Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

NOTE 13 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Bank is party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments are commitments to extend credit. These instruments may, but do not necessarily, involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized on the balance sheets. The Bank’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Bank uses the same credit policies in making commitments as it does for on-balance-sheet loans receivable.

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, the Bank had outstanding loan commitments of approximately $67.0 million and $73.5 million, respectively.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Bank to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. These guarantees are issued primarily to support construction borrowing arrangements. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to customers. The Bank holds cash or a secured interest in real estate as collateral to support those commitments for which collateral is deemed necessary. Standby letters of credit outstanding amounted to $17.7 million and $21.4 million at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. In addition to the commitments noted above, customers had approximately $135.3 million and $128.8 million available under lines of credit at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.