The Company has evaluated its loans, investments in unconsolidated entities, liabilities to subsidiary trusts issuing preferred securities (consisting of unsecured junior subordinated notes), securitizations, guarantees and other financial contracts in order to determine if they are variable interests in variable interest entities ("VIEs"). The Company regularly monitors these legal interests and contracts and, to the extent it has determined that it has a variable interest, analyzes the related entity for potential consolidation.

Based on management’s analysis, the Company was the primary beneficiary of one VIE, ACRES Commercial Realty 2026-FL4 Issuer, LLC ("ACR 2026-FL4"), at March 31, 2026 (the "Consolidated VIE"). At December 31, 2025, the Company was not the primary beneficiary of any VIEs.

The Consolidated VIE is a CRE securitization that was formed on behalf of the Company to invest in CRE whole loans that were financed by the issuance of debt securities. By financing these assets with long-term borrowings through the issuance of debt securities, the Company seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted equity returns and to match the term of its assets and liabilities. The primary beneficiary determination for the VIE was made at the VIE’s inception and is continually assessed. The Consolidated VIE is accounted for as a secured borrowing in accordance with GAAP.

The Company has exposure to losses on its securitization to the extent of its investments in the subordinated debt and preferred equity of the securitization. The Company is entitled to receive payments of principal and interest on the debt securities it holds and, to the extent revenues exceed debt service requirements and other expenses of the securitization, distributions with respect to its preferred equity interests. As a result of consolidation, the debt and equity interests the Company holds in its securitization have been eliminated; and the Company’s consolidated balance sheets reflect the assets held, debt issued by the securitization to third parties and any accrued payables to third parties. The Company’s operating results and cash flows include the gross amounts related to the securitization’s assets and liabilities as opposed to the Company’s net economic interests in the securitization. Assets and liabilities related to the securitization are disclosed, in the aggregate, on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. For a discussion of the debt issued through the securitization, see Note 10.

Creditors of the Company’s Consolidated VIE have no recourse to the general credit of the Company. During the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, the Company did not provide any financial support to its Consolidated VIE nor does it have any requirement to do so, although it may choose to do so in the future to maximize future cash flows on such investments by the Company. There are no explicit arrangements that obligate the Company to provide financial support to its Consolidated VIE.

In April 2022, the Company contributed an initial investment of $13.0 million for a 72.1% interest in CS-ACRES FSU Student Venture, LLC (the "FSU Student Venture"). The FSU Student Venture, a joint venture between the Company and two unrelated third parties, was formed for the purpose of developing a student housing project. The FSU Student Venture was determined not to be a VIE as there was sufficient equity at risk, it does not have disproportionate voting rights and its members all have the following characteristics: (1) the power to direct activities, (2) the obligation to absorb losses and (3) the right to receive residual returns. However, the Company consolidated the FSU Student Venture due to its 72.1% interest that provides the Company with control over all major decisions of the joint venture. The portion of the joint venture that the Company does not own is presented as non-controlling interest at and for the periods presented in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In September 2025, the Company distributed one of the underlying properties held by FSU Student Venture to a newly formed joint venture, CS-ACRES Osceola Student Joint Venture, LLC (the "FSU Osceola Student Venture"). See additional details below. Subsequent to this distribution, the Company sold its interest in the FSU Student Venture for $106.8 million, which resulted in a gain on the sale of investment in real estate.

As part of the transaction, the Company provided seller financing in the form of a $90.0 million CRE whole loan commitment and a $9.3 million preferred equity loan (the "FSU Preferred Equity Loan") to the new FSU Student Venture partners. The Company determined that although its investment in the FSU Preferred Equity Loan represented a variable interest, it did not provide the Company with a controlling financial interest. The Company accounts for its investment in the FSU Preferred Equity Loan as a CRE loan on its consolidated financial statements.

