Item 1. Business
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this Form 10-K constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance or business. Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical fact but are based on certain assumptions and are generally identified by use of the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "forecasts," "intends," "plans," "targets," "potentially," "probably," "projects," "outlook" or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would" and "could." Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to our beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, assumptions and statements about, among other things, expectations of the business environment in which we operate, projections of future performance or financial items, perceived opportunities in the market, potential future credit experience, and statements regarding our mission and vision. These forward-looking statements are based upon current management expectations and may, therefore, involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results, performance, or achievements may differ materially from those suggested, expressed, or implied by forward-looking statements as a result of a wide variety or range of factors including, but not limited to:
•the effect of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic, including on our credit quality and business operations, as well as its impact on general economic and financial market conditions and other uncertainties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the extent and duration of the impact on public health, the United States of America ("U.S.") and global economies, and consumer and corporate clients, including economic activity, employment levels and market liquidity;
•changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits;
•changes in economic conditions, either nationally or in our market area;
•the risks of lending and investing activities, including changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of our allowance for loan losses;
•monetary and fiscal policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("Federal Reserve") and the U.S. Government and other governmental initiatives affecting the financial services industry;
•fluctuations in the demand for loans and the number of unsold homes, land and other properties;
•fluctuations in real estate values and residential, commercial and multifamily real estate market conditions in our market area;
•our ability to access cost-effective funding;
•uncertainty regarding the future of the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR"), and the potential transition away from LIBOR toward new interest-rate benchmarks;
•our ability to control operating costs and expenses;
•secondary market conditions for loans and our ability to sell loans in the secondary market;
•fluctuations in interest rates;
•results of examinations of Sound Financial Bancorp and Sound Community Bank by their regulators, including the possibility that the regulators may, among other things, require us to increase our allowance for loan losses or to write-down assets, change Sound Community Bank's regulatory capital position or affect our ability to borrow funds or maintain or increase deposits, which could adversely affect our liquidity and earnings;
•inability of key third-party providers to perform their obligations to us;
•our ability to attract and retain deposits;
•competitive pressures among financial services companies;
•our ability to successfully integrate any assets, liabilities, clients, systems, and management personnel we may acquire into our operations and our ability to realize related revenue synergies and expected cost savings and other benefits within the anticipated time frames or at all;
•the use of estimates in determining fair value of certain of our assets, which estimates may prove to be incorrect and result in significant declines in valuation;
•our ability to keep pace with technological changes, including our ability to identify and address cyber-security risks such as data security breaches, "denial of service" attacks, "hacking" and identity theft, and other attacks on our information technology systems or on the third-party vendors who perform several of our critical processing functions;
•changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the financial institution regulatory agencies or the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB"), including additional guidance and interpretation on accounting issues and details of the implementation of new accounting methods, including as a result of the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Securities Act of 2020 ("CARES Act") and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 ("CAA, 2021");
•legislative or regulatory changes such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and its implementing regulations that adversely affect our business, and the availability of resources to address such changes;
•our ability to retain or attract key employees or members of our senior management team;
•costs and effects of litigation, including settlements and judgments;
•our ability to implement our business strategies;
•staffing fluctuations in response to product demand or the implementation of corporate strategies that affect our workforce and potential associated charges;
•our ability to pay dividends on our common stock;
•the possibility of other-than-temporary impairments of securities held in our securities portfolio; and
•other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory, and technological factors affecting our operations, pricing, products and services, including as a result of the CAA, 2021 and recent COVID-19 vaccination efforts, and the other risks described from time to time in this Form 10-K and our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").
We wish to advise readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements and that the factors listed above could materially affect our financial performance and could cause our actual results for future periods to differ materially from any such forward-looking statements expressed with respect to future periods and could negatively affect our stock price performance.
We do not undertake and specifically decline any obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.
General
References in this document to Sound Financial Bancorp or the "Company" refer to Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. and references to the "Bank" refer to Sound Community Bank. References to "we," "us," and "our" means Sound Financial Bancorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sound Community Bank, unless the context otherwise requires.
Sound Financial Bancorp, a Maryland corporation, is a bank holding company for its wholly owned subsidiary, Sound Community Bank. Substantially all of Sound Financial Bancorp's business is conducted through Sound Community Bank, a Washington state-chartered commercial bank. As a Washington commercial bank, the Bank's regulators are the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions ("WDFI") and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"). The Federal Reserve is the primary federal regulator for Sound Financial Bancorp. We also sell insurance products and services for consumer clients through Sound Community Insurance Agency, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank.
Sound Community Bank's deposits are insured up to applicable limits by the FDIC. At December 31, 2020, Sound Financial Bancorp had total consolidated assets of $861.4 million, including $613.4 million of loans held for portfolio, deposits of $748.0 million and stockholders' equity of $85.5 million. The shares of Sound Financial Bancorp are traded on The NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "SFBC." Our executive offices are located at 2400 3rd Avenue, Suite 150, Seattle, Washington, 98121 and our telephone number is 206-448-0884.
Our principal business consists of attracting retail and commercial deposits from the general public and investing those funds, along with borrowed funds, in loans secured by first and second mortgages on one-to-four family residences (including home equity loans and lines of credit), commercial and multifamily real estate, construction and land, consumer and commercial business loans. Our commercial business loans include unsecured lines of credit and secured term loans and lines of credit secured by inventory, equipment and accounts receivable. We also offer a variety of secured and unsecured consumer loan products, including manufactured home loans, floating home loans, automobile loans, boat loans and recreational vehicle loans. As part of our business, we focus on residential mortgage loan originations, a significant portion of which we sell to the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") and other correspondents and the remainder of which we retain for our loan portfolio consistent with our asset/liability objectives. We sell loans which conform to the underwriting standards of Fannie Mae ("conforming") in which we retain the servicing of the loan in order to maintain the direct customer relationship and to generate noninterest income. Residential loans which do not conform to the underwriting standards of Fannie Mae ("non-conforming"), are either held in our loan portfolio or sold with servicing released. We originate and retain a significant amount of commercial real estate loans, including those secured by owner-occupied and nonowner-occupied commercial real estate, multifamily property, mobile home parks and construction and land development loans.
Market Area
We serve the Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area ("MSA"), which includes King County (which includes the city of Seattle), Pierce County and Snohomish County within the Puget Sound region, and also serve Clallam and Jefferson Counties, on the North Olympic Peninsula of Washington. We serve these markets through our headquarters in Seattle, eight branch offices, four of which are located in the Seattle MSA, three that are located in Clallam County and one that is located in Jefferson County. We also have a loan production office located in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle. Based on the most recent branch deposit data provided by the FDIC, our share of deposits was approximately 0.12% in King County, approximately 0.50% in Pierce County and in Snohomish County approximately 0.40%. In Clallam County and Jefferson County, we have approximately 17.0% and 7.6%, respectively, of the deposits in those markets. See "—Competition."
Our market area includes a diverse population of management, professional and sales personnel, office employees, health care workers, manufacturing and transportation workers, service industry workers and government employees, as well as retired and self-employed individuals. The population has a skilled work force with a wide range of education levels and ethnic backgrounds. Major employment sectors include information and communications technology, financial services, aerospace, military, manufacturing, maritime, biotechnology, education, health and social services, retail trades, transportation and professional services. Significant employers headquartered in our market area include U.S. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Microsoft, University of Washington, Providence Health, Costco, Boeing, Nordstrom, Amazon.com, Starbucks, Alaska Air Group and Weyerhaeuser.
Economic conditions in our markets, and the U.S. as a whole, were negatively impacted by the restrictions imposed on businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent trends in housing prices and unemployment rates in our market areas reflect the continuing impact of these restrictions. For the month of December 2020, the preliminary Seattle MSA reported an unemployment rate of 5.1%, compared to the national average of 6.4%, according to the latest available information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Home prices in our markets improved over the past year. Based on information from Case-Shiller, the average home price in the Seattle MSA increased 11.7% in 2020.
King County has the largest population of any county in the state of Washington with approximately 2.2 million residents and a median household income of approximately $95,000. Based on information from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service ("MLS"), the median home sales price in King County in December 2020 was $676,000, a 9.9% increase from December 2019's median home sales price of $615,000.
Pierce County has approximately 891,000 residents and a median household income of approximately $75,400. Based on information from the MLS, the median home sales price in Pierce County in December 2020 was $430,000, a 16.5% increase from December 2019's median home sales price of $369,000.
Snohomish County has approximately 819,000 residents and a median household income of approximately $87,000. Based on information from the MLS, the median home sales price in Snohomish County at December 2020 was $535,000, an 8.1% increase from December 2019's median home sales price of $495,000.
Clallam County, with a population of approximately 77,000, has a median household income of approximately $59,000. The economy of Clallam County is primarily manufacturing and shipping. The Sequim Dungeness Valley continues to be a growing retirement location. Based on information from the MLS, the median home sales price in Clallam County in December 2020 was $372,000, an 20.4% increase from December 2019's median home sales price of $309,000.
Jefferson County, with a population of approximately 32,000, has a median household income of approximately $54,000. Based on information from the MLS, the average home sales price in Jefferson County at December 2020 was $406,000, a 8.3% increase from December 2019's median home sales price of $375,000.
Lending Activities
The following table presents information concerning the composition of our loan portfolio, excluding loans held-for-sale, by the type of loan for the dates indicated (dollars in thousands):
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December 31,
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2020
|
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2019
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2018
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2017
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2016
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent
|
|
Amount
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|
Percent
|
|
Amount
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Percent
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|
Amount
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|
Percent
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent
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Real estate loans:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
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$
|
130,657
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|
|
21.2
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%
|
|
$
|
149,393
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|
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24.0
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%
|
|
$
|
169,830
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|
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27.3
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%
|
|
$
|
157,417
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|
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28.5
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%
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$
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152,386
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30.3
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%
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Home equity
|
16,265
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2.6
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|
23,845
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3.8
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|
27,655
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4.4
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|
|
28,379
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5.2
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|
27,771
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5.5
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Commercial and multifamily
|
265,774
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43.2
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|
|
261,268
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|
|
42.0
|
|
|
252,644
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|
|
40.6
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|
211,269
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|
38.4
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|
|
181,004
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36.1
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Construction and land
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62,752
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10.2
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|
75,756
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|
12.2
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65,259
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|
10.6
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|
61,482
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11.2
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|
70,915
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14.1
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Total real estate loans
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475,448
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|
77.2
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|
|
510,262
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|
|
82.0
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|
|
515,388
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|
|
82.9
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|
|
458,547
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|
|
83.3
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|
|
432,076
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|
|
86.0
|
|
Consumer loans:
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|
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|
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Manufactured homes
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20,941
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|
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3.4
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|
|
20,613
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|
|
3.3
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|
|
20,145
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|
|
3.2
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|
17,111
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|
|
3.1
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|
15,494
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|
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3.1
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Floating homes
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39,868
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6.6
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|
|
43,799
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|
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7.1
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|
|
40,806
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|
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6.6
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|
|
29,120
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|
|
5.3
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|
|
23,996
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|
|
4.8
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|
Other consumer
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15,024
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|
|
2.4
|
|
|
8,302
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|
|
1.3
|
|
|
6,628
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|
|
1.1
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|
|
4,902
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|
|
0.9
|
|
|
3,932
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|
|
0.8
|
|
Total consumer loans
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75,833
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|
|
12.4
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|
|
72,714
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|
|
11.7
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|
|
67,579
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|
|
10.9
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|
|
51,133
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|
|
9.3
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|
|
43,422
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|
|
8.7
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Commercial business loans
|
64,217
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|
|
10.4
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|
|
38,931
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|
|
6.3
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|
|
38,804
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|
|
6.2
|
|
|
40,829
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|
|
7.4
|
|
|
26,331
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|
|
5.3
|
|
Total loans
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615,498
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|
|
100.0
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%
|
|
621,907
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|
|
100.0
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%
|
|
621,771
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|
|
100.0
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%
|
|
550,509
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|
|
100.0
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%
|
|
501,829
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|
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100.0
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%
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Less:
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|
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Deferred fees and discounts
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(2,135)
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|
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(2,020)
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|
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(2,228)
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|
|
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(1,914)
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|
|
|
|
(1,828)
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|
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Allowance for loan losses
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(6,000)
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|
|
|
|
(5,640)
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|
|
|
|
(5,774)
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|
|
|
|
(5,241)
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|
|
|
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(4,822)
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Total loans, net
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$
|
607,363
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|
|
|
$
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614,247
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|
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$
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613,769
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|
|
|
|
$
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543,354
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|
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$
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495,179
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|
The following table shows the composition of our loan portfolio in dollar amounts and in percentages by fixed and adjustable-rate loans for the dates indicated (dollars in thousands):
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|
December 31,
|
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2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
|
2017
|
|
2016
|
|
Amount
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Percent
|
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Amount
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Percent
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Amount
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Percent
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Amount
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Percent
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Amount
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Percent
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Fixed-rate loans:
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Real estate loans:
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|
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|
|
|
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|
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One-to-four family
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$
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60,869
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|
|
9.9
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%
|
|
$
|
79,304
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|
|
12.8
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%
|
|
$
|
94,237
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|
|
15.2
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%
|
|
$
|
117,590
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|
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21.3
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%
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$
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142,537
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28.4
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%
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Home equity
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4,673
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0.8
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|
|
12,505
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|
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2.0
|
|
|
11,052
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|
|
1.8
|
|
|
11,373
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|
|
2.1
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|
|
9,102
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|
|
1.8
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|
Commercial and multifamily
|
91,885
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|
|
14.9
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|
|
106,161
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|
|
17.1
|
|
|
102,907
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|
|
16.5
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|
|
89,094
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|
|
16.2
|
|
|
77,285
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|
|
15.4
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|
Construction and land
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29,607
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|
|
4.8
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|
|
43,193
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|
|
6.9
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|
|
51,259
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|
|
8.2
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|
|
57,247
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|
|
10.4
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|
|
69,398
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|
|
13.9
|
|
Total real estate loans
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187,034
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|
|
30.4
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|
|
241,163
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|
|
38.8
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|
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259,455
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|
41.7
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|
275,304
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|
50.0
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|
|
298,322
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|
|
59.5
|
|
Consumer loans:
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
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Manufactured homes
|
20,941
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|
|
3.4
|
|
|
20,613
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|
|
3.3
|
|
|
20,145
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|
|
3.2
|
|
|
17,111
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|
|
3.1
|
|
|
15,494
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|
|
3.1
|
|
Floating homes
|
31,935
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|
|
5.3
|
|
|
34,539
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|
|
5.6
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|
|
40,806
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|
|
6.6
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|
|
29,120
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|
|
5.3
|
|
|
23,996
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|
|
4.8
|
|
Other consumer
|
14,632
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|
|
2.3
|
|
|
7,777
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|
|
1.3
|
|
|
6,090
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|
|
1.0
|
|
|
4,316
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|
|
0.8
|
|
|
3,297
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|
|
0.6
|
|
Total consumer loans
|
67,508
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|
|
11.0
|
|
|
62,929
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|
|
10.2
|
|
|
67,041
|
|
|
10.8
|
|
|
50,547
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|
|
9.2
|
|
|
42,787
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|
|
8.5
|
|
Commercial business loans
|
49,561
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|
|
8.1
|
|
|
7,411
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|
|
1.2
|
|
|
9,705
|
|
|
1.6
|
|
|
16,889
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|
|
3.1
|
|
|
12,581
|
|
|
2.5
|
|
Total fixed-rate loans
|
304,103
|
|
|
49.5
|
|
|
311,503
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|
|
50.2
|
|
|
336,201
|
|
|
54.1
|
%
|
|
342,740
|
|
|
62.3
|
|
|
353,690
|
|
|
70.5
|
|
Adjustable-rate loans:
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Real estate loans:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
69,788
|
|
|
11.3
|
|
|
70,089
|
|
|
11.3
|
|
|
75,593
|
|
|
12.2
|
|
|
39,827
|
|
|
7.2
|
|
|
9,849
|
|
|
2.0
|
|
Home equity
|
11,592
|
|
|
1.8
|
|
|
11,340
|
|
|
1.8
|
|
|
16,603
|
|
|
2.7
|
|
|
17,007
|
|
|
3.1
|
|
|
18,669
|
|
|
3.7
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
173,889
|
|
|
28.3
|
|
|
155,107
|
|
|
24.8
|
|
|
149,737
|
|
|
24.0
|
|
|
122,175
|
|
|
22.2
|
|
|
103,719
|
|
|
20.7
|
|
Construction and land
|
33,145
|
|
|
5.4
|
|
|
32,563
|
|
|
5.2
|
|
|
14,000
|
|
|
2.3
|
|
|
4,235
|
|
|
0.8
|
|
|
1,517
|
|
|
0.3
|
|
Total real estate loans
|
288,414
|
|
|
46.8
|
|
|
269,099
|
|
|
43.1
|
|
|
255,933
|
|
|
41.2
|
|
|
183,244
|
|
|
33.3
|
|
|
133,754
|
|
|
26.7
|
|
Consumer loans:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Floating homes
|
7,933
|
|
|
1.3
|
|
|
9,260
|
|
|
1.5
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Other consumer
|
392
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
525
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
538
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
585
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
635
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
Total consumer loans
|
8,325
|
|
|
1.4
|
|
|
9,785
|
|
|
1.6
|
|
|
538
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
585
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
635
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
Commercial business loans
|
14,656
|
|
|
2.3
|
|
|
31,520
|
|
|
5.1
|
|
|
29,099
|
|
|
4.6
|
|
|
23,940
|
|
|
4.3
|
|
|
13,750
|
|
|
2.7
|
|
Total adjustable-rate loans
|
311,395
|
|
|
50.5
|
|
|
310,404
|
|
|
49.8
|
|
|
285,570
|
|
|
45.9
|
|
|
207,769
|
|
|
37.7
|
|
|
148,139
|
|
|
29.5
|
|
Total loans
|
615,498
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
621,907
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
621,771
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
550,509
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
501,829
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
Less:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Deferred fees and discounts
|
(2,135)
|
|
|
|
|
(2,020)
|
|
|
|
|
(2,228)
|
|
|
|
|
(1,914)
|
|
|
|
|
(1,828)
|
|
|
|
Allowance for loan losses
|
(6,000)
|
|
|
|
|
(5,640)
|
|
|
|
|
(5,774)
|
|
|
|
|
(5,241)
|
|
|
|
|
(4,822)
|
|
|
|
Total loans, net
|
$
|
607,363
|
|
|
|
|
$
|
614,247
|
|
|
|
|
$
|
613,769
|
|
|
|
|
$
|
543,354
|
|
|
|
|
$
|
495,179
|
|
|
|
At December 31, 2020 and 2019, we had floating or variable rate loans totaling $311.4 million and $310.4 million, respectively. At December 31, 2020, a total of $177.0 million have interest rate floors, of which $117.2 million are at their floors.
The following table illustrates the contractual maturity of our construction and land and commercial business loans at December 31, 2020 (dollars in thousands). Loans that have adjustable or renegotiable interest rates are shown as maturing in the period during which the contract is due. The amount of loans due after December 31, 2021 with fixed interest rates totaled $54.7 million, while the amount of loans due after such date with floating or adjustable interest rates totaled $18.8 million. The table does not reflect the effects of possible prepayments or enforcement of due-on-sale clauses.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Construction and Land
|
|
Commercial Business
|
|
Total
|
|
Amount
|
|
Weighted
Average Rate
|
|
Amount
|
|
Weighted
Average Rate
|
|
Amount
|
|
Weighted
Average Rate
|
2021 (1)
|
$
|
46,674
|
|
|
4.85
|
%
|
|
$
|
6,580
|
|
|
4.61
|
%
|
|
$
|
53,254
|
|
|
4.82
|
%
|
2022 to 2025
|
10,598
|
|
|
6.17
|
|
|
49,656
|
|
|
1.49
|
|
|
60,254
|
|
|
2.32
|
|
2026 and thereafter
|
5,480
|
|
|
4.93
|
|
|
7,981
|
|
|
5.43
|
|
|
13,461
|
|
|
5.23
|
|
Total (2)
|
$
|
62,752
|
|
|
5.08
|
%
|
|
$
|
64,217
|
|
|
2.30
|
%
|
|
$
|
126,969
|
|
|
3.67
|
%
|
(1)Includes demand loans, loans having no stated maturity and overdraft loans.
