(

) Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

As of

December 31,

201

Bancorp had various commitments outstanding that arose in the normal course of business, including standby letters of credit and commitments to extend credit, which are properly

not

reflected in the consolidated financial statements. In management’s opinion, commitments to extend credit of

$688.3

million including standby letters of credit of

$14.8

million represent normal banking transactions. Commitments to extend credit were

$628.3

million, including letters of credit of

$15.6

million, as of

December 31, 2016.

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer contingent upon the availability of collateral and

existing violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses. Commitments to extend credit are mainly comprised of commercial lines of credit, construction and home equity credit lines and credit cards issued to commercial customers. Since some of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do

not

necessarily represent future cash requirements. Bancorp uses the same credit and collateral policies in making commitments and conditional guarantees as for on-balance sheet instruments. Bancorp evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case by case basis. The amount of collateral obtained is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer. Collateral held varies but

may

include accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, and real estate. However, should the commitments be drawn upon and should our customers default on their resulting obligation to us, our maximum exposure to credit loss, without consideration of collateral, is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. At

December 31, 2017,

Bancorp accrued

$350

thousand in other liabilities for unfunded credit commitments.

Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees written are conditional commitments issued by Bancorp to guarantee the performance of a customer to a

third

party. Those guarantees are primarily issued to support private commercial transactions. Standby letters of credit generally have maturities of

one

two

years.

Bancorp leases certain facilities under non-cancelable operating leases. Future minimum lease commitments for these

leases are outlined in the table below.

(In th ousands)
Year	Total amount
2018	$	1,847
2019		1,880
2020		1,532
2021		1,391
2022		1,501
Thereafter		2,873

Total	$	11,024

Rent expense, net of sublease income, was

$1.9

million in

2017,

$1.8

million in

2016,

and

$1.7

million in

2015.

Certain commercial customers require confirmation of Bancorp

’s letters of credit by other banks since Bancorp does

not

have a rating by a national rating agency. Terms of the agreements range from

months. If an event of default on all contracts had occurred at

December 31, 2017,

Bancorp would have been required to make payments of approximately

$1.5

million. The maximum amount payable under those contracts was

$1.5

million.

payments have ever been required as a result of default on these contracts. These agreements are normally secured by collateral acceptable to Bancorp, which limits credit risk associated with the agreements.

Also, as of

December

31,

2017,

in the normal course of business, there were pending legal actions and proceedings in which claims for damages are asserted. Management, after discussion with legal counsel, believes the ultimate result of these legal actions and proceedings will

not

have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position or results of operations of Bancorp.