MHPC Manufactured Housing Properties Inc (CE)

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

An investment in our Common Stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully read and consider all of the risks described below, together with all of the other information contained or referred to in this report, before making an investment decision with respect to our Common Stock or our company. If any of the following events occur, our financial condition, business and results of operations (including cash flows) may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our Common Stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to our Business and Industry

We may not be able to obtain adequate cash to fund our business.

Our business requires access to adequate cash to finance our operations, distributions, capital expenditures, debt service obligations, development and redevelopment costs and property acquisition costs, if any. We expect to generate the cash to be used for these purposes primarily with operating cash flow, borrowings under secured and unsecured loans, proceeds from sales of strategically identified assets and, when market conditions permit, through the issuance of debt and equity securities from time to time. We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to fund our business, particularly if we are unable to renew leases, lease vacant space or re-lease space as leases expire according to our expectations.

The coronavirus pandemic may cause a material adverse effect on our business.

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic, and on March 13, 2020, the United States declared a national emergency.

Some states and cities, including some where our properties are located, reacted by instituting quarantines, restrictions on travel, mask-mandates, “stay at home” rules and restrictions on the types of businesses that may continue to operate and in what capacity, as well as guidance in response to the pandemic and the need to contain it.

The rules and restrictions put in place had a negative impact on the economy and business activity and may adversely impact the ability of the Company’s tenants, many of whom may be restricted in their ability to work, to pay their rent as and when due. In addition, property managers, maintenance staff, and other employees may be limited in their ability to properly maintain our properties. 

The extent to which the pandemic may impact our results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted as of the date of this report, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of the pandemic and steps taken to contain the pandemic or treat its impact, among others. Nevertheless, the pandemic and the current financial, economic, and capital markets environment present material uncertainty and risk with respect to our performance, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

General economic conditions and the concentration of our properties in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee may affect our ability to generate sufficient revenue.

The market and economic conditions in our current markets may significantly affect manufactured housing occupancy or rental rates. Occupancy and rental rates, in turn, may significantly affect our revenues, and if our communities do not generate revenues sufficient to meet our operating expenses, including debt service and capital expenditures, current cash flow and ability to pay or refinance our debt obligations could be adversely affected. As a result of the current geographic concentration of our properties in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, we are exposed to the risks of downturns in the local economy or other local real estate market conditions that could adversely affect occupancy rates, rental rates, and property values in these markets.

Other factors that may affect general economic conditions or local real estate conditions include:

Our income would also be adversely affected if tenants were unable to pay rent or if sites were unable to be rented on favorable terms. If we were unable to promptly renew the leases for a significant number of sites, or if the rental rates upon such renewal were significantly lower than expected rates, then our business and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, certain expenditures associated with each property (such as real estate taxes and maintenance costs) generally are not reduced when circumstances cause a reduction in income from the property.

Our business could be adversely affected by unfavorable economic and political conditions, which in turn, can negatively impact our ability to generate returns to you.

Our future business and operations are sensitive to general business and economic conditions in the United States. Factors beyond our control could cause fluctuations resulting in adverse conditions, such as heightened inflation. Sustained inflationary pressures resulted in the Federal Reserve Board increasing interest rates significantly during 2022, and the Federal Reserve Board has continued to raise interest rates in 2023. To the extent such conditions worsen, inflation may make it more difficult for our borrowers to repay loans, and may increase the risk of default by them, which in turn, can negatively impact our ability to generate returns to you.

In addition, national and regional economies and financial markets have become increasingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that conditions in one country, region, or market might adversely impact issuers in a different country, region, or market. Major economic or political disruptions, such as the slowing economy in China, the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia, and a potential economic slowdown in the United Kingdom and Europe, may have global negative economic and market repercussions. While we do not intend to make loans to borrowers located in those countries, such disruptions may nevertheless impact its operations. 

We face risks generally associated with our debt.

We finance a portion of our investments in properties through debt. As of December 31, 2022, our total indebtedness for borrowed money was $87,919,399. We are subject to the risks normally associated with debt financing, including the risk that our cash flow will be insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest. In addition, debt creates other risks, including:

We face risks related to “balloon payments” and re-financings.

