COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND CREDIT RISK

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND CREDIT RISK

COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND CREDIT RISK

Note 17 – Commitments, Contingencies and Credit Risk

In the normal course of business, there are outstanding various contingent liabilities such as claims and legal actions, which are not reflected in the consolidated financial statements. No material losses are anticipated as a result of these actions or claims.

We are a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of our customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amount recognized in the balance sheet. The contract amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of involvement we have in particular classes of financial instruments.

Our exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Bank used the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments. The commitments are principally tied to variable rates. Loan commitments as of March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019 were as follows:

	March 31,		December 31,
(dollars in thousands)	2020		2019
Commitments to extend credit	$	728,472	$	725,506
Financial guarantees – standby letters of credit		55,676		106,678

The Company estimates expected credit losses over the contractual period in which the Company is exposed to credit risk via a contractual obligation to extend credit, unless that obligation is unconditionally cancellable by the Company. The ACL on off-balance sheet credit exposures is adjusted as a provision for credit loss expense included in other expense on the consolidated income statement. The estimate includes consideration of the likelihood that funding will occur and an estimate of expected credit losses on commitments expected to be funded over its estimated life. Expected utilization rates are compared to the current funded portion of the total commitment amount as a practical expedient for funded exposure at default. At March 31, 2020, the ACL for off-balance sheet credit exposures was $2.4 million.

The Company establishes a mortgage repurchase liability to reflect management’s estimate of losses on loans for which the Company could have a repurchase obligation based on the volume of loans sold in 2020 and years prior, borrower default expectations, historical investor repurchase demand and appeals success rates, and estimated loss severity. Loans repurchased from investors are initially recorded at fair value, which becomes the Company’s new accounting basis. Any difference between the loan’s fair value and the outstanding principal amount is charged or credited to the mortgage repurchase liability, as appropriate. Subsequent to repurchase, such loans are carried in loans receivable. There were no losses as a result of make-whole requests and loan repurchases for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. The liability for unresolved repurchase demands totaled $289,000 at March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019.