Commitments And Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies

NOTE 12. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We are a party to certain financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of our customers. These instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the statement of financial position. The contract amounts of these instruments reflect the extent of involvement that we have in this class of financial instruments.

Many of our lending relationships contain both funded and unfunded elements. The funded portion is reflected on our balance sheet. The unfunded portion of these commitments is not recorded on our balance sheet until a draw is made under the loan facility. Since many of the commitments to extend credit may expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash flow requirements.

A summary of the total unfunded, or off-balance sheet, credit extension commitments follows:

		March 31,
Dollars in thousands		2013
Commitments to extend credit:
Revolving home equity and
credit card lines	$	47,857
Construction loans		17,339
Other loans		29,274
Standby letters of credit		1,830
Total	$	96,300

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. We evaluate each customer's credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if we deem necessary upon extension of credit, is based on our credit evaluation. Collateral held varies but may include accounts receivable, inventory, equipment or real estate.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Standby letters of credit generally are contingent upon the failure of the customer to perform according to the terms of the underlying contract with the third party.

Our exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. We use the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as we do for on-balance sheet instruments.