Certain of our mortgages and lines of credit will have significant outstanding principal balances on their maturity dates, commonly known as “balloon payments.” As of December 31, 2022, our total future minimum principal payments were $87,919,399. We refinanced $62,000,000 of this debt during 2022 which will not mature until 2032. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to refinance our debt on favorable terms or at all upon maturity. To the extent we cannot refinance debt on favorable terms or at all, we may be forced to dispose of properties on disadvantageous terms or pay higher interest rates, either of which would have an adverse impact on our financial performance and ability to service debt and make distributions.

We may become more highly leveraged, resulting in increased risk of default on our obligations and an increase in debt service requirements that could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and our ability to pay distributions.

We have incurred, and may continue to incur, indebtedness in furtherance of our activities. We could become more highly leveraged, resulting in an increased risk of default on our obligations and in an increase in debt service requirements, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations and our ability to pay distributions to stockholders.

Covenants in our credit agreements could limit our flexibility and adversely affect our financial condition.

The terms of our various credit agreements and other indebtedness require us to comply with a number of customary financial and other covenants, such as maintaining debt service coverage and leverage ratios and maintaining insurance coverage. These covenants may limit our flexibility in our operations, and breaches of these covenants could result in defaults under the instruments governing the applicable indebtedness even if we had satisfied our payment obligations. If we were to default under our credit agreements, our financial condition would be adversely affected.

A change in the United States government policy regarding the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) could impact our financial condition.

In January 2023, the Biden Administration released a Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights. This included a proposal that the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the independent regulator and conservator of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, will launch a new public process to examine proposed actions promoting renter protections and limits on rent increases. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are a major source of financing for the manufactured housing real estate sector. We depend on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to finance growth by purchasing or guaranteeing manufactured housing community loans. If enacted, we do not know the extent to which these renter protections and limits on rent increases will impact our financial condition and our ability to collect rent from our tenants. A decision by the government to limit rent increases through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may adversely affect interest rates, capital availability and our ability to refinance our existing mortgage obligations as they come due and obtain additional long-term financing for the acquisition of additional communities on favorable terms or at all.

We face risks relating to the property management services that we provide.

There are inherent risks in our providing property management services to the manufactured housing communities on the properties that we own. The more significant of these risks include:

Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults, or non-performance by financial institutions or transactional counterparties, could adversely affect our current and projected business operations and our financial condition and results of operations.

Actual events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions, transactional counterparties or other companies in the financial services industry or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the FDIC, as receiver. Similarly, on March 12, 2023, Signature Bank Corp., or Signature, and Silvergate Capital Corp. were each swept into receivership. Although a statement by the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC indicated that all depositors of SVB would have access to all of their money after only one business day of closure, including funds held in uninsured deposit accounts, borrowers under credit agreements, letters of credit and certain other financial instruments with SVB, Signature or any other financial institution that is placed into receivership by the FDIC may be unable to access undrawn amounts thereunder. Although we are not a borrower under or party to any material letter of credit or any other such instruments with SVB, Signature or any other financial institution currently in receivership, if we enter into any such instruments and any of our lenders or counterparties to such instruments were to be placed into receivership, we may be unable to access such funds. In addition, if any of our partners, suppliers or other parties with whom we conduct business are unable to access funds pursuant to such instruments or lending arrangements with such a financial institution, such parties’ ability to pay their obligations to us or to enter into new commercial arrangements requiring additional payments to us could be adversely affected. In this regard, counterparties to credit agreements and arrangements with these financial institutions, and third parties such as beneficiaries of letters of credit (among others), may experience direct impacts from the closure of these financial institutions and uncertainty remains over liquidity concerns in the broader financial services industry. Similar impacts have occurred in the past, such as during the 2008-2010 financial crisis.

Inflation and rapid increases in interest rates have led to a decline in the trading value of previously issued government securities with interest rates below current market interest rates. Although the U.S. Department of Treasury, FDIC and Federal Reserve Board have announced a program to provide up to $25 billion of loans to financial institutions secured by certain of such government securities held by financial institutions to mitigate the risk of potential losses on the sale of such instruments, widespread demands for customer withdrawals or other liquidity needs of financial institutions for immediately liquidity may exceed the capacity of such program.

