Document:

Exhibit 10.1

 

 

July 9, 2015

 

[Name]

Street Address Line 1

City, State ZIP

 

Dear [Name],

 

As you know, Harte Hanks, Inc. (“Harte Hanks”) is undergoing a period of leadership transition.  We consider your continued service and dedication to Harte Hanks essential to our future success.  To induce your continued employment, Harte Hanks is providing you the opportunity to earn a retention bonus, as described in this letter agreement.

 

In recognition of your continued service with Harte Hanks through the earlier of (i) June 30, 2016 or (ii) the occurrence of a “change in control” (as defined in your current amended and restated severance agreement with Harte Hanks) (the “Retention Date”), Harte Hanks is offering you a bonus equal to 25% of your then-current base salary, less all applicable withholdings and deductions required by law (the “Retention Bonus”).

 

If you are eligible to receive the Retention Bonus, it will be paid to you in one lump sum cash payment in the first administratively feasible payroll cycle after the Retention Date. If your employment is terminated (or notice of termination is given) prior to the Retention Date for any reason whatsoever you will forfeit the Retention Bonus and will not be entitled to any payment thereof.

 

Your employment remains at-will, meaning that either you or Harte Hanks may terminate your employment relationship at any time and for any reason, with or without cause.  You acknowledge and agree that neither Harte Hanks nor any of its affiliates, officers, or agents makes or has made any representation about the tax consequences of any payments or benefits offered to you under this letter.  The amounts and benefits provided pursuant to this letter are intended to comply with the short term deferral exception to Section 409A of the  Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”), set forth in Treas. Reg. § 1.409A-1(b)(4), and shall be interpreted accordingly.

 

Harte Hanks has the authority to interpret all of the terms of this letter agreement and the Retention Bonus.  Determinations and interpretations by Harte Hanks in this respect will be final and conclusive.  This letter agreement contains all of the understandings and representations between Harte Hanks and you relating to the Retention Bonus and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous understandings, discussions, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to any Retention Bonus.  This letter agreement may not be amended or modified unless in writing signed by both Harte Hanks and you.  This letter agreement, for all purposes, shall be construed in accordance with the laws of Texas without regard to conflicts-of-law principles and applicable federal law.

 

Kind regards,

 

	
GivenName Lastname
    	
AGREED AND ACCEPTED:
    	
 
    
	
Title
    	
[Name]
    	
 
    
	
 
    	
Date:
    	
 
    
				

 

	
Harte Hanks
    	
www.hartehanks.com
    
	
9601 McAllister Freeway, Suite 610, San Antonio, Texas   78216
    	
 
    
	
Office 210-829-9135      Fax   210-829-9139Exhibit 10.1

 

LTIP UNIT VESTING AGREEMENT

 

Under the Bluerock Residential Growth
REIT, Inc.

Amended and Restated 2014 Equity
Incentive Plan for Entities

 

	Name of Grantee:	BRG Manager, LLC	 	 
	No. of LTIP Units:	283,390	 	 
	Grant Date:	July 2, 2015	 	 
	Final Acceptance Date:	July 2, 2015	 	 

 

Pursuant to the Bluerock
Residential Growth REIT, Inc. Amended and Restated 2014 Equity Incentive Plan for Entities, dated effective as of May 28, 2015
(the “Plan”), and the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership, dated April 2, 2014 (the
“Partnership Agreement”) of Bluerock Residential Holdings, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (the “Partnership”),
Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc., a Maryland corporation and the general partner of the Partnership (the “Company”),
and for the provision of services to or for the benefit of the Partnership in a partner capacity or in anticipation of being a
partner, pursuant to that certain Management Agreement among the Company, the Partnership and the Grantee dated as of April 2,
2014 (the “Management Agreement”), hereby grants to the Grantee named above an Other Equity-Based Award (as
defined in the Plan) (an “Award”) in the form of, and by causing the Partnership to issue to the Grantee named
above, the number of LTIP Units (as defined in the Partnership Agreement) specified above having the rights, voting powers, restrictions,
limitations as to distributions, qualifications and terms and conditions of redemption and conversion set forth herein and in the
Partnership Agreement. Upon acceptance of this LTIP Unit Vesting Agreement (this “Agreement”), the Grantee shall
receive, effective as of the Grant Date, the number of LTIP Units specified above, subject to the restrictions and conditions set
forth herein and in the Partnership Agreement.

