COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Leases

The Company leases certain of its facilities and equipment under operating leases with terms generally ranging from three to five years. Most facility leases contain renewal options. Remaining future minimum rentals due under non-cancelable operating leases are as follows (in thousands):



Fiscal
2019	$	105,762
2020	86,049
2021	65,549
2022	41,129
2023	22,084
Thereafter	29,684
	$	350,257

Rent expense under such leases was $124.3 million, $117.7 million and $74.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

As a result of the Merger, the Company recognized a favorable lease intangible asset and an unfavorable lease intangible liability related to assumed Cash America leases to the extent such leases contained favorable or unfavorable terms relative to market (together the “Lease Intangibles”). The current portion of favorable lease intangibles is included in prepaid expenses and other current assets and the non-current portion is included in other assets in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The current portion of unfavorable lease intangibles is included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities and the non-current portion is included in other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. The Lease Intangibles are amortized to rent expense, which is a component of store operating expenses, on a straight-line basis over the lives of the respective leases.

The Lease Intangibles consist of the following (in thousands):



	As of December 31,
	2018			2017
Favorable lease intangible asset	$	45,596		$	53,429
Unfavorable lease intangible liability	$	(17,275	)	$	(25,367	)

The net amortization of the Lease Intangibles reduced store operating expense by $0.3 million, $1.0 million and $0.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The remaining weighted-average amortization period for favorable and unfavorable lease intangibles is 4.8 and 2.1 years, respectively. Estimated future net amortization of the Lease Intangibles is as follows (in thousands):



Fiscal
2019	$	986
2020	1,977
2021	2,452
2022	2,954
2023	3,326
Thereafter	16,626
	$	28,321

Litigation

The Company, in the ordinary course of business, is a defendant (actual or threatened) in certain lawsuits, arbitration claims and other general claims. In management’s opinion, any potential adverse result should not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Guarantees

The Company offers fee-based CSO Programs to assist consumers in obtaining extensions of credit from Independent Lenders. Under the CSO Programs, the Company assists customers in applying for a short-term extension of credit from the Independent Lenders and issues the Independent Lenders a guarantee for the repayment of the extension of credit. The Company is required to recognize, at the inception of the guarantee, a liability for the fair value of the obligation undertaken by issuing the guarantees. The Company records the estimated fair value of the liability in accrued liabilities. The loss provision associated with the CSO Programs is based primarily upon historical loss experience, with consideration given to recent loss trends, delinquency rates, economic conditions and management’s expectations of future credit losses. The Company’s maximum loss exposure under all of the outstanding guarantees issued on behalf of its customers to the Independent Lenders as of December 31, 2018 was $6.2 million compared to $10.1 million at December 31, 2017.

Gold Forward Sales Contracts

As of December 31, 2018, the Company had contractual commitments to deliver a total of 18,000 gold ounces between the months of January and June 2019 at a weighted-average price of $1,258 per ounce. Subsequent to December 31, 2018, the Company committed to delivering an additional 18,000 gold ounces between the months of July and December 2019 at a weighted-average price of $1,300 per ounce. The ounces required to be delivered over this time period are within historical scrap gold volumes.