Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business primarily to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby and performance letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition. The contract amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments.

The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby and performance letters of credit written is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments.

Commitments and conditional obligations are evaluated the same as on-balance-sheet instruments but do not have a corresponding reserve recorded. The Company’s opinion on not implementing a corresponding reserve for off-balance-sheet instruments is supported by historical factors of no losses recorded due to these items. The Company is continually evaluating these items for credit quality and any future need for the corresponding reserve.

The following table presents the unused and available credit balances of financial instruments whose contracts represent credit risk at the dates indicated.


	September 30, 2020		December 31, 2019
(Dollars in thousands)

Standby Letters of Credit	$	80,369	$	42,041
Performance Letters of Credit	2,329		2,521
Construction Mortgages	62,167		59,689
Personal Lines of Credit	6,897		6,456
Overdraft Protection Lines	6,407		6,415
Home Equity Lines of Credit	20,609		20,560
Commercial Lines of Credit	68,685		102,422
Total Commitments	$	247,463	$	240,104

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee by the customer. Because many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral held varies, but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant and equipment, and income-producing commercial properties.

Performance letters of credit represent conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. These instruments are issued primarily to support bid or performance-related contracts. The coverage period for these instruments is typically a one-year period with an annual renewal option subject to prior approval by management. Fees earned from the issuance of these letters are recognized upon expiration of the letter. For secured letters of credit, the collateral is typically Company deposit instruments or customer business assets.