Our access to funding sources and other credit arrangements in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired by factors that affect us, any financial institutions with which we enter into credit agreements or arrangements directly, or the financial services industry or economy in general. These factors could include, among others, events such as liquidity constraints or failures, the ability to perform obligations under various types of financial, credit or liquidity agreements or arrangements, disruptions or instability in the financial services industry or financial markets, or concerns or negative expectations about the prospects for companies in the financial services industry. These factors could involve financial institutions or financial services industry companies with which we have financial or business relationships, but could also include factors involving financial markets or the financial services industry generally.

The results of events or concerns that involve one or more of these factors could include a variety of material and adverse impacts on our current and projected business operations and our financial condition and results of operations. These risks include, but may not be limited to, the following:

In addition, investor concerns regarding the U.S. or international financial systems could result in less favorable commercial financing terms, including higher interest rates or costs and tighter financial and operating covenants, or systemic limitations on access to credit and liquidity sources, thereby making it more difficult for us to acquire financing on acceptable terms or at all. Any decline in available funding or access to our cash and liquidity resources could, among other risks, adversely impact our ability to meet our operating expenses or other obligations, financial or otherwise, result in breaches of our financial and/or contractual obligations, or result in violations of federal or state wage and hour laws. Any of these impacts, or any other impacts resulting from the factors described above or other related or similar factors, could have material adverse impacts on our liquidity and our current and/or projected business operations and financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, any further deterioration in the macroeconomic economy or financial services industry could lead to losses or defaults by our partners, vendors or suppliers, which in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our current and/or projected business operations and results of operations and financial condition. For example, a partner may fail to make payments when due, default under their agreements with us, become insolvent or declare bankruptcy, or a supplier may determine that it will no longer deal with us as a customer. In addition, a vendor or supplier could be adversely affected by any of the liquidity or other risks that are described above as factors that could result in material adverse impacts on us, including but not limited to delayed access or loss of access to uninsured deposits or loss of the ability to draw on existing credit facilities involving a troubled or failed financial institution. The bankruptcy or insolvency of any partner, vendor or supplier, or the failure of any partner to make payments when due, or any breach or default by a partner, vendor or supplier, or the loss of any significant supplier relationships, could cause us to suffer material losses and may have a material adverse impact on our business.

We may not be able to integrate or finance our acquisitions.

We acquire and intend to continue to acquire manufactured housing communities on a select basis. Our acquisition activities and their success are subject to the following risks:

If any of the above were to occur, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

In addition, we may acquire properties subject to liabilities and without any recourse, or with only limited recourse, with respect to unknown liabilities. As a result, if a liability were to be asserted against us based on ownership of those properties, we might have to pay substantial sums to settle it, which could adversely affect our cash flow.

New acquisitions may fail to perform as expected and the intended benefits may not be realized, which could have a negative impact on our operations.

We intend to continue to acquire manufactured housing communities. However, newly acquired properties may fail to perform as expected and could pose risks for our ongoing operations including the following:

As a result of the foregoing, we may not accurately estimate or identify all costs necessary to bring an acquired manufactured housing communities up to standards established for our intended market position. As such, we cannot provide assurance that any acquisition that we make will be accretive to us in the near term or at all. Furthermore, if we fail to realize the intended benefits of an acquisition, it may have a negative impact on our operations.

Development and expansion properties may fail to perform as expected and the intended benefits may not be realized, which could have a negative impact on our operations.

We may periodically consider development and expansion activities, which are subject to risks such as construction costs exceeding original estimates and construction and lease-up delays resulting in increased construction costs and lower than expected revenues. Additionally, there can be no assurance that these properties will operate better as a result of development or expansion activities due to various factors, including lower than anticipated occupancy and rental rates causing a property to be unprofitable or less profitable than originally estimated.

We regularly expend capital to maintain, repair and renovate our properties, which could negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.

