Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Accounting

The consolidated financial statements of the Company presented herein include the accounts of the General Partner and its consolidated subsidiaries, including the OP. All intercompany transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation. The financial statements are prepared on the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). The information furnished includes all adjustments and accruals of a normal recurring nature, which, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair presentation of results for the interim periods. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results for the entire year or any subsequent interim period.

These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended December 31, 2015 of the Company, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed February 24, 2016. There have been no significant changes to the Company’s significant accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2016. Information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries and consolidated joint venture arrangements. The portions of the consolidated joint venture arrangements not owned by the Company are presented as non-controlling interests in VEREIT’s and the OP’s consolidated balance sheets, statements of operations, statements of comprehensive income (loss) and statements of changes in equity. In addition, as described in Note 1 – Organization, certain third parties have been issued OP Units. Holders of OP Units are considered to be non-controlling interest holders in the OP and their ownership interest in the limited partner’s share is presented as non-controlling interests in VEREIT’s consolidated balance sheets, statements of operations, statements of comprehensive income (loss) and statements of changes in equity. Further, a portion of the earnings and losses of the OP are allocated to non-controlling interest holders based on their respective ownership percentages. Upon conversion of OP Units to Common Stock, any difference between the fair value of shares of Common Stock issued and the carrying value of the OP Units converted is recorded as a component of equity. As of both March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, there were approximately 23.8 million Limited Partner OP Units outstanding.

During the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company early adopted the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) Accounting Standards Update, (“ASU”) No. 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis (“ASU 2015-02”), which simplifies consolidation accounting by reducing the number of consolidation models and changing various aspects of current U.S. GAAP, including certain consolidation criteria for a variable interest entity (“VIE”). For legal entities being evaluated for consolidation, the Company must first determine whether the interests that it holds and fees it receives qualify as variable interests in the entity. A variable interest is an investment or other interest that will absorb portions of an entity’s expected losses or receive portions of the entity’s expected residual returns. The Company’s evaluation includes consideration of fees paid to the Company where the Company acts as a decision maker or service provider to the entity being evaluated. If the Company determines that it holds a variable interest in an entity, it evaluates whether that entity is a VIE. VIEs are entities where investors lack sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support or where equity investors, as a group, lack one of the following characteristics: (a) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance, (b) the obligation to absorb the expected losses of the entity, or (c) the right to receive the expected returns of the entity.

The Company then qualitatively assesses whether it is (or is not) the primary beneficiary of a VIE, which is generally defined as the party who has a controlling financial interest in the VIE. Consideration of various factors include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to direct the activities that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and its obligation to absorb losses from or right to receive benefits of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The Company consolidates any VIEs when the Company is determined to be the primary beneficiary of the VIE and the difference between consolidating the VIE and accounting for it using the equity method could be material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The Company continually evaluates the need to consolidate these VIEs based on standards set forth in U.S. GAAP as described above.

Reclassification

As described below, the following items previously reported have been reclassified to conform with the current period’s presentation.

The land and construction in progress line item from prior periods has been combined into the land caption in the consolidated balance sheets. The gain on forgiveness of debt previously included in other income, net has been combined into the caption gain on extinguishment and forgiveness of debt, net in the consolidated statements of operations. Additionally, equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures previously included in other income net, in the consolidated statements of operations has been included in a separate caption entitled equity in income and gain on disposition of unconsolidated entities. Further, the previous gain on investment securities line item has been included in other income, net in the consolidated statements of operations.

Finally, the designated derivatives, fair value adjustments line item from the prior years has been disaggregated within the consolidated statements of other comprehensive loss into the captions unrealized loss on interest rate derivatives and amount of loss reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net loss as interest expense. These captions were previously included within the notes to consolidated financial statements.

Restricted Cash

The Company had $60.1 million and $59.8 million, respectively, in restricted cash as of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015. Restricted cash primarily consists of reserves related to lease expirations, as well as maintenance, structural and debt service reserves. Included in restricted cash at March 31, 2016 was $48.8 million in lender reserves and $11.3 million held in restricted lockbox accounts. Included in restricted cash at December 31, 2015 was $47.9 million in lender reserves and $11.9 million held in restricted lockbox accounts. As part of certain debt agreements, rent from certain of the Company’s tenants is deposited directly into a lockbox account, from which the monthly debt service payments are disbursed to the lender and the excess funds are then disbursed to the Company.

