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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

NOTE 14 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Financial Instruments

The Bank is party to credit-related 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 standby letters of credit. Such instruments involve, to varying degrees, elements of credit and interest rate risk in excess of the amount recognized in the consolidated balance sheets.

The Bank’s exposure to credit loss in the event of nonperformance by the other party to the financial instrument for commitments to extend credit and standby letters of credit is represented by the contractual amount of those instruments. The Bank uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments.

Such commitments and conditional obligations were as follows:


		Contractual Amount
		June 30, 2022			December 31, 2021

			(dollars in thousands)
Commitments to extend credit		$	656,359		$	609,947
Standby letters of credit			14,485			12,960

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. Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, the total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements. The Bank evaluates each customer’s credit worthiness on a case-by-case basis. The amount of collateral obtained, if deemed necessary, by the Bank upon extension of credit is based on management’s credit evaluation of the customer. Collateral held varies, but may include real estate, accounts receivable, inventory, property, plant, and equipment, and income-producing properties.

Standby letters of credit are conditional commitments issued by the Bank to guarantee the performance of a customer to a third party. Those standby letters of credit are primarily issued to support extensions of credit. The credit risk involved in issuing standby letters of credit is essentially the same as that involved in extending loans to customers. The Bank secures the standby letters of credit with the same collateral used to secure the related loan.

Legal Contingencies

In the normal course of business, the Company, or its subsidiaries, are involved in various legal proceedings. In the opinion of management, any liability resulting from pending proceedings would not be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

DeBaere, et al v. Heartland Bank and Trust Company

The Bank is a defendant in a purported class action lawsuit filed in June 2020, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, DeBaere, et al v. Heartland Bank and Trust Company. The plaintiff, a customer of the Bank, alleges that the Bank breached its contract with the plaintiff by (1) charging multiple insufficient funds fees or overdraft fees on a single customer-initiated transaction, and (2) charging overdraft fees for transactions that were authorized on a positive account balance, but when settled, settled into a negative balance.

The Bank intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit. The Company does not believe a loss is probable at this time, as that term is used in assessing loss contingencies. Accordingly, consistent with the authoritative guidance in the evaluation of contingencies, an accrual related to this matter has not been recorded. However, an unfavorable outcome is reasonably possible, and the Company would not characterize the chance of any loss as “remote.” Given the early stage of this case, the Company cannot yet offer an opinion on the estimated range of any possible loss, in the event of an unfavorable opinion.

Miller, et al v. State Bank of Lincoln and Heartland Bank and Trust Company

The Bank is a defendant in a purported class action lawsuit filed in May 2020, in the Circuit Court of Logan County, Illinois, Miller, et al v. State Bank of Lincoln and the Bank. The plaintiff, a customer of State Bank of Lincoln, which previously merged with the Bank, alleges that the Bank breached its contract with the plaintiff by charging multiple insufficient funds fees or overdraft fees on a single customer-initiated transaction.

The Bank intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit. The Company does not believe a loss is probable at this time, as that term is used in assessing loss contingencies. Accordingly, consistent with the authoritative guidance in the evaluation of contingencies, an accrual related to this matter has not been recorded. However, an unfavorable outcome is reasonably possible, and the Company would not characterize the chance of any loss as “remote.” Given the early stage of this case, the Company cannot yet offer an opinion on the estimated range of any possible loss, in the event of an unfavorable opinion.