We may, or we may be required to, from time to time make significant capital expenditures to maintain or enhance the competitiveness of our manufactured housing communities. For instance, in connection with the recent refinancing of our debt, KeyBank withheld approximately $4,000,000 in escrow for planned capital projects to improve the financed communities, which is included in restricted cash. There can be no assurances that any such expenditures would result in higher occupancy or higher rental rates.

We may be unable to sell properties when appropriate because real estate investments are illiquid.

Real estate investments generally cannot be sold quickly and, therefore, will tend to limit our ability to vary our property portfolio promptly in response to changes in economic or other conditions. The inability to respond promptly to changes in the performance of our property portfolio could adversely affect our financial condition and ability to service our debt and make distributions to our stockholders.

We may be unable to compete with our larger competitors, which may in turn adversely affect our profitability.

The real estate business is highly competitive. We compete for manufactured housing community investments with numerous other real estate entities, such as individuals, corporations, REITs, and other enterprises engaged in real estate activities. In many cases, the competing concerns may be larger and better financed than we are, making it difficult for us to secure new manufactured housing community investments. Competition among private and institutional purchasers of manufactured housing community investments has led to increases in the purchase prices paid for manufactured housing communities and consequent higher fixed costs. To the extent we are unable to effectively compete in the marketplace, our business may be adversely affected.

Actions by our competitors may decrease or prevent increases in the occupancy and rental rates of our properties which could adversely affect our business.

We compete with other owners and operators of manufactured housing community properties, some of whom own properties similar to ours in the same submarkets in which our properties are located. The number of competitive manufactured housing community properties in a particular area could have a material adverse effect on our ability to lease sites and increase rents charged at our properties or at any newly acquired properties. In addition, other forms of multi-family residential properties, such as private and federally funded or assisted multi-family housing projects and single-family housing, provide housing alternatives to potential tenants of manufactured housing communities. If our competitors offer housing at rental rates below current market rates or below the rental rates we currently charge our tenants, we may lose potential tenants, and we may be pressured to reduce our rental rates below those we currently charge in order to retain tenants when our tenants’ leases expire. As a result, our financial condition, cash flow, cash available for distribution, and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations could be materially adversely affected.

Losses in excess of our insurance coverage or uninsured losses could adversely affect our cash flow.

We generally maintain insurance policies related to our business, including casualty, general liability and other policies covering business operations, employees and assets. However, we may be required to bear all losses that are not adequately covered by insurance. In addition, there are certain losses that are not generally insured because it is not economically feasible to insure against them, including losses due to riots or acts of war. If an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of insured limits occurs with respect to one or more of our properties, then we could lose the capital we invested in the properties, as well as the anticipated profits and cash flow from the properties and, in the case of debt that carries recourse to us, we would remain obligated for any mortgage debt or other financial obligations related to the properties. Although we believe that our insurance programs are adequate, no assurance can be given that we will not incur losses in excess of its insurance coverage, or that we will be able to obtain insurance in the future at acceptable levels and reasonable cost.

Costs associated with taxes and regulatory compliance may reduce our revenue.

We are subject to significant regulation that inhibits our activities and may increase our costs. Local zoning and use laws, environmental statutes and other governmental requirements may restrict expansion, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. These regulations may prevent us from taking advantage of economic opportunities. Legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act may require us to modify our properties at a substantial cost and noncompliance could result in the imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants. Future legislation may impose additional requirements. We cannot predict what requirements may be enacted or amended or what costs we will incur to comply with such requirements. Costs resulting from changes in real estate laws, income taxes, service or other taxes may adversely affect our funds from operations and our ability to pay or refinance our debt. Similarly, changes in laws increasing the potential liability for environmental conditions existing on properties or increasing the restrictions on discharges or other conditions may result in significant unanticipated expenditures, which would adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Rent control legislation may harm our ability to increase rents.

State and local rent control laws in certain jurisdictions may limit our ability to increase rents and to recover increases in operating expenses and the costs of capital improvements. We may purchase additional properties in markets that are either subject to rent control or in which rent-limiting legislation exists or may be enacted.

Environmental liabilities could affect our profitability.

