earnings and cash distributions; and (iv) the market price of our capital stock. Additional debt financing may substantially increase our debt-to-total market capitalization ratio. Additional equity financing may dilute the holdings of our current stockholders. Covenants in our credit agreements could limit our flexibility and adversely affect our financial condition . The terms of our various credit agreements and other indebtedness require us to comply with a number of customary financial and other covenants, such as maintaining debt service coverage and leverage ratios and maintaining insurance coverage. These covenants may limit our flexibility in our operations, and breaches of these covenants could result in defaults under the instruments governing the applicable indebtedness even if we had satisfied our payment obligations. If we are unable to refinance our indebtedness at maturity or meet our payment obligations, the amount of our distributable cash flow and our financial condition would be adversely affected. Adverse changes in our credit ratings could impair our ability to obtain additional debt and equity financing on favorable terms, if at all.  Our credit ratings are based on our operating performance, liquidity and leverage ratios, overall financial position and other factors employed by the credit rating agencies in their rating analysis of us. Our credit ratings can affect the amount and type of capital we can access, as well as the terms of any financings we may obtain. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our current credit ratings. In the event our current credit ratings deteriorate, it may be more difficult or expensive to obtain additional financing or refinance existing obligations and commitments. Also, a downgrade in our credit ratings would trigger additional costs or other potentially negative consequences under our current and future credit facilities and debt instruments. Increases in interest rates would increase our interest expense.  At December 31, 2020, we had $125 million of variable rate debt outstanding not protected by interest rate hedge contracts. We may incur additional variable rate debt in the future. If interest rates increase, then so would the interest expense on our unhedged variable rate debt, which would adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. From time to time, we manage our exposure to interest rate risk with interest rate hedge contracts that effectively fix or cap a portion of our variable rate debt. In addition, we refinance fixed rate debt at times when we believe rates and terms are appropriate. Our efforts to manage these exposures may not be successful. Our use of interest rate hedge contracts to manage risk associated with interest rate volatility may expose us to additional risks, including a risk that a counterparty to a hedge contract may fail to honor its obligations. Developing an effective interest rate risk strategy is complex and no strategy can completely insulate us from risks associated with interest rate fluctuations. There can be no assurance that our hedging activities will have the desired beneficial impact on our results of operations or financial condition. Termination of interest rate hedge contracts typically involves costs, such as transaction fees or breakage costs. The lack of certain limitations on our debt could result in our becoming more highly leveraged . Our governing documents do not limit the amount of indebtedness we may incur. Accordingly, we may incur additional debt and would do so, for example, if it were necessary to maintain our status as a REIT. We might become more highly leveraged as a result, and our financial condition and cash available for distribution to stockholders might be negatively affected and the risk of default on our indebtedness could increase. The market value of our common stock could decrease based on our performance and market perception and conditions. The market value of our common stock may be affected by the market’s perception of our operating results, growth potential, and current and future cash dividends and may also be affected by the real estate market value of our underlying assets. The market price of our common stock may also be influenced by the dividend on our common stock relative to market interest rates. Rising interest rates may lead potential buyers of our common stock to expect a higher dividend rate, which would adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In addition, rising interest rates would result in increased expense, thereby adversely affecting cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness and pay dividends. The state of the economy or other adverse changes in general or local economic conditions may adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.  Turmoil in the global financial markets may have an adverse impact on the availability of credit to businesses generally and could lead to a further weakening of the U.S. and global economies. Currently these conditions have not impaired our ability to access credit markets and finance our operations. However, our ability to access the capital markets may be restricted at a time when we would like, or need, to raise financing, which could have an impact on our flexibility to react to changing economic and business conditions. Furthermore, deteriorating economic conditions including business layoffs, downsizing, industry slowdowns and other similar factors that affect our customers could continue to negatively impact commercial real estate fundamentals and result in lower occupancy, lower rental rates and declining values in our real estate portfolio and in the collateral securing any loan investments we may make. Additionally, an adverse economic situation could have an impact on our lenders or customers, causing them to fail to meet their obligations to us. No assurances Other Risks 11