In the normal course of business, the Company may be involved in various legal proceedings. In the opinion of management, any liability resulting from such proceedings would not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial statements. No material legal proceedings existed at September 30, 2023.

In the normal course of business, the Company is party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk to meet the financing needs of its customers. These instruments include commitments to extend credit and commitments to sell loans. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit risk in excess of the amount recognized on the balance sheets.

The Company’s exposure to credit losses is represented by the contractual, or notional, amount of these commitments. The Company follows the same credit policies in making commitments as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments. As some of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, and some of the commitments may not be drawn upon to the total extent of the commitment, the notional amount of these commitments does not necessarily represent future cash requirements of the Company.

ASU 2016-13 requires that we establish an allowance for credit losses for off-balance sheet credit exposures, including unfunded loan commitments, that meet certain requirements. The allowance for credit losses for off-balance sheet credit exposures is estimated by portfolio segment at each balance sheet date under the CECL model using the same methodologies as portfolio loans, also taking into consideration management’s assumption of the likelihood that funding will occur. The allowance for credit losses for off-balance sheet credit exposures is included in other liabilities on the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. Additional provisions for expected losses occur through a charge to the provision for credit losses. The adoption of the ASU 2016-13 resulted in the establishment of a $665,000 allowance for credit losses for unfunded loan commitments, based on $41.1 million in outstanding loan commitments that are expected to fund. At September 30, 2023, the allowance for credit losses for unfunded commitments was $909,000 and there was $55.2 million in outstanding commitments to extend credit that were expected to fund.

The contractual amounts of off-balance-sheet credit-related financial instruments are summarized below:


	September 30, 2023
	Fixed Rate		Variable Rate		Total
	(in thousands)
Commitments to extend credit	$	1,474	$	96,768	$	98,242
Standby letters of credit		—		150		150
Credit enhancement under the FHLB of Chicago Mortgage Partnership Finance Program		1,027		—		1,027
Commitments to sell loans		1,220		—		1,220
Overdraft protection program commitments		3,789		—		3,789


	December 31, 2022
	Fixed Rate		Variable Rate		Total
	(in thousands)
Commitments to extend credit	$	3,391	$	80,631	$	84,022
Standby letters of credit		—		150		150
Credit enhancement under the FHLB of Chicago Mortgage Partnership Finance Program		894		—		894
Commitments to sell loans		1,292		—		1,292
Overdraft protection program commitments		3,881		—		3,881

Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer at fixed or variable rates, 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. The amount of collateral obtained upon extension of credit is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer. Collateral held varies but may include accounts receivable; inventory; property, plant and equipment; real estate; and stocks and bonds. Commitments to sell loans represent commitments obtained by the Company from a secondary market agency to purchase mortgages from the Company at specified interest rates and within specified periods of time.

Standby letters of credit are conditional lending commitments issued by the Company to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Generally, all standby letters of credit have expiration dates within one year. The credit risk involved in issuing standby letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loan facilities to customers. The Company generally holds collateral supporting these commitments. Standby letters of credit are not reflected in the financial statements, since recording the fair value of these guarantees would not have a significant impact on the financial statements.

The Company participates in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago Mortgage Partnership Finance Program (the “Program”). In addition to entering into forward commitments to sell mortgage loans to a secondary market agency, the Company enters into firm commitments to deliver loans to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago through the Program. Under the Program, loans are funded by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, and the Company receives an agency fee reported as a component of gain on sale of loans. The Company had $1 million in outstanding commitments to deliver loans through the Program as of September 30, 2023. Once delivered to the Program, the Company provides a contractually agreed-upon credit enhancement and performs servicing of the loans. Under the credit enhancement, the Company is liable for losses on loans delivered through the Program after application of any mortgage insurance and a contractually agreed-upon credit enhancement provided by the Program, subject to an agreed-upon maximum. The Company receives a fee for this credit enhancement. The Company records a liability for expected losses in excess of anticipated credit enhancement fees. As of September 30, 2023, and December 31, 2022, the Company had no liability outstanding related to the Program.

Unfunded commitments under overdraft protection agreements are commitments for possible future extensions of credit to existing customers. These lines of credit may or may not require collateral and may or may not contain a specific maturity date.