Revenue Recognition – REI

The Company’s revenues, which primarily consist of rental income, include rents that each tenant pays in accordance with the terms of each lease reported on a straight-line basis over the initial non-cancelable term of the lease. When the Company acquires a property, the term of each existing lease is considered to commence as of the acquisition date for the purposes of this calculation. Since many of the leases provide for rental increases at specified intervals, straight-line basis accounting requires the Company to record a receivable, and include in revenues, unbilled rent receivables that the Company will only receive if the tenant makes all rent payments required through the expiration of the initial term of the lease. Straight-line rent receivables are included in rent and tenant receivables and other assets, net, in the consolidated balance sheets. See Note 8 – Rent and Tenant Receivables and Other Assets, Net. Cost recoveries from tenants are included in operating expense reimbursements in the consolidated statements of operations in the period the related costs are incurred. The Company defers the revenue related to lease payments received from tenants in advance of their due dates. As of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company had $67.3 million and $67.2 million, respectively, of deferred rental income, which is included in deferred rent, derivative and other liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

The Company continually reviews receivables related to rent and unbilled rent receivables and determines collectability by taking into consideration the tenant’s payment history, the financial condition of the tenant, business conditions in the industry in which the tenant operates and economic conditions in the area in which the property is located. In the event that the collectability of a receivable is uncertain, the Company will record an increase in the allowance for uncollectible accounts in the consolidated balance sheets or record a direct write-off of the receivable in the consolidated statements of operations as a reduction to rental income. As of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company maintained an allowance for uncollectible accounts of $7.9 million and $6.6 million, respectively.

Revenue Recognition – Cole Capital

Revenue consists of securities sales commissions and dealer manager fees, real estate acquisition fees, property management fees, advisory fees, asset management fees and performance fees for services relating to the Cole REITs’ offerings and the investment and management of their respective assets, in accordance with the respective dealer manager and advisory agreements. The Company records revenue related to acquisition fees, securities sales commissions and dealer manager fees upon completion of a transaction and advisory, asset and property management fees as services are performed. The Company also earns property management, asset management and disposition fees from certain joint ventures and other real estate programs. The Company is also reimbursed for certain costs incurred in providing these services. Securities sales commissions and dealer manager reimbursements are recorded as revenue as the expenses are incurred, as long as reimbursement is reasonably assured. The Company, in its sole discretion, may reallow all or a portion of its dealer manager fee to such participating broker-dealers as a marketing and due diligence expense reimbursement, based on factors such as the volume of shares issued by such participating broker-dealers and the amount of marketing support provided by such participating broker-dealers. Refer to Note 17 – Related Party Transactions and Arrangements for further discussion.

Acquisition Related Expenses and Litigation and Other Non-routine Costs

All costs incurred as a result of a business combination are classified as acquisition related expenses or merger and other non-routine transaction related expenses and expensed as incurred. Acquisition related expenses include legal and other transaction related costs incurred in connection with self-originated acquisitions, including purchases of portfolios. In addition, indirect costs, such as internal salaries, that are tracked and documented in a manner that clearly indicates that the activities driving the cost directly relate to activities necessary to complete, or effect, self-originating purchases are classified as acquisition related expenses.

Similar costs incurred in relation to mergers, which are not considered self-originating purchases, and other non-routine transaction related expenses are included in litigation and other non-routine costs, net of insurance recoveries in the consolidated statements of operations. The Company has also incurred legal fees and other costs associated with the Audit Committee Investigation (defined below) and the litigations and investigations resulting therefrom, which are considered non-routine. The Company has directors’ and officers’ insurance and has recovered certain amounts related to such policies.

Litigation and other non-routine transaction related expenses include the following costs (amounts in thousands):



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2016			2015
Other non-routine transaction related expenses:
Audit Committee Investigation and related matters ⁽¹⁾	$	4,742		$	15,316
Legal fees and expenses ⁽²⁾	83			475
Other fees and expenses	—			632
Total costs incurred	4,825			16,423
Insurance recoveries	(10,000		)	—
Total	$	(5,175	)	$	16,423

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(1)

Includes all fees and costs associated with the previously-announced investigation conducted by the audit committee (the “Audit Committee”) of the General Partner’s board of directors (the “Audit Committee Investigation”) and various litigations and investigations prompted by the results of the Audit Committee Investigation, including fees and costs incurred pursuant to the Company’s indemnification obligations.


(2)	Includes legal fees and expenses associated with litigation resulting from prior mergers.

