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CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
Litigation Matters. In the ordinary course of business, the Company and its subsidiaries become involved in legal proceedings, including litigation arising out of the Company’s efforts to collect outstanding loans. It is not uncommon for collection efforts to lead to so-called “lender liability” suits in which borrowers may assert various claims against the Company. From time to time, the Company is party to other legal matters arising in the normal course of business. While some matters pending against the Company specify damages claimed by plaintiffs, others do not seek a specified amount of damages or are at very early stages of the legal process. The Company records a loss accrual for all legal matters for which it deems a loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated. Management, after consultation with legal counsel, believes the ultimate resolution of these existing proceedings is not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition or results of operations of the Company and/or its subsidiaries and the range of possible additional loss in excess of amounts accrued is not material.
Regulatory Matters. The Company and First Bank have entered into agreements with the FRB and MDOF, as further described in Note 14 to the consolidated financial statements. The informal agreement with the MDOF, dated as of September 18, 2008, was terminated effective September 11, 2013.
Reserve for Mortgage Repurchase Losses. The Company's mortgage banking division, in the normal course of business, sells residential mortgage loans directly to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), and to a lessor extent, to investors other than GSEs, as whole loans. In connection with these sales, the Company makes customary representations and warranties that the loans meet certain requirements. In the event of breaches of its representations and warranties, such as documentation or underwriting deficiencies, the Company may be required to either repurchase the mortgage loans with the identified defects, or in most cases, otherwise indemnify or "make whole" the investors for their losses on the loans. First Bank also, on certain loans, has a repurchase obligation on these loans in the event of early payment default. The early payment default provisions generally range from four months to one year after sale of the loan in the secondary market. First Bank has not sold any one-to-four-family residential mortgage loans into the secondary market with early payment default provisions since 2007.
The Company has unresolved claims with GSEs and other financial institutions associated with loan principal balances of $13.5 million and $12.8 million as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The Company has recorded a mortgage repurchase reserve for its potential repurchase or make whole liability associated with representation and warranty claims and early payment default provisions of $2.5 million and $2.0 million as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The estimated liability for mortgage repurchase losses represents the Company's best estimate of losses for representation and warranty obligations and early payment default provisions. The mortgage repurchase reserve is based on then-currently available information and is dependent on various factors, including historical claims and settlement experience, projections of future defaults, and significant judgment and assumptions that are subject to change. The estimated loss may materially change in the future based on factors beyond the Company's control or if actual experiences are different from the Company's assumptions, including, without limitation, estimated repurchase rates, economic conditions, estimated home prices, consumer and counterparty behavior, and a variety of other judgmental factors. Adverse developments with respect to one or more of the assumptions underlying the estimated liability and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss could result in significant increases to future provisions and/or the estimated range of possible loss. Because the Company typically sold loans with early payment default provisions as servicing released, the Company is unable to track the outstanding balances or delinquency status of the majority of the loans that may be subject to repurchase under early payment default provisions.