COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Loan Commitments

The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. Such commitments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the balance sheets. The majority of all commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit are variable rate 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 is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments as it does for on-balance sheet instruments. A summary of the Company’s commitments is as follows:


	March 31, 2022		December 31, 2021
Commitments to extend credit	$	313,155	$	314,194
Standby letters of credit	4,428		3,434
Total	$	317,583	$	317,628

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. Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer. Collateral held varies, but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property and equipment, residential real estate, and income-producing commercial properties.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Those letters of credit are primarily issued to support public and private borrowing arrangements. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loans to customers. Collateral held varies and is required in instances which the Company deems necessary.

The Company has not been required to perform on any standby letters of credit, and the Company has not incurred any losses on financial standby letters of credit for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021.

Contingencies

In the normal course of business, the Company is involved in various legal proceedings. In the opinion of management, any liability resulting from such proceedings would not have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.