13.	Contingent Liabilities

In the fourth quarter of 2016, we reached a tentative settlement regarding litigation initiated against the Bank in Wayne County, Michigan Circuit Court. The Court issued a preliminary approval of this settlement in the first quarter of 2017 and a final approval of this settlement in January 2018. This litigation concerned the Bank’s checking account transaction sequencing during a period from February 2009 to June 2011. Under the terms of the settlement, we agreed to pay $2.2 million and we are also responsible for class notification costs and certain other expenses which are estimated to total approximately $0.1 million. The $2.2 million was paid in January 2018. We recorded a $2.3 million expense in the fourth quarter of 2016 for this settlement. Although, we deny any liability associated with this matter and believe we have meritorious defenses to the allegations in the complaint, given the costs and uncertainty of litigation, we determined that this settlement was in the best interests of the organization.

We are also involved in various other litigation matters in the ordinary course of business. At the present time, we do not believe any of these matters will have a significant impact on our consolidated financial position or results of operations. The aggregate amount we have accrued for losses we consider probable as a result of these litigation matters is immaterial. However, because of the inherent uncertainty of outcomes from any litigation matter, we believe it is reasonably possible we may incur losses in addition to the amounts we have accrued. At this time, we estimate the maximum amount of additional losses that are reasonably possible is insignificant. However, because of a number of factors, including the fact that certain of these litigation matters are still in their early stages, this maximum amount may change in the future.

The litigation matters described in the preceding paragraph primarily include claims that have been brought against us for damages, but do not include litigation matters where we seek to collect amounts owed to us by third parties (such as litigation initiated to collect delinquent loans). These excluded, collection-related matters may involve claims or counterclaims by the opposing party or parties, but we have excluded such matters from the disclosure contained in the preceding paragraph in all cases where we believe the possibility of us paying damages to any opposing party is remote. Risks associated with the likelihood that we will not collect the full amount owed to us, net of reserves, are disclosed elsewhere in this report.

In connection with the sale of Mepco Finance Corporation (“Mepco”) (see note #15), we agreed to contractually indemnify the purchaser from certain losses it may incur, including as a result of its failure to collect certain receivables it purchased as part of the business as well as breaches of representations and warranties we made in the sale agreement, subject to various limitations. We have not accrued any liability related to these indemnification requirements in our March 31, 2018 Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition because we believe the likelihood of having to pay any amount as a result of these indemnification obligations is remote. However, if the purchaser is unable to collect the receivables it purchased from Mepco or otherwise encounters difficulties in operating the business, it is possible it could make one or more claims against us pursuant to the sale agreement. In that event, we may incur expenses in defending any such claims and/or amounts paid to such purchaser to resolve such claims. As of March 31, 2018 these receivables balances had declined to $8.2 million and to date the purchaser has made no claims for indemnification.

The provision for loss reimbursement on sold loans represents our estimate of incurred losses related to mortgage loans that we have sold to investors (primarily Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and the FHLB). Since we sell mortgage loans without recourse, loss reimbursements only occur in those instances where we have breached a representation or warranty or other contractual requirement related to the loan sale. The provision for loss reimbursement on sold loans was an expense of $0.01 million and $0.03 million for the three month periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The reserve for loss reimbursements on sold mortgage loans totaled $0.7 million at both March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. This reserve is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. This reserve is based on an analysis of mortgage loans that we have sold which are further categorized by delinquency status, loan to value, and year of origination. The calculation includes factors such as probability of default, probability of loss reimbursement (breach of representation or warranty) and estimated loss severity. We believe that the amounts that we have accrued for incurred losses on sold mortgage loans are appropriate given our analyses. However, future losses could exceed our current estimate.