Note 16: Commitments and Credit Risk

Commitments to Originate Loans

Commitments to originate loans 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 a portion of the commitments may expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. Each customer’s creditworthiness is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral held varies, but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant and equipment, commercial real estate and residential real estate.

Forward sale commitments are commitments to sell groups of residential mortgage loans that the Company originates or purchases as part of its mortgage banking activities. The Company commits to sell the loans at specified prices in a future period. These commitments are acquired to reduce market risk on mortgage loans in the process of origination and mortgage loans held for sale since the Company is exposed to interest rate risk during the period between issuing a loan commitment and the sale of the loan into the secondary market.

The dollar amount of commitments to fund fixed rate loans at December 31, 2019 and 2018 follows:


	December 31,				December 31,
	2019				2018

			Interest Rate				Interest Rate
	Amount		Range		Amount		Range

Commitments to fund fixed-rate loans	$	3,917,445	3.5% - 5.125	%	$	2,566,950	4.625% - 6.00	%

Lines of Credit

Lines of credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Lines of credit generally have fixed expiration dates. Since a portion of the line may expire without being drawn upon, the total unused lines do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. Each customer’s creditworthiness is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral held varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant and equipment, commercial real estate and residential real estate. Management uses the same credit policies in granting lines of credit as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments.

Loan commitments outstanding at December 31, 2019 and 2018 were composed of the following:


	December 31,		December 31,
	2019		2018

Commitments to originate loans	$	761,055	$	2,845,450
Forward sale commitments		7,031,526		3,848,950
Lines of credit		16,840,828		16,119,038

Subsequent Event

As a result of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, economic uncertainties have arisen which may negatively affect the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the Company and, in particular, the collectability of the loan portfolio. The duration of these uncertainties and the ultimate financial effects cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.