(2)Excludes deferred fees of $998,000.
Lending Authority. Our President and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") may approve unsecured loans up to $1.0 million and all types of secured loans up to 30% of our legal lending limit, or approximately $5.5 million at December 31, 2020. Our Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer ("CCO") may approve unsecured loans up to $400,000 and secured loans up to 15% of our legal lending limit, or approximately $2.7 million at December 31, 2020. The Chief Banking Offer may approve unsecured loans up to $50,000 and all types of secured loans up to approximately $1.4 million at December 31, 2020. Any loans over the CEO's lending authority or loans significantly outside our general underwriting guidelines must be approved by the Loan Committee of the Board of Directors, consisting of four independent directors, the CEO and the CCO. Lending authority is also granted to certain other lending staff at lower amounts.
Largest Borrowing Relationships. At December 31, 2020, the maximum amount under federal law that we could lend to any one borrower and the borrower's related entities was approximately $15.5 million. Our five largest relationships totaled $58.8 million in the aggregate, or 9.5% of our $615.5 million total loan portfolio, at December 31, 2020. At December 31, 2020, the largest lending relationship totaled $13.3 million and consisted of one loan to a business, collateralized by a multifamily real estate property. The second largest relationship totaled $13.0 million and consisted of one $8.5 million loan to a business and separately a $4.5 million loan to an individual, both collateralized by a multifamily real estate property. The third largest relationship totaled $12.1 million and consisted of four loans to two businesses, all collateralized by multifamily real estate properties. The fourth largest relationship totaled $11.1 million and consisted of two loans totaling $8.2 million to an individual and two loans totaling $2.9 million to two businesses, all collateralized by multifamily real estate. The fifth top borrowing relationship totaled $9.3 million and consisted of four loans to three businesses secured by multifamily real estate. These top five borrowers had unused commitments totaling $7.6 million at December 31, 2020. At December 31, 2020, we had 15 additional lending relationships in excess of $5.0 million totaling $97.8 million. All of the foregoing loans were performing in accordance with their repayment terms at December 31, 2020.
One-to-Four Family Real Estate Lending. One of our primary lending activities is the origination of loans secured by first mortgages on one-to-four family residences, substantially all of which are secured by property located in our geographic lending area. We originate both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans. During 2020, our fixed-rate, one-to-four family loan originations increased $191.2 million, or 183.2%, to $295.5 million compared to $104.3 million in 2019, while one-to-four family adjustable-rate loan originations increased $1.2 million, or 4.6% to $25.8 million compared to $24.6 million in 2019. In 2019, we identified demand in the marketplace for one-to-four family, residential fixed-rate mortgage loans, especially jumbo loans (generally loans above the conforming Fannie Mae limits of $548,000 or $766,000, depending on location within our market area). In 2020, our average loan amount was $586,000 for adjustable-rate, one-to-four family mortgages.
Most of our loans are underwritten using generally-accepted secondary market underwriting guidelines. A portion of the one-to-four family loans we originate are retained in our portfolio and the remaining loans are sold into the secondary market to Fannie Mae or other private investors. Loans that are sold into the secondary market to Fannie Mae are sold with the servicing retained to maintain the client relationship and to generate noninterest income. We also originate a small portion of government guaranteed and jumbo loans for sale servicing released to certain correspondent purchasers. The sale of mortgage loans provides a source of non-interest income through the gain on sale, reduces our interest-rate risk, provides a stream of servicing income, enhances liquidity and enables us to originate more loans at our current capital level than if we held the loans in our loan portfolio. Our pricing strategy for mortgage loans includes establishing interest rates that are competitive with other financial institutions and consistent with our internal asset and liability management objectives. At December 31, 2020, one-to-
four family residential mortgage loans (excluding loans held-for-sale) totaled $130.7 million, or 21.2%, of our gross loan portfolio, of which $60.9 million were fixed-rate loans and $69.8 million were adjustable-rate loans, compared to $149.4 million (excluding loans held-for-sale), or 24.0% of our gross loan portfolio at December 31, 2019, of which $79.3 million were fixed-rate loans and $70.1 million were adjustable-rate loans.
Substantially all of the one-to-four family residential mortgage loans we retain in our portfolio consist of loans that do not satisfy acreage limits, income, credit, conforming loan limits (i.e., jumbo mortgages) or various other requirements imposed by Fannie Mae or private investors. Some of these loans are also originated to meet the needs of borrowers who cannot otherwise satisfy Fannie Mae credit requirements because of personal and financial reasons (i.e., bankruptcy, length of time employed, etc.), and other aspects, which do not conform to Fannie Mae's guidelines. Such borrowers may have higher debt-to-income ratios, or the loans are secured by unique properties in rural markets for which there are no sales of comparable properties to support the value according to secondary market requirements. We may require additional collateral or lower loan-to-value ratios to reduce the risk of these loans. We believe that these loans satisfy the needs of borrowers in our market area. As a result, subject to market conditions, we intend to continue to originate these types of loans. We also retain jumbo loans which exceed the conforming loan limits and therefore, are not eligible to be purchased by Fannie Mae. At December 31, 2020, $66.0 million or 50.5% of our one-to-four family loan portfolio consisted of jumbo loans.
We generally underwrite our one-to-four family loans based on the applicant's employment and credit history and the appraised value of the subject property. We generally lend up to 80% of the lesser of the appraised value or purchase price for one-to-four family first mortgage loans and nonowner-occupied first mortgage loans. For first mortgage loans with a loan-to-value ratio in excess of 80%, we may require private mortgage insurance or other credit enhancement to help mitigate credit risk. Properties securing our one-to-four family loans are typically appraised by independent fee appraisers who are selected in accordance with criteria approved by the Loan Committee. For loans that are less than $250,000, we may use an automated valuation model, in lieu of an appraisal. We require title insurance policies on all first mortgage real estate loans originated. Homeowners, liability, fire and, if required, flood insurance policies are also required for one-to-four family loans. Our real estate loans generally contain a "due on sale" clause allowing us to declare the unpaid principal balance due and payable upon the sale of the security property. The average balance of our one-to-four family residential loans was approximately $319,000 at December 31, 2020.
Fixed-rate loans secured by one-to-four family residences have contractual maturities of up to 30 years. All of these loans are fully amortizing, with payments due monthly. Our portfolio of fixed-rate loans also includes $1.8 million of loans with an initial seven-year term and a 30-year amortization period with a borrower refinancing option at a fixed rate at the end of the initial term as long as the loan has met certain performance criteria. In addition, we had $8.9 million one-to-four family loans with a five-year call option at December 31, 2020.
Adjustable-rate loans are offered with annual adjustments and lifetime rate caps that vary based on the product, generally with a maximum annual rate change of 2.0% and a maximum overall rate change of 6.0%. We generally use the rate on one-year LIBOR to re-price our adjustable-rate loans, however, $8.2 million of our adjustable-rate loans are to employees and directors that re-price annually based on a margin of 1%-1.50% over our average 12-month cost of funds. As a consequence of using annual adjustments and lifetime caps, the interest rates on adjustable-rate loans may not be as rate sensitive as our cost of funds. Furthermore, because loan indices may not respond perfectly to changes in market interest rates, upward adjustments on loans may occur more slowly than increases in our cost of interest-bearing liabilities, especially during periods of rapidly increasing interest rates. Because of these characteristics, future yields on adjustable-rate loans may not be sufficient to offset increases in our cost of funds.
We continue to offer our fully amortizing adjustable-rate loans with a fixed interest rate for the first one, three, five or seven years, followed by a periodic adjustable interest rate for the remaining term. Although adjustable-rate mortgage loans may reduce to an extent our vulnerability to changes in market interest rates because they periodically re-price, as interest rates increase, the required payments due from the borrower also increase (subject to rate caps), increasing the potential for default by the borrower. At the same time, the ability of the borrower to repay the loan and the marketability of the underlying collateral may be adversely affected by higher interest rates. Upward adjustments of the contractual interest rate are also limited by our maximum periodic and lifetime rate adjustments. Moreover, the interest rates on most of our adjustable-rate loans do not adjust within the next year and may not adjust for up to ten years after origination. As a result, the effectiveness of adjustable-rate mortgage loans in compensating for changes in general interest rates may be limited during periods of rapidly rising interest rates.
At December 31, 2020, $19.6 million, or 15.0% of our one-to-four family residential portfolio consisted of nonowner-occupied loans, compared to $20.7 million, or 13.9% of our one-to-four family residential portfolio at December 31, 2019. At December 31, 2020, our average nonowner-occupied residential loan had a balance of $327,000. Loans secured by rental properties represent potentially higher risk. As a result, we adhere to more stringent underwriting guidelines which may include, but are not limited to, annual financial statements, a budget factoring in a rental income cash flow analysis of the borrower as
well as the net operating income of the property, information concerning the borrower’s expertise, credit history and profitability, and the value of the underlying property. In addition, these loans are generally secured by a first mortgage on the underlying collateral property along with an assignment of rents and leases. Of primary concern in nonowner-occupied real estate lending is the consistency of rental income of the property. Payments on loans secured by rental properties may depend primarily on the tenants’ continuing ability to pay rent to the property owner, the character of the borrower or, if the property owner is unable to find a tenant, the property owner’s ability to repay the loan without the benefit of a rental income stream. In addition, successful operation and management of nonowner-occupied properties, including property maintenance standards, may affect repayment. As a result, repayment of such loans may be subject to adverse conditions in the real estate market or the economy. If the borrower has multiple rental property loans with us, the loans are typically not cross collateralized.
In 2016, in order to enable individuals to secure the purchase of a new residence before selling their existing residence, we commenced a loan program designed to allow borrowers to access the equity in their current residence to apply towards the purchase of a new residence. The loan or loans to purchase the new residence are generally originated in an amount in excess of $1.0 million and secured by the borrower's existing and/or new residences, with a maximum combined loan-to-value ratio of up to 80%. These loans provide for repayment upon the earlier of the sale of the current residence or the loan maturity date, which is typically up to 12 months. Upon the sale of the borrower's current residence, we may refinance the new residence using our traditional jumbo mortgage loan underwriting guidelines. During 2020, we originated $7.9 million of loans under this program, compared to $14.6 million in 2019. At December 31, 2020, we had $3.3 million of these interest-only residential loans in our one-to-four family residential mortgage loan portfolio.
The primary focus of our underwriting guidelines for interest-only residential loans is on the value of the collateral rather than the ability of the borrower to repay the loan. As a result, this type of lending exposes us to an increased risk of loss due to the larger loan balance and our inability to sell them to Fannie Mae, similar to the risks associated with jumbo one-to-four family residential loans. In addition, a decline in residential real estate values resulting from a downturn in the Washington housing market may reduce the value of the real estate collateral securing these types of loans and increase our risk of loss if borrowers default on their loans.
Home Equity Lending. We originate home equity loans that consist of fixed-rate, fully-amortizing loans and variable-rate lines of credit. We typically originate home equity loans in amounts of up to 90% of the value of the collateral, minus any senior liens on the property; however, prior to 2010 we originated home equity loans in amounts of up to 100% of the value of the collateral, minus any senior liens on the property. Home equity lines of credit are typically originated for up to $250,000 with an adjustable rate of interest, based on the one-year Treasury Bill rate or the Wall Street Journal Prime rate, plus a margin. Home equity lines of credit generally have a three-, five- or 12-year draw period, during which time the funds may be paid down and redrawn up to the committed amount. Once the draw period has lapsed, the payment is amortized over either a 12-, 19- or 21-year period based on the loan balance at that time. We charge a $50 annual fee on each home equity line of credit and require monthly interest-only payments on the entire amount drawn during the draw period. At December 31, 2020, home equity loans totaled $16.3 million, or 2.6% of our total loan portfolio, compared to $23.8 million, or 3.8% of our total loan portfolio at December 31, 2019. Adjustable-rate home equity lines of credit at December 31, 2020 totaled $11.6 million, or 1.8% of our total loan portfolio, compared to $11.3 million, or 1.8% of our total loan portfolio at December 31, 2019. At December 31, 2020, unfunded commitments on home equity lines of credit totaled $16.8 million.
Our fixed-rate home equity loans generally have terms of up to 15 years and are fully amortizing. At December 31, 2020, fixed-rate home equity loans totaled $4.7 million, or 0.8% of our gross loan portfolio, compared to $12.5 million, or 2.0% of our total loan portfolio at December 31, 2019.
Commercial and Multifamily Real Estate Lending. We offer a variety of commercial and multifamily real estate loans. Most of these loans are secured by owner-occupied and nonowner-occupied commercial income producing properties, multifamily apartment buildings, warehouses, office buildings, gas station/convenience stores and mobile home parks located in our market area. At December 31, 2020, commercial and multifamily real estate loans totaled $265.8 million, or 43.2% of our total loan portfolio, compared to $261.3 million, or 42.0% of our total loan portfolio at December 31, 2019.
Loans secured by commercial and multifamily real estate are generally originated with a variable interest rate, fixed for an initial three- to ten-year term and a 20- to 25-year amortization period. At the end of the initial term, the balance is due in full or the loan re-prices based on an independent index plus a margin over the applicable index of 1% to 4% for another five years. Loan-to-value ratios on our commercial and multifamily real estate loans typically do not exceed 80% of the lower of cost or appraised value of the property securing the loan at origination.
Loans secured by commercial and multifamily real estate are generally underwritten based on the net operating income of the property, quality and location of the real estate, the credit history and financial strength of the borrower and the quality of management involved with the property. The net operating income, which is the income derived from the operation of the property less all operating expenses, must be sufficient to cover the payments related to the outstanding debt plus an additional
coverage requirement. We generally impose a minimum debt service coverage ratio of 1.20 for originated loans secured by income producing commercial properties. If the borrower is other than an individual, we typically require the personal guaranty of the principal owners of the borrowing entity. We also generally require an assignment of rents in order to be assured that the cash flow from the project will be used to repay the debt. Appraisals on properties securing commercial and multifamily real estate loans are performed by independent state certified licensed fee appraisers. In order to monitor the adequacy of cash flows on income-producing properties, the borrower is required to provide annual financial information. From time to time we also acquire participation interests in commercial and multifamily real estate loans originated by other financial institutions secured by properties located in our market area.
Historically, loans secured by commercial and multifamily properties generally present different credit risks than one-to-four family properties. These loans typically involve larger balances to single borrowers or groups of related borrowers. Because payments on loans secured by commercial and multifamily properties are often dependent on the successful operation or management of the properties, repayment of these loans may be subject to adverse conditions in the real estate market or the economy. Repayments of loans secured by nonowner-occupied properties depend primarily on the tenant’s continuing ability to pay rent to the property owner, who is our borrower, or, if the property owner is unable to find a tenant, the property owner’s ability to repay the loan without the benefit of a rental income stream. If the cash flow from the project is reduced, or if leases are not obtained or renewed, the borrower's ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Commercial and multifamily real estate loans also expose a lender to greater credit risk than loans secured by one-to-four family because the collateral securing these loans typically cannot be sold as easily as one-to-four family collateral. In addition, most of our commercial and multifamily real estate loans are not fully amortizing and include balloon payments upon maturity. Balloon payments may require the borrower to either sell or refinance the underlying property in order to make the payment, which may increase the risk of default or non-payment. The largest single commercial and multifamily real estate loan at December 31, 2020, totaled $13.3 million and was collateralized by a multifamily property. At December 31, 2020, this loan was performing in accordance with its repayment terms.
The following table provides information on commercial and multifamily real estate loans by type at December 31, 2020 and 2019 (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent
|
Multifamily residential
|
$
|
89,364
|
|
|
33.6
|
%
|
|
$
|
73,891
|
|
|
28.3
|
%
|
Owner-occupied commercial real estate retail
|
4,718
|
|
|
1.8
|
|
|
7,051
|
|
|
2.7
|
|
Owner-occupied commercial real estate office buildings
|
20,118
|
|
|
7.6
|
|
|
19,859
|
|
|
7.6
|
|
Owner-occupied commercial real estate other (1)
|
21,045
|
|
|
7.9
|
|
|
16,857
|
|
|
6.5
|
|
Non-owner occupied commercial real estate retail
|
7,629
|
|
|
2.9
|
|
|
11,324
|
|
|
4.3
|
|
Non-owner occupied commercial real estate office buildings
|
10,981
|
|
|
4.1
|
|
|
11,267
|
|
|
4.3
|
|
Non-owner occupied commercial real estate other (1)
|
78,896
|
|
|
29.7
|
|
|
82,488
|
|
|
31.6
|
|
Warehouses
|
14,683
|
|
|
5.5
|
|
|
15,524
|
|
|
5.9
|
|
Gas station/Convenience store
|
12,481
|
|
|
4.7
|
|
|
13,933
|
|
|
5.3
|
|
Mobile Home Parks
|
5,859
|
|
|
2.2
|
|
|
9,074
|
|
|
3.5
|
|
Total
|
$
|
265,774
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
261,268
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
(1)Other commercial real estate loans include schools, churches, storage facilities, restaurants, etc.
Construction and Land Lending. We originate construction loans secured by single-family residences and commercial and multifamily real estate. We also originate land acquisition and development loans, which are secured by raw land or developed lots on which the borrower intends to build a residence. At December 31, 2020, our construction and land loans totaled $62.8 million, or 10.2% of our total loan portfolio, compared to $75.8 million, or 12.2% of our total loan portfolio at December 31, 2019. At December 31, 2020, unfunded construction loan commitments totaled $19.0 million.
Construction loans to individuals and contractors for the construction of personal residences, including speculative residential construction, totaled $13.8 million, or 22.0%, of our construction and land portfolio at December 31, 2020. In addition to custom home construction loans to individuals, we originate loans that are termed "speculative" which are those loans where the builder does not have, at the time of loan origination, a signed contract with a buyer for the home or lot who has a commitment for permanent financing with either us or another lender. At December 31, 2020, construction loans to contractors for homes that were considered speculative totaled $9.8 million, or 15.6%, of our construction and land portfolio. The composition of, and location of underlying collateral securing, our construction and land loan portfolio, excluding loan commitments, at December 31, 2020 was as follows (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Puget Sound
|
|
Olympic Peninsula
|
|
Other
|
|
Total
|
Commercial and multifamily construction
|
$
|
40,557
|
|
|
$
|
—
|
|
|
$
|
730
|
|
|
$
|
41,287
|
|
Speculative residential construction
|
9,118
|
|
|
669
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
9,787
|
|
Land acquisition and development and lot loans
|
3,008
|
|
|
4,318
|
|
|
104
|
|
|
7,430
|
|
Residential lot loans
|
—
|
|
|
252
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
252
|
|
Residential construction
|
2,469
|
|
|
1,527
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
3,996
|
|
Total
|
$
|
55,152
|
|
|
$
|
6,766
|
|
|
$
|
834
|
|
|
$
|
62,752
|
|
Our residential construction loans generally provide for the payment of interest only during the construction phase, which is typically twelve to eighteen months. At the end of the construction phase, the construction loan generally either converts to a longer-term mortgage loan or is paid off with a permanent loan from another lender. Residential construction loans are made up to the lesser of a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 100% of cost or 80% of appraised value at completion; however, we generally do not originate construction loans which exceed these limits without some form of credit enhancement to mitigate the higher loan to value.
