Lease Assets and Lease Liabilities
The Company determines whether a contract is or contains a lease at its inception. A lease is defined as the right to control the use of identified property, plant, or equipment for a period of time in exchange for consideration. Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recorded on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet at the lease commencement date for leases in which the Company acts as lessee. Right-of-use assets represent the Company's rights to use underlying assets for the term of the lease and lease liabilities represent the Company's future obligations under the lease agreement. Right-of-use assets and lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based upon the estimated present value of the lease payments. As the rate implicit in the Company's leases (in which the Company acts as lessee) cannot readily be determined, the Company utilizes its own estimated incremental borrowing rates to determine the present value of its lease payments. Consideration is given to the Company's recent debt issuances, as well as publicly available data for instruments with similar characteristics, including tenor, when determining the incremental borrowing rates of the Company's leases.
The Company includes options to extend a lease in its lease term when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise those renewal options. In the instance of the Company's ground leases associated with its tenant occupied properties, the Company has included all available renewal options in the lease term, as it intends to renew these leases indefinitely. The Company accounts for the lease and nonlease components (as necessary) of its leases of all classes of underlying assets as a single lease component. Leases with a term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Land rights, net represent the Company's rights to land subject to long-term ground leases. The Company obtained ground lease rights through the acquisition of several of its rental properties and immediately subleased the land to its tenants. These land rights represent the below market value of the related ground leases. The Company assessed the acquired ground leases to determine if the lease terms were favorable or unfavorable, given market conditions at the acquisition date. Because the market rents to be received under the Company's triple-net tenant leases were greater than the rents to be paid under the acquired ground leases, the Company concluded that the ground leases were below market and were therefore required to be recorded as a definite lived asset (land rights) on its books.
Right-of-use assets and land rights are monitored for potential impairment in much the same way as the Company's real estate assets, using the impairment model in ASC 360 - Property, Plant and Equipment. If the Company determines the carrying amount of a right-of-use asset or land right is not recoverable, it would recognize an impairment charge equivalent to the amount required to reduce the carrying value of the asset to its estimated fair value, calculated in accordance with GAAP.
About Leases Disclosures
Lease disclosures under ASC 842 provide a comprehensive view of a company's leased asset portfolio, including the split between operating and finance leases, discount rates used to present-value future payments, and the maturity schedule of lease obligations. This section reveals a significant source of off-balance-sheet commitments that were largely hidden before the current standard.
Key signals: the weighted-average discount rate affects the size of recorded lease liabilities — a higher rate reduces the reported obligation, so compare the chosen rate against the company's incremental borrowing rate. The operating versus finance lease mix affects both EBITDA and operating income presentation. Watch the maturity table for concentration risk: large payment cliffs in specific years may create cash flow pressure. Variable lease payments excluded from the liability measurement represent real obligations that do not appear on the balance sheet. Compare total lease costs against prior-year operating lease expense to assess the true economic burden.