Company: EPR-PE
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001045450-25-000051
Chunk: 49

Company: EPR PROPERTIES
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 49
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 the resolution of certain proceedings may affect the availability or cost of some of our insurance coverage, exposing us to increased risks for which we may be uninsured.

Failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws could result in substantial costs.

Most of our properties must comply with the ADA. The ADA requires that public accommodations reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities and that new construction or alterations be made to commercial facilities to conform to accessibility guidelines. Failure to comply with the ADA can result in injunctions, fines, damage awards to private parties and additional capital expenditures to remedy noncompliance. Our leases with tenants, financing arrangement with borrowers and agreements with managers of our properties require them to comply with the ADA.

Our properties are also subject to various other federal, state and local regulatory requirements. We do not know whether existing requirements will change or whether compliance with future requirements will involve significant unanticipated expenditures. Although these expenditures would be the responsibility of our customers in most cases, if these customers fail to perform these obligations, we may be required to do so.

Potential liability for environmental contamination could result in substantial costs.

Under federal, state and local environmental laws, we may be required to investigate and clean up any release of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum products at our properties, regardless of our knowledge or actual responsibility, simply because of our current or past ownership of the real estate. If unidentified environmental problems arise, we may have to make substantial payments, which could adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to service our debt and pay dividends to our shareholders. This is because:

•as owner, we may have to pay for property damage and for investigation and clean-up costs incurred in connection with the contamination;

•the law may impose clean-up responsibility and liability regardless of whether the owner or operator knew of or caused the contamination;

•even if more than one person is responsible for the contamination, each person who shares legal liability under environmental laws may be held responsible for all of the clean-up costs; and

•governmental entities and third parties may sue the owner or operator of a contaminated site for damages and costs.

These costs could be substantial and in extreme cases could exceed the value of the contaminated property. The presence of hazardous substances or petroleum products or the failure to properly remediate contamination may adversely affect our ability to borrow against, sell or lease an affected property. In addition, some environmental laws create liens on contaminated sites in favor of the government for damages and costs it incurs in connection with a contamination. Most of our loan agreements require the Company or a subsidiary to indemn