At December 31, 2020, our largest residential construction loan commitment was for $1.1 million, $742,000 of which had been disbursed. This loan was performing according to its repayment terms at December 31, 2020. The average outstanding residential construction loan balance was approximately $652,000 at December 31, 2020. Before making a commitment to fund a construction loan, we require an appraisal of the subject property by an independent approved appraiser. During the construction phase, we make periodic inspections of the construction site and loan proceeds are disbursed directly to the contractors or borrowers as construction progresses. Loan proceeds are disbursed after inspection based on the percentage of completion method. We also require general liability, builder's risk hazard insurance, title insurance, and flood insurance, for properties located in or to be built in a designated flood hazard area, on all construction loans.
We also originate developed lot and raw land loans to individuals intending to construct a residence in the future on the property. We will generally originate these loans in an amount up to 75% of the lower of the purchase price or appraisal. These lot and land loans are secured by a first lien on the property and have a fixed rate of interest with a maximum amortization of 20 years.
We make land acquisition and development loans to experienced builders or residential lot developers in our market area. The maximum loan-to-value limit applicable to these loans is generally 75% of the appraised market value upon completion of the project. We may not require cash equity from the borrower if there is sufficient equity in the land being used as collateral. Development plans are required prior to making the loan. Our loan officers visit the proposed site of the development and the sites of competing developments. We require that developers maintain adequate insurance coverage. Land acquisition and development loans generally are originated with a loan term up to 24 months, have adjustable rates of interest based on the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate or the three- or five-year rate charged by the Federal Home Loan Bank ("FHLB") of Des Moines and require interest-only payment during the term of the loan. Land acquisition and development loan proceeds are disbursed periodically in increments as construction progresses and as an inspection by our approved inspector warrants. We also require these loans to be paid on an accelerated basis as the lots are sold, so that we are repaid before all the lots are sold. At December 31, 2020, land acquisition and development and lot loans totaled $7.4 million, or 11.8% of our construction and land portfolio all of which were lot loans.
We also offer commercial and multifamily construction loans. These loans are underwritten as interest only with financing typically up to 24 months under terms similar to our residential construction loans. Commercial and multifamily construction loans are made up to the lesser of a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 100% of cost or 80% of appraised value at completion. Most of our commercial and multifamily construction loans provide for disbursement of loan funds during the construction period and conversion to a permanent loan when the construction is complete and either tenant lease-up provisions or prescribed debt service coverage ratios are met. At December 31, 2020, commercial and multifamily construction loans totaled
$41.3 million or 65.8% of our construction and land portfolio, compared to $39.8 million, or 52.5% of our construction and land portfolio at December 31, 2019. The three largest commercial and multifamily construction loans at December 31, 2020 included a $7.3 million loan secured by a commercial self-storage building, a $5.8 million loan secured by a multifamily residential property and a $4.3 million loan secured by a multifamily residential property, all located in King County, Washington. At December 31, 2020, all of these loans were performing in accordance with their repayment terms.
Our construction and land development loans are based upon estimates of costs in relation to values associated with the completed project. Construction and land lending involves additional risks when compared with permanent residential lending because funds are advanced upon the collateral for the project based on an estimate of costs that will produce a future value at completion. Because of the uncertainties inherent in estimating construction costs, as well as the market value of the completed project and the effects of governmental regulation on real property, it is relatively difficult to evaluate accurately the total funds required to complete a project and the completed project loan-to-value ratio. Changes in the demand, such as for new housing and higher than anticipated building costs may cause actual results to vary significantly from those estimated. For these reasons, this type of lending also typically involves higher loan principal amounts and is often concentrated with a small number of builders. A downturn in housing, or the real estate market, could increase loan delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures, and significantly impair the value of our collateral and our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure. Some of our builders have more than one loan outstanding with us and also have residential mortgage loans for rental properties with us. Consequently, an adverse development with respect to one loan or one credit relationship can expose us to a significantly greater risk of loss.
In addition, during the term of most of our construction loans, no payment from the borrower is required since the accumulated interest is added to the principal of the loan through an interest reserve. As a result, these loans often involve the disbursement of funds with repayment substantially dependent on the success of the ultimate project and the ability of the borrower to sell or lease the property or obtain permanent take-out financing, rather than the ability of the borrower or guarantor to repay principal and interest. If our appraisal of the value of a completed project proves to be overstated, we may have inadequate security for the repayment of the loan upon completion of construction of the project and may incur a loss. Because construction loans require active monitoring of the building process, including cost comparisons and on-site inspections, these loans are more difficult and costly to monitor. Increases in market rates of interest may have a more pronounced effect on construction loans by rapidly increasing the end purchasers' borrowing costs, thereby reducing the overall demand for the project. Properties under construction may be difficult to sell and typically must be completed in order to be successfully sold, which also complicates the process of resolving problem construction loans. This may require us to advance additional funds and/or contract with another builder to complete construction. Furthermore, in the case of speculative construction loans, there is the added risk associated with identifying an end-purchaser for the finished project. Land loans also pose additional risk because of the lack of income being produced by the property and the potential illiquid nature of the collateral. These risks can also be significantly impacted by supply and demand conditions. A downturn in housing, or the real estate market, could increase loan delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures, and significantly impair the value of our collateral and our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure.
Commercial Business Lending. At December 31, 2020, commercial business loans totaled $64.2 million, or 10.4% of our total loan portfolio, compared to $38.9 million, or 6.3% of our total loan portfolio at December 31, 2019. Substantially all of our commercial business loans have been to borrowers in our market area. Our commercial business lending activities encompass loans with a variety of purposes and security, including loans to finance commercial vehicles and equipment and loans secured by accounts receivable and/or inventory. Our commercial business lending policy includes an analysis of the borrower's background, capacity to repay the loan, the adequacy of the borrower's capital and collateral, as well as an evaluation of other conditions affecting the borrower. Analysis of the borrower's past, present and future cash flows is also an important aspect of our credit analysis. We generally require personal guarantees on both our secured and unsecured commercial business loans. Nonetheless, commercial business loans are believed to carry higher credit risk than residential mortgage and commercial real estate loans. At December 31, 2020, excluding our Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loans, approximately $782,000 of our commercial business loans were unsecured.
Commercial business loans also include loans originated under the PPP, a specialized low-interest loan program funded by the U.S. Treasury Department and administered by the Small Business Administration ("SBA"). The Bank, as a qualified SBA lender, was authorized to originate PPP loans. PPP loans have an interest rate of 1.0%, a two-year or five-year loan term to maturity, and principal and interest payments deferred until the lender receives the applicable forgiven amount or ten months after the end of the borrower’s loan forgiveness covered period. The SBA guarantees 100% of the PPP loans made to eligible borrowers. The entire principal amount of the borrower’s PPP loan, including any accrued interest, is eligible to be reduced by the loan forgiveness amount under the PPP so long as employee and compensation levels of the business are maintained and the loan proceeds are used for other qualifying expenses. We originated 909 PPP loans totaling $74.8 million during 2020. At December 31, 2020, 327 loans totaling $31.5 million had been submitted to and forgiven by the SBA, leaving a total of $43.3 million of PPP loans in our portfolio at December 31, 2020.
Our interest rates on commercial business loans, excluding PPP loans, are dependent on the type of loan. Our secured commercial business loans typically have a loan-to-value ratio of up to 80% and are term loans ranging from three to seven years. Secured commercial business term loans generally have a fixed interest rate based on the commensurate FHLB amortizing rate or prime rate as reported in the West Coast edition of the Wall Street Journal plus 1% to 3%. In addition, we typically charge loan fees of 1% to 2% of the principal amount at origination, depending on the credit quality and account relationships of the borrower. Business lines of credit are usually adjustable rate and are based on the prime rate plus 1% to 3%, and are generally originated with both a floor and ceiling to the interest rate. Our business lines of credit generally have terms ranging from 12 months to 24 months and provide for interest-only monthly payments during the term.
Our commercial business loans, excluding PPP loans, are primarily based on the cash flow of the borrower and secondarily on the underlying collateral provided by the borrower. The borrowers' cash flow may be unpredictable, and collateral securing these loans may fluctuate in value. This collateral may consist of accounts receivable, inventory, equipment or real estate. In the case of loans secured by accounts receivable, the availability of funds for the repayment of these loans may be substantially dependent on the ability of the borrower to collect amounts due from its customers. Other collateral securing loans may depreciate over time, may be difficult to appraise, may be illiquid and may fluctuate in value based on the specific type of business and equipment. As a result, the availability of funds for the repayment of commercial business loans may be substantially dependent on the success of the business itself which, in turn, is often dependent in part upon general economic conditions.
Consumer Lending. We offer a variety of secured and unsecured consumer loans, including new and used manufactured homes, floating homes, automobiles, boats and recreational vehicle loans, and loans secured by deposit accounts. We also offer unsecured consumer loans. We originate our consumer loans primarily in our market area. All of our consumer loans are originated on a direct basis. At December 31, 2020, our consumer loans totaled $75.8 million, or 12.4% of our total loan portfolio, compared to $72.7 million, or 11.7% of our total loan portfolio at December 31, 2019.
We typically originate new and used manufactured home loans to borrowers who intend to use the home as a primary residence. The yields on these loans are higher than that on our other residential lending products and the portfolio has performed reasonably well with an acceptable level of risk and loss in exchange for the higher yield. Our weighted-average yield on manufactured home loans at December 31, 2020 was 8.52%, compared to 4.60% for one-to-four family mortgages, excluding loans held-for-sale. At December 31, 2020, these loans totaled $20.9 million, or 27.6% of our consumer loans and 3.4% of our total loan portfolio. For used manufactured homes, loans are generally made up to 90% of the lesser of the appraised value or purchase price up to $200,000, with terms typically up to 20 years. On new manufactured homes, loans are generally made up to 90% of the lesser of the appraised value or purchase price up to $200,000, with terms typically up to 20 years. We generally charge a 1% fee at origination. We underwrite these loans based on our review of creditworthiness of the borrower, including credit scores, and the value of the collateral, for which we hold a security interest under Washington law.
Manufactured home loans are higher risk than loans secured by residential real property, though this risk is reduced if the owner also owns the land on which the home is located. A small portion of our manufactured home loans involve properties on which we also have financed the land for the owner. The primary risk in manufactured home loans is the difficulty in obtaining adequate value for the collateral due to the cost and limited ability to move the collateral. These loans tend to be made to retired individuals and first-time homebuyers. First-time homebuyers of manufactured homes tend to be a higher credit risk than first-time homebuyers of single-family residences, due to more limited financial resources. As a result, these loans may have a higher probability of default and higher delinquency rates than single-family residential loans and other types of consumer loans. We take into account this additional risk as a component of our allowance for loan losses. We attempt to work out delinquent loans with the borrower and, if that is not successful, any past due manufactured homes are repossessed and sold. At December 31, 2020, there were four nonperforming manufactured home loans totaling $149,000.
We originate floating home, houseboat and house barge loans, typically located on cooperative or condominium moorages. Terms vary from five to 20 years and generally have a fixed rate of interest. We lend up to 90% of the lesser of the appraised value or purchase price. The primary risk in floating home loans is the unique nature of the collateral and the challenges of relocating such collateral to a location other than where such housing is permitted. The process for securing the deed and/or the condominium or cooperative dock is also unique compared to other types of lending we participate in. As a result, these loans may have higher collateral recovery costs than for one-to-four family mortgage loans and other types of consumer loans. We take into account these additional risks as a part of our underwriting criteria. At December 31, 2020, floating home loans totaled $39.9 million, or 52.6% of our consumer loan portfolio and 6.6% of our total loan portfolio. Houseboats and house barge loans, which are included in other consumer loans, totaled $12.8 million, or 16.8% of our consumer loan portfolio and 7.1% of our total loan portfolio.
The balance of our consumer loans includes loans secured by new and used automobiles, new and used boats, motorcycles and recreational vehicles, loans secured by deposits and unsecured consumer loans, all of which, at December 31, 2020, totaled $2.3 million, or 3.0% of our consumer loan portfolio and 0.4% of our total loan portfolio. Our automobile loan portfolio totaled $1.2 million at December 31, 2020, or 1.8% of our consumer loan portfolio and 0.2% of our total loan portfolio. Automobile loans may be written for a term up to 72 months and have fixed rates of interest. Loan-to-value ratios are up to 100% of the lesser of the purchase price or the National Automobile Dealers Association value for used automobiles, including tax, licenses, title and mechanical breakdown and gap insurance.
Loans secured by boats, motorcycles and recreational vehicles typically have terms from five to 20 years depending on the collateral and loan-to-value ratios up to 90%. These loans may be made with fixed or adjustable interest rates. Our unsecured consumer loans have either a fixed rate of interest generally for a maximum term of 48 months, or are revolving lines of credit of generally up to $25,000. At December 31, 2020, unsecured consumer loans totaled $701,000 and unfunded commitments on our unsecured consumer lines of credit totaled $1.4 million. At that date, the average outstanding balance on these lines was less than $1,000.
Consumer loans (other than our manufactured and floating homes) generally have shorter terms to maturity, which reduces our exposure to changes in interest rates. In addition, management believes that offering consumer loan products helps to expand and create stronger ties to our existing client base by increasing the number of client relationships and providing additional marketing opportunities.
Consumer loans generally entail greater risk than do one-to-four family residential mortgage loans, particularly in the case of consumer loans that are secured by rapidly depreciable assets, such as manufactured homes, automobiles, boats and recreational vehicles. In these cases, any repossessed collateral for a defaulted loan may not provide an adequate source of repayment of the outstanding loan balance. As a result, consumer loan collections are dependent on the borrower's continuing financial stability and, thus, are more likely to be adversely affected by job loss, divorce, illness or personal bankruptcy.
Loan Originations, Purchases, Sales, Repayments and Servicing
We originate both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate loans. Our ability to originate loans, however, is dependent upon client demand for loans in our market area. Over the past several years, we have continued to originate residential and consumer loans, and increased our emphasis on commercial and multifamily real estate, construction and land, and commercial business lending. Demand is affected by competition and the interest-rate environment. During the past few years, we, like many other financial institutions, have experienced significant prepayments on loans due to the prevailing low interest-rate environment in the U.S. In periods of economic uncertainty, the ability of financial institutions, including us, to originate large dollar volumes of real estate loans may be substantially reduced or restricted, with a resultant decrease in interest income. If a proposed loan exceeds our internal lending limits, we may originate the loan on a participation basis with another financial institution. From time to time, we also participate with other financial institutions on loans they originate. We sold no commercial loan participations in 2020 or 2018 and $3.7 million in 2019. We underwrite loan purchases and participations to the same standards as internally originated loans. We had no purchases of commercial business loan participations from other financial institutions in 2020 and 2019.
We originate loans that may meet one or more of the credit characteristics commonly associated with subprime lending. The term ‘subprime’ refers to the credit characteristics of individual borrowers which may include payment delinquencies, judgements, foreclosures, bankruptcies, low credit scores and/or high debt-to-income ratios. In exchange for the additional risk we take with such borrowers, we may require borrowers to pay a higher interest rates, require a lower debt-to-income ratio or require other enhancements to manage the additional risk. While no single credit characteristic defines a subprime loan, one commonly used indicator is a loan originated to a borrower with a credit score of 660 or lower. At December 31, 2020, of the $321.3 million in one-to-four-family loans originated in 2020, $10.1 million or 3.3% were to borrowers with a credit score under 660. Additionally, of the $4.3 million in manufactured home loans originated in 2020, $845,000 or 19.8% were to borrowers with a credit score of 660 or lower. At December 31, 2020 and 2019, the total amount of residential and consumer loans held in our loan portfolio to borrowers with a credit score of 660 or lower were $15.6 million and $34.9 million, respectively. We do not engage in originating negative amortization or option adjustable-rate loans and have no established program to originate or purchase these loans.
In addition to interest earned on loans and loan origination fees, we receive fees for loan commitments, late payments and other miscellaneous services.
We also sell whole one-to-four family loans without recourse to Fannie Mae and other investors, subject to a provision for repurchase upon breach of representation, warranty or covenant. These loans are fixed-rate mortgages, which primarily are sold
to reduce our interest-rate risk and generate noninterest income. These loans are generally sold for cash in amounts equal to the unpaid principal amount of the loans determined using present value yields to the buyer. These sales allow for a servicing fee on loans when the servicing is retained by us. Most one-to-four family loans are sold with servicing retained. In October 2015, we acquired a $45.9 million loans servicing portfolio from another bank, which loans are 100% owned by Fannie Mae. At December 31, 2020, we were servicing a $481.6 million portfolio of residential mortgage loans for Fannie Mae and $7.1 million for other investors. We did not repurchase any loans in 2020 or 2019. These mortgage servicing rights are carried at fair value and had a value at December 31, 2020 of $3.8 million. We earned mortgage servicing income of $1.0 million, $1.0 million and $1.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. See "Note 6 — Mortgage Servicing Rights" in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this report on Form 10-K.
Sales of whole real estate loans are beneficial to us since these sales may generate income at the time of sale, produce future servicing income on loans where servicing is retained, provide funds for additional lending, and increase liquidity. We sold $258.2 million of conforming one-to-four family loans during the year ended December 31, 2020, of which $5.9 million were sales to other investors. We sold $79.0 million and $50.0 million of conforming one-to-four family loans during the years ended 2019 and 2018, respectively. Gains, losses and transfer fees on sales of one-to-four family loans and participations are recognized at the time of the sale. Our net gain on sales of residential loans for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 was $6.0 million, $1.4 million, and 1.0 million, respectively. In addition to loans sold to Fannie Mae and others on a servicing retained basis, we also sell nonconforming residential loans to correspondent banks on a servicing released basis. In 2020 and 2019, we sold $5.9 million and $13.2 million, respectively, of loans servicing released.
The following table shows our loan origination, sale and repayment activities, including loans held-for-sale, for the periods indicated (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
Originations by type:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fixed-rate:
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
$
|
295,522
|
|
|
$
|
104,343
|
|
|
$
|
67,823
|
|
Home equity
|
1,141
|
|
|
7,587
|
|
|
4,459
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
23,288
|
|
|
38,458
|
|
|
94,725
|
|
Construction and land
|
24,559
|
|
|
35,573
|
|
|
24,303
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
4,267
|
|
|
5,603
|
|
|
7,313
|
|
Floating homes
|
5,792
|
|
|
1,807
|
|
|
20,660
|
|
Other consumer
|
11,088
|
|
|
3,021
|
|
|
3,402
|
|
Commercial business
|
78,469
|
|
|
1,553
|
|
|
2,277
|
|
Total fixed-rate
|
444,126
|
|
|
197,945
|
|
|
224,962
|
|
Adjustable rate:
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
25,776
|
|
|
24,634
|
|
|
44,726
|
|
Home equity
|
9,187
|
|
|
3,060
|
|
|
9,705
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
44,067
|
|
|
53,885
|
|
|
55,945
|
|
Construction and land
|
49,735
|
|
|
15,093
|
|
|
—
|
|
Floating homes
|
1,439
|
|
|
11,966
|
|
|
—
|
|
Other consumer
|
297
|
|
|
160
|
|
|
48
|
|
Commercial business
|
535
|
|
|
2,360
|
|
|
17,202
|
|
Total adjustable-rate
|
131,036
|
|
|
111,158
|
|
|
127,626
|
|
Total loans originated
|
575,162
|
|
|
309,103
|
|
|
352,588
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sales, repayments and participations sold:
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
258,182
|
|
|
78,906
|
|
|
49,966
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
—
|
|
|
3,706
|
|
|
—
|
|
Total loans sold and loan participations
|
258,182
|
|
|
82,612
|
|
|
49,966
|
|
Transfers to OREO
|
19
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total principal repayments
|
323,485
|
|
|
226,256
|
|
|
231,627
|
|
Total reductions
|
581,686
|
|
|
308,868
|
|
|
281,593
|
|
Net (decrease) increase
|
$
|
(6,524)
|
|
|
$
|
235
|
|
|
$
|
70,995
|
|
The increase in total loan originations in 2020 compared to 2019 was primarily due to high levels of loan activity in the one-to-four family, commercial business and construction and land categories. Demand for one-to-four family loans grew in 2020 as homeowners, taking advantage of historically low interest rates, refinanced their homes. In addition, the pandemic increased demand for single-family homes outside downtown metropolitan areas. Demand for construction loans, including new homes and apartment buildings increased due to appreciation in market prices, declining supplies of homes for sale and continued strong rental demand in our market area. Commercial business loans increased due to PPP loan originations.