Under various federal, state and local laws, as well as local ordinances and regulations, an owner or operator of real estate is liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous substances at, on, under or in such property, as well as certain other potential costs relating to hazardous or toxic substances. Such laws often impose such liability without regard to whether the owner knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous substances. A conveyance of the property, therefore, does not relieve the owner or operator from liability. As a current or former owner and operator of real estate, we may be required by law to investigate and clean up hazardous substances released at or from the properties we currently own or operate or have in the past owned or operated. We may also be liable to the government or to third parties for property damage, investigation costs and cleanup costs. In addition, some environmental laws create a lien on the contaminated site in favor of the government for damages and costs the government incurs in connection with the contamination. Contamination may adversely affect our ability to sell or lease real estate or to borrow using the real estate as collateral. Persons who arrange for the disposal or treatment of hazardous substances also may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of such substances at a disposal or treatment facility owned or operated by another person. In addition, certain environmental laws impose liability for the management and disposal of asbestos-containing materials and for the release of such materials into the air. These laws may provide for third parties to seek recovery from owners or operators of real properties for personal injury associated with asbestos-containing materials. In connection with the ownership, operation, management, and development of real properties, we may be considered an owner or operator of such properties and, therefore, are potentially liable for removal or remediation costs, and also may be liable for governmental fines and injuries to persons and property. When we arrange for the treatment or disposal of hazardous substances at landfills or other facilities owned by other persons, we may be liable for the removal or remediation costs at such facilities. We are not aware of any environmental liabilities relating to our investment properties that would have a material adverse effect on our business, assets, or results of operations. However, we cannot assure you that environmental liabilities will not arise in the future and that such liabilities will not have a material adverse effect on our business, assets or results of operation.

Of the 55 manufactured housing communities we currently operate, 16 are on well systems and 35 are on septic systems. At these locations, we are subject to compliance with monthly, quarterly and yearly testing for contaminants as outlined by each state’s Department of Environmental Protection Agencies. Currently, we are not subject to radon or asbestos monitoring requirements.

Additionally, in connection with the management of the properties or upon acquisition or financing of a property, we authorize the preparation of Phase I or similar environmental reports (which involves general inspections without soil sampling or ground water analysis) completed by independent environmental consultants. Based on such environmental reports and our ongoing review of its properties, as of the date of this report, we are not aware of any environmental condition with respect to any of our properties that we believe would be reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. These reports, however, cannot reflect conditions arising after the studies were completed, and no assurances can be given that existing environmental studies reveal all environmental liabilities, that any prior owner or operator of a property or neighboring owner or operator did not create any material environmental condition not known to us, or that a material environmental condition does not otherwise exist with respect to any one property or more than one property.

Our failure or the failure of third-party service providers to protect our sites, networks and systems against security breaches, or otherwise to protect our confidential information, could damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business and operating results.

We collect, maintain, transmit and store data about our tenants, employees, contractors, suppliers, vendors and others, including credit card information and personally identifiable information, as well as other confidential and proprietary information. We also employ third-party service providers that store, process and transmit certain proprietary, personal and confidential information on our behalf. We rely on encryption and authentication technology licensed from third parties in an effort to securely transmit, encrypt, anonymize or pseudonymize certain confidential and sensitive information, including credit card numbers. Advances in computer capabilities, new technological discoveries or other developments may result in the whole or partial failure of this technology to protect transaction and personal data or other confidential and sensitive information from being breached or compromised. Our security measures, and those of our third-party service providers, may not detect or prevent all attempts to hack our systems, denial-of-service attacks, viruses, malicious software, break-ins, phishing attacks, ransom-ware, social engineering, security breaches or other attacks and similar disruptions that may jeopardize the security of information stored in or transmitted by our sites, networks and systems or that we or our third-party service providers otherwise maintain, including payment card systems and human resources management platforms. We and our service providers may not anticipate, discover or prevent all types of attacks until after they have already been launched, and techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or sabotage systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against us or our third-party service providers. In addition, security breaches can also occur as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional or inadvertent breaches by our employees or by persons with whom we have commercial relationships.

