Commitments and Contingencies

We lease our home office space and certain equipment under various operating leases. Rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 totaled $2.9 million, $2.8 million and $2.7 million, respectively. At December 31, 2017, the aggregate future minimum lease payments are $15.4 million. The following represents payments due by period for operating lease obligations as of December 31, 2017 (dollars in thousands):



Year Ending December 31:
2018	$	1,998
2019	1,981
2020	2,033
2021	1,837
2022	1,680
2023 and thereafter	5,845

We are occasionally involved in litigation, both as a defendant and as a plaintiff. In addition, state regulatory bodies, such as state insurance departments, the SEC, FINRA, the Department of Labor, and other regulatory bodies regularly make inquiries and conduct examinations or investigations concerning our compliance with, among other things, insurance laws, securities laws, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and laws governing the activities of broker/dealers.

In accordance with applicable accounting guidelines, we establish an accrued liability for litigation and regulatory matters when those matters present loss contingencies that are both probable and estimable. As a litigation or regulatory matter is developing we, in conjunction with outside counsel, evaluate on an ongoing basis whether the matter presents a loss contingency that meets conditions indicating the need for accrual and/or disclosure, and if not the matter will continue to be monitored for further developments. If and when the loss contingency related to litigation or regulatory matters is deemed to be both probable and estimable, we will establish an accrued liability with respect to that matter and will continue to monitor the matter for further developments that may affect the amount of the accrued liability.

There can be no assurance that any pending or future litigation will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

In addition to our commitments to fund mortgage loans, we have unfunded commitments at December 31, 2017 to limited partnerships of $47.9 million and to secured bank loans of $11.2 million.