In September 2025, the FSU Student Venture distributed one of its underlying properties to the FSU Osceola Student Venture at a carrying value of $27.0 million. The FSU Osceola Student Venture, a joint venture between the Company and two unrelated third parties, was formed for the purpose of operating a student housing project. The FSU Osceola Student Venture was determined not to be a VIE as there was sufficient equity at risk, it does not have disproportionate voting rights and its members all have the following characteristics: (1) the power to direct activities, (2) the obligation to absorb losses and (3) the right to receive residual returns. The Company consolidated the FSU Osceola Student Venture due to its 72.1% interest that provides the Company with control over all major decisions of the joint venture. The portion of the joint venture that the Company does not own is presented as non-controlling interest at and for the periods presented in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

ACRES SPE 2025-1, LLC ("SPE 2025-1") was formed in March 2025, to acquire and finance purchased assets. Subsequently, SPE 2025-1 entered into a master repurchase agreement with JPMorgan Chase ("JPMorgan Chase 2025 Facility") to finance existing vintage CRE loans and to potentially finance the origination of new CRE loans held by the Company. In the quarter ended December 31, 2025, AMF Levered II, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of ACRES Mortgage Fund, Ltd., purchased a $125.0 million, or 43.2%, non-controlling interest in SPE 2025-1 (See Note 17). SPE 2025-1 was determined not to be a VIE as there was sufficient equity at risk, it does not have disproportionate voting rights and its members all have the following characteristics: (1) the power to direct activities, (2) the obligation to absorb losses and (3) the right to receive residual returns. The Company consolidated SPE 2025-1 due to its 56.8% interest that provides the Company with control over all major decisions. AMF Levered II, LLC assumed its proportionate share of risk in the underlying assets and the liabilities, including the JPMorgan Chase 2025 Facility. The portion of SPE 2025-1 that the Company does not own is presented as non-controlling interest at and for the periods presented in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Investments in Unconsolidated Entities (the Company is not the primary beneficiary, but has a variable interest)

Based on management’s analysis, the Company is not the primary beneficiary of the VIEs discussed below since it does not have both (i) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIEs' economic performance and (ii) the obligation to absorb the losses of the VIEs or the right to receive the benefits from the VIEs, which could be significant to the VIEs. Accordingly, the following VIEs are not consolidated in the Company’s financial statements at March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025. The Company continuously reassesses whether it is deemed to be the primary beneficiary of its unconsolidated VIEs. The Company’s maximum exposure to risk for each of these unconsolidated VIEs is set forth in the "Maximum Exposure to Loss" column in the table below.

The Company has a 100% interest in the common shares of both Resource Capital Trust I ("RCT I") and RCC Trust II ("RCT II"), with a value of $1.5 million in the aggregate, or 3.0% of each trust, at March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025. RCT I and RCT II were formed for the purposes of providing debt financing to the Company. The Company completed a qualitative analysis to determine whether it is the primary beneficiary of each of the trusts and determined that it was not the primary beneficiary of either trust because it does not have the power to direct the activities most significant to the trusts, which include the collection of principal and interest through servicing rights. Accordingly, neither trust is consolidated into the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

The Company records its investments in RCT I and RCT II’s common shares of $774,000 each as investments in unconsolidated entities using the cost method, recording dividend income when declared by RCT I and RCT II. The trusts each hold subordinated debentures for which the Company is the obligor in the amount of $25.8 million for each of RCT I and RCT II. The debentures were funded by the issuance of trust preferred securities of RCT I and RCT II.

In March 2024, the Company contributed its interest in an East North Central office property to form a joint venture (the "Wacker JV") with an unrelated third-party (the "Wacker Managing Member") for the purpose of converting the office property to multifamily units. At the date of contribution, the office property had a fair value of $20.3 million. The Wacker Managing Member is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Wacker JV, but the Company and the Wacker Managing Member must each approve all major decisions related to the operations, financing or disposition of the Wacker JV before any major decision can be taken. The Company accounts for its investment in the Wacker JV as an equity method investment within investments in unconsolidated entities in its consolidated financial statements.

