Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Note 13 – Commitments and Contingencies

United and its wholly-owned subsidiary, United Community Bank,(“the Bank”) are parties to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of their customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and letters of credit. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amount recognized in the balance sheet. The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Bank has in particular classes of financial instruments.  The exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and letters of credit written is represented by the contractual amount of these instruments. United uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it uses for underwriting on-balance sheet instruments. In most cases, collateral or other security is required to support financial instruments with credit risk.

The following table summarizes, as of March 31, 2013, December 31, 2012 and March 31, 2012, the contractual amount of off-balance sheet instruments (in thousands):

Financial instruments whose contract amounts represent credit risk:		March 31, 2013		December 31, 2012		March 31, 2012
	Commitments to extend credit	$	565,685	$	313,798	$	429,672
	Letters of credit		12,818		13,683		16,655

United, in the normal course of business, is subject to various pending and threatened lawsuits in which claims for monetary damages are asserted.  Although it is not possible to predict the outcome of these lawsuits, or the range of any possible loss, management, after consultation with legal counsel, does not anticipate that the ultimate aggregate liability, if any, arising from these lawsuits will have a material adverse effect on United’s financial position or results of operations.