The Company has operating leases for certain Rise Dispensaries, and other retail dispensaries as well as many of the Company’s processing and cultivation facilities located throughout the U.S and operating leases for corporate office space in Illinois. Operating lease right-of-use assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of future minimum lease payments over the lease term at commencement date.

All real estate leases are recorded on the balance sheet. Equipment and other non-real estate leases with an initial term of twelve months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet. Lease agreements for some locations provide for rent escalations and renewal options. Certain real estate leases require payment for taxes, insurance and maintenance which are considered non-lease components. The Company accounts for real estate leases and the related fixed non-lease components together as a single component.

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception. The Company must consider whether the contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset. Certain arrangements require significant judgment to determine if an asset is specified in the contract and if the Company directs how and for what purpose the asset is used during the term of the contract. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 the company recorded operating lease expense of $8,732,600 and $24,760,298 compared to operating lease expense of $6,557,340 and $18,987,980 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.

Other information related to operating leases as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 were as follows:


	September 30, 2021	December 31, 2020
Weighted avgerage remaining lease term (years)	12.13	12.10
Weighted average discount rate	13.67%	13.70%

Maturities of lease liabilities for operating leases as of September 30, 2021 were as follows:


		Maturities of Lease Liability
Year Ending December 31,		Third Party		Related Party		Total
Remainder of 2021	$	7,922,552	$	275,855	$	8,198,407
2022		32,128,809		1,119,130		33,247,939
2023		32,058,049		1,144,320		33,202,369
2024		31,508,225		1,026,677		32,534,902
2025		29,190,223		947,727		30,137,950
2026 and Thereafter		294,266,749		8,035,397		302,302,146
Total Lease Payments		427,074,607		12,549,106		439,623,713
Less: Interest		(245,267,484)		(5,893,969)		(251,161,453)
Present Value of Lease Liability	$	181,807,123	$	6,655,137	$	188,462,260

The Company entered into related party transactions with respect to its leasing arrangements for certain facilities in Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and Nevada. Wendy Berger, a director of the Company, is a principal of WBS Equities, LLC, which is the Manager of Mosaic Real Estate, LLC, and owns certain facilities leased by the Company. Additionally, Mosaic Real Estate, LLC is indirectly owned in part by Ms. Berger (through the Wendy Berger 1998 Revocable Trust), Benjamin Kovler, the Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company (through KP Capital, LLC), and Anthony Georgiadis, the Chief Financial Officer and a director of the Company (through Three One Four Holdings, LLC). The terms of these leases range from 7 years to 15 years. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recorded lease expense of $295,298 and $890,730, respectively, associated with these leasing arrangements. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the Company recorded lease expense of $353,537 and $1,146,243, respectively associated with these leases.