Asset Quality
When a borrower fails to make a required payment on a one-to-four family loan, we attempt to cure the delinquency by contacting the borrower. In the case of loans secured by a one-to-four family property, a late notice typically is sent 15 days after the due date. Generally, a pre-foreclosure loss mitigation letter is also mailed to the borrower 30 days after the due date. All delinquent accounts are reviewed by a loan officer or branch manager who attempts to cure the delinquency by contacting the borrower. If the account becomes 120 days delinquent and an acceptable foreclosure alternative has not been agreed upon, we generally refer the account to legal counsel with instructions to prepare a notice of default. The notice of default begins the
foreclosure process. If foreclosure is completed, typically we take title to the property and sell it directly through a real estate broker.
Delinquent consumer loans are handled in a similar manner to one-to-four family loans. Our procedures for repossession and sale of consumer collateral are subject to various requirements under the applicable consumer protection laws as well as other applicable laws and the determination by us that it would be beneficial from a cost basis.
Once a loan is 90 days past due, it is classified as nonaccrual. Generally, delinquent consumer loans are charged-off at 120 days past due, unless we have a reasonable basis to justify additional collection and recovery efforts.
Delinquent Loans. The following table sets forth our loan delinquencies by type (excluding COVID-19 modified loans), by amount and by percentage of type at December 31, 2020 (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Loans Delinquent For:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
30-89 Days
|
|
90 Days and Over
|
|
Total Delinquent Loans
|
|
Number
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of
Loan Category
|
|
Number
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of
Loan Category
|
|
Number
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of
Loan Category
|
One-to-four family
|
8
|
|
|
$
|
860
|
|
|
0.7
|
%
|
|
7
|
|
|
$
|
1,407
|
|
|
1.1
|
%
|
|
15
|
|
|
$
|
2,267
|
|
|
1.8
|
%
|
Home equity
|
4
|
|
|
102
|
|
|
0.6
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
112
|
|
|
0.7
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
214
|
|
|
1.3
|
|
Commercial and Multifamily
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
353
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
353
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
Construction and land
|
6
|
|
|
690
|
|
|
1.1
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
40
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
7
|
|
|
730
|
|
|
1.2
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
6
|
|
|
233
|
|
|
1.1
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
149
|
|
|
0.7
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
382
|
|
|
1.8
|
|
Floating homes
|
1
|
|
|
269
|
|
|
0.7
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
249
|
|
|
0.6
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
518
|
|
|
1.3
|
|
Other consumer
|
5
|
|
|
16
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
5
|
|
|
16
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
Commercial Business
|
1
|
|
|
583
|
|
|
0.9
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
583
|
|
|
0.9
|
|
Total
|
31
|
|
|
$
|
2,753
|
|
|
0.5
|
%
|
|
18
|
|
|
$
|
2,310
|
|
|
0.4
|
%
|
|
49
|
|
|
$
|
5,063
|
|
|
0.9
|
%
|
Nonperforming Assets. The table below sets forth the amounts and categories of nonperforming assets in our loan portfolio (in thousands). Loans are placed on nonaccrual status when the collection of principal and/or interest become doubtful or when the loan is more than 90 days past due. Other real estate owned ("OREO") and repossessed assets include assets acquired in settlement of loans.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
|
2017
|
|
2016
|
Nonaccrual loans (1):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
$
|
1,668
|
|
|
$
|
2,090
|
|
|
$
|
1,120
|
|
|
$
|
837
|
|
|
$
|
2,216
|
|
Home equity
|
156
|
|
|
261
|
|
|
359
|
|
|
722
|
|
|
553
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
353
|
|
|
353
|
|
|
534
|
|
|
201
|
|
|
218
|
|
Construction and land
|
40
|
|
|
1,177
|
|
|
123
|
|
|
92
|
|
|
—
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
149
|
|
|
226
|
|
|
214
|
|
|
206
|
|
|
120
|
|
Floating homes
|
518
|
|
|
290
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Other consumer
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
—
|
|
Commercial business
|
—
|
|
|
260
|
|
|
317
|
|
|
217
|
|
|
242
|
|
Total nonaccrual loans
|
2,884
|
|
|
4,657
|
|
|
2,667
|
|
|
2,283
|
|
|
3,349
|
|
OREO and repossessed assets:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
562
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
575
|
|
|
575
|
|
|
575
|
|
|
600
|
|
|
600
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
19
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
10
|
|
Total OREO and repossessed assets
|
594
|
|
|
575
|
|
|
575
|
|
|
610
|
|
|
1,172
|
|
Total nonperforming assets
|
$
|
3,478
|
|
|
$
|
5,232
|
|
|
$
|
3,242
|
|
|
$
|
2,893
|
|
|
$
|
4,521
|
|
Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets
|
0.40
|
%
|
|
0.73
|
%
|
|
0.45
|
%
|
|
0.45
|
%
|
|
0.77
|
%
|
Performing restructured loans:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
$
|
1,965
|
|
|
$
|
6,638
|
|
|
$
|
1,511
|
|
|
$
|
2,876
|
|
|
$
|
1,977
|
|
Home equity
|
137
|
|
|
59
|
|
|
60
|
|
|
158
|
|
|
144
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
361
|
|
Construction and land
|
37
|
|
|
38
|
|
|
44
|
|
|
49
|
|
|
83
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
116
|
|
|
172
|
|
|
130
|
|
|
150
|
|
|
160
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other consumer
|
114
|
|
|
123
|
|
|
131
|
|
|
36
|
|
|
40
|
|
Commercial business
|
615
|
|
|
264
|
|
|
97
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Total performing restructured loans
|
$
|
2,984
|
|
|
$
|
7,294
|
|
|
$
|
1,973
|
|
|
$
|
3,269
|
|
|
$
|
2,765
|
|
(1)Nonaccrual loans include $262,000, $588,000, $817,000, $445,000, and $683,000 in nonperforming troubled debt restructurings at December 31, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. We had no accruing loan 90 days or more delinquent for the periods reported.
Nonaccrual loans, including nonaccrual troubled debt restructurings ("TDRs"), decreased $1.8 million to $2.9 million at December 31, 2020 from $4.7 million at December 31, 2019. Our largest nonperforming loan at December 31, 2020 was a one-to-four family home totaling $945,000. Nonperforming one-to-four family loans at December 31, 2020 consisted of nine loans to different borrowers with an average loan balance of $185,000. In addition, there were four manufactured home loans, five home equity loans, one commercial and multifamily loan, one construction and land loan, and two floating home loans classified as nonperforming at December 31, 2020.
For the year ended December 31, 2020, gross interest income that would have been recorded had the nonaccrual loans been current in accordance with their original terms amounted to $168,000, all of which was excluded from interest income for the year ended December 31, 2020. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Financial Condition at December 31, 2020 Compared to December 31, 2019—Delinquencies and Nonperforming Assets" contained in Item 7 of this report on Form 10-K for more information on troubled assets.
Troubled Debt Restructured Loans. TDRs, which are accounted for under ASC 310-40, are loans which have renegotiated loan terms to assist borrowers who are unable to meet the original terms of their loans. Such modifications to loan terms may include a lower interest rate, a reduction in principal, or a longer term to maturity. All TDRs are initially classified as impaired regardless of whether the loan was performing at the time it was restructured. At December 31, 2020, we had $3.0 million of loans that were classified as performing TDRs and still on accrual, compared to $7.3 million at December 31, 2019. Included in nonaccrual loans at December 31, 2020 and 2019 were nonaccrual TDRs of $262,000 and $588,000, respectively.
OREO and Repossessed Assets. OREO and repossessed assets include assets acquired in settlement of loans. At December 31, 2020, OREO and repossessed assets totaled $594,000. Our OREO at December 31, 2020, consisted of two properties. The first is a former bank branch property located in Port Angeles, Washington which was acquired in 2015 as a part of three branches purchased from another financial institution. It is currently leased to a local not-for-profit organization at a below-market rate. The second OREO property is a manufactured home located in Everett, Washington.
Other Loans of Concern. In addition to the nonperforming assets set forth in the table above, at December 31, 2020, there were 13 loans totaling $15.1 million about which known information of possible credit or other problems caused management to have doubts as to the ability of the borrowers to comply with present loan repayment terms and which may result in the future inclusion of such items in the nonperforming asset categories. At December 31, 2020, the three largest loans of concern a were a multifamily real estate loan for $3.5 million, a nonowner-occupied commercial real estate loan for $3.4 million and a commercial construction loan of $3.1 million, all located in King County, Washington. The first two borrowers had requested and were granted COVID-19 loan modifications for six months and have since returned to contractual payment terms and the third borrower completed a restructuring of ownership in 2020 and has successfully renewed its loan to mature in 2021. The balance of our loans of concern included $4.0 million in commercial and multifamily real estate loans, $834,000 in construction and land loans, and $310,000 in commercial business loans.
Classified Assets. Federal regulations provide for the classification of lower quality loans and other assets (such as OREO and repossessed assets), debt and equity securities considered as "substandard," "doubtful" or "loss." An asset is considered "substandard" if it is inadequately protected by the current net worth and paying capacity of the obligor or of the collateral pledged, if any. "Substandard" assets include those characterized by the "distinct possibility" that the insured institution will sustain "some loss" if the deficiencies are not corrected. Assets classified as "doubtful" have all of the weaknesses in those classified "substandard," with the added characteristic that the weaknesses present make "collection or liquidation in full," on the basis of currently existing facts, conditions and values, "highly questionable and improbable." Assets classified as "loss" are those considered "uncollectible" and of such little value that their continuance as assets without the establishment of a specific loss reserve is not warranted.
When we classify problem assets as either substandard or doubtful, we may establish a specific allowance in an amount we deem prudent to address specific impairments. General allowances represent loss allowances which have been established to recognize the inherent risk associated with lending activities, but which, unlike specific allowances, have not been specifically allocated to particular problem assets. When an insured institution classifies problem assets as a loss, it is required to charge off those assets in the period in which they are deemed uncollectible. Our determination as to the classification of our assets and the amount of our valuation allowances is subject to review by the FDIC and, since our conversion to a Washington-chartered commercial bank, the WDFI, which can order the establishment of additional loss allowances. Assets which do not currently expose us to sufficient risk to warrant classification in one of the aforementioned categories but possess weaknesses are required to be designated as special mention. At December 31, 2020, special mention assets totaled $15.1 million.
We regularly review the problem assets in our portfolio to determine whether any assets require classification in accordance with applicable regulations. On the basis of management's review of our assets, at December 31, 2020, we had classified $10.1 million of our assets as substandard, of which $9.5 million represented a variety of outstanding loans and $594,000 represented the balance of our OREO and repossessed assets. At that date, we had no assets classified as doubtful or loss. This total amount of classified assets represented 11.9% of our equity capital and 1.2% of our assets at December 31, 2020. Classified assets totaled $15.3 million, or 19.7% of our equity capital and 2.1% of our assets at December 31, 2019.
Allowance for Loan Losses. We maintain an allowance for loan losses to absorb probable loan losses in the loan portfolio. The allowance is based on ongoing, monthly assessments of the estimated probable incurred losses in the loan portfolio. In evaluating the level of the allowance for loan losses, management considers the types of loans and the amount of loans in the loan portfolio, peer group information, historical loss experience, adverse situations that may affect the borrower's ability to repay, estimated value of any underlying collateral, and prevailing economic conditions. Large groups of smaller balance homogeneous loans, such as one-to-four family, small commercial and multifamily real estate, home equity and consumer loans, including floating homes and manufactured homes, are evaluated in the aggregate using historical loss factors and peer group data adjusted for current economic conditions. More complex loans, such as commercial and multifamily real estate loans
and commercial business loans are evaluated individually for impairment, primarily through the evaluation of the borrower's net operating income and available cash flow and their possible impact on collateral values.
At December 31, 2020, our allowance for loan losses was $6.0 million, or 0.98% of our total loan portfolio, compared to $5.6 million, or 0.91% of our total loan portfolio, at December 31, 2019. Specific valuation reserves totaled $378,000 and $724,000 at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Assessing the allowance for loan losses is inherently subjective as it requires making material estimates, including the amount and timing of future cash flows expected to be received on impaired loans that may be susceptible to significant change. In the opinion of management, the allowance, when taken as a whole, properly reflects estimated probable loan losses inherent in our loan portfolio. See "Note 1—Organization and Significant Accounting Policies" and "Note 5—Loans" in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this report on Form 10-K.
The following table sets forth an analysis of our allowance for loan losses at the dates indicated (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
|
2017
|
|
2016
|
Balance at beginning of period
|
$
|
5,640
|
|
|
$
|
5,774
|
|
|
$
|
5,241
|
|
|
$
|
4,822
|
|
|
$
|
4,636
|
|
Charge-offs:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
(20)
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
(72)
|
|
Home equity
|
(2)
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
(7)
|
|
|
(89)
|
|
|
(15)
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
(24)
|
|
|
(314)
|
|
Construction and land
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
(12)
|
|
|
(12)
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other consumer
|
(48)
|
|
|
(52)
|
|
|
(31)
|
|
|
(18)
|
|
|
(42)
|
|
Commercial business
|
(620)
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
(29)
|
|
Total charge-offs
|
(690)
|
|
|
(52)
|
|
|
(50)
|
|
|
(143)
|
|
|
(472)
|
|
Recoveries:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
63
|
|
|
6
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
47
|
|
Home equity
|
46
|
|
|
10
|
|
|
44
|
|
|
33
|
|
|
78
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
—
|
|
Construction and land
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
18
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
2
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other consumer
|
14
|
|
|
24
|
|
|
12
|
|
|
20
|
|
|
53
|
|
Commercial business
|
—
|
|
|
3
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Total recoveries
|
125
|
|
|
43
|
|
|
58
|
|
|
62
|
|
|
204
|
|
Net (charge-offs) recoveries
|
(565)
|
|
|
(9)
|
|
|
8
|
|
|
(81)
|
|
|
(268)
|
|
(Recapture from)/Provision charged to operations
|
925
|
|
|
(125)
|
|
|
525
|
|
|
500
|
|
|
454
|
|
Balance at end of period
|
$
|
6,000
|
|
|
$
|
5,640
|
|
|
$
|
5,774
|
|
|
$
|
5,241
|
|
|
$
|
4,822
|
|
Net (charge-offs) recoveries during the period as a percentage of average loans outstanding during the period
|
(0.08)
|
%
|
|
—
|
%
|
|
—
|
%
|
|
(0.02)
|
%
|
|
(0.06)
|
%
|
Net (charge-offs) recoveries during the period as a percentage of average nonperforming assets
|
(16.24)
|
%
|
|
(0.17)
|
%
|
|
0.30
|
%
|
|
(2.12)
|
%
|
|
(6.27)
|
%
|
Allowance as a percentage of nonperforming loans
|
208.04
|
%
|
|
121.11
|
%
|
|
216.50
|
%
|
|
229.57
|
%
|
|
143.98
|
%
|
Allowance as a percentage of total loans (end of period)
|
0.98
|
%
|
|
0.91
|
%
|
|
0.93
|
%
|
|
0.96
|
%
|
|
0.96
|
%
|
Economic conditions in our markets, and the U.S. as a whole, were negatively impacted by the restrictions imposed on businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent trends in housing prices and unemployment rates in our market areas reflect the continuing impact of these restrictions. Although unemployment in our market area was generally lower than the
national average in 2020 and home prices increased in 2020 compared to 2019, we continue to carefully monitor our loan portfolio for possible deterioration due to the pandemic.
The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of nonperforming loans was 208.04% and 121.11% at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The provision for loan losses totaled $925,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to a recapture from the allowance for loan losses of $125,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019. Net charge-offs were $565,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to net charge-offs of $9,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase in 2020 charge-offs was primarily related to one commercial borrower who was forced into bankruptcy after a tragic vehicle accident. Our line of credit with this borrower was approved in July 2019 for $975,000, secured by business assets, including 19 vehicles, and fully advanced at the time of bankruptcy. Because the vehicles were specialized for offering land and sea tours, their value was depressed due to the pandemic. As a result, our liquidation of the collateral resulted in a loss of $514,000.
The distribution of our allowance for losses on loans at the dates indicated is summarized as follows (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
|
2017
|
|
2016
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of Loans
in Each Category
to Total Loans
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of Loans
in Each Category
to Total Loans
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of Loans
in Each Category
to Total Loans
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of Loans
in Each Category
to Total Loans
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of Loans
in Each Category
to Total Loans
|
Allocated at end of period to:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
One-to-four family
|
$
|
1,063
|
|
|
21.2
|
%
|
|
$
|
1,120
|
|
|
24.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
1,314
|
|
|
27.3
|
%
|
|
$
|
1,436
|
|
|
28.5
|
%
|
|
$
|
1,542
|
|
|
30.3
|
%
|
Home equity
|
147
|
|
|
2.6
|
|
|
178
|
|
|
3.8
|
|
|
202
|
|
|
4.4
|
|
|
293
|
|
|
5.2
|
|
|
378
|
|
|
5.5
|
|
Commercial and multifamily
|
2,370
|
|
|
43.2
|
|
|
1,696
|
|
|
42.0
|
|
|
1,638
|
|
|
40.6
|
|
|
1,250
|
|
|
38.4
|
|
|
1,144
|
|
|
36.1
|
|
Construction and land
|
578
|
|
|
10.2
|
|
|
492
|
|
|
12.2
|
|
|
431
|
|
|
10.6
|
|
|
378
|
|
|
11.2
|
|
|
459
|
|
|
14.1
|
|
Manufactured homes
|
529
|
|
|
3.4
|
|
|
480
|
|
|
3.3
|
|
|
427
|
|
|
3.2
|
|
|
355
|
|
|
3.1
|
|
|
168
|
|
|
3.1
|
|
Floating homes
|
328
|
|
|
6.6
|
|
|
283
|
|
|
7.1
|
|
|
265
|
|
|
6.6
|
|
|
169
|
|
|
5.3
|
|
|
132
|
|
|
4.8
|
|
Other consumer
|
288
|
|
|
2.4
|
|
|
112
|
|
|
1.3
|
|
|
112
|
|
|
1.1
|
|
|
80
|
|
|
0.9
|
|
|
112
|
|
|
0.8
|
|
Commercial business
|
291
|
|
|
10.4
|
|
|
331
|
|
|
6.3
|
|
|
356
|
|
|
6.2
|
|
|
372
|
|
|
7.4
|
|
|
175
|
|
|
5.3
|
|
Unallocated
|
406
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
948
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
1,029
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
908
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
712
|
|
|
—
|
|
Total
|
$
|
6,000
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
5,640
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
5,774
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
5,241
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
4,822
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
Investment Activities
State chartered commercial banks have the authority to invest in various types of liquid assets, including U.S. Treasury obligations, securities of various federal agencies, including callable agency securities, certain certificates of deposit of insured commercial banks and savings banks, certain bankers' acceptances, repurchase agreements and federal funds. Subject to various restrictions, state commercial banks may also invest their assets in investment grade commercial paper and corporate debt securities and mutual funds whose assets conform to the investments that the institution is otherwise authorized to make directly. See "—How We Are Regulated—Sound Community Bank" for a discussion of additional restrictions on our investment activities.
Our CEO and Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") have the responsibility for the management of our investment portfolio, subject to the direction and guidance of the Board of Directors. These officers consider various factors when making decisions, including the marketability, maturity and tax consequences of the proposed investment. The maturity structure of investments will be affected by various market conditions, including the current and anticipated slope of the yield curve, the level of interest rates, the trend of new deposit inflows, and the anticipated demand for funds via deposit withdrawals and loan originations and purchases.
