Eligibility Requirements Overview
The full Eligibility Requirements should be viewed in the .REIT Registry Policies
Only Qualified REITs are eligible to apply for a domain name in .REIT. Consistent with the Commentary on the OECD Model Tax Convention, a REIT is a real estate business exhibiting the following characteristics: (1) ownership must be widely held; (2) a majority of assets and income are real estate related; (3) a majority of income is distributed annually to shareholders (pursuant to applicable law; regulatory or stock exchange requirements or customs; or in order that its distributions be deductible from entity-level income tax); and (4) there is only one level of tax on income distributed by the REIT.
Whether an entity applying for a second-level domain is a qualifying REIT will be determined by: (1) whether a Qualifying REIT regime is in place in the jurisdiction in which the Applicant/Registrant is subject to laws concerning REITs; and (2) whether the Registrant is duly organized and operating as a REIT under the jurisdiction’s laws.
For U.S. REITs, the following criteria must be met: (1) it must be domiciled in the United States and chartered in one state of the United States or the District of Columbia and in good standing in that jurisdiction; (2) it must be a U.S. taxpayer, and identified as either an equity or mortgage REIT in Item G of its most recent U.S. income tax return on Form 1120 REIT; and (3) it must be operating as a REIT.
For Ex-U.S. REITs, the following criteria must be met: (1) it must be domiciled in a foreign country recognized by NAREIT to have enacted or otherwise ratified laws and/or regulations authorizing REITs and recognized and lawfully operating as a REIT in accordance with the REIT laws of its home country and operating lawfully as a REIT; and (2) it must be operating as a REIT.
For specific information about this, please refer to Appendix 1, page 15 in the .REIT Registry Policies. Applicants will be required to provide certain information to the Registry Operator to verify eligibility. Examples of the type of information that may be required can also be found in Appendix 1.
Naming Policies Overview
The full naming policies should be viewed in the .REIT Registry Policies
Applicants may register and operate only one (1) domain name, provided that Applicants/Registrants that own, manage or control multiple REITs may register a domain name on behalf of each of its REITs, or each of those REITs may itself be a Registrant.
Applicants may only register a domain name: (1) that corresponds to its legal trade name(s), or (2) is the name by which it is commonly known, which may include acronyms, registered and common law trademarks, and exchange ticker symbols. Registration of domain names using generic or descriptive terms relating to REITs is prohibited
The Registry Operator’s Determination and Verification Team (“DVT”) reviews all applications to register or renew second-level .REIT domains and ongoing compliance during the term of the registration.
Registrants are required to establish general use of the registered domain name within one (1) year from date of registration. Within three (3) months of registration, the domain must at least be used to forward users to an existing domain owned by the Registrant and that is operated consistent with the purposes of the .REIT registry as set forth in Section 1. Failure to effect use of the registered domain in this manner within three (3) months may result in cancellation of the domain in the sole discretion of Registry Operator.
For additional information, you may also visit the Registry’s website at http://nic.reit/.
Domain name registrations and renewals are limited to a one year registration period. Domain name holders must renew each year subject to reapplying to confirm they continue to meet the qualifications for holding the .REIT domain name.
If found that an applicant does not meet the eligibility or naming requirements the registration fees are non-refundable. If found upon the renewal that the registrant no longer meets the eligibility or naming requirements the renewal fees are also non-refundable.
