Annual Reports on Assessment of Compliance with Servicing Criteria (a) On or before March 1 of each year commencing in March 2018, the Master Servicer, the Special Servicer, the Certificate Administrator, the Custodian, the Operating Advisor and, if it has made (or is required to make) an Advance during the applicable calendar year, the Trustee, each at its own expense, shall furnish (and each of the preceding parties, as applicable, (i) with respect to any Servicing Function Participant of such party that is a Mortgage Loan Seller Sub-Servicer, shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Servicing Function Participant to furnish, and (ii) with respect to any other Servicing Function Participant of such party (other than any party to this Agreement), shall cause such Servicing Function Participant to furnish) (each Master Servicer, the Special Servicer, the Certificate Administrator, the Custodian, the Operating Advisor, any Servicing Function Participant and, if it has made (or is required to make) an Advance during the applicable calendar year, the Trustee, as the case may be, a “Reporting Servicer”) to the Certificate Administrator, the Trustee, the Serviced Companion Loan Holders (or, in the case of a Serviced Companion Loan that is part of an Other Securitization Trust, the applicable Other Depositor and Other Exchange Act Reporting Party), the Operating Advisor (only in the case of a report furnished by the Special Servicer) and the Depositor, a report on an assessment of compliance with the Relevant Servicing Criteria (together with a copy thereof in XXXXX-Compatible Format, or in such other format as otherwise agreed upon by the Depositor, the Certificate Administrator, the applicable Other Depositor, the applicable Other Exchange Act Reporting Party and the applicable Certifying Servicer) that complies in all material respects with the requirements of Item 1122 of Regulation AB and contains (A) a statement by such Reporting Servicer of its responsibility for assessing compliance with the Relevant Servicing Criteria, (B) a statement that such Reporting Servicer used the Servicing Criteria to assess compliance with the Relevant Servicing Criteria, (C) such Reporting Servicer’s assessment of compliance with the Relevant Servicing Criteria as of the end of and for the preceding calendar year, including, if there has been any material instance of noncompliance with the Relevant Servicing Criteria, a discussion of each such failure and the nature and status thereof and (D) a statement that a registered public accounting firm has issued an attestation report on such Reporting Servicer’s assessment of compliance with the Relevant Servicing Criteria as of and for such period. Copies of all compliance reports delivered pursuant to this Section 10.09 shall be provided to any Certificateholder, upon the written request thereof, by the Certificate Administrator. Each such report shall be addressed to the Depositor and each Other Depositor (if addressed) and signed by an authorized officer of the applicable company, and shall address each of the Relevant Servicing Criteria specified on a certification substantially in the form of Exhibit O to this Agreement delivered to the Depositor on the Closing Date. Promptly after receipt of each such report, (i) the Depositor and each Other Depositor may review each such report and, if applicable, consult with the each Reporting Servicer as to the nature of any material instance of noncompliance with the Relevant Servicing Criteria, and (ii) the Certificate Administrator shall confirm that the assessments, taken individually address the Relevant Servicing Criteria for each party as set forth on Exhibit O to this Agreement and notify the Depositor of any exceptions. For the avoidance of doubt, the Trustee shall have no obligation or duty to determine whether any such report (other than any such report furnished by the Trustee or any Servicing Function Participant of the Trustee) is in form and substance in compliance with the requirements of Regulation AB.
(b) On the Closing Date, the Master Servicer, the Special Servicer, the Certificate Administrator, the Custodian, the Trustee and the Operating Advisor each acknowledge and agree that Exhibit O to this Agreement sets forth the Relevant Servicing Criteria for such party.
(c) No later than the end of each fiscal year for the Trust, the Master Servicer, the Special Servicer, the Certificate Administrator, the Custodian, the Operating Advisor and, if it has made (or is required to make) an Advance during such fiscal year, the Trustee shall notify the Certificate Administrator, the Depositor, each Other Exchange Act Reporting Party and each Other Depositor as to the name of each Servicing Function Participant utilized by it, and the Certificate Administrator shall notify the Depositor and each Other Depositor as to the name of each Servicing Function Participant utilized by it, during such fiscal year, and each such notice will specify what specific Servicing Criteria will be addressed in the report on assessment of compliance prepared by such Servicing Function Participant. When the Master Servicer, the Special Servicer, the Certificate Administrator, the Custodian, the Trustee (if applicable), the Operating Advisor and any Servicing Function Participant submit their assessments pursuant to Section 10.09(a) of this Agreement, such parties will also at such time include the assessment (and related attestation pursuant to Section 10.10 of this Agreement) of each Servicing Function Participant engaged by it. The fiscal year for the Trust shall be January 1 through and including December 31 of each calendar year.
