Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Note 10.  Commitments and Contingencies

In the normal course of business, the Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the balance sheets. The contract or notional amounts of these instruments reflect the extent of involvement the Company has in particular classes of financial instruments. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for loans.

Commitments to extend credit amounting to $128,944,000 and $123,676,000 were outstanding at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. 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 unless waived by the bank. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee.

Included in commitments to extend credit are undisbursed lines of credit totaling $128,624,000 and $123,311,000 at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively.  Undisbursed lines of credit are revolving lines of credit whereby customers can repay principal and request principal advances during the term of the loan at their discretion and most expire between one and 12 months.

The Company has undisbursed portions of construction loans totaling $2,598,000 and $2,380,000 as of September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. These commitments are agreements to lend to a customer, subject to meeting certain construction progress requirements established in the contract. The underlying construction loans have fixed expiration dates.

Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees amounting to $320,000 and $365,000 were outstanding at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010 respectively. Standby letters of credit and financial guarantees are conditional commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Those guarantees are primarily issued to support private borrowing arrangements. Most standby letters of credit and guarantees carry a one year term or less. The fair value of the liability related to these standby letters of credit, which represents the fees received for their issuance, was not significant at September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010.  The Company recognizes these fees as revenue over the term of the commitment or when the commitment is used.

The Company generally requires collateral or other security to support financial instruments with credit risk. Management does not anticipate any material loss will result from the outstanding commitments to extend credit, standby letters of credit and financial guarantees.

The Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims which arise in the ordinary course of business.  In the opinion of management, the amount of ultimate liability with respect to such actions will not materially affect the consolidated financial position or consolidated results of operations of the Company.