22. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Loan Commitments and Lines of Credit

The contractual amounts of financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk at year-end were as follows:

	2018				2017
	Fixed Rate		Variable Rate		Fixed Rate		Variable Rate
Available lines of credit	$	—	$	102,110	$	—	$	73,315
Other loan commitments		16,450		133,608		1,000		47,181
Stand-by letters of credit		1,968		—		927		—

At December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Bank had outstanding loan commitments that were accepted by the borrower aggregating $150,058 and $48,181 respectively. Substantially all of the Bank's commitments expire within three months of their acceptance by the prospective borrower. The primary concentrations of credit risk associated with these commitments were geographical (as the majority of committed loans were collateralized by properties located in the New York City metropolitan area) and the proportion of the commitments comprised of multifamily residential and commercial real estate loans.

At December 31, 2018, the Bank had an available line of credit with the FHLBNY equal to its excess borrowing capacity. At December 31, 2018, this amount approximated $1,020,213.

Additionally, in connection with the Loan Securitization (see Note 9), the Bank executed a reimbursement agreement with FHLMC that obligates the Company to reimburse FHLMC for any contractual principal and interest payments on defaulted loans, not to exceed 10% of the original principal amount of the loans comprising the aggregate balance of the loan pool at securitization. The maximum exposure under this reimbursement obligation is $28.0 million.

Lease Commitments

At December 31, 2018, aggregate minimum annual rental commitments on operating leases were as follows:

	Amount

2019	$	6,960
2020		6,869
2021		6,789
2022		6,490
2023		5,516
Thereafter		23,853
Total	$	56,477

Rental expense for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 totaled $6,873, $6,740, and $5,854, respectively.

Litigation

The Company is subject to certain pending and threatened legal actions which arise out of the normal course of business. Litigation is inherently unpredictable, particularly in proceedings where claimants seek substantial or indeterminate damages, or which are in their early stages. The Company cannot predict with certainty the actual loss or range of loss related to such legal proceedings, the manner in which they will be resolved, the timing of final resolution or the ultimate settlement. Consequently, the Company cannot estimate losses or ranges of losses related to such legal matters, even in instances where it is reasonably possible that a loss will be incurred. In the opinion of management, after consultation with counsel, the resolution of all ongoing legal proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial condition or results of operations of the Company. The Company accounts for potential losses related to litigation in accordance with GAAP.