The general objectives of our investment portfolio are to provide liquidity when loan demand is high, to assist in maintaining earnings when loan demand is low and to maximize earnings while satisfactorily managing risk, including credit risk, reinvestment risk, liquidity risk and interest-rate risk. Our investment quality emphasizes safer investments with the yield on those investments secondary to not taking unnecessary risk with the available funds. See "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" contained in Item 7A. of this report on Form 10-K for additional information about our interest-rate risk management.
At December 31, 2020, we owned $877,000 of stock issued by the FHLB of Des Moines. As a condition of membership in the FHLB of Des Moines, we are required to purchase and hold a certain amount of FHLB stock.
The following table sets forth the composition of our securities portfolio and other investments at the dates indicated. At December 31, 2020, our securities portfolio did not contain securities of any issuer with an aggregate book value in excess of 10% of our equity capital. All of our investment securities, other than FHLB stock, are currently categorized as available for sale. See "Note 4—Investments" in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this report on Form 10-K for additional information on our investments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
Investments
|
Amortized
Cost
|
|
Fair
Value
|
|
Amortized
Cost
|
|
Fair
Value
|
|
Amortized
Cost
|
|
Fair
Value
|
Municipal bonds
|
$
|
5,209
|
|
|
$
|
5,413
|
|
|
$
|
3,197
|
|
|
$
|
3,370
|
|
|
$
|
3,218
|
|
|
$
|
3,317
|
|
Agency mortgage-backed securities
|
4,706
|
|
|
4,805
|
|
|
5,888
|
|
|
5,936
|
|
|
1,594
|
|
|
1,640
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total available-for-sale securities
|
9,915
|
|
|
10,218
|
|
|
9,085
|
|
|
9,306
|
|
|
4,812
|
|
|
4,957
|
|
FHLB stock
|
877
|
|
|
877
|
|
|
1,160
|
|
|
1,160
|
|
|
4,134
|
|
|
4,134
|
|
Total investments
|
$
|
10,792
|
|
|
$
|
11,095
|
|
|
$
|
10,245
|
|
|
$
|
10,466
|
|
|
$
|
8,946
|
|
|
$
|
9,091
|
|
We review investment securities on an ongoing basis for the presence of OTTI, taking into consideration current market conditions, fair value in relationship to cost, extent and nature of the change in fair value, issuer rating changes and trends, whether we intend to sell a security or if it is likely that we will be required to sell the security before recovery of our amortized cost basis of the investment, which may be maturity, and other factors. For debt securities, if we intend to sell the security or it is likely that we will be required to sell the security before recovering its cost basis, the entire impairment loss would be recognized in earnings as an OTTI loss. If we do not intend to sell the security and it is not more likely than not that we will be required to sell the security but we do not expect to recover the entire amortized cost basis of the security, only the portion of the impairment loss representing credit losses would be recognized in earnings. The credit loss on a security is measured as the difference between the amortized cost basis and the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected.
Projected cash flows are discounted by the original or current effective interest rate depending on the nature of the security being measured for potential OTTI. The remaining impairment related to all other factors, the difference between the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected and the fair value, is recognized as a charge to other comprehensive income. Impairment losses related to all other factors are presented as separate categories within other comprehensive income.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, we did not recognize any non-cash OTTI charges on our investment securities. At that date, there were six agency securities that had unrealized losses, although management determined the decline in value was not related to specific credit deterioration. We do not intend to sell these securities and it is more likely than not that we will not be required to sell any securities before anticipated recovery of the remaining amortized cost basis. We closely monitor our investment securities for changes in credit risk. The current market environment significantly limits our ability to mitigate our exposure to valuation changes in these securities by selling them. If market conditions deteriorate and we determine our holdings of these or other investment securities have OTTI losses, our future earnings, stockholders' equity, regulatory capital and continuing operations could be materially adversely affected.
Sources of Funds
General. Our sources of funds are primarily deposits (including deposits from public entities), borrowings, payments of principal and interest on loans and investments and funds provided from operations.
Deposits. We offer a variety of deposit accounts to both consumers and businesses with a wide range of interest rates and terms. Our deposits consist of savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, NOW accounts, demand accounts and certificates of deposit. We solicit deposits primarily in our market area; however, at December 31, 2020, approximately 4.0% of our deposits were from persons outside the State of Washington. At December 31, 2020, core deposits, which we define as our non-time deposit accounts and time deposit accounts less than $250,000 (excluding brokered deposits and public funds), represented approximately 89.3% of total deposits, compared to 79.7% and 84.7% at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We primarily rely on competitive pricing policies, marketing and client service to attract and retain these deposits and we expect to continue these practices in the future.
The flow of deposits is influenced significantly by general economic conditions, changes in money market and prevailing interest rates and competition. The variety of deposit accounts we offer has allowed us to be competitive in obtaining funds and to respond with flexibility to changes in consumer demand. We manage the pricing of our deposits in keeping with our asset/liability management, liquidity and profitability objectives, subject to competitive factors. Based on our experience, we believe that our deposits are relatively stable sources of funds. Despite this stability, our ability to attract and maintain these deposits and the rates paid on them is and will continue to be significantly affected by market conditions.
The following table sets forth our deposit flows during the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
Opening balance
|
$
|
616,718
|
|
|
$
|
553,601
|
|
|
$
|
514,400
|
|
Net deposits
|
124,259
|
|
|
56,252
|
|
|
35,362
|
|
Interest credited
|
7,004
|
|
|
6,865
|
|
|
3,839
|
|
Ending balance
|
$
|
747,981
|
|
|
$
|
616,718
|
|
|
$
|
553,601
|
|
Net increase
|
$
|
131,263
|
|
|
$
|
63,117
|
|
|
$
|
39,201
|
|
Percent increase
|
21.3
|
%
|
|
11.4
|
%
|
|
7.6
|
%
|
The following table sets forth the dollar amount of deposits in the various types of deposit programs offered by us at the dates indicated (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of total
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of total
|
|
Amount
|
|
Percent of total
|
Noninterest-bearing demand
|
$
|
129,299
|
|
|
17.3
|
%
|
|
$
|
94,973
|
|
|
15.4
|
%
|
|
$
|
93,823
|
|
|
17.0
|
%
|
Interest-bearing demand
|
230,492
|
|
|
30.8
|
|
|
159,774
|
|
|
25.8
|
|
|
164,919
|
|
|
29.8
|
|
Savings
|
83,778
|
|
|
11.2
|
|
|
57,936
|
|
|
9.4
|
|
|
54,102
|
|
|
9.8
|
|
Money market
|
65,748
|
|
|
8.8
|
|
|
50,337
|
|
|
8.2
|
|
|
46,689
|
|
|
8.4
|
|
Escrow
|
3,191
|
|
|
0.4
|
|
|
2,311
|
|
|
0.4
|
|
|
2,243
|
|
|
0.4
|
|
Total non-maturity deposits
|
512,508
|
|
|
68.5
|
|
|
365,331
|
|
|
59.2
|
|
|
361,776
|
|
|
65.4
|
|
Certificates of deposit:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.99% or below
|
98,042
|
|
|
13.1
|
|
|
60,747
|
|
|
9.9
|
|
|
118,478
|
|
|
21.4
|
|
2.00 - 3.99%
|
137,431
|
|
|
18.4
|
|
|
190,640
|
|
|
30.9
|
|
|
73,347
|
|
|
13.2
|
|
Total certificates of deposit
|
235,473
|
|
|
31.5
|
|
|
251,387
|
|
|
40.8
|
|
|
191,825
|
|
|
34.6
|
|
Total deposits
|
$
|
747,981
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
616,718
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
$
|
553,601
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
Noninterest-bearing demand accounts increased $34.3 million, or 36.1%, in 2020 compared to 2019. Certificates of deposits decreased $15.9 million, or 6.3%, in 2020 compared to 2019. The increase in total deposits over the past year was the result of developing relationships with PPP borrowers who were not previously clients, adding new consumer clients, and expanding relationships with existing clients, as well as reduced withdrawals, reflecting changes in customer spending habits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are a public funds depository and at December 31, 2020, we had $44.2 million in public funds compared to $39.1 million at December 31, 2019. These funds consisted of $44.0 million in certificates of deposit, $100,000 in money market accounts and $60,000 in checking accounts at December 31, 2020. These accounts must be 50% collateralized if the amount on deposit exceeds FDIC insurance of $250,000. We use letters of credit from the FHLB of Des Moines as collateral for these funds. The Company had outstanding letters of credit from the FHLB of Des Moines with a notional amount of $21.6 million and $19.1 million at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, to secure public deposits.
The following table shows rate and maturity information for our certificates of deposit at December 31, 2020 (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.00-1.99%
|
|
2.00-3.99%
|
|
Total
|
|
Percent of Total
|
Certificate accounts maturing in quarter ending:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
March 31, 2021
|
$
|
10,634
|
|
|
$
|
49,795
|
|
|
$
|
60,429
|
|
|
25.6
|
%
|
June 30, 2021
|
18,801
|
|
|
36,304
|
|
|
55,105
|
|
|
23.4
|
|
September 30, 2021
|
25,506
|
|
|
22,208
|
|
|
47,714
|
|
|
20.3
|
|
December 31, 2021
|
14,274
|
|
|
2,830
|
|
|
17,104
|
|
|
7.3
|
|
March 31, 2022
|
6,787
|
|
|
216
|
|
|
7,003
|
|
|
3.0
|
|
June 30, 2022
|
4,189
|
|
|
551
|
|
|
4,740
|
|
|
2.0
|
|
September 30, 2022
|
3,608
|
|
|
46
|
|
|
3,654
|
|
|
1.6
|
|
December 31, 2022
|
9,590
|
|
|
3,150
|
|
|
12,740
|
|
|
5.4
|
|
March 31, 2023
|
748
|
|
|
6,554
|
|
|
7,302
|
|
|
3.1
|
|
June 30, 2023
|
129
|
|
|
8,726
|
|
|
8,855
|
|
|
3.8
|
|
September 30, 2023
|
30
|
|
|
3,954
|
|
|
3,984
|
|
|
1.7
|
|
December 31, 2023
|
82
|
|
|
262
|
|
|
344
|
|
|
0.1
|
|
Thereafter
|
3,664
|
|
|
2,835
|
|
|
6,499
|
|
|
2.7
|
|
Total
|
$
|
98,042
|
|
|
$
|
137,431
|
|
|
$
|
235,473
|
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
Percent of total
|
41.6
|
%
|
|
58.4
|
%
|
|
100.0
|
%
|
|
|
The following table indicates the amount of our certificates of deposit and other deposits by time remaining until maturity at December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Maturity
|
|
|
|
3 months
or less
|
|
Over 3 to
6 months
|
|
Over 6 to
12 months
|
|
Over 12
months
|
|
Total
|
Certificates of deposit less than $100,000
|
$
|
39,947
|
|
|
$
|
39,148
|
|
|
$
|
46,237
|
|
|
$
|
33,528
|
|
|
$
|
158,860
|
|
Certificates of deposit of $100,000 or more
|
20,482
|
|
|
15,957
|
|
|
18,581
|
|
|
21,593
|
|
|
76,613
|
|
Total certificates of deposit
|
$
|
60,429
|
|
|
$
|
55,105
|
|
|
$
|
64,818
|
|
|
$
|
55,121
|
|
|
$
|
235,473
|
|
Borrowings. Although deposits are our primary source of funds, we may utilize borrowings as a cost-effective source of funds when they can be invested at a positive interest-rate spread, for additional capacity to fund loan demand, or to meet our asset/liability management goals. See "Note 10—Borrowings, FHLB Stock and Subordinated Notes" in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements contained in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this report on Form 10-K.
We are a member of and obtain advances from the FHLB of Des Moines, which is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The eleven regional FHLBs provide a central credit facility for their member institutions. These advances are provided upon the security of certain of our mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. These advances may be made pursuant to several different credit programs, each of which has its own interest rate, range of maturities and call features, and all long-term advances are required to provide funds for residential home financing. We have entered into a loan agreement with the FHLB of Des Moines pursuant to which Sound Community Bank may borrow up to approximately 45% of total assets, secured by a blanket pledge on a portion of our residential mortgage portfolio, including one-to-four family loans, commercial and multifamily real estate loans and home equity loans. Based on eligible collateral, the total amount available under this agreement at December 31, 2020 was $213.7 million. At the same date, we had no outstanding FHLB advances. We had outstanding letters of credit from the FHLB of Des Moines with a notional amount of $21.6 million at December 31, 2020. We plan to rely in part on FHLB advances to fund asset and loan growth. We also use short-term advances to meet short term liquidity needs. We are required to own stock in the FHLB of Des Moines, the amount of which varies based on the amount of our advances activity.
From time to time, we also may borrow from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's "discount window" for overnight liquidity needs. The Company participates in the Federal Reserve's Borrower-in-Custody program, which gives the Company access to the discount window, and beginning in 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (“PPPLF”). The
terms of both programs call for a pledge of specific assets. The Company pledges commercial and consumer loans as collateral for its Borrower-in-Custody line of credit and PPP loans for the PPPLF. The Company had unused borrowing capacity of $23.6 million and $41.7 million under the Borrower-in-Custody program at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The PPPLF had $43.3 million unused borrowing capacity at December 31, 2020. The Company had no outstanding borrowings with the Federal Reserve programs at December 31, 2020 and 2019.
The Company completed a private placement of $12.0 million in aggregate principal of 5.25% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Subordinated Notes (the "subordinated notes") due 2030 resulting in net proceeds, after placement fees and offering expenses, of approximately $11.6 million during the quarter ended September 30, 2020. The subordinated notes have a stated maturity of October 1, 2030 and bear interest at a fixed rate of 5.25% per year until October 1, 2025. From October 1, 2025 to the maturity date or early redemption date, the interest rate will reset quarterly at a variable rate equal to the then current three-month term secured overnight financing rate (“SOFR”), plus 513 basis points. As provided in the subordinated notes, the interest rate on the subordinated notes during the applicable floating rate period may be determined based on a rate other than three-month term SOFR. Prior to October 1, 2025, the Company may redeem the subordinated notes, in whole but not in part, only under certain limited circumstances set forth in the subordinated notes. On or after October 1, 2025, the Company may redeem the subordinated notes, in whole or in part, at its option, on any interest payment date. Any redemption by the Company would be at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the subordinated notes being redeemed, together with any accrued and unpaid interest on the subordinated notes being redeemed to but excluding the date of redemption.
The following table sets forth the maximum balance and average balance of borrowings and subordinated notes for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31,
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
Maximum balance:
|
|
|
|
|
|
FHLB advances
|
$
|
10,100
|
|
|
$
|
72,750
|
|
|
$
|
99,500
|
|
Federal Reserve borrowings
|
72,341
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Subordinated notes
|
11,676
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Average balance:
|
|
|
|
|
|
FHLB advances
|
$
|
7,141
|
|
|
$
|
24,406
|
|
|
$
|
69,900
|
|
Federal Reserve borrowings
|
9,469
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Subordinated notes
|
3,345
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Weighted average interest rate:
|
|
|
|
|
|
FHLB advances
|
3.10
|
%
|
|
3.05
|
%
|
|
2.18
|
%
|
Federal Reserve borrowings
|
0.36
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Subordinated notes
|
5.70
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
The following table sets forth certain information about our borrowings at the dates indicated (dollars in thousands):
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
December 31, 2020
|
|
2020
|
|
2019
|
|
2018
|
Outstanding balance:
|
|
|
|
|
|
FHLB advances
|
$
|
—
|
|
|
$
|
7,500
|
|
|
$
|
84,000
|
|
Federal Reserve borrowings
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Subordinated notes
|
11,592
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Interest rate:
|
|
|
|
|
|
FHLB advances
|
—
|
%
|
|
3.10
|
%
|
|
2.72
|
%
|
Federal Reserve borrowings
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Subordinated notes
|
5.70
|
|
|
—
|
|
|
—
|
|
Subsidiary and Other Activities
Sound Financial Bancorp has one subsidiary, Sound Community Bank. In 2018, Sound Community Bank formed Sound Community Insurance Agency, Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary for purposes of selling a full range of insurance products.
Competition
We face competition in attracting deposits and originating loans. Competition in originating real estate loans comes primarily from commercial banks, credit unions, life insurance companies, mortgage brokers and more recently financial technology (or "FinTech") companies. Commercial banks, credit unions and finance companies, including FinTech companies, provide vigorous competition in consumer lending. Commercial business competition is primarily from local commercial banks, but credit unions also compete for this business. We compete by consistently delivering high-quality, personal service to our clients which results in a high level of client satisfaction.
Our market area has a high concentration of financial institutions, many of which are branches of large money center and regional banks that have resulted from the consolidation of the banking industry in Washington and other western states. These include such large national lenders as US Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Key Bank and others in our market area that have greater resources than we do.
We attract our deposits through our branch offices and web site. Competition for those deposits is principally from savings banks, commercial banks and credit unions, as well as mutual funds, FinTech companies and other alternative investments. We compete for these deposits by offering superior service, online and mobile access and a variety of deposit accounts at competitive rates. Based on the most recent data provided by the FDIC, there are approximately 49 other commercial banks and savings banks operating in the Seattle MSA, which includes King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties. Based on the most recent branch deposit data provided by the FDIC, our share of deposits in the Seattle MSA is approximately 0.19%. The five largest financial institutions in that area have 71.7% of those deposits. In Clallam County, there are ten other commercial banks and savings banks. Our share of deposits in Clallam County was the second highest in the county at approximately 17.0%, with the five largest institutions in that county having 76.1% of the deposits. In Jefferson County there are seven other commercial banks and savings banks. Our share of deposits in Jefferson County is approximately 7.6%, while the five largest institutions in that county have 82.5% of those deposits.
How We Are Regulated
General. Sound Community Bank is a Washington state-chartered commercial bank. The regulators of Sound Community Bank as a commercial bank are the WDFI and the FDIC. The Federal Reserve is the primary federal regulator for Sound Financial Bancorp. A brief description of certain laws and regulations that are applicable to Sound Financial Bancorp and Sound Community Bank is set forth below. This description of these laws and regulations, as well as descriptions of laws and regulations contained elsewhere herein, does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the applicable laws and regulations. Legislation is introduced from time to time in the U.S. Congress or the Washington State Legislature that may affect the operations of Sound Financial Bancorp and Sound Community Bank. In addition, the regulations governing us may be amended from time to time. Any such legislation or regulatory changes in the future could adversely affect our operations and financial condition.
The WDFI and FDIC have extensive enforcement authority over Sound Community Bank. The Federal Reserve and the WDFI have the same type of authority over Sound Financial Bancorp. This enforcement authority includes, among other things, the ability to assess civil money penalties, issue cease-and-desist orders and removal orders and initiate injunctive actions. In general, these enforcement actions may be initiated for violations of laws and regulations and unsafe or unsound practices. Other actions or inactions may provide the basis for enforcement action, including misleading or untimely reports filed with the regulators.
Regulation of Sound Community Bank
General. Sound Community Bank, as a state-chartered commercial bank, is subject to applicable provisions of Washington law and to regulations and examinations of the WDFI. As an insured institution, it also is subject to examination and regulation by the FDIC, which insures the deposits of Sound Community Bank to the maximum permitted by law. During state or federal regulatory examinations, the examiners may require Sound Community Bank to provide for higher general or specific loan loss reserves, which can impact our capital and earnings. This regulation of Sound Community Bank is intended for the protection of depositors and the Deposit Insurance Fund ("DIF") of the FDIC and not for the purpose of protecting stockholders of Sound Community Bank or Sound Financial Bancorp. Sound Community Bank is required to maintain minimum levels of regulatory capital and is subject to certain limitations on the payment of dividends to Sound Financial Bancorp. See “—Capital Rules” and “—Limitations on Dividends and Stock Repurchases.”
Regulation by the WDFI and the FDIC. State law and regulations govern Sound Community Bank’s ability to take deposits and pay interest, to make loans on or invest in residential and other real estate, to make other loans, to invest in securities, to offer various banking services, and to establish branch offices. As a state commercial bank, Sound Community Bank must pay semi-annual assessments, examination costs and certain other charges to the WDFI.
