Note 6 — Leases

As described in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company adopted ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), effective January 1, 2019. We had approximately 45 operating leases for real estate and other assets. These included various leases for our branch and office locations. Our leases had initial lease terms of two to twenty-five years. Most leases included one or more options to renew, with renewal terms that can extend the lease term from two to twelve years. We assessed these options using a threshold of reasonably certain. For leases where we were reasonably certain to renew, those option periods were included within the lease term and, therefore, the measurement of the right-of-use asset and lease liability. Certain leases included options to terminate the lease, which allows the contract parties to terminate their obligations under the lease contract, typically in return for an agreed financial consideration. The terms and conditions of the termination options vary by contract. Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less were not recognized on the balance sheet. We recognized lease expense for these leases on a straightline basis over the lease term. Certain lease agreements included payments based on Consumer Price Index (“CPI") on which variable lease payments were determined and included in the right-of-use asset and liability. Variable lease payments that were not based on CPI were excluded from the right-of-use asset and lease liability and recognized in the period in which the obligations for those payments were incurred. Our lease agreements did not contain any material residual value guarantees, restrictions or covenants.

In determining whether a contract contained a lease, we determined whether an arrangement was or included a lease at contract inception. Operating lease right-of-use asset and liability were recognized at commencement date and initially measured based on the present value of lease payments over the defined lease term. The opening balance for both our right-of-use asset and lease liability were $40.9 million as of the adoption date of January 1, 2019 and the outstanding balances were $36.5 million and $37.2 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2019.

We had real estate lease agreements with lease and non-lease components, which are generally accounted for separately. However, we elected the practical expedient to not separate non-lease components from lease components for all classes of underlying assets. For certain equipment leases, such as machine equipment, we accounted for the lease and associated non-lease components as a single lease component.

In determining the discount rates, since most of our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we used our incremental borrowing rate provided by the FHLB of San Francisco based on the information available at commencement date to calculate the present value of lease payments. In order to apply the incremental borrowing rate, a portfolio approach with a collateralized rate was utilized. Assets were grouped based on similar lease terms and economic environments in a manner whereby the Company reasonably expects that the application does not differ materially from a lease-by-lease approach.

The Company's right-of-use asset is included in prepaid expenses and other assets and our lease liability is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet.

We lease our premises under non-cancelable operating leases. At December 31, 2019, future minimum annual rental commitments under these non-cancelable operating leases, with initial or remaining terms of one year or more, were as follows:

For the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, net rental expenses recorded under such leases amounted to $7.9 million, $7.4 million, and $7.0 million, respectively.

Weighted average remaining lease terms for the Company’s operating leases were 8.57 years as of December 31, 2019. Weighted average discount rates used for the Company’s operating leases were 3.24 percent as of December 31, 2019. Net lease expense recognized for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 was  $7.9 million. This includes operating lease costs of $8.0 million and sublease income of $132,000 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019. The Company chose the practical expedients and reviewed the lease and non-lease components for any impairment or otherwise, subsequently determining that no cumulative-effect adjustment to equity was necessary as part of implementing the modified retrospective approach for its adoption of ASC 842.

Cash paid, and included in cash flows from operating activities, for amounts included in the measurement of the lease liability for the Company's operating leases for the twelve months ended December 31, 2019 was  $7.2 million.