15.

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments:

The Company is a party to financial instruments with off-balance-sheet risk in the normal course of business to meet the financing needs of its customers. These financial instruments include commitments to extend credit and lines of credit. The instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and market risks in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated financial statements.

The Company’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the counterparty to the financial instrument for loan commitments and lines of credit is represented by the contractual amounts of these instruments.

Commitments to extend credit (principally real estate mortgage loans) and lines of credit (principally business lines of credit and home equity lines of credit) amounted to

$78.1

million and

$244.6

million, respectively, at

December

31,

2016.

Included in these commitments were

$12.3

million of fixed-rate commitments at a weighted average rate of

4.65%

and

$310.5

million of adjustable-rate commitments with a weighted average rate of

3.66%,

as of

December

31,

2016.

Since generally all of the loan commitments are expected to be drawn upon, the total loan commitments approximate future cash requirements, whereas the amounts of lines of credit

may

not be indicative of the Company’s future cash requirements. The loan commitments generally expire in

days, while construction loan lines of credit mature within

eighteen

months and home equity lines of credit mature within

ten

years. The Company uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance-sheet instruments.

Commitments to extend credit are legally binding 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 and require payment of a fee. The Company evaluates each customer’s creditworthiness on a case-by-case basis. Collateral held consists primarily of real estate.

The Bank collateralized a portion of its deposits with letters of credit issued by FHLB-NY. At

December

31,

2016,

there were

$382.5

million of letters of credit outstanding. The letters of credit are collateralized by mortgage loans pledged by the Bank.

The Trusts issued capital securities with a par value of

$61.9

million in

June

and

July

2007.

The Holding Company has guaranteed the payment of the Trusts’ obligations under these capital securities.

The Company’s minimum annual rental payments for Bank facilities due under non-cancelable leases are as follows:

	Minimum Rental
	(In thousands)
Years ended December 31:
2017	$	6,068
2018		5,793
2019		6,684
2020		6,756
2021		5,990
Thereafter		26,711
Total minimum payments required	$	58,002

The leases have escalation clauses for operating expenses and real estate taxes. The Company’s non-cancelable operating lease agreements expire through

2031.

Rent expense under these leases for the years ended

December

31,

2016,

2015

and

2014

was approximately

$5.8

million,

$5.8

million and

$3.8

million, respectively.

Contingencies:

The Company is a defendant in various lawsuits. Management of the Company, after consultation with outside legal counsel, believes that the resolution of these various matters will not result in any material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.