Breaches of our security measures or those of our third-party service providers or cyber security incidents could result in unauthorized access to our sites, networks and systems; unauthorized access to and misappropriation of personal information, including tenants’ and employees’ personally identifiable information, or other confidential or proprietary information of ourselves or third parties; limited or terminated access to certain payment methods or fines or higher transaction fees to use such methods; viruses, worms, spyware or other malware being served from our sites, networks or systems; deletion or modification of content or the display of unauthorized content on our sites; interruption, disruption or malfunction of operations; costs relating to breach remediation, deployment or training of additional personnel and protection technologies, responses to governmental investigations and media inquiries and coverage; engagement of third-party experts and consultants; litigation, regulatory action and other potential liabilities. If any of these breaches of security occur, our reputation and brand could be damaged, our business may suffer, we could be required to expend significant capital and other resources to alleviate problems caused by such breaches and we could be exposed to a risk of loss, litigation or regulatory action and possible liability. In addition, any party who is able to illicitly obtain a tenant’s password could access that tenant’s personal information. Any compromise or breach of our security measures, or those of our third-party service providers, could violate applicable privacy, data security and other laws, and cause significant legal and financial exposure, adverse publicity and a loss of confidence in our security measures, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are subject to risks arising from litigation.

We may become involved in litigation. Litigation can be costly, and the results of litigation are often difficult to predict. We may not have adequate insurance coverage or contractual protection to cover costs and liability in the event we are sued, and to the extent we resort to litigation to enforce our rights, we may incur significant costs and ultimately be unsuccessful or unable to recover amounts that we believe are owed to us. We may have little or no control of the timing of litigation, which presents challenges to our strategic planning.

We are dependent on key personnel.

Our executive and other senior officers have a significant role in our success. Our ability to retain our management group or to attract suitable replacements should any members of the management group leave depends on the competitive nature of the employment market. The loss of services from key members of the management group or a limitation in their availability could adversely affect our financial condition and cash flow. Further, such a loss could be negatively perceived in the capital markets.

Our company is a small-and mid-capitalization company which presents challenges to our management team.

Often small- and mid-capitalization companies and the industries in which they focus are still evolving and, as a result, they may be more sensitive to changing market conditions. As a result, our management team will be learning as they proceed and may be forced to rely more heavily on the expertise of outside professionals than they might otherwise, which in turn could lead to higher legal and accounting costs and possible securities law compliance issues. 

We have one stockholder that can single-handedly control our company.

Our largest stockholder is Gvest Real Estate Capital LLC, an entity whose sole owner is Raymond M. Gee, our chairman and chief executive officer. At present, Mr. Gee beneficially owns approximately 68.79% of our total issued and outstanding Common Stock. Under Nevada law, this ownership position provides Mr. Gee with the almost unrestricted ability to control the business, management and strategic direction of our company. If Mr. Gee chooses to exercise this control, his decisions regarding our company could be detrimental to, or not in the best interests of our company and its other stockholders.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to develop or maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results and prevent fraud. As a result, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial statements, which would harm the trading price of our Common Stock.

Companies that file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, including us, are subject to the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or SOX 404. SOX 404 requires management to establish and maintain a system of internal control over financial reporting and annual reports on Form 10-K filed under the Exchange Act to contain a report from management assessing the effectiveness of a company’s internal control over financial reporting. Separately, under SOX 404, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, public companies that are large accelerated filers or accelerated filers must include in their annual reports on Form 10-K an attestation report of their regular auditors attesting to and reporting on management’s assessment of internal control over financial reporting. Non-accelerated filers and smaller reporting companies, like us, are not required to include an attestation report of their auditors in annual reports.

A report of our management is included under Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures.” We are a smaller reporting company and, consequently, are not required to include an attestation report of our auditor in our annual report. However, when and if we become subject to the auditor attestation requirements under SOX 404, we can provide no assurance that we will receive a positive attestation from our independent auditors.

