Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies:

Employment Agreements:

The Company has entered into employment agreements, most of which expire on December 31, 2020, with all of its U.S. executive officers and with several members of its U.S. senior management group. Such agreements provide for base salary payments as well as potential discretionary bonuses that take into consideration the Company’s overall performance against its short and long-term financial and strategic objectives. At September 30, 2020, estimated future compensation under these agreements was approximately $2.0 million. The agreements also contain confidentiality and non-compete provisions. Outside the U.S., employment agreements are in place with employees pursuant to local country regulations. Generally, these agreements do not have expiration dates and therefore it is impractical to estimate the amount of future compensation under these agreements. Accordingly, the future compensation under these agreements is not included in the $2.0 million total above.

Forward Flow Agreements:

The Company is party to several forward flow agreements that allow for the purchase of nonperforming loans at pre-established prices. The maximum remaining amount to be purchased under forward flow agreements at September 30, 2020, was approximately $395.6 million.

Finance Receivables:

Certain agreements for the purchase of finance receivables portfolios contain provisions that may, in limited circumstances, require the Company to refund a portion or all of the collections subsequently received by the Company on particular accounts. The potential refunds as of the balance sheet date are not considered to be significant.

Litigation and Regulatory Matters:

The Company and its subsidiaries are from time to time subject to a variety of routine legal and regulatory claims, inquiries and proceedings and regulatory matters, most of which are incidental to the ordinary course of its business. The Company initiates lawsuits against customers and is occasionally countersued by them in such actions. Also, customers, either individually, as members of a class action, or through a governmental entity on behalf of customers, may initiate litigation against the Company in which they allege that the Company has violated a state or federal law in the process of collecting on an account. From time to time, other types of lawsuits are brought against the Company. Additionally, the Company receives subpoenas and other requests or demands for information from regulators or governmental authorities who are investigating the Company's debt collection activities.

The Company accrues for potential liability arising from legal proceedings and regulatory matters when it is probable that such liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. This determination is based upon currently available information for those proceedings in which the Company is involved, taking into account the Company's best estimate of such losses for those cases for which such estimates can be made. The Company's estimate involves significant judgment, given the varying stages of the proceedings (including the fact that many of them are currently in preliminary stages), the number of unresolved issues in many of the proceedings (including issues regarding class certification and the scope of many of the claims), and the related uncertainty of the potential outcomes of these proceedings. In making determinations of the likely outcome of pending litigation, the Company considers many factors, including, but not limited to, the nature of the claims, the Company's experience with similar types of claims, the jurisdiction in which the matter is filed, input from outside legal counsel, the likelihood of resolving the matter through alternative mechanisms, the matter's current status and the damages sought or demands made. Accordingly, the Company's estimate will change from time to time, and actual losses could be more than the current estimate.

The Company believes that the estimate of the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses in excess of the amount accrued for its legal proceedings outstanding at September 30, 2020, where the range of loss can be estimated, was not material.

In certain legal proceedings, the Company may have recourse to insurance or third-party contractual indemnities to cover all or portions of its litigation expenses, judgments, or settlements. Loss estimates and accruals for potential liability related to legal proceedings are typically exclusive of potential recoveries, if any, under the Company's insurance policies or third-party indemnities. At September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, the Company recorded $1.8 million and $1.0 million in recoveries receivable under the Company's insurance policies or third-party indemnities, respectively. These amounts are included in other receivables, net in the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Matters that are not considered routine legal proceedings were disclosed previously in the 2019 Form 10-K and in Note 13 to the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part 1. Item 1 to its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2020.