Contingent liabilities and commitments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contingent liabilities and commitments

Contingent liabilities and commitments. The Company routinely holds third-party funds in segregated escrow accounts pending the closing of real estate transactions resulting in a contingent liability to the Company of approximately $1.0 billion at December 31, 2016. In addition, the Company is contingently liable for disbursements of escrow funds held by agencies in those cases where specific insured closing guarantees have been issued.

The Company owns a qualified intermediary in tax-deferred property exchanges for customers pursuant to Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Company holds the proceeds from these transactions until a qualifying exchange can occur. This resulted in a contingent liability to the Company of approximately $1.1 billion at December 31, 2016. As is industry practice, escrow and Section 1031 exchanger fund accounts are not included in the consolidated balance sheets.

In the ordinary course of business, the Company guarantees the third-party indebtedness of certain of its consolidated subsidiaries. As of December 31, 2016, the maximum potential future payments on the guarantees are not more than the related notes payable recorded in the consolidated balance sheets (refer to Note 10). The Company also guarantees the indebtedness related to lease obligations of certain of its consolidated subsidiaries. The maximum future obligations arising from these lease-related guarantees are not more than the Company’s future minimum lease payments (refer to Note 16). As of December 31, 2016, the Company also had unused letters of credit aggregating $5.6 million related to workers’ compensation coverage and other insurance. The Company does not expect to make any payments on these guarantees.