Commitments and Contingencies

(a) Lease Commitments

The Company currently pays monthly rent pursuant to two office leases. In November 2018, the Company amended the lease for its corporate headquarters in New York, New York, under the same terms and conditions, to extend the expiration date for the lease by up to one year, through June 30, 2021. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company recorded an expense of approximately $2.7 million in connection with lease rental for its current corporate headquarters. 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, 2021 for its off-site back-up facility located in Rockville Centre, New York, which provides for, among other things, lease payments totaling $32,000, annually.

In addition, in November 2018, the Company executed a lease agreement on new office space in New York, New York. The Company plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to this new office space upon the substantial completion of the building. The changes and growth the Company has experienced over the past several years has resulted in an increase in its space requirements in the ten year period since its previous office lease was entered into. Accordingly, the new lease is for approximately 50% more space than the Company’s current corporate headquarters. The lease term specified in the agreement is fifteen years with an option to renew for an additional five years. The Company’s current estimate of annual lease rental expense under the new lease, excluding escalation charges which at this point are unknown, is approximately $4.6 million. The Company currently expects to relocate to the space in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2020, but this timing as well as when it is required to begin making payments and recognize rental and other expenses under new lease, is dependent on when the building is actually available for use.

The Company recognized lease expense of $2.7 million, $2.7 million and $2.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which is included in Other general and administrative expense within the consolidated statements of operations. At December 31, 2018, 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 (1)
(In Thousands)
2019	$	2,553
2020	2,553
2021	1,292
2022	—
2023	—
Thereafter	—
Total	$	6,398

(1) Table excludes amounts related to the lease agreement for new office space discussed above as the Company is not contractually obligated to make rental payments until fourteen months after a temporary certificate of occupancy is delivered to the landlord, which is currently expected to occur on or before October 2020.

(b) Representations and Warranties in Connection with Loan Securitization Transactions

In connection with the loan securitization transactions entered into by the Company the Company has the obligation under certain circumstances to repurchase assets previously transferred to securitization vehicles upon breach of certain representations and warranties. As of December 31, 2018, the Company had no reserve established for repurchases of loans and was not aware of any material unsettled repurchase claims that would require the establishment of such a reserve. (See Note 15)

The Company has participated in a loan to provide financing to an entity that originates loans and owns MSRs, as well as certain other unencumbered assets owned by the borrower. Under the terms of the participation agreement, the Company has committed to lend $100.0 million of which approximately $73.3 million was drawn at December 31, 2018. (See Note 3)

(d) Rehabilitation Loan Commitments

At December 31, 2018, the Company had unfunded commitments of $49.8 million in connection with its purchased Rehabilitation loans. (See Note 4)

(e) Residential Whole Loan Purchase Commitments

At December 31, 2018, the Company has agreed, subject to the completion of due diligence and customary closing conditions, to purchase residential whole loans with an aggregate estimated purchase price of $211.1 million, of which $194.7 million is presented in residential whole loans held at fair value and $16.4 million in other loans held at carrying value with a corresponding liability recorded in Other liabilities and included in Payable for unsettled residential whole loan purchases.