On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Act") into law. Although the individual and collective impact of the Act may not be evident for some time, the Act is generally viewed by the real estate and real estate investment trust ("REIT") community as encouraging investment. While there are certain beneficial tax provisions in the Act relating to REITs, the Act does not change the general manner in which REITs are taxed. Key changes brought about by the Act relating to REITs include the following:

..Reduction in Tax Rate for Certain Pass-Through Income and Ordinary REIT Dividends for Non-Corporate Shareholders. The Act generally allows a deduction for non-corporate shareholders equal to 20% of certain income from pass-through entities, including ordinary dividends distributed by a REIT, generally resulting in a maximum effective federal income tax rate applicable to such income of 29.6% compared to 37% (excluding, in each case, the 3.8% Medicare tax on net investment income). We anticipate that this provision could be especially beneficial to REITs for several reasons...