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	December 31, 2019		December 31, 2018
Commitments to extend credit:
Revolving home equity and credit card lines	$	69,200	$	69,893
Construction loans	119,456		85,392
Other loans	225,637		161,619
Standby letters of credit	12,078		6,366
Total	$	426,371	$	323,270

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 and generally are of a term of no greater than one year.

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.

Employment Agreements

We have various employment agreements with our executive officers and other key employees. These agreements contain change in control provisions that would entitle the officers to receive compensation in the event there is a change in control in the Company (as defined) and a termination of their employment without cause (as defined).

Legal Contingencies

On April 24, 2017, Summit entered into a Settlement and Release Agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with the Residential Funding Corporation ("RFC") and paid $9.9 million to fully resolve all claims by RFC and its successor, and to avoid the further costs, disruption, and distraction of defending the RFC lawsuits. Summit recorded a charge to noninterest expense in its consolidated statement of income for the year December 31, 2017 to recognize this settlement.

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, if any, 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.