NOTE 4. RELATED-PARTY TRANSACTIONS

We are externally managed pursuant to contractual arrangements with our Adviser and our Administrator, which collectively employ all of our personnel and pay their salaries, benefits and general expenses directly. We had an advisory agreement with our Adviser that was in effect through January 31, 2013 (the “Prior Advisory Agreement”), which we and our Adviser amended, effective February 1, 2013 (the “Amended Advisory Agreement”). We also had an administration agreement with our Administrator that was in effect through January 31, 2013 (the “Prior Administration Agreement”), which we and our Administrator amended, effective February 1, 2013 (the “Amended Administration Agreement”). The management and administrative services and fees under both of these agreements are described below.

 

Prior Advisory and Administration Agreements

Prior Advisory Agreement

We entered into the Prior Advisory Agreement with our Adviser in 2004, pursuant to which the Adviser was responsible for managing us on a day-to-day basis and for identifying, evaluating, negotiating and consummating investment transactions consistent with our criteria. In exchange for such services, we paid the Adviser a management advisory fee, which consisted of the reimbursement of certain expenses of the Adviser. We reimbursed our Adviser for our pro-rata share of our Adviser’s payroll and related benefit expenses on an employee-by-employee basis, based on the percentage of each employee’s time devoted to our matters in relation to the time such employees devoted to all affiliated funds, collectively, advised by our Adviser. We also reimbursed the Adviser for general overhead expenses multiplied by the ratio of hours worked by the Adviser’s employees on Company matters to the total hours worked by the Adviser’s employees. We compensated our Adviser through reimbursement of our portion of the Adviser’s payroll, benefits and general overhead expenses. This reimbursement was generally subject to a combined annual management advisory fee limitation of 2.0% of our average invested assets for the year, with certain exceptions. Reimbursement for overhead expenses was only required up to the point that reimbursed overhead expenses and payroll and benefits expenses, on a combined basis, equaled 2.0% of our average invested assets for the year, and general overhead expenses were required to be reimbursed only if the amount of payroll and benefits reimbursed to the Adviser was less than 2.0% of our average invested assets for the year. However, payroll and benefits expenses were required to be reimbursed by us to the extent that they exceed the overall 2.0% annual management advisory fee limitation. To the extent that overhead expenses payable or reimbursable by us exceeded this limit and our independent directors determined that the excess expenses were justified based on unusual and nonrecurring factors which they deemed sufficient, we were permitted to reimburse the Adviser in future years for the full amount of the excess expenses, or any portion thereof, but only to the extent that the reimbursement would not have caused our overhead expense reimbursements to exceed the 2.0% limitation in any one year. The management advisory fee under the Prior Advisory Agreement never exceeded the annual cap.

Prior Administration Agreement

We entered into the Prior Administration Agreement with our Administrator, effective January 1, 2010, as amended on June 1, 2011, pursuant to which we paid for our allocable portion of our Administrator’s overhead expenses in performing its obligations to us, including, but not limited to, rent and the salaries and benefits of our chief financial officer and treasurer, chief compliance officer, internal counsel and secretary and their respective staffs. We compensated our Administrator through reimbursement of our portion of the Administrator’s payroll, benefits and general overhead expenses.

Amended and Restated Advisory and Administration Agreements

On February 1, 2013, we entered into each of the Amended Advisory Agreement and the Amended Administration Agreement.

Amended Advisory Agreement

Base Management Fee

Pursuant to the Amended Advisory Agreement that went into effect on February 1, 2013, we pay an annual base management fee equal to a percentage of our adjusted stockholders’ equity, which is defined as our total stockholders’ equity at the end of each quarter less the recorded value of any preferred stock we may issue and, for 2013 only, any uninvested cash proceeds from the IPO (as defined herein). For 2013, the base management fee was set at 1.0% of our adjusted stockholders’ equity; however, beginning January 1, 2014, we pay a base management equal to 2.0% of our adjusted stockholders’ equity, which no longer excludes uninvested cash proceeds from the IPO.

Incentive Fee

Pursuant to the Amended Advisory Agreement, we also pay an additional quarterly incentive fee based on funds from operations (“FFO”). For purposes of calculating the incentive fee, our FFO, before giving effect to any incentive fee (our “Pre-Incentive Fee FFO”) will include any realized capital gains or losses, less any distributions paid on our preferred stock, but will not include any unrealized capital gains or losses. The incentive fee will reward our Adviser if our Pre-Incentive Fee FFO for a particular calendar quarter exceeds a hurdle rate of 1.75% (7% annualized) of our total stockholders’ equity at the end of the quarter. Our Adviser will receive 100% of the amount of the Pre-Incentive Fee FFO for the quarter that exceeds the hurdle rate but is less than 2.1875% of our total stockholders’ equity at the end of the quarter (8.75% annualized), and 20% of the amount of our Pre-Incentive Fee FFO that exceeds 2.1875% for the quarter.

