COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business primarily to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby and performance letters of credit. Those instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. The contract amounts of those instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments.
The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby and performance letters of credit written is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments.
The Company maintains an ACL on unfunded commitments to provide for the risk of loss inherent in these arrangements. The Company is required to include unfunded commitments that are expected to be funded in the future within the allowance calculation, other than those that are unconditionally cancellable. To arrive at that reserve, the reserve percentage for each applicable segment is applied to the unused portion of the expected commitment balance and is multiplied by the expected funding rate. To determine the expected funding rate, the Company uses a historical utilization rate for each segment. The ACL on unfunded loan commitments is included in other liabilities on the Consolidated Statement of Financial Condition and the related expense is recorded in provision for credit losses - unfunded commitments in the Consolidated Statement of Income.
The unused and available credit balances of financial instruments whose contracts represent credit risk are as follows:
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| December 31, | 2024 | | 2023 |
| (Dollars in Thousands) | | | |
| | | |
| Standby Letters of Credit | $ | 605 | | | $ | 110 | |
| Performance Letters of Credit | 668 | | | 895 | |
| Construction Mortgages | 41,118 | | | 47,034 | |
| Personal Lines of Credit | 6,959 | | | 7,185 | |
| Overdraft Protection Lines | 4,371 | | | 2,025 | |
| Home Equity Lines of Credit | 27,504 | | | 24,176 | |
| Commercial Lines of Credit | 86,362 | | | 64,667 | |
| Total | $ | 167,587 | | | $ | 146,092 | |
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. Because many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Company evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary by the Company upon extension of credit, is based on management’s credit evaluation of the counterparty. Collateral held varies, but may include accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant and equipment, and income-producing commercial properties.
Performance letters of credit represent conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. These instruments are issued primarily to support bid or performance-related contracts. The coverage period for these instruments is typically a one-year period with an annual renewal option subject to prior approval by management. Fees earned from the issuance of these letters are recognized upon expiration of the letter. For secured letters of credit, the collateral is typically Company deposit instruments or customer business assets. The Company recorded no liability associated with standby letters of credit as of December 31, 2024 and 2023.