Commitments and contingencies:

Some financial instruments, such as loan commitments, credit lines, letters of credit, and overdraft protection, are issued to meet customer financing needs. These are agreements to provide credit or to support the credit of others, as long as conditions established in the contract are met, and usually have expiration dates.

Commitments may expire without being used. Off-balance sheet risk to credit loss exists up to the face amount of these instruments, although material losses are not anticipated. The same credit policies are used to make such commitments as are used for loans, including obtaining collateral at exercise of the commitment.



	March 31,		December 31,
	2019		2018
Commitments to extend credit, excluding interest rate lock commitments	$	1,111,472	$	1,032,390
Letters of credit	18,762		19,024
Balance at end of period	$	1,130,234	$	1,051,414

In connection with the sale of mortgage loans to third party investors, the Bank makes usual and customary representations and warranties as to the propriety of its origination activities. Occasionally, the investors require the Bank to repurchase loans sold to them under the terms of the warranties. When this happens, the loans are recorded at fair value with a corresponding charge to a valuation reserve. The total principal amount of loans repurchased (or indemnified for) was $1,393 and $1,119 for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company has established a reserve associated with loan repurchases. This reserve is recorded in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

The following table summarizes the activity in the repurchase reserve:



	For the three months ended March, 31
	2019		2018
Balance at beginning of period	$	3,273	$	3,386
Provision for loan repurchases or indemnifications	59		186
Recoveries on previous losses	—		(58		)
Balance at end of period	$	3,332	$	3,514