3	Credit Commitments and Concentrations of Credit Risk

The Company has outstanding, at any time, a significant number of commitments to extend credit and also provide financial guarantees to third parties. Those arrangements are subject to strict credit control assessments. Guarantees specify limits to the Company’s obligations. The amounts of those loan commitments and guarantees are set out in the following table. Because many commitments and almost all guarantees expire without being funded in whole or in part, the contract amounts are not estimates of future cash flows.


	December 31,
	2013		2012
	Contract Amount		Contract Amount
	(In thousands)
Credit commitments — variable	$	234,760	$	211,332
Credit commitments — fixed		2,563		6,307
Guarantees written		24,695		28,455

The majority of loan commitments have terms up to one year, with either a floating interest rate or contracted fixed interest rates, generally ranging from 2.00% to 16.00%. Guarantees written generally have terms up to one year.

Loan commitments and guarantees written have off-balance-sheet credit risk because only origination fees and accruals for probable losses are recognized in the balance sheet until the commitments are fulfilled or the guarantees expire. Credit risk represents the accounting loss that would be recognized at the reporting date if counterparties failed completely to perform as contracted. The credit risk amounts are equal to the contractual amounts, assuming that the amounts are fully advanced and that collateral or other security would have no value.

The Company’s policy is to require customers to provide collateral prior to the disbursement of approved loans. For loans and financial guarantees, the Company usually retains a security interest in the property or products financed or other collateral which provides repossession rights in the event of default by the customer.

Concentrations of credit risk (whether on or off-balance-sheet) arising from financial instruments exist in relation to certain groups of customers. A group concentration arises when a number of counterparties have similar economic characteristics that would cause their ability to meet contractual obligations to be similarly affected by changes in economic or other conditions. The Company does not have a significant exposure to any individual customer or counterparty. A geographic concentration arises because the Company operates principally in Westchester County and Bronx County, New York. Loans and credit commitments collateralized by real estate including all loans where real estate is either primary or secondary collateral were as follows at December 31:


2013	Residential Property		Commercial Property		Total
	(In thousands)
Loans	$	446,424	$	975,096	$	1,421,520
Credit commitments		51,302		38,500		89,802

Total	$	497,726	$	1,013,596	$	1,511,322


2012	Residential Property		Commercial Property		Total
	(In thousands)
Loans	$	334,340	$	1,044,462	$	1,378,802
Credit commitments		55,347		55,308		110,655

Total	$	389,687	$	1,099,770	$	1,489,457