11. Commitments and Contingencies a) Environmental As an owner of real estate, the Company is subject to various environmental laws of federal, state, and local governments. The Companys compliance with existing laws has not had a material adverse effect on its financial condition and results of operations, and the Company does not believe it will have a material adverse effect in the future. However, the Company cannot predict the impact of unforeseen environmental contingencies or new or changed laws or regulations on its current properties or on properties that the Company may acquire. b) Tax Protection Agreements Concurrent with the completion of our initial public offering and the related formation transactions, the Company also entered into a tax protection agreement with Michael P. Ibe, a director and our Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President  Development and Acquisitions, under which we agreed to indemnify Mr. Ibe for any taxes incurred as a result of a taxable sale of the properties contributed by certain entities beneficially owned by Mr. Ibe in the formation transactions for a period of eight years after the closing of the initial public offering and the formation transactions. The Company also agreed in the tax protection agreement with Mr. Ibe to use the traditional method of making allocations under Section 704(c) of the Code for the eight-year period. On October 21, 2015, the Company entered into a second tax protection agreement with Mr. Ibe, under which the Company agreed to indemnify Mr. Ibe for any taxes incurred as a result of a taxable sale of the DEA  Pleasanton property for a period of eight years after the closing of the acquisition and to offer Mr. Ibe and certain affiliates of Mr. Ibe the opportunity to guarantee, in the aggregate, up to approximately $15.7 million of indebtedness of the Operating Partnership for two years following the contribution of the DEA  Pleasanton property and up to approximately $7.2 million of indebtedness thereafter until the eighth anniversary of the closing of the acquisition, subject to certain conditions. The Company also agreed in the tax protection agreement with Mr. Ibe to use the traditional method of making allocations under Section 704(c) of the Code for the eight-year period. In connection with our acquisition of a property in 2017, we entered into a tax protection agreement, under which we agreed to indemnify the contributor for any taxes incurred as a result of a taxable sale of such property for a period of two years. The Company also agreed in the tax protection agreement with the contributor to use the traditional method of making allocations under Section 704(c) of the Code for the two-year period. As of December 31, 2019, the applicable tax protection period had expired without a taxable disposition of the property. In connection with our acquisition of a property in 2018, we entered into a tax protection agreement, under which we agreed to indemnify the contributor for any taxes incurred as a result of a taxable sale of such property for a period of four years. The Company also agreed in the tax protection agreement with the contributor to use the traditional method of making allocations under Section 704(c) of the Code for the four-year period. c ) Letters of Credit As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company had $0.1 million and $0.1 million of standby letters of credit, respectively. There were no draws against these letters of credit during the years ended December 31, 2019 or 2018.