How to Fill Out and Submit the CIM CMFT Redemption Request Form

The CIM CMFT redemption request form is how shareholders in CIM Real Estate Finance Trust ask the trust to buy their shares back. Because CMFT is a non-traded REIT with no public market, this form is the primary exit. Download it from the CIM Group client resources page, complete the account and redemption details, have your signature verified with a Medallion Signature Guarantee, and mail the signed form to the transfer agent. Requests are processed on a quarterly cycle, and the price you receive depends on how long you have held the shares.¹

Before You Start: Check That You Qualify

You must have held the shares for at least one year before the trust will accept a standard redemption. If you are not liquidating the whole position, the partial redemption has to be at least the lesser of 25 percent of your shares or a number of shares worth $2,500.²

The one-year wait can be waived in two narrow situations. If a natural-person shareholder dies, the estate, an heir, or the trustee of a revocable grantor trust can submit a request without waiting; the written request has to reach the trust within 12 months of the death. For jointly held shares, the death of either owner triggers the right. Partnerships, corporations, and other entity shareholders do not qualify for the death waiver.³

The trust may also waive the holding period for bankruptcy or other “exigent circumstances,” but that decision is entirely at the company’s discretion, and it can ask for whatever supporting documentation it wants.

What You Will Receive Per Share

Redemption price is a percentage of the most recent estimated per share NAV, and the percentage rises with your holding period:

After one year of holding: 95 percent of the estimated per share NAV
After two years: 97.5 percent
After three years: 100 percent
Shares purchased through the distribution reinvestment plan (DRIP): 100 percent, regardless of how long you have held them

The board sets the estimated per share NAV and publishes updates through SEC filings; that figure is the baseline until the next valuation.⁴ Redeeming inside the three-year mark means accepting a discount.

Filling Out the Form

The form is on the CIM Group client forms page under the CMFT section, and your financial advisor can also provide a copy.¹ Pull your most recent account statement before you start. You will need the investor account number and current share balance from it.

The form collects a few categories of information. Enter your full legal name exactly as it appears on the account, your investor account number, and your Social Security or tax identification number so the trust can verify ownership and generate year-end tax forms. State the redemption either as a number of shares or a dollar amount; if this is a partial redemption, make sure it clears the 25 percent or $2,500 minimum.

Indicate whether the request is a standard redemption or one tied to a shareholder’s death or exigent circumstances. Choosing the wrong category will slow processing if the trust is expecting supporting documents you did not send. For a death-related request, attach a certified copy of the death certificate along with whatever establishes the submitter’s authority, such as letters testamentary, a trust certificate, or a court order appointing a personal representative. The trust may request additional evidentiary documentation for exigent-circumstances requests as well.³

Choose a payment method: a check mailed to the address on file, or an ACH transfer to a bank account you provide. For a partial redemption, you also select a cost basis method, typically first-in-first-out or specific lot identification. That choice controls which shares are treated as sold, and it directly affects your taxable gain or loss.

Getting a Medallion Signature Guarantee

Non-traded REIT redemption forms usually require a Medallion Signature Guarantee rather than a notarized signature. The Medallion stamp, issued by a participating bank, credit union, or broker-dealer, verifies the signer’s identity and carries insurance that protects the transfer agent against fraudulent transfers. A notary stamp will not satisfy the requirement.

Your existing bank or brokerage is usually the easiest source. Many institutions provide the stamp free for existing customers; non-customers may be charged. Call first. Not every branch has an authorized signer on staff, and some institutions cap the transaction value they are willing to guarantee. If the redemption involves an estate or trust, bring the same authority documents you are attaching to the form.

Where to Send the Form

Mail the signed and stamped form, with any supporting documents, to the transfer agent. The trust’s transfer agent is SS&C GIDS, Inc., and mail should be addressed to CIM Real Estate Finance Trust in care of SS&C GIDS. Confirm the current street address on your most recent trust correspondence or by calling the number on your account statement before you send anything; transfer agent addresses do change. Regular mail and overnight delivery are both accepted.

If your shares are held through a broker-dealer, the firm may submit the request for you, sometimes electronically through the Depository Trust Company rather than on paper. Ask your advisor which path applies to your account, because the timing can differ.

What Happens After You Submit

Redemptions run on a quarterly cycle. Shares are redeemed with a trade date no later than the end of the month following the close of each fiscal quarter, and payment goes out shortly after.⁵

Capacity is not unlimited. The program is capped at 5 percent of the weighted average shares outstanding over the trailing 12 months, with a quarterly target of roughly 1.25 percent, and funding comes out of proceeds the trust receives from its distribution reinvestment plan. If DRIP inflows fall, so does available redemption capacity.³

When requests for a quarter exceed what the trust can fund, they are honored in a fixed priority order. Requests tied to a deceased shareholder or exigent circumstances go first, filled pro rata among themselves if even that category is oversubscribed. Full liquidations of small accounts holding 250 shares or fewer come next. Remaining standard requests are then filled pro rata with whatever capacity is left.³

Here is the piece that surprises shareholders: unfilled requests do not roll forward. If only part of your request is honored, you have to submit a new redemption request before the last day of the following quarter to stay in the queue. Miss that window and the remaining shares simply sit in your account with nothing pending.³

Tax Reporting to Expect

A redemption is a taxable event. The transfer agent or your broker will issue a Form 1099-B reporting the proceeds, and you use that to calculate the capital gain or loss on your federal return.⁶ Gain or loss is the difference between the redemption price and your adjusted cost basis in the shares sold.

Adjusted cost basis is not necessarily what you paid. Non-traded REITs often make return-of-capital distributions, which reduce basis over time. If you have not been tracking those adjustments, your taxable gain on redemption can be larger than expected. The cost basis method you selected on the form determines which shares are treated as sold and at what original purchase price. Because the standard program requires at least a one-year hold, most redeemed shares will qualify for long-term capital gains treatment. Hold on to the annual tax statements the trust sends; they break out the return-of-capital amounts you need for an accurate basis calculation.

The Program Can Change or Stop

The board can amend, suspend, or terminate the share redemption program at any time if it decides that action is in the best interest of the trust and its shareholders. Changes and suspensions are disclosed through SEC filings and the trust’s website, but shareholders are not entitled to advance notice before a change takes effect.² Check the CMFT client resources page for recent program updates before you send the form.⁷

1
CIM Group. Client Forms and Documents
2
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc. Form 8-K
3
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc. Annual Report 10-K
4
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc. Form 8-K – NAV Determination
5
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc. Form 10-Q
6
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-B
7
CIM Group. CIM Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc.