ESCONDIDO, CALIFORNIA, SEPTEMBER 13, 2001 — 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 $0.18875 per share from $0.1875 per share. This is the 16th consecutive quarter in which the Company has increased the amount of the monthly dividend. The dividend is payable on October 15, 2001 to shareholders of record as of October 1, 2001. The new monthly dividend amount represents an annualized rate of $2.265 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. Our ongoing goal is to produce consistent performance results for our shareholders. Increasing 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. The monthly income is supported by the cash flow from 1,088 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.