares of common stock outstanding and 553,847 OP Units outstanding (excluding OP Units held directly or indirectly by us). The currently outstanding OP Units are primarily held by members of our management team. OP Units are generally redeemable for cash or, at our election, shares of common stock on a one-for-one basis.

Additionally, we have an effective registration statement relating to up to 3,550,000 shares of our common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our common stock that may be issued pursuant to our 2018 Incentive Plan. As of December 31, 2019, 2,800,842 shares remain available for issuance under such plan.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

Our Real Estate Investment Portfolio

As of December 31, 2019, we had a portfolio of 1,000 properties, including one undeveloped land parcel and 91 properties that secure our investments in mortgage loans receivable, that was diversified by tenant, industry and geography and had annualized base rent of $151.2 million Our 205 tenants operate 265 different concepts in 16 industries across 44 states. None of our tenants represented more than 3.4% of our annualized base rent at December 31, 2019, and our top ten largest tenants represented 23.4% of our annualized base rent as of that date.

Diversification by Tenant

As of December 31, 2019, our top ten tenants included ten different concepts: Captain D’s, Mister Car Wash, Art Van Furniture, AMC Theatres, Circle K, Zips Car Wash, Malvern School, R-Store, Vasa Fitness, and Boston Sports Club. Our 1,000 properties are operated by our 205 tenants. The following table details information about our tenants and the related concepts they operate as of December 31, 2019 (dollars in thousands):

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As of December 31, 2019, our five largest tenants, who contributed 13.6% of our annualized base rent, had a rent coverage ratio of 3.3x, and our ten largest tenants, who contributed 23.4% of our annualized base rent, had a rent coverage ratio of 2.7x.

As of December 31, 2019, 93.5% of our leases (based on annualized base rent) were triple-net, and the tenant is typically responsible for all improvements and is contractually obligated to pay all operating expenses, such as maintenance, insurance, utility and tax expense, related to the leased property. Due to the triple-net structure of our leases, we do not expect to incur significant capital expenditures relating to our triple-net leased properties, and the potential impact of inflation on our operating expenses is reduced.

Diversification by Concept

Our tenants operate their businesses across 265 concepts (i.e., generally brands). The following table details those concepts as of December 31, 2019 (dollars in thousands):

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Diversification by Industry

Our tenants’ business concepts are diversified across various industries. The following table summarizes those industries as of December 31, 2019 (dollars in thousands):

As of December 31, 2019, our tenants operating service-oriented businesses had a weighted average rent coverage ratio of 2.9x, our tenants operating experience-based businesses had a weighted average rent coverage ratio of 2.1x, our tenants operating retail businesses had a weighted average rent coverage ratio of 3.0x and our tenants operating other types of businesses had a weighted average rent coverage ratio of 7.6x.

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Diversification by Geography

Our 1,000 property locations are spread across 44 states. The following table details the geographical locations of our properties as of December 31, 2019 (dollars in thousands):

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Lease Expirations

As of December 31, 2019, the weighted average remaining term of our leases was 14.6 years (based on annualized base rent), with only 6.8% of our annualized base rent attributable to leases expiring prior to January 1, 2025. The following table sets forth our lease expirations for leases in place as of December 31, 2019 (dollars in thousands):

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

We are subject to various lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings. Management does not believe that the resolution of any of these matters either individually or in the aggregate will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. Further, from time to time, we are party to various lawsuits, claims and other legal proceedings for which third parties, such as our tenants, are contractually obligated to indemnify, defend and hold us harmless. In some of these matters, the indemnitors have insurance for the potential damages. In other matters, we are being defended by tenants who may not have sufficient insurance, assets, income or resources to satisfy their defense and indemnification obligations to us. The unfavorable resolution of such legal proceedings could, individually or in the aggregate, materially adversely affect the indemnitors’ ability to satisfy their respective obligations to us, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. It is management’s opinion that there are currently no such legal proceedings pending that will, individually or in the aggregate, have such a material adverse effect. Despite management’s view of the ultimate resolution of these legal proceedings, we may have significant legal expenses and costs associated with the defense of such matters. Further, management cannot predict the outcome of these legal proceedings and if management’s expectation regarding such matters is not correct, such proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

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.

Our common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “EPRT”. As of February 25, 2020, there were 144 holders of record of the 91,949,849 outstanding shares of our common stock. Because many of our shares of common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of stockholders represented by these record holders.

Distributions

We intend to make quarterly distributions to our common stockholders. In particular, in order to maintain our qualification for taxation as a REIT, we intend to make annual distributions to our stockholders of at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding any net capital gain. However, any future distributions will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors, and their form, timing and amount, if any, will depend upon a number of factors, including our actual and projected results of operations, FFO, Core FFO, AFFO, liquidity, cash flows and financial condition, the revenue we actually receive from our properties, our operating expenses, our debt service requirements, our capital expenditures, prohibitions and other limitations under our financing arrangements, our REIT taxable income, the annual REIT distribution requirements, applicable law and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. To the extent that our cash available for distribution is less than 90% of our REIT taxable income, we may consider various means to cover any such shortfall, including borrowing under the Revolving Credit Facility or other loans, selling certain of our assets, or using a portion of the net proceeds we receive from offerings of equity, equity-related or debt securities or declaring taxable share dividends. Agreements relating to our indebtedness, including our Master Trust Funding Program and our revolving and term loan credit facilities, limit and, under certain circumstances, could eliminate our ability to make distributions.  See “Item 7 - Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Description of Certain Debt.”

We have determined that, for federal income tax purposes, approximately 58.8% of the distributions paid in 2019 represented taxable income and 41.2% represented a return of capital.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

During the three months ended December 31, 2019, the Company did not repurchase any of its equity securities.

Stock Performance Graph

The following performance graph and related table compare, for the period from June 21, 2018 (the first day our common stock was traded on the NYSE) through December 31, 2019, the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with that of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Index (“S&P 500”) and the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs index (“FNER”). The graph and related table assume $100.00 was invested on June 21, 2018 and assumes the reinvestment of all dividends. The historical stock price performance reflected in the graph and related table is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

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Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc.

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

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The information concerning our Equity Compensation Plan will be included in the Proxy Statement to be filed relating to our 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

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Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

The following tables set forth selected consolidated financial and other information of the Company as of and for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017 and for the period from March 30, 2016 (Commencement of Operations) to December 31, 2016. The tables should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto and “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.