Washington law generally provides the same powers for Washington commercial banks as federally and other-state chartered savings banks with branches in Washington. Washington law allows Washington commercial banks to charge the maximum interest rates on loans and other extensions of credit to Washington residents which are allowable for a national bank in another state if higher than Washington limits. In addition, the WDFI may approve applications by Washington commercial banks to engage in an otherwise unauthorized activity, if it determines that the activity is closely related to banking, and Sound Community Bank is otherwise qualified under the statute. Federal law and regulations generally limit the activities and equity investments of Sound Community Bank to those that are permissible for national banks, unless approved by the FDIC, and govern our relationship with our depositors and borrowers to a great extent, especially with respect to disclosure requirements.
The FDIC has adopted regulatory guidelines establishing safety and soundness standards on such matters as loan underwriting and documentation, asset quality, earnings standards, internal controls and information systems, audit systems, interest-rate risk exposure and compensation and other benefits. If the FDIC determines that Sound Community Bank fails to meet any standard prescribed by these guidelines, it may require Sound Community Bank to submit an acceptable plan to achieve compliance with the standard. Among these safety and soundness standards are FDIC regulations that require Sound Community Bank to adopt and maintain written policies that establish appropriate limits and standards for real estate loans. These standards, which must be consistent with safe and sound banking practices, establish loan portfolio diversification standards, prudent underwriting standards (including loan-to-value ratio limits) that are clear and measurable, loan administration procedures, and documentation, approval and reporting requirements. Sound Community Bank is obligated to monitor conditions in its real estate markets to ensure that its standards continue to be appropriate for current market conditions. Sound Community Bank’s Board of Directors is required to review and approve Sound Community Bank’s standards at least annually. The FDIC has published guidelines for compliance with these regulations, including supervisory limitations on loan-to-value ratios for different categories of real estate loans. Under the guidelines, the aggregate level of all loans in excess of the supervisory loan-to-value ratios should not exceed an aggregate limit of 100% of total capital, and within the aggregate limit, the total of all loans for commercial, agricultural, multifamily or other non-one-to-four family residential properties should not exceed 30% of total capital.
Loans in excess of the supervisory loan-to-value ratio limitations must be identified in Sound Community Bank’s records and reported at least quarterly to Sound Community Bank’s Board of Directors. Sound Community Bank is in compliance with the records and reporting requirements. At December 31, 2020, Sound Community Bank’s aggregate loans in excess of the supervisory loan-to-value ratios were $11.8 million and were within the aggregate limits set forth in the preceding paragraph.
The FDIC and the WDFI must approve any merger transaction involving Sound Community Bank as the acquirer, including an assumption of deposits from another depository institution. The FDIC generally is authorized to approve interstate merger transactions without regard to whether the transaction is prohibited by the law of any state. Interstate acquisitions of branches are permitted only if the law of the state in which the branch is located permits such acquisitions. Interstate mergers and branch acquisitions are also be subject to the nationwide and statewide insured deposit concentration amounts described below. The Dodd-Frank Act permits de novo interstate branching for banks.
Insurance of Accounts. The FDIC insures deposit accounts in Sound Community Bank up to $250,000 per separately insured deposit ownership right or category.
The FDIC assesses deposit insurance premiums quarterly on each FDIC-insured institution applied to its deposit base, which is their average consolidated total assets minus its Tier 1 capital. No institution may pay a dividend if it is in default on its federal deposit insurance assessment. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, the Bank paid $59,000 in FDIC premiums. The FDIC has authority to increase insurance assessments, and any significant increases would have an adverse effect on the operating expenses and results of operations of the Company. Management cannot predict what assessment rates will be in the future. In a banking industry emergency, the FDIC may also impose a special assessment.
The FDIC calculates assessments for small institutions (those with assets of less than $10 billion) based on an institution’s weighted average CAMELS component ratings and certain financial ratios. Currently, assessment rates range from 3 to 16 basis points for institutions with CAMELS composite ratings of 1 or 2, 6 to 30 basis points for those with CAMELS composite ratings of 3, and 16 to 30 basis points for those with CAMELS composite ratings of 4 or 5, all subject to certain adjustments.
Stronger institutions pay lower rates, while riskier institutions pay higher rates. Assessments are applied to an institution's assessment base, which is its average consolidated total assets minus average tangible equity. The FDIC has authority to increase insurance assessments, and any significant increases would have an adverse effect on the operating expenses and results of operations of the Bank. Management cannot predict what assessment rates will be in the future.
As insurer, the FDIC is authorized to conduct examinations of and to require reporting by FDIC-insured institutions. It also may prohibit any FDIC-insured institution from engaging in any activity the FDIC determines by regulation or order to pose a serious threat to the DIF. The FDIC also has the authority to take enforcement actions against banks and savings associations. Management is not aware of any existing circumstances which would result in termination of the Bank's deposit insurance.
A significant increase in insurance premiums would likely have an adverse effect on the operating expenses and results of operations of the Bank.
Transactions with Related Parties. Transactions between Sound Community Bank and its affiliates are required to be on terms as favorable to Sound Community Bank as transactions with non-affiliates, and certain of these transactions, such as loans to an affiliate, are restricted to a percentage of Sound Community Bank’s capital and require eligible collateral in specified amounts. In addition, the Bank may not lend to any affiliate engaged in activities not permissible for a bank holding company or purchase or invest in the securities of affiliates. Sound Financial Bancorp is an affiliate of Sound Community Bank.
Capital Rules. Sound Community Bank and Sound Financial Bancorp are required to maintain specified levels of regulatory capital under regulations of the FDIC and Federal Reserve, respectively. In September 2019, the regulatory agencies, including the FDIC and Federal Reserve adopted a final rule, effective January 1, 2020, creating a community bank leverage ratio ("CBLR") for institutions with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion, and that meet other qualifying criteria related to off-balance sheet exposures and trading assets and liabilities. The CBLR provides for a simple measure of capital adequacy for qualifying institutions. Management has elected to use the CBLR framework for the Bank and Company.
The CBLR is calculated as Tier 1 Capital to average consolidated assets as reported on an institution's regulatory reports. Tier 1 Capital, for the Company and the Bank, generally consists of common stock plus related surplus and retained earnings, adjusted for goodwill and other intangible assets and accumulated other comprehensive amounts (“AOCI”) related amounts. Qualifying institutions that elect to use the CBLR framework and that maintain a leverage ratio of greater than 9% will be considered to have satisfied the generally applicable risk-based and leverage capital requirements in the regulatory agencies' capital rules, and to have met the "well-capitalized" ratio requirements. In April 2020, as directed by Section 4012 of the CARES Act, the regulatory agencies introduced temporary changes to the CBLR. These changes, which subsequently were adopted as a final rule, temporarily reduce the CBLR requirement to 8% through the end of 2020. Beginning in 2021, the CBLR requirement will increase to 8.5% for the calendar year, before returning to 9% in 2022. A qualifying institution utilizing the CBLR framework whose leverage ratio does not fall more than one percent below the required percentage is allowed a two-quarter grace period in which to increase its leverage ratio back above the required percentage. During the grace period, a qualifying institution will still be considered well capitalized so long as its leverage ratio does not fall more than one percent below the required percentage. If an institution either fails to meet all the qualifying criteria within the grace period or has a leverage ratio that falls more than one percent below the required percentage, it becomes ineligible to use the CBLR framework and must instead comply with generally applicable capital rules, sometimes referred to as Basel III rules.
At December 31, 2020, the Bank’s CBLR was 10.4%. Management monitors the Bank's capital levels to provide for current and future business opportunities and to maintain Sound Community Bank’s “well-capitalized” status. At December 31, 2020, Sound Community Bank was considered “well-capitalized” under applicable banking regulations.
See "Note 16—Capital" in Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in "Part II. Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" and "Part II. Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources" for additional regulatory capital information.
The FASB has adopted a new accounting standard for accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("U.S. GAAP") that are effective for the Company and Bank beginning January 1, 2023. This standard, referred to as Current Expected Credit Loss ("CECL"), requires FDIC-insured institutions and their holding companies (banking organizations) to recognize credit losses expected over the life of certain financial assets. CECL covers a broader range of assets than the current method of recognizing credit losses and generally results in earlier recognition of credit losses. Upon adoption of CECL, a banking organization must record a one-time adjustment to its credit loss allowances as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption equal to the difference, if any, between the amount of credit loss allowances under the current methodology and the amount required under CECL. For a banking organization, implementation of CECL is generally likely to reduce retained earnings, and to affect other items, in a manner that reduces its regulatory capital.
The federal banking regulators (the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC) have adopted a rule that gives a banking organization the option to phase in over a three-year period the day-one adverse effects of CECL on its regulatory capital.
Community Reinvestment and Consumer Protection Laws. In connection with its lending and other activities, Sound Community Bank is subject to a number of federal and state laws designed to protect clients and promote lending to various sectors of the economy and population. These include, among others, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and the Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”). Among other things, these laws:
•require lenders to disclose credit terms in meaningful and consistent ways;
•prohibit discrimination against an applicant in a credit transaction;
•prohibit discrimination in housing-related lending activities;
•require certain lenders to collect and report applicant and borrower data regarding home loans;
•require lenders to provide borrowers with information regarding the nature and cost of real estate settlements;
•prohibit certain lending practices and limit escrow account amounts with respect to real estate loan transactions;
•require financial institutions to implement identity theft prevention programs and measures to protect the confidentiality of consumer financial information; and
•prescribe possible penalties for violations of the requirements of consumer protection statutes and regulations.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), an independent agency within the Federal Reserve, has the authority to amend existing federal consumer protection regulations and implement new regulations, and is charged with examining the compliance of financial institutions with assets in excess of $10 billion with these rules. Sound Community Bank’s compliance with consumer protection rules is examined by the WDFI and the FDIC.
In addition, federal and state regulations limit the ability of banks and other financial institutions to disclose nonpublic consumer information to non-affiliated third parties. The regulations require disclosure of privacy policies and allow consumers to prevent certain personal information from being shared with non-affiliated parties.
The CRA requires the appropriate federal banking agency to assess the bank’s record in meeting the credit needs of the communities served by the bank, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The FDIC examines Sound Community Bank for compliance with its CRA obligations. Under the CRA, institutions are assigned a rating of “outstanding,” “satisfactory,” “needs to improve,” or “substantial non-compliance” and the appropriate federal banking agency is to take this rating into account in the evaluation of certain applications of the institution, such as an application relating to a merger or the establishment of a branch. An unsatisfactory rating may be the basis for the denial of such an application. The CRA also requires that all institutions make public disclosures of their CRA ratings. Sound Community Bank received a “satisfactory” rating in its most recent CRA evaluation. Under the law of the state of Washington, Sound Community Bank has a similar obligation to meet the credit needs of the communities it serves, and is subject to examination by the WDFI for this purpose, including assignment of a rating. An unsatisfactory rating may be the basis for denial of certain applications by the WDFI. Sound Community Bank received a “satisfactory” rating from the WDFI in its most recent WDFI CRA evaluation.
Bank Secrecy Act / Anti-Money Laundering Laws. Sound Community Bank is subject to the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. These laws and regulations require Sound Community Bank to implement policies, procedures, and controls to detect, prevent, and report money laundering and terrorist financing and to verify the identity of their clients. Violations of these requirements can result in substantial civil and criminal sanctions. In addition, provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act require the federal financial institution regulatory agencies to consider the effectiveness of a financial institution’s anti-money laundering activities when reviewing mergers and acquisitions. Sound Community Bank has adopted policies, procedures and controls in order to comply with the USA PATRIOT Act.
Federal Reserve System. The Federal Reserve requires all depository institutions to maintain reserves at specified levels against their transaction accounts, primarily checking accounts. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve reduced reserve requirement ratios to zero percent effective on March 26, 2020, to support lending to households and businesses. At December 31, 2020, Sound Community Bank was in compliance with the reserve requirements.
The Bank is authorized to borrow from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's "discount window." An eligible institution need not exhaust other sources of funds before going to the discount window, nor are there restrictions on the purposes for which the institution can use primary credit. Beginning in 2020 in response to the pandemic, the Federal Reserve instituted the
Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (“PPPLF”). At December 31, 2020, the Bank had no outstanding borrowings under either program from the Federal Reserve.
Federal Home Loan Bank System. Sound Community Bank is a member of one of the 11 regional FHLBs, each of which serves as a reserve, or central bank, for its members within its assigned region and is funded primarily from proceeds derived from the sale of consolidated obligations of the Federal Home Loan Bank System. The FHLBs make loans to members in accordance with policies and procedures, established by the Boards of Directors of the FHLBs, which are subject to the oversight of the Federal Housing Finance Board. All borrowings from the FHLBs are required to be fully secured by sufficient collateral as determined by the FHLBs. In addition, all long-term borrowings are required to provide funds for residential home financing. Sound Community Bank had no outstanding borrowings with the FHLB of Des Moines and an available line of credit of $21.6 million at December 31, 2020. We plan to rely in part on FHLB advances to fund asset and loan growth. We also use short-term funding available on our line of credit with the FHLB of Des Moines.
As a member, the Bank is required to purchase and maintain stock in the FHLB of Des Moines based on the Bank's asset size and level of borrowings from the FHLB of Des Moines. At December 31, 2020, the Bank owned $877,000 in FHLB of Des Moines stock, which was in compliance with this requirement. The FHLB of Des Moines pays dividends quarterly, and the Bank received $46,000 in dividends from the FHLB of Des Moines during the year ended December 31, 2020.
The FHLBs continue to contribute to low- and moderately-priced housing programs through direct loans or interest subsidies on borrowings targeted for community investment and low- and moderate-income housing projects. These contributions have adversely affected the level of dividends paid by the FHLB of Des Moines and could continue to do so in the future. These contributions could also have an adverse effect on the value of FHLB stock in the future. A reduction in value of the Bank’s FHLB of Des Moines stock may result in a decrease in net income and possibly capital.
Regulation of Sound Financial Bancorp
General. Sound Financial Bancorp, as the sole stockholder of Sound Community Bank, is a bank holding company registered with the Federal Reserve. Bank holding companies are subject to comprehensive regulation by the Federal Reserve under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended, and the regulations promulgated thereunder. This regulation and oversight is generally intended to ensure that Sound Financial Bancorp limits its activities to those allowed by law and that it operates in a safe and sound manner without endangering the financial health of Sound Community Bank. A bank holding company must serve as a source of financial strength to its subsidiary banks, with the ability to provide financial assistance to a subsidiary bank in financial distress.
As a bank holding company, Sound Financial Bancorp is required to file quarterly and annual reports with the Federal Reserve and any additional information required by the Federal Reserve and is subject to regular examinations by the Federal Reserve and to examination by the WDFI.
A merger or acquisition of Sound Financial Bancorp, or an acquisition of control of Sound Financial Bancorp, is generally subject to approval by the Federal Reserve and WDFI. In general, control for this purpose means 25% of voting stock, but such approval can be required in other circumstances, including but not limited to an acquisition of as low as 5% of voting stock.
Permissible Activities. Under the Bank Holding Company Act, the Federal Reserve may approve the ownership of shares by a bank holding company in any company the activities of which the Federal Reserve has determined to be so closely related to the business of banking or managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto. The Bank Holding Company Act prohibits a bank holding company, with certain exceptions, from acquiring ownership or control of more than 5% of the voting shares of any company that is not a bank or bank holding company and from engaging in activities other than those of banking, managing or controlling banks, or providing services for its subsidiaries. A bank holding company that meets certain supervisory and financial standards and elects to be designated as a financial holding company may also engage in certain securities, insurance and merchant banking activities and other activities determined to be financial in nature or incidental to financial activities. Sound Community Bank has not elected to be designated as a financial holding company.
The Federal Reserve must approve an application of a bank holding company to acquire control of, or acquire all or substantially all of the assets of, a bank, and may approve an acquisition located in a state other than the holding company's home state, without regard to whether the transaction is prohibited by the laws of any state, but may not approve the acquisition of a bank that has not been in existence for the minimum time period, not exceeding five years, specified by the law of the host state, or an application where the applicant controls or would control more than 10% of the insured deposits in the U.S. or 30% or more of the deposits in the target bank’s home state or in any state in which the target bank maintains a branch. Federal law does not affect the authority of states to limit the percentage of total insured deposits in the state that may be held or controlled by a bank holding company to the extent such limitation does not discriminate against out-of-state banks or bank holding companies. Individual states may also waive the 30% state-wide concentration limit contained in the federal law. The Federal
Reserve also takes into consideration the CRA performance of a bank when evaluating acquisition proposals involving the bank’s holding company.
Capital. Consolidated regulatory capital requirements identical to those applicable to subsidiary banks generally apply to bank holding companies. However, the Federal Reserve Board has provided a “Small Bank Holding Company” exception to its consolidated capital requirements, and bank holding companies with less than $3.0 billion of consolidated assets are not subject to the consolidated holding company capital requirements unless otherwise directed by the Federal Reserve.
Federal Securities Law. The stock of Sound Financial Bancorp is registered with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Sound Financial Bancorp is subject to the information, proxy solicitation, insider trading restrictions and other requirements of the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).
Sound Financial Bancorp stock held by persons who are affiliates of Sound Financial Bancorp may not be resold without registration unless sold in accordance with certain resale restrictions. For this purpose, affiliates are generally considered to be officers, directors and principal stockholders. If Sound Financial Bancorp meets specified current public information requirements, each affiliate of Sound Financial Bancorp will be able to sell in the public market, without registration, a limited number of shares in any three-month period.
The SEC has adopted regulations and policies under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that apply to Sound Financial Bancorp as a registered company under the Exchange Act. The stated goals of these requirements are to increase corporate responsibility, provide for enhanced penalties for accounting and auditing improprieties at publicly traded companies and to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures pursuant to the securities laws. The SEC and Sarbanes-Oxley-related regulations and policies include very specific additional disclosure requirements and corporate governance rules.
Limitations on Dividends and Stock Repurchases
Sound Financial Bancorp. Sound Financial Bancorp’s ability to declare and pay dividends is subject to the Federal Reserve’s limits and Maryland law, and may depend on its ability to receive dividends from Sound Community Bank.
A policy of the Federal Reserve limits the payment of a cash dividend by a bank holding company if the holding company's net income for the past year is not sufficient to cover both the cash dividend and a rate of earnings retention that is consistent with capital needs, asset quality and overall financial condition. A bank holding company that does not meet any applicable capital standard would not be able to pay any cash dividends under this policy. A bank holding company subject to the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement, such as Sound Financial Bancorp, is expected not to pay dividends unless its debt-to-equity ratio is less than 1:1 and it meets certain additional criteria. The Federal Reserve also has indicated that it is inappropriate for a company experiencing serious financial problems to borrow funds to pay dividends.
Except for a company that meets the well-capitalized standard for bank holding companies, is well managed, and is not subject to any unresolved supervisory issues, a bank holding company is required to give the Federal Reserve prior written notice of any purchase or redemption of its outstanding equity securities if the gross consideration for the purchase or redemption, when combined with the net consideration paid for all such purchases or redemptions during the preceding 12 months, is equal to 10% or more of the company's consolidated net worth. The Federal Reserve may disapprove such a purchase or redemption if it determines that the proposal would constitute an unsafe or unsound practice or would violate any law, regulation or regulatory order, condition, or written agreement with the Federal Reserve. Regardless of its asset size, a bank holding company is considered well-capitalized if on a consolidated basis it has a total risk-based capital ratio of at least 10.0% and a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 6.0% or more, and is not subject to an agreement, order, or directive to maintain a specific level for any capital measure.
Under Maryland corporate law, Sound Financial Bancorp generally may not pay dividends if after that payment it would not be able to pay its liabilities as they become due in the usual course of business, or its total assets would be less than the sum of its total liabilities.