 

1.Acceptance of Agreement.
The Grantee shall have no rights with respect to this Agreement unless he or she shall have accepted this Agreement prior to the
close of business on the Final Acceptance Date specified above by signing and delivering to the Partnership a copy of this Agreement.
Upon acceptance of this Agreement by the Grantee, the Partnership Agreement shall be amended to reflect the issuance to the Grantee
of the LTIP Units so accepted, effective as of the Grant Date. Thereupon, the Grantee shall have all the rights of a Limited Partner
of the Partnership with respect to the number of LTIP Units specified above, as set forth in the Partnership Agreement, subject,
however, to the restrictions and conditions specified in Section 2 below.

 

2.Restrictions and Conditions.

 

(a)The records of the Partnership
evidencing the LTIP Units granted herein shall bear an appropriate legend, as determined by the Partnership in its sole discretion,
to the effect that such LTIP Units are subject to restrictions as set forth herein and in the Partnership Agreement.

 

(b)LTIP Units granted herein may
not be sold, transferred, pledged, exchanged, hypothecated or otherwise disposed of by the Grantee prior to vesting.

 

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(c)Subject to the provisions of
Section 4, any LTIP Units subject to this Award that have not become vested on or before the effective date of termination
of the Management Agreement shall be forfeited as of such effective termination date.

 

3.Vesting of LTIP Units.
The restrictions and conditions in Section 2 of this Agreement shall lapse with respect to the number of LTIP Units specified
below on the Vesting Dates specified below, so long as the Management Agreement remains effective from the Grant Date until such
Vesting Dates.

 

	 	Number of LTIP	 	 	 
	 	Units Vested	 	Vesting Dates	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	94,464	 	July 2, 2016	 
	 	94,463	 	July 2, 2017	 
	 	94,463	 	July 2, 2018	 

  

Subsequent to such
Vesting Dates, the LTIP Units on which all restrictions and conditions have lapsed shall no longer be deemed restricted.

 

4.Acceleration of Vesting
in Special Circumstances. Notwithstanding Section 2 above, all restrictions on all LTIP Units subject to this Award
shall be deemed waived by the Committee (as defined in the Plan) and all LTIP Units granted hereby shall automatically become fully
vested on the date specified below:

 

(a)the effective termination date
of the Management Agreement upon any termination of the Management Agreement resulting in the Termination Fee (as defined in the
Management Agreement) becoming payable to the Grantee, or resulting in an election regarding the acquisition of the Grantee by
the Company pursuant to Section 10(f)(ii) of the Management Agreement; or

 

(b)a Control Change Date (as defined
in the Plan).

 

5.Merger-Related Action.
In contemplation of and subject to the consummation of a consolidation or merger or sale of all or substantially all of the assets
of the Company in which outstanding common shares are exchanged for securities, cash, or other property of an unrelated corporation
or business entity or in the event of a liquidation of the Company (in each case, a “Transaction”), the Board
of Directors of the Company, or the board of trustees or directors of any corporation assuming the obligations of the Company (the
“Acquiror”), may, in its discretion, take any one or more of the following actions, as to the outstanding LTIP
Units subject to this Award: (i) provide that such LTIP Units shall be assumed or equivalent awards shall be substituted, by the
acquiring or succeeding entity (or an affiliate thereof), and/or (ii) upon prior written notice to the LTIP Unitholders (as defined
in the Partnership Agreement) of not less than 30 days, provide that such LTIP Units shall terminate immediately prior to the consummation
of the Transaction. The right to take such actions (each, a “Merger-Related Action”) shall be subject to the
following limitations and qualifications:

