September 16, 2011
Dear SEC:
I am a 64-year-old woman, forcibly retired after my business collapsed in 2009. I cannot live off of 3-5% of my savings, which is all I can get in insured muni ETFs, and so I invest in MLPs and mREITs. Their high yields and tax treatment enables me to just make it.
I went into mREITs with my eyes open regarding the risks that were known and I now I find that their are new risks These investments were established based on the rules. It is unfair to them and to their investors to change the leverage rule in midstream.
If you change the rules for how mREITs are allowed to raise money, their value will collapse in the market and I will not only lose half of my savings but the ability to make the interest I depend on to pay my bills and keep my home. There are undoubtedly hundreds of thousands of retired people like me who would be similarly affected by a rule change.
Just the fact that you are considering changing the rules has greatly reduced the value of my holdings and I can't afford to sell now and take this loss. If this threat continues to be an issue, the values will continue to decline. Please address this issue as soon as the comment period is over to remove this shroud from the market for mREITs.
PLEASE do not rip this lifeline from me.
Thank you,
Franette Armstrong