(d) In the event the Master Servicer, the Special Servicer, the Certificate Administrator, the Custodian, the Trustee (if it has made, or is required to make, an Advance during the applicable period) or the Operating Advisor is terminated or resigns pursuant to the terms of this Agreement, such party shall provide, and each such party shall cause (or, if the Servicing Function Participant is a Mortgage Loan Seller Sub-Servicer, shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause) any Servicing Function Participant of such party to provide (and the Master Servicer, the Special Servicer and the Certificate Administrator shall, with respect to any Servicing Function Participant that resigns or is terminated under any applicable servicing agreement, cause such Servicing Function Participant (or, in the case of each Servicing Function Participant that is a Mortgage Loan Seller Sub-Servicer, shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Servicing Function Participant) to provide) an annual assessment of compliance pursuant to this Section 10.09, coupled with an attestation as required in Section 10.10 of this Agreement with respect to the period of time that the Master Servicer, the Special Servicer, the Certificate Administrator, the Custodian, the Trustee (if it has made, or is required to make, an Advance during such period of time) or the Operating Advisor was subject to this Agreement or the period of time that the applicable Servicing Function Participant was subject to such other servicing agreement. With respect to each Outside Serviced Mortgage Loan serviced under the applicable Outside Servicing Agreement, the Certificate Administrator shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain, and upon receipt deliver to the Depositor, an annual report on assessment of compliance as described in this Section and an attestation as described in Section 10.10 from the related Outside Servicer, Outside Special Servicer, Outside Custodian, Outside Trustee and Outside Paying Agent or Outside Certificate Administrator and in form and substance similar to the annual report on assessment of compliance described in this Section 10.09 and the attestation described in Section 10.10.
Accounting and Reports to the Noteholders, Certificateholders, the Internal Revenue Service and Others The Owner Trustee shall, based on information provided by the Seller, (i) maintain (or cause to be maintained) the books of the Trust on the basis of a fiscal year ending on the last day of February and based on the accrual method of accounting, (ii) deliver to each Certificateholder, as may be required by the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations, such information as may be required (including Schedule K-1) to enable such Certificateholder to prepare its federal and State income tax returns, (iii) file such tax returns relating to the Trust (including a partnership information return, IRS Form 1065) and make such elections as may from time to time be required or appropriate under any applicable State or federal statute or rule or regulation thereunder so as to maintain the Trust’s characterization as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, (iv) cause such tax returns to be signed in the manner required by law and (v) collect or cause to be collected any withholding tax as described in and in accordance with Section 5.2(c) with respect to income or distributions to Certificateholders. The Owner Trustee, on behalf of the Trust, shall elect under Section 1278 of the Code to include in income currently any market discount that accrues with respect to the Receivables. The Owner Trustee, on behalf of the Trust, shall not make the election provided under Section 754 of the Code. The Owner Trustee may satisfy its obligations with respect to this Section 5.5 by retaining, on behalf of the Trust, at the expense of the Seller, a firm of independent public accountants (the “Accountants”) selected by the Seller. The Owner Trustee, on behalf of the Trust, may require the Accountants to provide to the Owner Trustee, on or before March 15, 2023, a letter in form and substance satisfactory to the Owner Trustee as to whether any federal tax withholding on Certificates is then required and, if required, the procedures to be followed with respect thereto to comply with the requirements of the Code. The Accountants shall be required to update such letter in each instance that any additional tax withholding is subsequently required or any previously required tax withholding shall no longer be required. The Owner Trustee shall be deemed to have discharged its obligations pursuant to this Section 5.5 upon its retention of the Accountants, and the Owner Trustee shall not have any liability with respect to the default or misconduct of the Accountants.
