RESTRICTED CASH

Restricted cash and cash equivalents consists of the following (in thousands):



	December 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
Cash in escrow for surety bonds ^(a)	$	2,453	$	2,453
Cash in escrow for corporate purchasing card program	100		400
Cash in escrow from sale of LendingTree Loans ^(b)	16,106		18,117
Cash in escrow for earnout related to an acquisition ^(c)	—		1,956
Cash restricted for loan loss obligations ^(d)	—		3,051
Other	57		40
Total restricted cash and cash equivalents	$	18,716	$	26,017


(a)	See Note 10—Commitments for a discussion of surety bonds.

(b)

HLC, a subsidiary of the Company, continues to be liable for certain indemnification obligations, repurchase obligations and premium repayment obligations following the sale of substantially all of the operating assets of its LendingTree Loans business in the second quarter of 2012. During the second quarter of 2014, the Company reached and executed a settlement with one of its secondary market purchasers related to these contingent liabilities, upon which $2.0 million of cash previously held in escrow was released to the Company. This settlement had no impact on the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2014. During the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company completed a settlement agreement with the largest investor to which it had sold loans. As a result of this settlement agreement, $12.1 million of cash held in escrow is expected to be released in December 2015.

(c)

During the first quarter of 2014, the Company reached and executed a settlement with the disputing party on the earnout related to an acquisition completed prior to the spinoff from IAC in August 2008, upon which $2.0 million of cash previously held in escrow was released, of which $1.0 million was paid out to the disputing party. This settlement had no impact on the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2014.


(d)	During the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company reached and executed a settlement with the disputing party on certain loan loss obligations, upon which $3.1 million of cash previously held in escrow was paid out to the disputing party.