In September 2025, the Wacker JV completed a re-capitalization that included entering into a $62 million construction loan, an $11 million bridge loan and converting part of the Company's common equity into preferred equity. Also, in connection with the re-capitalization, the Company entered into guarantees related to the construction loan and bridge loan. The guarantees include a Guaranty of Completion, a Guaranty of Retail Space, a Guaranty of Recourse Obligations, a Guarantee of Interest and Carry Costs and an Environmental Indemnity Agreement.

In September 2024, the Company contributed $574,000 as well as its net interest in a multifamily unit property located in the Southwest region to form a joint venture (the "McCallum JV") with an unrelated third-party (the "McCallum Managing Member"). The McCallum Managing Member is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the McCallum JV. The Company determined the McCallum JV to be a VIE for which it was not the primary beneficiary because it did not have the power to direct the activities most significant to the McCallum JV, as the Company does not have unilateral kick-out rights or substantive participating rights. The Company accounts for its investment in the McCallum JV as an equity method investment within investments in unconsolidated entities in its consolidated financial statements.

Upon formation of the McCallum JV, the McCallum JV took ownership of the multifamily property subject to a related CRE loan payable to the Company which was novated to allow the McCallum JV to replace the original obligor who was experiencing financial difficulty. The $31.5 million CRE loan has an initial maturity date of September 5, 2027 and bears interest at a rate of one-month Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("Term SOFR") and a spread of 2.75%. There were no other changes to the terms of the loan. The McCallum JV also entered into a $1.5 million mezzanine loan commitment with the Company, of which $1.5 million was funded at March 31, 2026.

In March 2025, the Company contributed $200,000 as well as its net interest in a multifamily unit property located in the Mid-Atlantic region to form a joint venture (the "Pacmulti JV") with an unrelated third-party (the "Pacmulti Managing Member"). The Pacmulti Managing Member is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Pacmulti JV. The Company determined the Pacmulti JV to be a VIE for which it was not the primary beneficiary because it did not have the power to direct the activities most significant to the Pacmulti JV, as the Company does not have unilateral kick-out rights or substantive participating rights. The Company accounts for its investment in the Pacmulti JV as an equity method investment within investments in unconsolidated entities in its consolidated financial statements.

Upon formation of the Pacmulti JV, the Pacmulti JV took ownership of the multifamily property subject to a related CRE loan payable to the Company which was novated to allow the Pacmulti JV to replace the original obligor who was experiencing financial difficulty. The $70.8 million CRE loan has an initial maturity date of May 5, 2030 and bears interest at a rate of one-month Term SOFR and a spread of 3.41%. There were no other changes to the terms of the loan. The Pacmulti JV also entered into a $13.5 million mezzanine loan commitment with the Company, of which $13.2 million was funded at March 31, 2026.

The following table shows the classification, carrying value and maximum exposure to loss with respect to the Company’s unconsolidated VIEs at March 31, 2026 (in thousands):


	Unsecured Junior Subordinated Debentures			65 E Wacker Joint Venture, LLC		7720 McCallum JV, LLC		Pacmulti Affiliates, LLC		FSU Preferred Equity Loan		Total			Maximum Exposure to Loss
ASSETS
Accrued interest receivable	$	10		$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	10		$	—
CRE loans(1)		—			—		—		—		9,672		9,672			9,672
Investments in unconsolidated entities		1,548			28,174		—		—		—		29,722			29,722
Total assets		1,558			28,174		—		—		9,672		39,404

LIABILITIES
Accrued interest payable		344			—		—		—		—		344		N/A
Borrowings		51,548			—		—		—		—		51,548		N/A
Total liabilities		51,892			—		—		—		—		51,892
Net (liability) asset	$	(50,334	)	$	28,174	$	—	$	—	$	9,672	$	(12,488	)