Every Sponsor on this site carries a letter, A through F, or the label NR. The letter is called the Top1031 Grade. It is easy to misread a single letter as a stamp of approval. It is not one, and understanding what it does and does not measure is the first step to using it well.
What the letter measures
The Grade answers one narrow question: how much of a Sponsor's history is proven on the public record. It looks at the full list of a Sponsor's Programs pulled from federal Form D filings at the SEC, documented outcomes for the Programs that have finished, any public record of foreclosures, receiverships, regulatory actions, or securities lawsuits, and how completely the Sponsor has published its own results.
The five letters
- A. Proven: a deep record with published results covering most of it.
- B. Established: a seasoned record with documented outcomes and no verified warning.
- C. Unproven: rateable, but not yet proven either way. Most young or quiet Sponsors sit here.
- D. Warning: the record falls below the C band, or a verified warning event limits it.
- F. Adverse: the record falls below the D band. A qualifying integrity event forces this band.
A Sponsor with fewer than three tracked Programs carries NR instead of a letter. The record is not yet large enough to compare.
Why a documented loss cannot be averaged away
Two ideas do most of the work behind the letter. First, every Program counts, not just the ones a Sponsor's own marketing highlights; the federal filing record supplies the full list. Second, a documented loss weighs heavily and permanently: a formal regulatory action, a dominant capital loss, or a verified severe event puts a ceiling on the letter that no later sales success can lift.
What it does not measure
The Grade is a history score, not a forecast. It does not predict whether a current Offering will perform, and it does not speak to any single property, structure, fee load, or leverage choice behind an Offering; those still require the Offering documents themselves. A clean record is meaningful evidence, not proof that nothing will ever go wrong. And because the Grade reads only what is public, an outcome a Sponsor never published may simply be missing from the record rather than resolved.
Reading the letter next to its Proof Depth
Every letter carries a companion number, Proof Depth, from 1 to 5, showing how much evidence stands behind it. The two travel together for a reason: a high letter built on a thin record and the same letter built on a decade of published outcomes are different statements, and Proof Depth is what keeps that difference visible instead of hidden. The published method sets out how both are calculated.
The bottom line
The Grade tells you how much of a Sponsor's own past is documented and verifiable. It does not tell you what will happen next. Treat it as one input alongside the Offering's own filings and your own advisors, not as a substitute for either.
Frequently asked questions
Does a higher Top1031 Grade mean a current Offering will perform well?
No. The Grade rates how well documented a Sponsor's own Program history is, not any single current Offering. The Offering documents and your own advisors are still the source for anything about the deal in front of you.
What does NR mean on a Sponsor's page?
NR stands for Not Rated. It appears when a Sponsor has fewer than three tracked Programs, meaning there is not enough history yet to support a comparative letter.
Can a Sponsor change or remove its own Grade?
No. A Sponsor cannot pay for a Grade, improve one commercially, or opt out. Every letter comes from public filings, documented outcomes, and the Sponsor's own published results, checked against the record.