Note 14. Loan Commitments and Other Related Activities

Some financial instruments such as loan commitments, credit lines, letters of credit, and overdraft protection are issued to meet customer financing needs. These are agreements to provide credit or to support the credit of others, as long as conditions established in the contract are met, and usually have expiration dates. Commitments may expire without being used. Off-balance-sheet risk of credit loss exists up to the face amount of these instruments, although material losses are not anticipated. The same credit policies are used to make such commitments as are used for loans, including obtaining collateral at exercise of the commitment.

The contractual amounts of financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk were as follows:

December 31, 

 

2025

2024

(in thousands)

Fixed Rate

Variable Rate

Fixed Rate

Variable Rate

Standby letters of credit

$

805

$

$

812

$

Loan commitments outstanding

 

22,489

 

18,108

 

3,008

 

34,596

Unused lines of credit

 

12,997

 

107,351

 

14,415

 

78,501

Commitments to make loans are generally made for periods of 60 days or less. The fixed rate loan commitments at December 31, 2025 have interest rates ranging from 5.62% to 7.15% and maturities ranging from 1 year to 30 years. The fixed rate loan commitments at December 31, 2024 have interest rates ranging from 6.625% to 7.75% and maturities ranging from 3 years to 30 years.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 13, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 14, 2025
2023Dec 21, 2023
2022Dec 23, 2022
2021Dec 23, 2021

About Commitments Disclosures

Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.

Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.