9. Commitments, Contingencies and Other

Lease Commitments

The Company rents office space under operating leases expiring in 2019 through 2024. The leases call for base rent plus escalations as well as property taxes and other operating expenses.

Future annual minimum base rental payments under these operating leases are as follows as of December 31, 2018:

Year	Amount
2019	$	686,000
2020		651,000
2021		628,000
2022		489,000
2023 and thereafter		507,000
Total	$	2,961,000

Rent and related operating expenses amounted to $988,000 and $437,000 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

As part of the Company’s renovation of its office in Jersey City, as of December 31, 2018, the Company has a receivable from the landlord of $171,000 for tenant improvements that will be reimbursed to the Company upon the completion of the renovation. In line with the guidance under ASC 840, the Company has a tenant improvement asset and corresponding lease incentive liability recorded for this lease. The lease incentive liability will be amortized into income ratably over the life of the lease.

Legal and Regulatory Matters

The Company is party to certain claims, suits and complaints arising in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of the Company, all such matters are without merit, or involve amounts which would not have a significant effect on the financial statements of the Company.

General Contingencies

The Company is party to certain claims, suits and complaints arising in the ordinary course of business. In the opinion of the Company’s management, all such matters are without merit, or involve amounts which would not have a significant effect on the financial statements of the Company.

In the normal course of its business, the Company indemnifies and guarantees certain service providers against specified potential losses in connection with their acting as an agent of, or providing services to, the Company. The maximum potential amount of future payments that the Company could be required to make under these indemnifications cannot be estimated. However, the Company believes that it is unlikely it will have to make material payments under these arrangements and has not recorded any contingent liability in the financial statements for these indemnifications.

The Company provides representations and warranties to counterparties in connection with a variety of commercial transactions and occasionally indemnifies them against potential losses caused by the breach of those representations and warranties. The Company may also provide standard indemnifications to some counterparties to protect them in the event additional taxes are owed or payments are withheld, due either to a change in or adverse application of certain tax laws. These indemnifications generally are standard contractual terms and are entered into in the normal course of business. The maximum potential amount of future payments that the Company could be required to make under these indemnifications cannot be estimated. However, the Company believes that it is unlikely it will have to make material payments under these arrangements and has not recorded any contingent liability in the financial statements for these indemnifications.

The Company is self-insured with respect to employee health claims. The Company maintains stop-loss insurance for certain risks and has a health claim reinsurance limit capped at approximately $50,000 per employee. The estimated liability for self-insurance claims is initially recorded in the year in which the event of loss occurs, and may be subsequently adjusted based upon new information and cost estimates. Reserves for losses represent estimates of reported losses and estimates of incurred but not reported losses based on past and current experience. Actual claims paid and settled may differ, perhaps significantly, from the provision for losses. This adds uncertainty to the estimated reserves for losses. Accordingly, it is at least possible that the ultimate settlement of losses may vary significantly from the amounts included in the financial statements.

As part of this plan, the Company recognized expenses totaling $935,000 and $546,000 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The Company had an accrual of $50,000 and $28,000 as of the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which represents the historical estimate of future claims to be recognized for claims incurred prior to December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The Company believes that its present insurance coverage and reserves are sufficient to cover currently estimated exposures, but there can be no assurance that the Company will not incur liabilities in excess of recorded reserves or in excess of its insurance limits.