 

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(a)if all LTIP Units awarded to
the Grantee hereunder are eligible, as of the time of the Merger-Related Action, for conversion into Common Units (as defined and
in accordance with the Partnership Agreement) and the Grantee is afforded the opportunity to effect such conversion and receive,
(A) in consideration for the Common Units into which the Grantee’s LTIP Units shall have been converted, the same kind and
amount of consideration as other holders of Common Units in connection with the Transaction, or (B) the kind and amount of consideration
payable to holders of the number of common shares into which such Common Units could be exchanged (including the right to make
elections as to the type of consideration), then Merger-Related Action of the kind specified in (i) or (ii) of the first paragraph
of Section 5 above shall be permitted and available to the Company and the Acquiror;

 

(b)if some or all of the LTIP Units
awarded to the Grantee hereunder are not, as of the time of the Merger-Related Action, so eligible for conversion into Common Units
(in accordance with the Partnership Agreement), and the acquiring or succeeding entity is itself, or has a subsidiary which is
organized as a partnership or limited liability company (consisting of a so-called “UPREIT” or other structure substantially
similar in purpose or effect to that of the Company and the Partnership), then Merger-Related Action of the kind specified in clause
(i) of this Section 5 above must be taken by the Acquiror with respect to all LTIP Units subject to this Award which are
not so convertible at the time, whereby all such LTIP Units covered by this Award shall be assumed by the acquiring or succeeding
entity, or equivalent awards shall be substituted by the acquiring or succeeding entity, and the acquiring or succeeding entity
shall preserve with respect to the assumed LTIP Units or any securities to be substituted for such LTIP Units, as far as reasonably
possible under the circumstances, the distribution, special allocation, conversion and other rights set forth in the Partnership
Agreement for the benefit of the LTIP Unitholders; and

 

(c)if some or all of the LTIP Units
awarded to the Grantee hereunder are not, as of the time of the Merger-Related Action, so eligible for conversion into Common Units
(in accordance with the Partnership Agreement), and after exercise of reasonable commercial efforts the Company or the Acquiror
is unable to treat the LTIP Units in accordance with Section 5(b), then Merger-Related Action of the kind specified in clause
(ii) of this Section 5 above must be taken by the Company or the Acquiror, in which case such action shall be subject to
a provision that the settlement of the terminated award of LTIP Units which are not convertible into Common Units requires a payment
of the same kind and amount of consideration payable in connection with the Transaction to a holder of the number of Common Units
into which the LTIP Units to be terminated could be converted or, if greater, the consideration payable to holders of the number
of common shares into which such Common Units could be exchanged (including the right to make elections as to the type of consideration)
if the Transaction were of a nature that permitted a revaluation of the Grantee’s capital account balance under the terms
of the Partnership Agreement, as determined by the Committee in good faith in accordance with the Plan.  

 

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6.Distributions.
Distributions on the LTIP Units shall be paid currently to the Grantee in accordance with the terms of the Partnership Agreement.
The right to distributions set forth in this Section 6 shall be deemed a Dividend Equivalent Right for purposes of the Plan.

 

7.Incorporation of Plan.
Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, this Agreement shall be subject to and governed by all the terms and conditions
of the Plan. Capitalized terms used in this Agreement shall have the meaning specified in the Plan, unless a different meaning
is specified herein.

 

8.Covenants. The
Grantee hereby covenants as follows:

 

(a)So long as the Grantee holds
any LTIP Units, the Grantee shall disclose to the Partnership in writing such information as may be reasonably requested with respect
to ownership of LTIP Units as the Partnership may deem reasonably necessary to ascertain and to establish compliance with provisions
of the Code applicable to the Partnership or to comply with requirements of any other appropriate taxing authority.

