Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

(a) Lease Commitments

The Company pays monthly rent pursuant to two operating leases. The lease term for the Company’s headquarters in New York, New York extends through May 31, 2020. The lease provides for aggregate cash payments ranging over time of approximately $2.5 million per year, paid on a monthly basis, exclusive of escalation charges. In addition, as part of this lease agreement, the Company has provided the landlord a $785,000 irrevocable standby letter of credit fully collateralized by cash. The letter of credit may be drawn upon by the landlord in the event that the Company defaults under certain terms of the lease. In addition, the Company has a lease through December 31, 2016 for its off-site back-up facility located in Rockville Centre, New York, which provides for, among other things, lease payments totaling $30,000, annually.

The Company recognized lease expense of $2.6 million, $2.5 million and $2.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, which is included in Other general and administrative expense within the consolidated statements of operations. At December 31, 2015, the contractual minimum rental payments (exclusive of possible rent escalation charges and normal recurring charges for maintenance, insurance and taxes) were as follows:



Year Ended December 31,	Minimum Rental Payments
(In Thousands)
2016	$	2,552
2017	2,522
2018	2,522
2019	2,522
2020	1,050
Total	$	11,168

(b) Representations and Warranties in Connection with Resecuritization Transactions

In connection with the resecuritization transactions engaged in by the Company (See Note 17 for further discussion), the Company has the obligation under certain circumstances to repurchase assets from its VIEs upon breach of certain representations and warranties.