During the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we recorded lease expense of $2.4 million and $1.5 million, respectively, and during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, we recorded lease expense of $7.0 million and $4.6Β million, respectively.
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Unfunded Commitments. In accordance with certain structured loans and investments, we have outstanding unfunded commitments of $638.1 million as of September 30, 2021 that we are obligated to fund as borrowers meet certain requirements. Specific requirements include, but are not limited to, property renovations, building construction and conversions based on criteria met by the borrower in accordance with the loan agreements.
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Litigation. We are currently neither subject to any material litigation nor, to the best of our knowledge, threatened by any material litigation other than the following:
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In June 2011, 3 related lawsuitsΒ were filed by the Extended Stay Litigation Trust (the βTrustβ), a post-bankruptcy litigation trust alleged to have standing to pursue claims that previously had been held by Extended Stay,Β Inc. andΒ the Homestead Village L.L.C. family of companies (together βESIβ) (formerly Chapter 11 debtors, together the βDebtorsβ) that have emerged from bankruptcy. NaN of the lawsuits were filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, and the third in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County. There were 73 defendants in the 3 lawsuits, including 55 corporate and partnership entities and 18 individuals. A subsidiaryΒ of ours and certain other entities that are affiliates of ours are included as defendants. The New York State Court action was removed to the Bankruptcy Court. Currently, there is just a single case in Bankruptcy Court.
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The lawsuits all alleged, as a factual basis and background, certain facts surrounding the JuneΒ 2007 leveraged buyout of ESI from affiliates of Blackstone Capital. Our subsidiary, Arbor ESH II, LLC, had a $115.0 million investment in the SeriesΒ A1 PreferredΒ Units ofΒ a holding company of Extended Stay,Β Inc. The New York State Court action and 1 of the 2 federal court actions named as defendants Arbor ESH II, LLC, Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC (βACMβ), and ABT-ESI LLC, an entity in which we have a membership interest, among the broad group of defendants. These 2 actions were commenced by substantially identical complaints. The defendants are alleged, among other things, to have breached fiduciary and contractual duties by causing or allowing the Debtors to pay illegal dividends or other improper distributions of value at a time when the Debtors were insolvent. The TrustΒ also alleges that the defendants aided and abetted, induced, or participated in breaches of fiduciary duty, waste, and unjust enrichment (βFiduciary Duty Claimsβ) and name a director of ours, and a former general counsel of ACM, each of whom had served on the BoardΒ of Directors of ESI for a period of time. We are defending these 2 defendants and paying the costs of such defense. On the basis of the foregoing allegations, the Trust has asserted claims under a number of common law theories, seeking the return of assets transferred by the Debtors prior to the Debtorsβ bankruptcy filing.
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In the third action, filed in Bankruptcy Court, the same plaintiff, the Trust, named ACM and ABT-ESI LLC, together with a number of other defendants, and asserts claims, including constructive and fraudulent conveyance claims, under state and federal statutes, as well as a claim under the Federal Debt Collection Procedure Act.
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In June 2013, the Trust filed a motion to amend the lawsuits, to, among other things, (i)Β consolidate the lawsuits into 1 lawsuit, (ii)Β remove 47 defendants from the lawsuits, NaN of whom are related to us, so that there are 26 remaining defendants, including 16 corporate and partnership entities and 10 individuals, and (iii)Β reduce the counts within the lawsuits from over 100 down to 17.
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The remaining counts in the Trustβs amended complaint against our affiliates are principally state law claims for breach of fiduciary duties, waste, unlawful dividends and unjust enrichment, and claims under the Bankruptcy Code for avoidance and recovery actions, among others. The Bankruptcy Court granted the motion to amend and the amended complaint has been filed. The amended complaint seeks approximately $139.0 million in the aggregate, plus interest from the date of the alleged unlawful transfers, from director designees, portions of which are also sought from our affiliates as well as from unaffiliated defendants.
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We moved to dismiss the referenced remaining actions in December 2013.
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