Land & Buildings Issues Open Letter to Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of American Homes 4 Rent

Rhea-AI Summary

Land & Buildings Investment Management, a significant shareholder of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH), expressed concern over the company's lack of environmentally friendly home policies. In an open letter, they announced plans to vote against all members of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee at the upcoming annual meeting, citing insufficient oversight of the company's ESG initiatives. They highlighted AMH's missed opportunities to lead in sustainability and encouraged adopting California's energy efficiency standards as a model for future developments.

Positive

• Potential to adopt California's energy efficiency standards could enhance AMH's market positioning.
• Engagement from a significant shareholder indicates that environmental policies are being scrutinized and can lead to improvement.

Negative

• Failure to implement significant environmentally friendly policies may harm AMH's reputation and competitiveness.
• Concerns raised about the oversight of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may lead to shareholder discontent.

Believes Company Has Lagged in Adoption of Environmentally Friendly Home Policies – Where AMH Has the Opportunity to be an Industry Leader

Intends to Vote Against All Members of the AMH Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Which it Believes Have Failed in Their Oversight of the Company’s ESG Policies

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today Land & Buildings Investment Management, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Land & Buildings”), a significant shareholder of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) (“AMH”, “American Homes”, or the “Company”) sent an open letter to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Company’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”) outlining its concerns around the Company’s failure to adopt any significant environmentally friendly home policies and its intention to vote against the re-election of all members of the Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee at the upcoming 2022 Annual Meeting.

The full text of the letter is below:

April 4, 2022

American Homes 4 Rent
23975 Park Sorrento, Suite 300
Calabasas, California 91302
Attn: Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Dear American Homes 4 Rent Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Members,

As you know, Land & Buildings Investment Management, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Land & Buildings”) is a large shareholder of American Homes 4 Rent (“AMH”, “American Homes”, or the “Company”) and has engaged with management and the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) for several years.

As a top 50 homebuilder in the U.S., American Homes 4 Rent has a unique opportunity to set the national standard by adopting environmentally friendly homes. Surprisingly, a review of AMH's publicly available ESG policies is silent on the topic of using solar roofs until last week’s announcement of a small pilot program with Elevation for solar energy primarily related to the Company’s amenity centers. Our last discussion with CEO David Singelyn and CFO Chris Lau made clear to us that the Company is not taking the necessary steps to lead the industry in environmental home standards.

As you may be aware, the California Energy Commission's Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards – which were created to address the state's public health, climate and clean energy goals – represent a good template for how homes will be expected to integrate environmentally beneficial components in the future. Specifically, beginning in 2023 new homes will be required to be solar ready and have a solar roof.

We believe the CEC’s standards could be utilized by AMH throughout all of its home development across the country. While AMH developments are concentrated in other states, we believe adopting CA policies not only benefits the tenants in AMH's homes but also addresses greenhouse gas emissions.

We intend to vote against each member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, which “has overall responsibility for our ESG program”, according to the Company’s 2022 Proxy Statement, as we believe the Committee has failed to provide appropriate oversight in driving environmentally friendly policies in its new home development program. Specifically, we intend to vote against current AMH trustees Douglas Benham, Matthew Hart, Winifred Webb and Jay Willoughby for election to the Board at AMH’s upcoming Annual Meeting.

We believe AMH shareholders deserve a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee comprised of members dedicated to providing appropriate oversight of the Company’s ESG program.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Litt

Founder & CIO

Land & Buildings Investment Management, LLC

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220404005314/en/

Media Contact

Longacre Square Partners

Dan Zacchei / Joe Germani

dzacchei@longacresquare.com / jgermani@longacresquare.com

Source: Land & Buildings Investment Management, LLC

FAQ

What concerns did Land & Buildings express about American Homes 4 Rent (AMH)?

Land & Buildings criticized AMH for not adopting significant environmentally friendly home policies and announced plans to vote against the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

What is the significance of the upcoming vote against AMH's Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee?

The vote reflects shareholder dissatisfaction with the committee's oversight of AMH's ESG policies, which could influence the company's future direction.

How could California's energy standards affect American Homes 4 Rent (AMH)?

Adopting California's energy efficiency standards could position AMH as a leader in environmentally friendly housing, potentially attracting eco-conscious tenants.

When is the AMH Annual Meeting where the vote will take place?

The AMH Annual Meeting is scheduled for 2022; the exact date will be provided in the company’s official communications.