 

(b)The Partnership and the Grantee
hereby agree to treat the Grantee as the owner of the LTIP Units from the Grant Date. The Grantee hereby agrees to take into account
the distributive share of Partnership income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit associated with the LTIP Units in computing the
Grantee’s income tax liability for the entire period during which the Grantee has the LTIP Units.

 

(c)The Grantee hereby recognizes
that the IRS has proposed regulations under Sections 83 and 704 of the Code that may affect the proper treatment of the LTIP Units
for federal tax purposes. In the event that those proposed regulations are finalized, the Grantee hereby agrees to cooperate with
the Partnership in amending this Agreement and the Partnership Agreement, and to take such other action as may be required, to
conform to such regulations.

 

(d)The Grantee hereby recognizes
that the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could change the federal tax consequences of owning and disposing of LTIP
Units.

 

9.Transferability.
This Agreement is personal to the Grantee, is non-assignable and is not transferable in any manner, by operation of law or otherwise,
other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution, without the prior written consent of the Company.

 

10.Amendment.
The Grantee acknowledges that the Plan may be amended or terminated in accordance with Article XVI thereof and that this
Agreement may be amended or canceled by the Committee, on behalf of the Partnership, for the purpose of satisfying changes in law
or for any other lawful purpose, provided that no such action shall adversely affect the Grantee’s rights under this Agreement
without the Grantee’s written consent. The provisions of Section 5 of this Agreement applicable to the termination
of the LTIP Units covered by this Award in connection with a Transaction (as defined in Section 5 of this Agreement) shall
apply, mutatis mutandi to amendments, discontinuance or cancellation pursuant to this Section 10 or the Plan.

 

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11.Notices. Notices
hereunder shall be mailed or delivered to the Partnership at its principal place of business and shall be mailed or delivered to
the Grantee at the address on file with the Partnership or, in either case, at such other address as one party may subsequently
furnish to the other party in writing.

 

12.Governing Law.
This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Delaware, applied without regard
to conflict of law principles. The parties agree that any action or proceeding arising directly, indirectly or otherwise in connection
with, out of, related to or from this Agreement, any breach hereof or any action covered hereby, shall be resolved within the State
of Delaware and the parties hereto consent and submit to the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located within the District
of Delaware. The parties hereto further agree that any such action or proceeding brought by either party to enforce any right,
assert any claim, obtain any relief whatsoever in connection with this Agreement shall be brought by such party exclusively in
federal or state courts located within the District of Delaware.

 

 

[Remainder of page intentionally left
blank. Signature page follows.]

 

 

 

 

 

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The foregoing LTIP
Unit Vesting Agreement is hereby agreed to by the Company, the Partnership and the Grantee on the date shown below.

 

	Date:  July 2, 2015	COMPANY:	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc.	 	 
	 	a Maryland corporation	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	By:	/s/ Michael Konig	 	 
	 	Name:	Michael Konig	 	 
	 	Title:	Authorized Signatory	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	PARTNERSHIP:	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	Bluerock Residential Holdings, L.P.	 	 
	 	a Delaware limited partnership	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	By:  	Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc.,	 	 
	 	 	its General Partner	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	By:	/s/ Michael Konig	 	 
	 	Name:	Michael Konig	 	 
	 	Title:	Authorized Signatory	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	GRANTEE:	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	BRG Manager, LLC	 	 
	 	a Delaware limited liability company	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	By:	/s/ Michael Konig	 	 
	 	Name:	Michael Konig	 	 
	 	Title:	Authorized Signatory	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	Grantee’s address:	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 	c/o Bluerock Real Estate, L.L.C.	 	 
	 	712 Fifth Avenue, 9th Floor	 	 
	 	New York, NY 10019	 	 
	 	Attn:  R. Ramin Kamfar & Michael L. Konig	 	 

 

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