Note 7 - Commitments and Contingencies

Off-Balance Sheet Instruments

The Bank is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financial needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit, which involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated statements of financial condition. The contract amounts of these instruments express the extent of involvement we have in each class of financial instruments.

Our exposure to credit loss from nonperformance by the other party to the above mentioned financial instruments 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. Unless otherwise noted, we require collateral or other security to support financial instruments with off-balance sheet credit risk.


	September 30,		December 31,
	2019		2018
	(dollars in thousands)
Standby letters of credit	$	3,577	$	3,321
Home equity lines of credit		17,375		17,015
Unadvanced construction commitments		79,385		75,326
Mortgage loan commitments		1,628		1,649
Lines of credit		21,990		20,990
Loans sold and serviced with limited repurchase provisions		66,194		49,623

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Bank guaranteeing performance by a customer to various municipalities. These guarantees are issued primarily to support performance arrangements and are limited to real estate transactions. The majority of these standby letters of credit expire within twelve months, with automatic one year renewals. The Bank has the option to stop any automatic renewal. The credit risk involved in issuing letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending other loan commitments. The Bank requires collateral supporting these letters of credit as deemed necessary. Management believes, except for certain standby letters of credit, that the proceeds obtained through a liquidation of such collateral would be sufficient to cover the maximum potential amount of future payments required under the corresponding guarantees. The current amount of the liability as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 for guarantees under standby letters of credit issued was $13,000 and $42,000, respectively.

Home equity lines of credit are loan commitments to individuals as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments under home equity lines expire ten years after the date the loan closes and are secured by real estate. We evaluate each customer’s credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis.

Unadvanced construction commitments are loan commitments made to borrowers for both residential and commercial projects that are either in process or are expected to begin construction shortly.

Residential mortgage loan commitments at both September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 consisted of three loans totaling $1.6 million.

Lines of credit are loan commitments to individuals and companies as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Lines of credit have a fixed expiration date. The Bank evaluates each customer’s credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis.

The Bank has entered into several agreements to sell mortgage loans to third parties. These agreements contain limited provisions that require the Bank to repurchase a loan if the loan becomes delinquent within a period ranging generally from 120 to 180 days after the sale date depending on the investor agreement. The credit risk involved in these financial instruments is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to customers. We did not repurchase any loans during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 or 2018.

Other Contingencies

The Company provides banking services to customers who do business in the medical-use cannabis industry. While the growing, processing, and sales of medical-use cannabis is legal in the state of Maryland, the business currently violates Federal law. The Company may be deemed to be aiding and abetting illegal activities through the services that it provides to these customers. The strict enforcement of Federal laws regarding medical-use cannabis would likely result in the Company’s inability to continue to provide banking services to these customers and the Company could have legal action taken against it by the Federal government, including imprisonment and fines. There is an uncertainty of the potential impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements if the Federal government takes actions against the Company. As of September 30, 2019, the Company has not accrued an amount for the potential impact of any such actions.

Following is a summary of the level of business activities with our medical-use cannabis customers:

• Deposit and loan balances at September 30, 2019 were approximately $20.6 million, or 3.1% of total deposits, and $15.4 million, or 2.3% of total loans, respectively. Deposit and loan balances at December 31, 2018 were approximately $17.0 million, or 2.2% of total deposits, and $14.1 million, or 2.1% of total loans, respectively.

•Interest and noninterest income for the three months ended September 30, 2019 were approximately $227,000 and $515,000, respectively. Interest and noninterest income for the three months ended September 30, 2018 were approximately $231,000 and $376,000, respectively.

•Interest and noninterest income for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 were approximately $655,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. Interest and noninterest income for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 were approximately $541,000 and $921,000, respectively.

•The volume of deposits in the accounts of medical-use cannabis customers for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 was approximately $70.5 million and $176.6 million, respectively. The volume of deposits in the accounts of medical-use cannabis customers for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 was approximately $41.5 million and $70.8 million, respectively.