For the three months ended March 31, 2013, we paid an incentive fee to our Adviser of $41,037; however, during the three months ended June 30, 2013, our Adviser issued a one-time, irrevocable waiver equal to the full amount of the incentive fee paid for the three months ended March 31, 2013, and such fee was credited to us during the three months ended June 30, 2013. There was no net incentive fee earned by our Adviser for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 or 2013, as our Pre-Incentive Fee FFO did not exceed the hurdle rate.

Amended Administration Agreement

Pursuant to the Amended Administration Agreement that went into effect on February 1, 2013, we pay for our allocable portion of the Administrator’s expenses incurred while performing services to us, including, but not limited to, rent and the salaries and benefits expenses of our Administrator’s employees, including our chief financial officer, treasurer, chief compliance officer, general counsel and secretary (who also serves as our Administrator’s president) and their respective staffs. From February 1, 2013, through June 30, 2014, our allocable portion of these expenses was generally derived by multiplying that portion of the Administrator’s expenses allocable to all funds managed by the Adviser by the percentage of our total assets at the beginning of each quarter in comparison to the total assets of all funds managed by our Adviser.

As approved by our Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2014, our allocable portion of the Administrator’s expenses is now generally derived by multiplying our Administrator’s total expenses by the approximate percentage of time the Administrator’s employees perform services for us in relation to their time spent performing services for all companies serviced by our Administrator under similar contractual agreements. This change in methodology resulted in an increase in the fee we paid to our Administrator of approximately 137% for the six months ended December 31, 2014, as compared to the first six months of fiscal year 2014 and an increase of 135% for the six months ended June 30, 2015, as compared to the respective prior-year period.

 

The following table summarizes the management fees, incentive fees and associated credits and the administration fees reflected in our accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations:

 

		For the Years Ended December 31,
		2015				2014				2013
Management Fee:
Allocated payroll and benefits		$	—			$	—			$	38,668
Allocated overhead expenses			—				—				7,538
Prior management advisory fee(1)			—				—				46,206
Amended base management fee(2)			1,343,384				1,079,534				149,403
Total management fee(3)		$	1,343,384			$	1,079,534			$	195,609
Incentive Fee:
Incentive Fee(3)(4)		$	—			$	—			$	41,037
Credit from voluntary, irrevocable waiver by Adviser’s board of directors(3)			(320,905	)(4)			—				(41,037	)(5)
Net incentive fee		$	(320,905	)		$	—			$	—
Administration Fee:
Allocated payroll and benefits		$	—			$	—			$	14,034
Allocated overhead expenses			—				—				4,498
Prior administration fee(1)			—				—				18,532
Amended administration fee(2)			679,590				442,584				175,932
Total administration fee(3)		$	679,590			$	442,584			$	194,464

 

(1)	Pursuant to the Prior Advisory and Administration Agreements, respectively, both of which were terminated on January 31, 2013.

(2)	Pursuant to the Amended Advisory and Administration Agreements, respectively, both of which became effective on February 1, 2013.

(3)	Reflected as a line item on our accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations.

(4)

The credit received from our Adviser for the year ended December 31, 2015, was attributable to a finder’s fee earned by our Adviser in connection with a farm we acquired during the three months ended March 31, 2015, which fee was granted to us as a one-time, voluntary and irrevocable waiver to be applied against the fees we pay to our Adviser.

(5)

An incentive fee of $41,037 was paid to our Adviser for the three months ended March 31, 2013; however, during the three months ended June 30, 2013, our Adviser issued a one-time, voluntary and irrevocable waiver equal to the full amount of the incentive fee due and payable to the Adviser for the three months ended March 31, 2013.

 

Related Party Fees Due

Amounts due to related parties on our accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 were as follows:

 

		2015				2014
Management fee due to Adviser		$	362,373			$	301,487
Other due to Adviser(1)			13,140				3,187
Total due to Adviser			375,513				304,674
Administration fee due to Administrator			190,080				166,427
Total due to Administrator			190,080				166,427
Total due to related parties(2)		$	565,593			$	471,101

 

(1)	Other fees due to related parties primarily relate to miscellaneous general and administrative expenses paid by our Adviser or Administrator on our behalf.

(2)	Reflected as a line item on our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.