During its evaluation of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, management identified material weaknesses. These material weaknesses were associated with (i) our lack of proper segregation of duties due to the limited number of employees within the accounting department and (ii) our lack of effective closing procedures. We are undertaking remedial measures, which measures will take time to implement and test, to address these material weaknesses. There can be no assurance that such measures will be sufficient to remedy the material weaknesses identified or that additional material weaknesses or other control or significant deficiencies will not be identified in the future. If we continue to experience material weaknesses in our internal controls or fail to maintain or implement required new or improved controls, such circumstances could cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements, or adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and, if required, annual auditor attestation reports. Each of the foregoing results could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and lead to a decline in our stock price.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

Our Common Stock is eligible for quotation on the Pink Market but few quotations have been made and limited trading has occurred in our Common Stock. Due to the lack of an active trading market for our securities, you may have difficulty selling any shares you purchase, which could result in the loss of your investment.

Our Common Stock is eligible for quotation on the Pink Market operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. The Pink Market is a regulated quotation service that displays real-time quotes, last sale prices and volume information in over-the-counter securities. The Pink Market is not an issuer listing service, market or exchange. The requirements for quotation on the Pink Market are considerably lower and less regulated than those of an exchange. Because of this, it is possible that fewer brokers or dealers will be interested in making a market in our Common Stock because the market for such securities is more limited, the stocks are more volatile, and the risk to investors is greater, which may impact the liquidity of our Common Stock. Even if an active market begins to develop in our Common Stock, the quotation of our Common Stock on the Pink Market may result in a less liquid market available for existing and potential stockholders to trade Common Stock, could depress the trading price of our Common Stock and could have a long-term adverse impact on our ability to raise capital in the future. If an active market is never developed for our Common Stock, it will be difficult or impossible for you to sell any Common Stock you purchase.

We cannot predict the extent to which an active public trading market for our Common Stock will develop or be sustained. If an active public trading market does not develop or cannot be sustained, you may be unable to liquidate your investment in our Common Stock.

At present, there is minimal public trading in our Common Stock. We cannot predict the extent to which an active public market for our Common Stock will develop or be sustained due to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company that is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors, and others in the investment community that generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such persons, they tend to be risk-averse and would be reluctant to follow an unproven company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our shares of Common Stock until such time as we became more seasoned and viable. Consequently, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in our shares is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer which has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on stock price. We cannot give you any assurance that an active public trading market for our Common Stock will develop or be sustained. If such a market cannot be sustained, you may be unable to liquidate your investment in our Common Stock.

Our Common Stock may be subject to significant price volatility which may have an adverse effect on your ability to liquidate your investment in our Common Stock.

The market for our Common Stock may be characterized by significant price volatility when compared to seasoned issuers, and we expect that our stock price will be more volatile than a seasoned issuer for the indefinite future. The potential volatility in our stock price is attributable to a number of factors. First, our shares of Common Stock may be sporadically and/or thinly traded. As a consequence of this lack of liquidity, the trading of relatively small quantities of shares by our stockholders may disproportionately influence the price of those shares in either direction. The price for our shares could, for example, decline precipitously if a large number of our shares of Common Stock are sold on the market without commensurate demand, as compared to a seasoned issuer that could better absorb those sales without adverse impact on its stock price. Secondly, an investment in us is a speculative or “risky” investment due to our lack of meaningful profits to date and uncertainty of future profits. As a consequence of this enhanced risk, more risk-adverse investors may, under the fear of losing all or most of their investment in the event of negative news or lack of progress, be more inclined to sell their shares on the market more quickly and at greater discounts than would be the case with the stock of a seasoned issuer.

We may be subject to penny stock regulations and restrictions, and you may have difficulty selling shares of our Common Stock.

The SEC has adopted regulations which generally define so-called “penny stocks” to be an equity security that has a market price less than $5.00 per share or an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exemptions. Our Common Stock is a “penny stock” and is subject to Rule 15g-9 under the Exchange Act. This rule imposes additional sales practice requirements on broker-dealers that sell such securities to persons other than established customers and “accredited investors” (generally, individuals with a net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or annual incomes exceeding $200,000, or $300,000 together with their spouses). For transactions covered by Rule 15g-9, a broker-dealer must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and have received the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to sale. As a result, this rule may affect the ability of broker-dealers to sell our securities and may affect the ability of purchasers to sell any of our securities in the secondary market, thus possibly making it more difficult for us to raise additional capital.

