Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

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, 2021 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, 2020 of the Company, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 24, 2021. 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”) and U.S. GAAP.

Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries and a consolidated joint venture. The portion of the consolidated joint venture not owned by the Company is presented as non-controlling interest 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, certain third parties have been issued OP Units and Series F Preferred 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. Equity is reallocated between controlling and noncontrolling interests in the OP upon a change in ownership. At the end of each annual reporting period, noncontrolling interests in the OP are adjusted to reflect their ownership percentage in the OP through a reallocation between controlling and noncontrolling interests in the OP, as applicable. As of each of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were approximately 0.2 million Limited Partner OP Units issued and outstanding, respectively. As of each of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, there were 49,766 Limited Partner Series F Preferred Units issued and outstanding, respectively.

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 variable interest entity (“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 consolidates entities that are not VIEs if it has a majority voting interest or other rights that result in effectively controlling 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.

Revenue Recognition

Rental Revenue

The Company continually reviews receivables related to rent, straight-line rent and property operating expense reimbursements 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. The review includes a binary assessment of whether or not substantially all of the amounts due under a tenant’s lease agreement are probable of collection. For leases that are deemed probable of collection, revenue continues to be recorded on a straight-line basis over the lease term and the Company recognizes a general allowance on a portfolio-wide basis. For leases that are deemed not probable of collection, revenue is recorded as cash is received and the Company reduces rental revenue for any straight-line rent receivables. The Company recognizes all changes in the collectability assessment for an operating lease as an adjustment to rental revenue. During the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, rental revenue was reduced by $1.8 million and $5.3 million, respectively, based on the collectability assessment.

Rental revenue also includes lease termination income collected from tenants to allow for the tenant to vacate their space prior to their scheduled termination dates, as well as amortization of above and below-market leases.

Litigation and non-routine costs, net

The Company has incurred legal fees and other costs associated with litigations and investigations resulting from the Audit Committee Investigation (defined below) and other corporate matters which are considered non-routine.

Equity-based Compensation

The Company has an equity-based incentive award plan (the “Equity Plan”) for non-executive directors, officers, other employees and advisors or consultants who provide services to the Company, as applicable, and a non-executive director restricted share plan, which are accounted for under U.S. GAAP for share-based payments.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Reference Rate Reform

During the first quarter of 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848). ASU 2020-04 contains practical expedients for reference rate reform related activities that impact debt, leases, derivatives and other contracts. The guidance in ASU 2020-04 is optional and may be elected over time as reference rate reform activities occur. During the first quarter of 2020, the Company elected to apply the hedge accounting expedients related to probability and the assessments of effectiveness for future London Inter-Bank Offer Rate (“LIBOR”)-indexed cash flows to assume that the index applicable to future hedged transactions matched the index on the corresponding derivatives. During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company terminated its interest rate swap agreements with an aggregate $900.0 million notional amount and terminated its forward starting interest rate swaps with a total notional amount of $400.0 million, both of which were designated as cash flow hedges, in connection with the early repayment of borrowings under the Credit Facility Term Loan (as defined in Note 6 – Debt), as discussed in Note 7 – Derivatives and Hedging Activities. The Company continues to evaluate the impact of the guidance and may apply other elections as applicable as additional changes in the market occur.