Sound Community Bank. The amount of dividends payable by Sound Community Bank to Sound Financial Bancorp depends upon Sound Community Bank’s earnings and capital position, and is limited by federal and state laws, regulations and policies. Sound Community Bank may not declare or pay a cash dividend on its capital stock if the payment would cause its net worth to be reduced below the amount required for its liquidation account. Dividends on Sound Community Bank’s capital stock may not be paid in an aggregate amount greater than the aggregate retained earnings of Sound Community Bank without the approval of the WDFI.
The amount of dividends actually paid during any one period will be strongly affected by Sound Community Bank’s policy of maintaining a strong capital position. Federal law further provides that without prior approval, no insured depository institution may pay a cash dividend if it would cause the institution to be less than adequately capitalized as defined in the prompt corrective action regulations. Moreover, the FDIC has the general authority to limit the dividends paid by insured banks if such
payments are deemed to constitute an unsafe and unsound practice. In addition, dividends may not be declared or paid if Sound Community Bank is in default in payment of any assessment due the FDIC.
Recent Regulatory Reform
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Congress, through the enactment of the CARES Act, and the federal banking agencies, though rulemaking, interpretive guidance and modifications to agency policies and procedures, have taken a series of actions to provide national emergency economic relief measures including, among others, the following:
•The CARES Act allows banks to elect to suspend requirements under U.S. GAAP for loan modifications related to the COVID-19 pandemic (for loans that were not more than 30 days past due at December 31, 2019) that would otherwise be categorized as a TDR, including impairment for accounting purposes, until the earlier of 60 days after the termination date of the national emergency or December 31, 2020. The suspension of U.S. GAAP is applicable for the entire term of the modification. The federal banking agencies also issued guidance to encourage banks to make loan modifications for borrowers affected by COVID-19 by providing that short-term modifications made in response to COVID-19, such as payment deferrals, fee waivers, extensions of repayment terms, or other delays in payment that are insignificant related to the loans in which the borrower is less than 30 days past due on its contractual payments at the time a modification is implemented, is not a TDR. Sound Community Bank is applying this guidance to qualifying COVID-19 modifications. See Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—COVID-19 Response” for further information about the COVID-19 modifications completed by the Bank.
•The CARES Act amended the SBA's lending program, the PPP, to fund payroll and operational costs of eligible businesses, organizations and self-employed persons during COVID-19. The loans are provided through participating financial institutions, such as the Bank, that process loan applications and service the loans and are eligible for SBA repayment and loan forgiveness if the borrower meets the PPP conditions. The application period for a SBA PPP loan closed on August 8, 2020. The SBA began approving PPP forgiveness applications and remitting forgiveness payments to PPP lenders on October 2, 2020. The CAA, 2021 which was signed into law on December 27, 2020, renews and extends the PPP until March 31, 2021. As a result, as a participating lender, the Bank began originating PPP loans again in January 2021 and will continue to monitor legislative, regulatory, and supervisory developments related to the PPP.
•Pursuant to the CARES Act, the federal banking agencies authorities adopted an interim rule, effective until the earlier of the termination of the coronavirus emergency declaration by the President and December 31, 2020, to (i) reduce the minimum CBLR Ratio from 9% to 8% percent and (ii) give community banks a two-quarter grace period to satisfy such ratio if such ratio falls out of compliance by no more than 1%.
As the on-going COVID-19 pandemic evolves, federal regulatory authorities continue to issue additional guidance with respect to the implementation, life cycle, and eligibility requirements for the various CARES Act programs as well as industry-specific recovery procedures for COVID-19. In addition, it is possible that the U.S. Congress will enact supplementary COVID-19 response legislation. The Company continues to assess the impact of the CARES Act and other statues, regulations and supervisory guidance related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For additional information regarding actions taken by regulatory agencies to provide relief to consumers who have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, see the discussion below under "Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to our Business."
Federal Taxation
General. We are subject to federal income taxation in the same general manner as other corporations, with some exceptions discussed below. The following discussion of federal taxation is intended only to summarize certain pertinent federal income tax matters and is not a comprehensive description of the tax rules applicable to Sound Financial Bancorp or Sound Community Bank. Our federal income tax returns have never been audited by the Internal Revenue Service.
Method of Accounting. For federal income tax purposes, we currently report our income and expenses on the accrual method of accounting and use a fiscal year ending on December 31 for filing our federal income tax return.
Intercompany Dividends-Received Deduction. Sound Financial Bancorp has elected to file a consolidated return with Sound Community Bank. Therefore, any dividends Sound Financial Bancorp receives from Sound Community Bank will not be included as income to Sound Financial Bancorp.
State Taxation
We are subject to a business and occupation tax imposed under Washington state law at the rate of 1.5% of gross receipts, as well as personal property and sales tax. Interest received and servicing income both on loans secured by mortgages or deeds of trust on residential properties and certain investment securities are exempt from business and occupation tax.
Employees and Human Capital
At December 31, 2020, we had a total of 110 full-time employees and 10 part-time employees. Our employees are not represented by any collective bargaining group. Management considers its employee relations to be good.
To facilitate talent attraction and retention, we strive to make Sound Community Bank an inclusive, safe and healthy workplace, with opportunities for our employees to grow and develop in their careers, supported by market-based compensation, benefits, health and welfare programs. At December 31, 2020, approximately 63% of our workforce was female and 37% male, and our average tenure was 4.92 years, an increase of 2.3% from an average tenure of 4.81 years at December 31, 2019. As part of our compensation philosophy, we offer and maintain market competitive total rewards programs for our employees in order to attract and retain superior talent. In addition to strong base wages, additional programs include quarterly or annual bonus opportunities, a Company-augmented Employee Stock Ownership Plan ("ESOP"), a Company-matched 401(k) Plan, healthcare and insurance benefits, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, family leave, family care resources, flexible work schedules, and employee assistance programs including help with student loans and educational opportunities.
The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. Accordingly, we are committed to the health, safety, and wellness of our employees. In support of our commitment, we expanded our gym reimbursement to include all physical and mental wellness activities. We provide our employees and their families with access to a variety of flexible and convenient health and welfare programs, including benefits that support their physical and mental health by providing tools and
resources to help them improve or maintain their health status; and that offer choice where possible so they can customize their benefits to meet their needs and the needs of their families. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented significant operating environment changes that we determined were in the best interest of our employees, as well as the communities in which we operate, and which comply with government regulations. This includes having the vast majority of our back-office employees work from home, while implementing additional safety measures for employees continuing critical on-site work. In addition, we provided frontline staff with additional compensation for their role working with the public.
A core value of our talent management approach is to both develop talent from within and supplement with external hires. This approach has yielded loyalty and commitment in our employee base which in turn grows our business, our products, and our customers, while adding new employees and external ideas supports a continuous improvement mindset. We believe that our average tenure of nearly five years reflects the engagement of our employees in this talent management philosophy.
Executive Officers of Sound Financial Bancorp and Sound Community Bank
Officers are elected annually to serve for a one year term. There are no arrangements or understandings between the officers and any other person pursuant to which he or she was or is to be selected as an officer.
Laura Lee Stewart. Ms. Stewart, age 72, is currently President, Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of Sound Community Bank and Sound Financial Bancorp. Prior to joining Sound Community Bank as its President in 1989, when it was a credit union, Ms. Stewart was Senior Vice President/Retail Banking at Great Western Bank. Ms. Stewart was selected as an inaugural member of the FDIC Community Bank Advisory Board and completed her term in 2011. In 2011, Ms. Stewart was appointed to the inaugural Consumer Financial Protection Bureau board and completed her term in 2013. She also served as Chair of the American Bankers Association’s ("ABA") Government Relations Council and is the past Chair of the Washington Bankers Association. The American Banker magazine honored her as one of the top 25 Women to Watch in banking in 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and as one of the most powerful women in Banking in 2019 and 2020. In 2016, Ms. Stewart was recognized as a Women of Influence by the Puget Sound Business Journal. In 2018, she was named Community Banker of the year by American Banker. Ms. Stewart also served as Chair of the National Arthritis Foundation’s board of directors as well as serving as the Past Chair of the board of directors of Woodland Park Zoo. In October 2019, Ms. Stewart was elected Chair of the ABA. Her many years of service in all areas of the financial institution operations and duties as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sound Financial Bancorp and Sound Community Bank bring a special knowledge of the financial, economic and regulatory challenges we face, and she is well suited to educating the Board on these matters.
Charles Turner. Mr.Turner, age 60, was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of Sound Community Bank in June 2020 and promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer in January 2021. Mr. Turner is responsible for management of the Bank’s Lending and Credit Administration functions, and is a member of the Bank’s Loan Committee. Mr. Turner, who has 40 years of community banking experience, began his career as a teller and first became a chief credit officer in 2002. Prior to joining Sound Community Bank, Mr. Turner was the Chief Credit Officer with Liberty Bay Bank in Poulsbo,
WA, from 2011 until June 2020. During his career, Mr. Turner has also managed special assets, assisted a bank through receivership, spent years as a loan officer, a branch manager, and an accounting clerk. Mr. Turner is a graduate of the University of Washington and holds many years of community service with Chambers of Commerce, Rotary and other organizations.
Heidi Sexton. Ms. Sexton, age 45, was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Sound Community Bank during 2018. Ms. Sexton is responsible for identification and mitigation of risk through oversight of the Enterprise Risk management and Compliance Management functions. In addition, Ms. Sexton is responsible for Information Technology, Systems Support and Operations, Project Management and Policies and Procedures. Ms. Sexton joined Sound Community Bank in 2007 and previously served as the Vice President of Operations managing deposit, electronic, and lending operations. Ms. Sexton received a Bachelor's of Arts in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She currently holds a number of professional certifications including Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager and is a graduate of the Washington Bankers Association’s Executive Development Program. Ms. Sexton is also a member of the CFPB Community Bank Advisory Counsel and ABA Compliance Administrative Committee. She serves on the Board of Financial Beginnings, a non-profit that provides youth to adult financial education programs at no cost.
Wesley Ochs. Mr. Ochs, age 42, currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Sound Community Bank. Mr. Ochs is responsible for developing, communicating, executing, and sustaining corporate strategic initiatives, and in November 2020, became responsible for the Bank's economic forecasting, strategic planning and asset liability management functions. Mr. Ochs began his career at Sound Community Bank in April 2009 as a Commercial Loan Officer, was promoted to Senior Vice President Credit Administration Manager in 2015, and to his current position in January 2020. Mr. Ochs received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, Finance and Education from Eastern Washington University, his Master of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Phoenix and is a graduate of the Washington Bankers Association’s Executive Development Program.
Website
We maintain a website; www.soundcb.com. The information contained on our website is not included as a part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Other than an investor’s own internet access charges, we make available free of charge through its website the Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we have electronically filed such material with, or furnished such material to, the SEC. Information pertaining to us, including SEC filings, can be found by clicking the link on our site called "Investor Relations." For more information regarding access to these filings on our website, please contact our Corporate Secretary, Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc., 2400 3rd Avenue, Suite 150, Seattle, Washington, 98121 or by calling (206) 448-0884.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
We assume and manage a certain degree of risk in order to conduct our business strategy. In addition to the risk factors described below, other risks and uncertainties not specifically mentioned, or that are currently known to, or deemed to be immaterial by management, also may materially and adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks described below together with all of the other information included in this Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC. If any of the circumstances described in the following risk factors actually occur to a significant degree, the value of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. This report is qualified in its entirety by these risk factors.
Risks Related to Our Macroeconomic Conditions
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way we conduct business which may adversely impact our financial results and those of our customers. The ultimate impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the scope and duration of the pandemic and actions taken by governmental authorities in response to the pandemic.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has caused major economic disruption and volatility in the financial markets both in the U.S. and globally. In our market areas, stay-at-home orders, social distancing and travel restrictions, and similar orders imposed across the U.S. to restrict the spread of COVID-19, resulted in significant business and operational disruptions, including business closures, supply chain disruptions, and significant layoffs and furloughs. While the stay-at-home orders have terminated or been phased-out along with reopening of businesses in certain markets, most localities in which we operate still apply capacity restrictions and health and safety recommendations that encourage continued social distancing and working remotely, limiting the ability of businesses to return to pre-pandemic levels of activity.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in changes to our business operations during the current year and could continue to result in changes to operations in future periods. Currently, a majority of our employees are working remotely to enable us to continue to provide banking services to our customers. Heightened cybersecurity, information security and operational risks may result from these work-from-home arrangements. Depending on the severity and length of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is impossible to predict, we could experience significant disruptions in our business operations if key personnel or a significant number of employees were to become unavailable due to the effects and restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as decreased demand for our products and services.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in declines in demand for certain types of loans and has negatively impacted some of our business and consumer borrowers' ability to make their loan payments. Because the length of the pandemic and the efficacy of the extraordinary measures being put in place to address the economic consequences are unknown, including a continued low targeted federal funds rate, until the pandemic subsides, we expect our net interest income and net interest margin will continue to be adversely affected in the near term, if not longer.
There is pervasive uncertainty surrounding the future economic conditions that will emerge in the months and years following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, management is confronted with a significant and unfamiliar degree of uncertainty in estimating the impact of the pandemic on credit quality, revenues and asset values.
Asset quality may deteriorate and the amount of our allowance for loan losses may not be sufficient for future loan losses we may experience. This could require us to increase our reserves and recognize more expense in future periods. The changes in market rates of interest and the impact that has on our ability to price our products may reduce our net interest income in the future or negatively impact the demand for our products. There is some risk that operational costs could continue to increase as we maintain existing facilities in accordance with health guidelines, while potentially incurring incremental costs to support staff who continue to work remotely.
The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our business, results of operations and financial condition, as well as our regulatory capital and liquidity ratios, will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the scope and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response to the pandemic.
A worsening of economic conditions in our market area could reduce demand for our products and services and result in increases in our level of nonperforming loans, which could adversely affect our operations, financial condition and earnings.
Substantially all our loans are to businesses and individuals in the state of Washington. Accordingly, local economic conditions have a significant impact on the ability of our borrowers to repay loans and the value of the collateral securing loans. Further, as a result of a high concentration of our customer base in the Puget Sound area and eastern Washington state regions, the deterioration of businesses in these areas, or one or more businesses with a large employee base in these areas, could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects. Weakness in the global economy has adversely affected many businesses operating in our markets that are dependent upon international trade and it is not known how changes in tariffs being imposed on international trade may also affect these businesses.
A deterioration in economic conditions in the markets we serve, in particular the Puget Sound area of Washington State, could result in the following consequences, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations:
•demand for our products and services may decline;
•loan delinquencies, problem assets and foreclosures may increase;
•we may increase our allowance for loan losses;
•collateral for loans, especially real estate, may decline in value, thereby reducing customers’ future borrowing power, and reducing the value of assets and collateral associated with existing loans;
•the net worth and liquidity of loan guarantors may decline, impairing their ability to honor commitments to us; and
•the amount of our low-cost or noninterest-bearing deposits may decrease.
Moreover, a significant decline in general local, regional or national economic conditions caused by inflation, recession, severe weather, natural disasters, widespread disease or pandemics, acts of terrorism, an outbreak of hostilities or other international or domestic calamities, unemployment or other factors beyond our control could further impact these local economic conditions and could further negatively affect the financial results of our banking operations. Such events could affect the stability of our deposit base, impair the ability of borrowers to repay outstanding loans and leases, impair the value of collateral securing loans, cause significant property damage, result in loss of revenue or cause us to incur additional expenses.
Risks Related to Our Lending
Our loan portfolio includes loans with a higher risk of loss.
Our origination of commercial and multifamily real estate, construction and land, consumer and commercial business loans, typically present different risks to us than our one-to-four family residential loans for a number of reasons, including as follows:
•Construction and Land Loans. This type of lending is subject to the inherent difficulties in estimating both a property’s value at completion of a project and the estimated cost (including interest) of the project. The uncertainties inherent in estimating construction costs, as well as the market value of a completed project and the effects of governmental regulation on real property, make it difficult to evaluate accurately the total funds required to complete a project and the completed project's loan-to-value ratio. We may be required to advance funds beyond the amount originally committed to ensure completion of the project if our estimate of the value of construction cost proves to be inaccurate. We may have inadequate security for the repayment of the loan upon completion of construction of the project and may incur a loss if our appraisal of the value of a completed project proves to be overstated. Disagreements between borrowers and builders and the failure of builders to pay subcontractors may also jeopardize projects. This type of lending also typically involves higher loan principal amounts and may be concentrated with a small number of builders. A downturn in housing or the real estate market could increase delinquencies, defaults and foreclosures, and significantly impair the value of our collateral and our ability to sell the collateral upon foreclosure. Some of the builders we deal with have more than one loan outstanding with us. Consequently, an adverse development with respect to one loan or one credit relationship can expose us to a significantly greater risk of loss. In addition, during the term of some of our construction loans, no payment from the borrower is required since the accumulated interest is added to the principal of the loan through an interest reserve. Increases in market rates of interest may have a more pronounced effect on construction loans by rapidly increasing the end-purchaser's borrowing costs, thereby possibly reducing the homeowner's ability to finance the home upon completion or the overall demand for the project. Properties under construction are often difficult to sell and typically must be completed in order to be successfully sold which also complicates the process of managing our problem construction loans. This may require us to advance additional funds and/or contract with another builder to complete construction and assume the market risk of selling the project at a future market price, which may or may not enable us to fully recover unpaid loan funds and associated construction and liquidation costs. Loans on land under development or held for future construction also pose additional risk because of the lack of income being produced by the property and the potential illiquid nature of the collateral. These risks can be significantly impacted by supply and demand. As a result, this type of lending often involves the disbursement of substantial funds with repayment dependent on the success of the ultimate project and the ability of the borrower to sell or lease the property or obtain permanent take-out financing, rather than the ability of the borrower or guarantor to independently repay principal and interest.
Construction loans made by us include those with a sales contract or permanent loan in place for the finished homes and those for which purchasers for the finished homes may not be identified either during or following the construction
period, known as speculative construction loans. Speculative construction loans to a builder pose a greater potential risk to us than construction loans to individuals on their personal residences. We attempt to mitigate this risk by actively monitoring the number of unsold homes in our construction loan portfolio and local housing markets to attempt to maintain an appropriate balance between home sales and new loan originations. In addition, the maximum number of speculative construction loans (loans that are not pre-sold) approved for each builder is based on a combination of factors, including the financial capacity of the builder, the market demand for the finished product and the ratio of sold to unsold inventory the builder maintains. We have also attempted to diversify the risk associated with speculative construction lending by doing business with a large number of small and mid-sized builders spread over a relatively large geographic region representing numerous sub-markets within our service area.
•Commercial and Multifamily Real Estate Loans. These loans typically involve higher principal amounts than other types of loans and some of our commercial borrowers have more than one loan outstanding with us. Consequently, an adverse development with respect to one loan or one credit relationship can expose us to a significantly greater risk of loss compared to an adverse development with respect to a one-to-four family residential mortgage loan. Repayment of these loans is dependent upon income being generated from the property securing the loan in amounts sufficient to cover operating expenses and debt service, which may be adversely affected by changes in the economy or local market conditions. In addition, many of our commercial and multifamily real estate loans are not fully amortizing and contain large balloon payments upon maturity. Such balloon payments may require the borrower to either sell or refinance the underlying property in order to make the payment, which may increase the risk of default or non-payment. If we foreclose on a commercial or multifamily real estate loan, our holding period for the collateral typically is longer than for one-to-four family residential loans because there are fewer potential purchasers of the collateral.
•Commercial Business Loans. Our commercial business loans are primarily made based on the cash flow of the borrower and secondarily on the underlying collateral provided by the borrower. A borrower's cash flow may prove to be unpredictable, and collateral securing these loans may fluctuate in value. Most often, this collateral includes accounts receivable, inventory, equipment or real estate. In the case of loans secured by accounts receivable, the availability of funds for the repayment of these loans may be substantially dependent on the ability of the borrower to collect amounts due from its customers. Other collateral securing loans may depreciate over time, may be difficult to appraise, may be illiquid and may fluctuate in value based on the success of the business.