For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules require delivery, prior to any transaction in penny stock, of a disclosure schedule prepared by the SEC relating to the penny stock market. Disclosure is also required to be made about sales commissions payable to both the broker-dealer and the registered representative and current quotations for the securities. Finally, monthly statements are required to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stock.

There can be no assurance that our Common stock will qualify for exemption from this rule. In any event, even if our Common Stock were exempt from this rule, we would remain subject to Section 15(b)(6) of the Exchange Act, which gives the SEC the authority to restrict any person from participating in a distribution of penny stock, if the SEC finds that such a restriction would be in the public interest.

We have never paid cash dividends on our Common Stock and do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.

We have paid no cash dividends on our Common Stock to date, and we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our Common Stock in the near term. For the foreseeable future, we intend to retain any earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our Common Stock. Accordingly, investors must be prepared to rely on sales of their Common Stock after price appreciation to earn an investment return, which may never occur. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our Common Stock. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our board deems relevant.

Our Preferred Stock have liquidation preferences senior to our Common Stock.

Our Series A Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, which we refer to as our Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, which we refer to as our Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, which we refer to as our Series C Preferred Stock, have liquidation preferences that get paid prior to any payment on our Common Stock. As a result, if we were to dissolve, liquidate, merge with another company or sell our assets, the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock would have the right to receive up to approximately $39,650,767 as of December 31, 2022, plus any unpaid dividends, before any amount is paid to the holders of our Common Stock. The payment of the liquidation preferences could result in common stockholders not receiving any consideration if we were to liquidate, dissolve or wind up, either voluntarily or involuntarily. The existence of the liquidation preferences may also reduce the value of our Common Stock, make it harder for us to sell shares of Common Stock in offerings in the future, or prevent or delay a change of control.

We may issue additional debt and equity securities that are senior to our Common Stock as to distributions and in liquidation, which could materially adversely affect the value of the Common Stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by entering into additional debt or debt-like financing that is secured by all or up to all of our assets, or issuing debt or equity securities, which could include issuances of commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior notes, subordinated notes or shares. In the event of our liquidation, our lenders and holders of our debt securities would receive a distribution of our available assets before distributions to our stockholders. Any additional preferred securities, if issued by our company, may have a preference with respect to distributions and upon liquidation that is senior to the preference of our Common Stock, which could further limit our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. Because our decision to incur debt and issue securities in our future offerings 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 and debt financing.

Further, market conditions could require us to accept less favorable terms for the issuance of our securities in the future. Thus, you will bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the value of your Common Stock. In addition, we can change our leverage strategy from time to time without approval of holders of our Common Stock, which could materially adversely affect the value of our Common Stock.

Our articles of incorporation, bylaws and Nevada law have anti-takeover provisions that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control, which may cause our stock price to decline.

Our articles of incorporation, bylaws and Nevada law contain provisions which could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if closing such a transaction would be beneficial to our stockholders. We are currently authorized to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of “blank check” Preferred Stock. This Preferred Stock may be issued in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined at the time of issuance by our board of directors without further action by stockholders. The terms of any series of Preferred Stock may include voting rights (including the right to vote as a series on particular matters), preferences as to dividend, liquidation, conversion and redemption rights and sinking fund provisions. The issuance of any Preferred Stock could materially adversely affect the rights of the holders of our Common Stock, and therefore, reduce the value of our Common Stock. For example, specific rights granted to future holders of Preferred Stock could be used to restrict our ability to merge with, or sell our assets to, a third party and thereby preserve control by current management.

Provisions of our articles of incorporation, bylaws and Nevada law also could have the effect of discouraging potential acquisition proposals or making a tender offer or delaying or preventing a change in control, including changes a stockholder might consider favorable. Such provisions may also prevent or frustrate attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. Specifically, our articles of incorporation, bylaws and Nevada law, among other things, provide our board of directors with the ability to alter our bylaws without stockholder approval, and provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by a majority of directors in office, although less than a quorum.