American Homes 4 Rent

operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Stephanie Heim. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2020 earnings conference call. I'm Stephanie Heim, Chief Governance Officer, and I'm here today with David Singlin, Chief Executive Officer, Brian Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Jack Coravin, Chief Investment Officer, and Chris Lau, Chief Financial Officer of American Homes for Rent. At the outset, I need to advise you that this call may include forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this conference call are forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these statements. These risks and other factors that could adversely affect our business and future results are described in our press releases and in our filings with the SEC. The current and expected future economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including extraordinary increases in national unemployment, may pose headwinds to our future results. All forward-looking statements speak only as of today, May 8, 2020. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. The reconciliation to GAAP with the non-GAAP financial measures we are providing on this call is included in our earnings press release. As a note, our operating and financial results, including GAAP and non-GAAP measures, are fully detailed in our earnings release and supplemental information package. You can find these documents, as well as SEC reports and the audio webcast replay of this conference call, on our website at www.americanhomesforrent.com. And with that, I will turn the call over to our CEO, David Singlin.

Thank you, Stephanie, and good morning, everyone. To begin with, I hope everyone on this call and their families are well as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been an unprecedented time, and our focus remains on the health and safety of our employees and our residents. We have implemented comprehensive remote work policies and our management team members are coming to you this morning from different locations as we follow our state and local government stay at home mandate. Today, I will briefly talk about our first quarter results. I will then provide you with an update on activity so far in the second quarter and wrap up with thoughts about the balance of 2020. I am proud of our strong operating performance in the first quarter with same home core net operating income growth of 3.8%. And our core funds from operations was 29 cents per share, a 7.4% increase over prior year. While I'm pleased with our first quarter that our first quarter was strong. That is not today's story. Today's story is the COVID-19 crisis. At the end of the first quarter, While same-home occupancy was slightly behind last year, we continued to experience good demand with a steady rate of showings and strong retention. Throughout April, demand for our homes significantly increased, and we achieved all-time record levels of showing, setting up May well to have good leasing and occupancy results. Now, moving to rent payments. April was relatively strong, as we collected approximately 95% of original scheduled rent due. And through May 5th, May rent payments represented approximately 82% of rent due. This is approximately 94% of what we typically collect through the first five calendar days of the month. Our property managers have been in constant contact with our residents during this crisis, including those who are having financial difficulties. Brian will address our plans for this in his remarks. As we look ahead, Our mission to provide safe, high-quality homes for families across the country has never been more important. Several attributes set us apart. First, compared to most other real estate asset classes, housing is a non-discretionary need, and single-family rentals are better positioned in the COVID-19 environment and should benefit in both the near and long term. Second, strong demand for housing continues. We are seeing the traditional strong demand for single-family rental homes increase as many families are postponing or canceling home purchases during this downturn. And many multifamily housing residents are choosing single-family rental homes to escape high-density community living in consideration of social distancing and personal safety reasons. This is reflected in the increased showing activity in the second quarter that I previously mentioned. Third, our portfolio diversification across 35 markets makes us less susceptible to severe impacted markets as our largest individual market represents less than 10% of our total portfolio. Fourth, our best-in-class operation and technology platforms also differentiate us during this time. Although not originally designed with natural disasters and global pandemics in mind, these platforms empower our success in uncertain times like these. Hurricane Harvey and the California wildfires have created a blueprint for remote field working and business continuity that is now embedded in our DNA as a company. With our leading technology-driven mobile platform, all aspects of our operations remain functional, allowing us to meet the strong rental demand. Our proprietary let yourself in technology provides full functionality for prospective residents. secure our homes, submit applications, and execute leases all while following social distancing guidelines. We are still executing terms and servicing homes, responding to a fairly consistent volume of customer service requests. Our field teams are following recommended social distancing and public safety guidelines as they meet with our residents in their homes. And finally, turning to our balance sheet and liquidity. Our investment-grade balance sheet is a major differentiator today given the uncertainty in the capital markets. Our financial position was years in the making and reflects our conservative approach to running our business. A quick note. After quarter end, we upsized our previously announced joint venture with institutional investors advised by JPMorgan Asset Management to $625 million. providing additional capital to support our leading built for rental development program. This is a big vote of confidence in our company during these uncertain times. We are well positioned to weather this storm and take advantage of opportunities today and going forward. Our strong balance sheet allows us to maintain our flexibility through this event. We are continuing our internal development and construction of new homes, but are temporarily deferring acquisitions through our traditional and national builder programs. Before I turn the call over to Brian, I am pleased to announce that yesterday, the Board of Trustees appointed Kenneth Woolley as independent chairman of the board. Ken has been a trustee since the inception of the company. Ken is the founder and former CEO of Extra Space Storage, which he currently serves as its chairman. Over the course of his career, he has developed and constructed over 18,000 apartment units and 600 single family homes, and acquired and managed an additional 15,000 apartment units. His wealth of diversified business experience is extremely valuable, and I look forward to his continued service to the company as chairman. Amory Hughes Gustafson, former chairman of the board, will continue to serve as a trustee. I want to acknowledge her contributions as chairman and her support of the company since its inception. Under her leadership and her family support, the company has emerged as a leader in the single-family rental space. I'll now turn the call over to Brian to provide greater operational details.