REITs are struggling this year to pitch compensation plans that shareholders approve of—a change of pace, considering the industry is known for proposing investor-friendly pay plans.

So far this year, four REITs, including General Growth Properties, have had their pay plans rejected by shareholders in non-binding votes—something that happened just once through 2015, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services suggested investors vote against the compensation programs of 25 REITs this year—up from 14 last year—stating there's still room for improvement, especially with externally managed REITs.

“The REIT industry as a whole has taken somewhat of a black eye because of a number of bad-acting, smaller companies that have not provided transparency at all,” said ISS Corporate Solutions head of advisory John Roe. [WSJ]