COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We are a party to certain financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of our customers. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the statement of financial position. The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the extent of involvement that we have in this class of financial instruments.

Many of our lending relationships contain both funded and unfunded elements. The funded portion is reflected on our balance sheet. The unfunded portion of these commitments is not recorded on our balance sheet until a draw is made under the loan facility. Since many of the commitments to extend credit may expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash flow requirements.

A summary of the total unfunded, or off-balance sheet, credit extension commitments follows:



Dollars in thousands	March 31, 2015
Commitments to extend credit:
Revolving home equity and credit card lines	$	54,768
Construction loans	24,633
Other loans	44,935
Standby letters of credit	2,599
Total	$	126,935

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. We evaluate each customer's credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if we deem necessary upon extension of credit, is based on our credit evaluation. Collateral held varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, equipment or real estate.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of the underlying contract with the third party.

Our 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. We use the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as we do for on-balance sheet instruments.

Legal Contingencies

On May 13, 2014, the ResCap Liquidating Trust (“ResCap”), as successor to Residential Funding Company, LLC f/k/a Residential Funding Corporation (“RFC”), filed a complaint against Summit Financial Mortgage, LLC (“Summit Mortgage”), a former residential mortgage subsidiary of Summit whose operations were discontinued in 2007, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and subsequently amended its complaint on July 25, 2014. The Amended Complaint asserts the following three causes of action related to Summit Mortgage’s origination and subsequent sale of mortgage loans to Residential Funding Corporation: 1) Summit Mortgage breached its representations and warranties made in the contract governing the sale of the mortgage loans to RFC; 2) an indemnification claim against Summit Mortgage for damages paid by ResCap to settle claims in RFC’s bankruptcy proceeding which allegedly relate to mortgage loans Summit Mortgage sold to RFC; 3) a claim for damages against Summit Community Bank, Inc., former parent of Summit Mortgage, arising out of a guaranty in which the Bank guaranteed Summit Mortgage’s full performance under the contract governing the sale of mortgage loans to RFC. Summit has filed a motion to dismiss the case. Based upon the applicable statute of limitations, the Court granted our motion to dismiss the breach of contract claim with respect to loans Summit sold to RFC prior to March 14, 2006. The court otherwise denied our motion to dismiss on the grounds that the other arguments raised factual questions that could not be decided on a motion to dismiss. An estimate as to possible loss resulting from the Amended Complaint cannot be provided at this time because such an estimate cannot be made. Summit intends to defend these claims vigorously.

We are not a party to any other litigation except for matters that arise in the normal course of business. While it is impossible to ascertain the ultimate resolution or range of financial liability with respect to these contingent matters, in the opinion of management, the outcome of these matters will not have a significant adverse effect on the consolidated financial statements.