Income Taxes

The General Partner currently qualifies and has elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Sections 856 through 860 of the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, except as discussed below, the General Partner generally is not subject to federal income tax on taxable income that it distributes to its stockholders so long as it distributes at least 90% of its annual taxable income (computed without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains). REITs are subject to a number of other organizational and operational requirements. Even if the General Partner maintains its qualification for taxation as a REIT, it may be subject to certain state and local taxes on its income and property, federal income taxes on certain income and excise taxes on its undistributed income.

The OP is classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a partnership, the OP is not a taxable entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Instead, each partner in the OP is required to take into account its allocable share of the OP’s income, gains, losses, deductions and credits for each taxable year. However, the OP may be subject to certain state and local taxes on its income and property.

As of March 31, 2016, the OP and the General Partner had no material uncertain income tax positions. The tax years subsequent to and including the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 remain open to examination by the major taxing jurisdictions to which the OP, the General Partner, American Realty Capital Trust III, Inc. (“ARCT III”), CapLease, Inc. (“CapLease”), American Realty Capital Trust IV, Inc., (“ARCT IV”), Cole Real Estate Investments, Inc. (“Cole”) and Cole Credit Property Trust, Inc. are subject.

Under the LPA, the OP is to conduct business in such a manner as to permit the General Partner at all times to qualify as a REIT.

The Company conducts substantially all of its Cole Capital segment business activities through a TRS. A TRS is a subsidiary of a REIT that is subject to corporate federal, state and local income taxes, as applicable. The Company’s use of a TRS enables it to engage in certain business activities while complying with the REIT qualification requirements and to retain any income generated by these businesses for reinvestment without the requirement to distribute those earnings. The Company conducts all of its business in the United States and Canada and, as a result, it files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, the Canadian federal jurisdiction and various state and local jurisdictions. Certain of the Company’s inter-company transactions that have been eliminated in consolidation for financial accounting purposes are also subject to taxation.

The Company provides for income taxes in accordance with current authoritative accounting and tax guidance. The tax provision or benefit related to significant or unusual items is recognized in the quarter in which those items occur. In addition, the effect of changes in enacted tax laws, rates or tax status is recognized in the quarter in which the change occurs. The accounting estimates used to compute the provision for or benefit from income taxes may change as new events occur, additional information is obtained or the tax environment changes.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASU 2014-09”), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Revenue Recognition, Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) (Topic 605) and requires an entity to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In August 2015, an amendment to ASU 2014-09, ASU 2015-14, was issued to defer the effective date for all entities by one year. For public business entities, certain not-for-profit entities and certain employee benefit plans, the guidance should be applied to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. Earlier application is permitted only as of annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim reporting periods within that reporting period. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on its financial statements.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments (Subtopic 825-10), which requires all equity investments to be measured at fair value with changes in the fair value recognized through net income (other than those accounted for under equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee). The amendments in this update also require an entity to present separately in other comprehensive income, the portion of the total change in the fair value of a liability resulting from a change in the instrument-specific credit risk when the entity has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments. In addition, the amendments in this update require separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements. The amendments in this update are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that this new guidance will have on its financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which will require that a lessee recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for all leases with a lease term of more than 12 months, with the result being the recognition of a right of use asset and a lease liability and the disclosure of key information about the entity's leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 retains a distinction between finance leases (i.e. capital leases under current U.S. GAAP) and operating leases. The classification criteria for distinguishing between finance leases and operating leases will be substantially similar to the classification criteria for distinguishing between capital leases and operating leases under current U.S. GAAP. The amendments in ASU 2016-02 are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. A modified retrospective approach is required for existing leases that have not expired upon adoption. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this amendment will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In March of 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-05, Effect of Derivative Contract Novations on Existing Hedge Accounting Relationships (Topic 815). The amendments in this update clarify that a change in the counterparty to a derivative instrument that has been designated as the hedging instrument does not, in and of itself, require de-designation of that hedging relationship provided that all other hedge accounting criteria continue to be met. These provisions are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this amendment will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvement to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which affects entities that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. The ASU is designed to simplify several aspects of accounting for share-based payment award transactions including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, classification on the statement of cash flows and forfeiture rate calculations. The guidance will be effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016 and interim periods within those fiscal years with early adoption permitted. The Company has elected to early adopt this guidance during the first quarter of 2016, which does not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In connection with the adoption, the Company has modified the consolidated statement of changes in equity to include the line item cumulative-effect adjustment for equity-based compensation forfeitures, which represents application of the accounting change on a modified retrospective basis.