Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, the Company is a party to, or has a significant relationship to, legal proceedings, lawsuits and other claims. Except as described below, the Company is not aware of any legal proceedings or claims that it believes may have, individually or taken together, a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. The Company’s policy is to expense legal costs as they are incurred.

Class Action. On May 9, 2016, a purported stockholder of the Company filed a putative class action complaint, Boynton Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. HCP, Inc., et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-01106-JJH, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against the Company, certain of its officers, HCR ManorCare, Inc. (“HCRMC”), and certain of its officers, asserting violations of the federal securities laws. The suit asserted claims under sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and alleged that the Company made certain false or misleading statements relating to the value of and risks concerning its investment in HCRMC by allegedly failing to disclose that HCRMC had engaged in billing fraud, as alleged by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DoJ”) in a suit against HCRMC arising from the False Claims Act that the DoJ voluntarily dismissed with prejudice. On November 22, 2019, the Court granted the class action motion to dismiss. On December 20, 2019, Co-Lead Plaintiffs filed a motion to amend the Court's judgment to permit amendment of the complaint, and on November 30, 2020, the Court denied Co-Lead Plaintiffs’ motion. Co-Lead Plaintiffs have not appealed the dismissal and denial of leave to amend their compliant.

Derivative Actions. On June 16, 2016 and July 5, 2016, purported stockholders of the Company filed two derivative actions, Subodh v. HCR ManorCare Inc., et al., Case No. 30-2016-00858497-CU-PT-CXC and Stearns v. HCR ManorCare, Inc., et al., Case No. 30-2016-00861646-CU-MC-CJC, in the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, against certain of the Company’s current and former directors and officers and HCRMC. The Company was named as a nominal defendant. As both derivative actions contained substantially the same allegations, they were consolidated into a single action (the “California derivative action”). The consolidated action alleged that the defendants engaged in various acts of wrongdoing, including, among other things, breaching fiduciary duties by publicly making false or misleading statements of fact regarding HCRMC’s finances and prospects, and failing to maintain adequate internal controls. On February 11, 2021, the Court dismissed the California derivative actions without prejudice.

On April 10, 2017, a purported stockholder of the Company filed a derivative action, Weldon v. Martin et al., Case No. 3:17-cv-755, in federal court in the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, against certain of the Company’s current and former directors and officers and HCRMC. The Company was named as a nominal defendant. The Weldon complaint asserted similar claims to those asserted in the California derivative action. In addition, the complaint asserted a claim under Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act, alleging that the Company made false statements in its 2016 proxy statement by not disclosing that the Company’s performance issues in 2015 were the direct result of alleged billing fraud at HCRMC. On January 5, 2021, the Court dismissed the Weldon case without prejudice.

On July 21, 2017, a purported stockholder of the Company filed another derivative action, Kelley v. HCR ManorCare, Inc., et al., Case No. 8:17-cv-01259, in federal court in the Central District of California, against certain of the Company’s current and former directors and officers and HCRMC. The Company was named as a nominal defendant. The Kelley complaint asserted similar claims to those asserted in Weldon and in the California derivative action. Like Weldon, the Kelley complaint also additionally alleged that the Company made false statements in its 2016 proxy statement, and asserted a claim for a violation of Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act. On November 28, 2017, the federal court in the Central District of California granted Defendants’ motion to transfer the action to the Northern District of Ohio (i.e., the court where the class action and other federal derivative action are pending). On January 5, 2021, the Court dismissed the Kelley case with prejudice.

The Company’s Board of Directors received letters dated August 17, 2016, April 19, 2017, and April 20, 2017 from private law firms acting on behalf of clients who are purported stockholders of the Company, each asserting allegations similar to those made in the California derivative action matters discussed above. Each letter demands that the Board of Directors take action to assert the Company’s rights. The Board of Directors completed its evaluation and rejected the demand letters in December of 2017. One of the law firms requested that the Board of Directors reconsider its determination after a ruling on the motion to dismiss in the class action litigation. In February 2021, the Board of Directors reaffirmed its rejection of the demand letters.

The Company believes that the demands are without merit, but cannot predict their outcome or reasonably estimate any potential loss at this time. Accordingly, no loss contingency has been recorded for these matters as of March 31, 2021, as the likelihood of loss is not considered probable or estimable.

DownREIT LLCs

In connection with the formation of certain DownREIT LLCs, members may contribute appreciated real estate to a DownREIT LLC in exchange for DownREIT units. These contributions are generally tax-deferred, so that the pre-contribution gain related to the property is not taxed to the member. However, if a contributed property is later sold by the DownREIT LLC, the unamortized pre-contribution gain that exists at the date of sale is specifically allocated and taxed to the contributing members. In many of the DownREITs, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with those members who contributed appreciated property into the DownREIT LLC. Under these indemnification agreements, if any of the appreciated real estate contributed by the members is sold by the DownREIT LLC in a taxable transaction within a specified number of years, the Company will reimburse the affected members for the federal and state income taxes associated with the pre-contribution gain that is specially allocated to the affected member under the Code (“make-whole payments”). These make-whole payments include a tax gross-up provision. These indemnification agreements have expirations terms that range through 2039 on a total of 23 properties.