ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, September 12, 2002—Realty Income Corporation (Realty Income), The Monthly Dividend Company™, (NYSE:O) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared an increase in the Company's common stock monthly dividend to $0.19375 per share from $0.1925 per share. This is the 20^th consecutive quarter in which the Company has increased the amount of the monthly dividend. The dividend is payable on October 15, 2002 to shareholders of record as of October 1, 2002. The new monthly dividend amount represents an annualized rate of $2.325 per share. The Company continues its long-term policy of declaring and paying common stock dividends on a monthly, rather than a quarterly, basis.

Tom A. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of Realty Income commented, "We are very pleased to have been able to increase the amount of the monthly dividend again this quarter. With the payment of the October dividend, we will have made 387 consecutive monthly dividend payments. Our goal is to continue to provide consistent performance results. Increasing the amount of the dividend on a regular basis is the best evidence we can provide of our progress towards this goal."

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company™, is a New York Stock Exchange real estate company dedicated to providing shareholders with dependable monthly income. To date the Company has declared 387 consecutive monthly dividend payments throughout its 33-year operating history. The monthly income dividend is supported by the cash flow from over 1,200 retail properties owned under long-term lease agreements with leading regional and national retail chains. The Company is an active buyer of net-leased retail properties nationwide.

#1 in paying monthly dividends to shareholders.

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