•Consumer Loans. Generally, we consider these loans to involve a different degree of risk compared to first mortgage loans on one-to-four family residential properties. As a result of our large portfolio of these loans, it may become necessary to increase the level of our provision for loan losses, which could decrease our profits. Consumer loans generally entail greater risk than do one-to-four family residential mortgage loans, particularly in the case of loans that are secured by rapidly depreciable assets, such as floating homes, manufactured homes, automobiles and recreational vehicles. In these cases, any repossessed collateral for a defaulted loan may not provide an adequate source of repayment of the outstanding loan balance. Manufactured homes are a riskier form of collateral, though this risk is reduced if the owner also owns the land on which the home is located, because they are costly and difficult to relocate when repossessed, and difficult to sell due to the diminishing number of manufactured home parks in the Puget Sound area. Additionally, a good portion of our manufactured home loan borrowers are first-time home buyers, who tend to be a higher credit risk than first-time home buyers of single family residences, due to more limited financial resources. As a result, these loans tend to have a higher probability of default, higher delinquency rates and greater servicing costs than other types of consumer loans. Our floating home, houseboat and house barge loans are typically located on cooperative or condominium moorages. The primary risk in floating home loans is the unique nature of the collateral and the challenges of relocating such collateral to a location other than where such housing is permitted. The process for securing the deed and/or the condominium or cooperative dock is also unique compared to other types of lending we participate in. As a result, these loans may have higher collateral recovery costs than for one-to-four family mortgage loans and other types of consumer loans.
•Loans originated under the SBA's PPP subject us to credit, forgiveness and guarantee risk. PPP loans are subject to the provisions of the CARES Act and CAA, 2021 and to complex and evolving rules and guidance issued by the SBA and other government agencies. We expect that the great majority of our PPP borrowers will seek full or partial forgiveness of their loan obligations. We have credit risk on PPP loans if the SBA determines that there is a deficiency in the manner in which we originated, funded or serviced the loans, including any issue with the eligibility of a borrower to receive a PPP loan. We could face additional risks in our administrative capabilities to service our PPP loans and risk with respect to the determination of loan forgiveness, depending on the final procedures for determining loan forgiveness. In the event of a loss resulting from a default on a PPP loan and a determination by the SBA that there was a deficiency in the manner in which we originated, funded or serviced a PPP loan, the SBA may deny its liability
under the guaranty, reduce the amount of the guaranty or, if the SBA has already paid under the guaranty, seek recovery of any loss related to the deficiency from us.
Our business may be adversely affected by credit risk associated with residential property and declining property values.
Our first-lien one-to-four family real estate loans are primarily made based on the repayment ability of the borrower and the collateral securing these loans. Home equity lines of credit generally entail greater risk than do one-to-four family residential mortgage loans where we are in the first-lien position. For those home equity lines secured by a second mortgage, it is less likely that we will be successful in recovering all of our loan proceeds in the event of default. Our foreclosure on these loans requires that the value of the property be sufficient to cover the repayment of the first mortgage loan, as well as the costs associated with foreclosure.
This type of lending is generally sensitive to regional and local economic conditions that significantly impact the ability of borrowers to meet their loan payment obligations, making loss levels difficult to predict. A downturn in the economy or the housing market in our market areas or a rapid increase in interest rates may reduce the value of the real estate collateral securing these types of loans and increase the risk that we would incur losses if borrowers default on their loans. Residential loans with high combined loan-to-value ratios generally will be more sensitive to declining property values than those with lower combined loan-to-value ratios and therefore may experience a higher incidence of default and severity of losses. In addition, if the borrowers sell their homes, the borrowers may be unable to repay their loans in full from the sale proceeds. As a result, these loans may experience higher rates of delinquencies, defaults and losses, which will in turn adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. A majority of our residential loans are “non-conforming” because they are adjustable-rate mortgages which contain interest rate floors or do not satisfy credit or other requirements due to personal and financial reasons (i.e., divorce, bankruptcy, length of time employed, etc.), conforming loan limits (i.e., jumbo mortgages), and other requirements imposed by secondary market purchasers. Some of these borrowers have higher debt-to-income ratios, or the loans are secured by unique properties in rural markets for which there are no sales of comparable properties to support the value according to secondary market requirements. We may require additional collateral or lower loan-to-value ratios to reduce the risk of these loans. We believe that these loans satisfy a need in our local market areas. As a result, subject to market conditions, we intend to continue to originate these types of loans.
Our allowance for loan losses may prove inadequate or we may be negatively affected by credit risk exposures. Future additions to our allowance for loan losses, as well as charge-offs in excess of reserves, will reduce our earnings.
Our business depends on the creditworthiness of our customers. As with most financial institutions, we maintain an allowance for loan losses to reflect potential defaults and nonperformance, which represents management's best estimate of probable incurred losses inherent in the loan portfolio. Management's estimate is based on our continuing evaluation of specific credit risks and loan loss experience, current loan portfolio quality, present economic, political and regulatory conditions, industry concentrations and other factors that may indicate future loan losses. The determination of the appropriate level of the allowance for loan losses inherently involves a high degree of subjectivity and judgment and requires us to make estimates of current credit risks and future trends, all of which may undergo material changes. There is no certainty that the allowance for loan losses will be adequate over time to cover credit losses in the loan portfolio because of unanticipated adverse changes in the economy, market conditions or events adversely affecting specific customers, industries or markets. If the credit quality of our loan portfolio materially decreases, if the risk profile of a market, industry or group of customers changes materially, or if the allowance for loan losses is not adequate, our business, financial condition, liquidity, capital, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Risks Related to Market and Interest Rate Changes
Fluctuating interest rates can adversely affect our profitability.
The rates we earn on our assets and the rates we pay on our liabilities are generally fixed for a contractual period of time. Like many financial institutions, our liabilities generally have shorter contractual maturities than our assets. This imbalance can create significant earnings volatility because market interest rates change over time. In addition, changes in interest rates can affect the average life of loans and mortgage-backed and related securities. In a period of rising interest rates, the interest income we earn on our assets may not increase as rapidly as the interest we pay on our liabilities. A decline in interest rates results in increased prepayments of loans and mortgage-backed and related securities as borrowers refinance their debt to reduce their borrowing costs. This creates reinvestment risk, which is the risk that we may not be able to reinvest prepayments at rates that are comparable to the rates we earned on the prepaid loans or securities. Furthermore, an inverted interest rate yield curve, where short-term interest rates (which are usually the rates at which financial institutions borrow funds) are higher than long-term interest rates (which are usually the rates at which financial institutions lend funds for fixed-rate loans) can reduce a
financial institution’s net interest margin and create financial risk for financial institutions that originate longer-term, fixed-rate mortgage loans.
Any substantial, unexpected, prolonged change in market interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. Changes in the level of interest rates also may negatively affect the value of our assets and liabilities and ultimately affect our earnings. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors that are beyond our control, including general economic conditions and policies of various governmental and regulatory agencies, and in particular the Federal Reserve. We principally manage interest-rate risk by managing our volume and mix of our earning assets and funding liabilities. Changes in monetary policy, including changes in interest rates, could influence not only the interest we receive on loans and investments and the amount of interest we pay on deposits and borrowings, but these changes could also affect our ability to originate and/or sell loans and obtain deposits, the fair value of our financial assets and liabilities, which could negatively impact shareholders’ equity, and our ability to realize gains from the sale of such assets, and the ability of our borrowers to repay adjustable or variable rate loans. If the interest rates paid on deposits and borrowings increase at a faster rate than the interest received on loans and other investments, our net interest income, and therefore earnings, could be adversely affected. Earnings could also be adversely affected if the interest rates received on loans and other investments decline more rapidly than the interest rates paid on deposits and other borrowings. In a changing interest rate environment, we may not be able to manage this risk effectively. If we are unable to manage interest rate risk effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially affected.
After steadily increasing the target federal funds rate in 2018 and 2017, the Federal Reserve in 2019 decreased the target federal funds rate by 75 basis points, and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, an additional 150 basis point decrease to a range of 0.0% to 0.25%. The Federal Reserve could make additional changes in interest rates during 2021 subject to economic conditions. If the Federal Reserve increases the targeted federal funds rates, overall interest rates will likely rise, which may negatively impact both the housing market by reducing refinancing activity and new home purchases and the U.S. economy. In addition, deflationary pressures, while possibly lowering our operational costs, could have a significant negative effect on our borrowers, especially our business borrowers, and the values of collateral securing loans which could negatively affect our financial performance. For further discussion of how changes in interest rates could impact us, see "Part II. Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk," for additional information about our interest-rate risk management.
Changes in the valuation of our securities portfolio could hurt our profits and reduce our capital levels.
Our securities portfolio may be impacted by fluctuations in market value, potentially reducing accumulated other comprehensive income and/or earnings. Fluctuations in market value may be caused by changes in market interest rates, lower market prices for securities and limited investor demand. Management evaluates securities for OTTI on a quarterly basis, with more frequent evaluation for selected issues. In analyzing a debt issuer’s financial condition, management considers whether the securities are issued by the federal government or its agencies, whether downgrades by bond rating agencies have occurred and industry analysts’ reports. Changes in interest rates can also have an adverse effect on our financial condition, as our available-for-sale securities are reported at their estimated fair value, and therefore are impacted by fluctuations in interest rates. We increase or decrease our stockholders’ equity by the amount of change in the estimated fair value of the available-for-sale securities, net of taxes. Declines in market value could result in OTTI losses on these assets, which would lead to accounting charges that could have a material adverse effect on our net income and capital levels. At December 31, 2020, we have no securities that are deemed impaired.
An increase in interest rates, change in the programs offered by Fannie Mae or our ability to qualify for its programs may reduce our mortgage revenues, which would negatively impact our noninterest income.
The sale of residential mortgage loans to Fannie Mae provides a significant portion of our non-interest income. Any future changes in its program, our eligibility to participate in such program, the criteria for loans to be accepted or laws that significantly affect the activity of Fannie Mae could, in turn, materially adversely affect our results of operations if we could not find other purchasers. Mortgage banking is generally considered a volatile source of income because it depends largely on the level of loan volume which, in turn, depends largely on prevailing market interest rates. In a rising or higher interest-rate environment, the demand for mortgage loans, particularly refinancing of existing mortgage loans, tends to fall and our originations of mortgage loans may decrease, resulting in fewer loans that are available to be sold. This would result in a decrease in mortgage revenues and a corresponding decrease in noninterest income. In addition, our results of operations are affected by the amount of noninterest expense associated with our loan sale activities, such as salaries and employee benefits, occupancy, equipment and data processing expense and other operating costs. During periods of reduced loan demand, our results of operations may be adversely affected to the extent that we are unable to reduce expenses commensurate with the decline in loan originations. In addition, although we sell loans to Fannie Mae or into the secondary market without recourse,
we are required to give customary representations and warranties about the loans we sell. If we breach those representations and warranties, we may be required to repurchase the loans and we may incur a loss on the repurchase.
We may incur losses in the fair value of our mortgage servicing rights due to changes in prepayment rates.
Our mortgage servicing rights carry interest-rate risk because the total amount of servicing fees earned, as well as changes in fair market value, fluctuate based on expected loan prepayments (affecting the expected average life of a portfolio of residential mortgage servicing rights). The rate of prepayment of residential mortgage loans may be influenced by changing national and regional economic trends, such as recessions or stagnating real estate markets, as well as the difference between interest rates on existing residential mortgage loans relative to prevailing residential mortgage rates. During periods of declining interest rates, many residential borrowers refinance their mortgage loans. Changes in prepayment rates are therefore difficult for us to predict. The loan administration fee income (related to the residential mortgage loan servicing rights corresponding to a mortgage loan) decreases as mortgage loans are prepaid. Consequently, in the event of an increase in prepayment rates, we would expect the fair value of portfolios of residential mortgage loan servicing rights to decrease along with the amount of loan administration income received.
Risks Related to Cybersecurity, Data and Fraud
A failure in or breach of our security systems or infrastructure, including breaches resulting from cyber-attacks, could disrupt our businesses, result in the disclosure or misuse of confidential or proprietary information, damage our reputation, increase our costs and cause losses.
Information security risks for financial institutions have increased in recent years in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of the Internet and telecommunications technologies to conduct financial transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists, activists, and other external parties. Those parties also may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, customers, or other users of our systems to disclose confidential information in order to gain access to our data or that of our customers. Our operations rely on the secure processing, transmission and storage of confidential information in our computer systems and networks, either managed directly by us or through our data processing vendors. In addition, to access our products and services, our customers may use personal computers, smartphones, tablet PCs, and other mobile devices that are beyond our control systems. Although we believe we have robust information security procedures and controls, we rely heavily on our third party vendors, technologies, systems, networks and our customers' devices all of which may become the target of cyber-attacks, computer viruses, malicious code, unauthorized access, hackers or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss, theft or destruction of our confidential, proprietary and other information or that of our customers, or disrupt our operations or those of our customers or third parties.
To date, we have not incurred any material losses relating to cyber-attacks or other information security breaches, but there can be no assurance that we will not suffer such attacks, breaches and losses in the future. Our risk and exposure to these matters remains heightened because of, among other things, the evolving nature of these threats and our plans to continue to evolve our internet banking and mobile banking channel. As a result, the continued development and enhancement of our information security controls, processes and practices designed to protect customer information, our systems, computers, software, data and networks from attack, damage or unauthorized access remain a priority for our management. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend significant additional resources to insure, modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate important information security vulnerabilities or exposures; however, our measures may be insufficient to prevent all physical and electronic break-ins, denial of service and other cyber-attacks or security breaches.
Disruptions or failures in the physical infrastructure or operating systems that support our businesses and customers, or cyber-attacks or security breaches of the networks, systems or devices that our customers use to access our products and services could result in customer attrition, uninsured financial losses, the inability of our customers to transact business with us, employee productivity losses, technology replacement costs, incident response costs, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties or intervention, additional regulatory scrutiny, reputational damage, litigation, reimbursement or other compensation costs, and/or additional compliance costs, any of which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.
The failure to protect our customers' confidential information and privacy could adversely affect our business.
We are subject to federal and state privacy regulations and confidentiality obligations that, among other things restrict the use and dissemination of, and access to, certain information that we produce, store or maintain in the course of our business. We also have contractual obligations to protect certain confidential information we obtain from our existing vendors and customers.
These obligations generally include protecting such confidential information in the same manner and to the same extent as we protect our own confidential information, and in some instances may impose indemnity obligations on us relating to unlawful or unauthorized disclosure of any such information.
If we do not properly comply with privacy regulations and contractual obligations that require us to protect confidential information, or if we experience a security breach or network compromise, we could experience adverse consequences, including regulatory sanctions, penalties or fines, increased compliance costs, remedial costs such as providing credit monitoring or other services to affected customers, litigation and damage to our reputation, which in turn could result in decreased revenues and loss of customers, all of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We continually encounter technological change, and we may have fewer resources than many of our competitors to invest in technological improvements.
The financial services industry is undergoing rapid technological changes with frequent introductions of new technology-driven products and services. The effective use of technology increases efficiency and enables financial institutions to better serve customers and to reduce costs. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to address the needs of our clients by using technology to provide products and services that will satisfy client demands for convenience, as well as to create additional efficiencies in our operations. Many national vendors provide turn-key services to community banks, such as internet banking and remote deposit capture that allow smaller banks to compete with institutions that have substantially greater resources to invest in technological improvements. We may not be able, however, to effectively implement new technology-driven products and services or be successful in marketing these products and services to our customers.
Our business may be adversely affected by an increasing prevalence of fraud and other financial crimes.
As a bank, we are susceptible to fraudulent activity that may be committed against us or our customers, which may result in financial losses or increased costs to us or our customers, disclosure or misuse of our information or our customer’s information, misappropriation of assets, privacy breaches against our customers, litigation or damage to our reputation. Such fraudulent activity may take many forms, including check fraud, electronic fraud, wire fraud, phishing, social engineering and other dishonest acts. Nationally, reported incidents of fraud and other financial crimes have increased. We have also experienced losses due to apparent fraud and other financial crimes. While we have policies and procedures designed to prevent such losses, there can be no assurance that such losses will not occur.
Regulatory- and Accounting-Related Risks
We operate in a highly regulated environment and may be adversely affected by changes in federal and state laws and regulations that could increase our costs of operations.
The banking industry is extensively regulated. Federal banking regulations are designed primarily to protect the deposit insurance funds and consumers, not to benefit a company's shareholders. These regulations may sometimes impose significant limitations on our operations. Certain significant federal and state banking regulations to which we are subject are described in this report under the heading "Item 1. Business—How We Are Regulated." These regulations, along with the currently existing tax, accounting, securities, insurance, and monetary laws, regulations, rules, standards, policies and interpretations control the methods by which financial institutions conduct business, implement strategic initiatives and tax compliance, and govern financial reporting and disclosures. These laws, regulations, rules, standards, policies, and interpretations are constantly evolving and may change significantly over time. Any new regulations or legislation, change in existing regulation or oversight, whether a change in regulatory policy or a change in a regulator's interpretation of a law or regulation, could have a material impact on our operations, increase our costs of regulatory compliance and of doing business and adversely affect our profitability. In this regard, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), published guidelines in 2014 for financial institutions servicing cannabis businesses that are legal under state law. These guidelines generally allow us to work with cannabis-related businesses that are operating in accordance with state laws and regulations, so long as we comply with required regulatory oversight of their accounts with us. In addition, legislation is currently pending in Congress that would allow banks and financial institutions to serve cannabis businesses in states where it is legal without any risk of federal prosecution. At December 31, 2020, approximately 1.3% of our total deposits and a portion of our service charges from deposits are from legal cannabis-related businesses. Any adverse change in this FinCEN guidance, any new regulations or legislation, any change in existing regulations or oversight, whether a change in regulatory policy or a change in a regulator's interpretation of a law or regulation, could have a negative impact on our non-interest income, as well as the cost of our operations, increasing our cost of regulatory compliance and of doing business and/or otherwise affect us, which may materially affect our profitability. Our failure to comply with laws, regulations or policies could result in civil or criminal sanctions and money penalties by state and federal agencies, and/or reputation damage, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our accounting policies and methods are fundamental to how we report our financial condition and results of operations, and we use estimates in determining the fair value of certain of our assets, which estimates may prove to be imprecise and result in significant changes in valuation.
A portion of our assets are carried on the balance sheet at fair value, including investment securities available for sale, mortgage servicing rights related to single-family loans, and single-family loans held for sale. Generally, for assets that are reported at fair value, we use quoted market prices or valuation models that use observable market data inputs to estimate their fair value. In certain cases, observable market prices and data may not be readily available, or their availability may be diminished due to market conditions. We use financial models to value certain of these assets. These models are complex and use asset-specific collateral data and market inputs for interest rates. Although we have processes and procedures in place governing valuation models and their review, such assumptions are complex, as we must make judgments about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. Different assumptions could result in significant changes in valuation, which in turn could affect earnings or result in significant changes in the dollar amount of assets reported on the balance sheet.
Risks Related to our Business and Industry Generally
We rely on other companies to provide key components of our business infrastructure.
We rely on numerous external vendors to provide us with products and services necessary to maintain our day-to-day operations. Accordingly, our operations are exposed to risk that these vendors will not perform in accordance with the contracted arrangements under service level agreements. The failure of an external vendor to perform in accordance with the contracted arrangements under service level agreements because of changes in the vendor's organizational structure, financial condition, support for existing products and services or strategic focus or for any other reason, could be disruptive to our operations, which in turn could have a material negative impact on our financial condition and results of operations. We also could be adversely affected to the extent a service agreement is not renewed by the third-party vendor or is renewed on terms less favorable to us. Additionally, the bank regulatory agencies expect financial institutions to be responsible for all aspects of our vendors’ performance, including aspects which they delegate to third parties.
Uncertainty relating to the LIBOR calculation process and potential phasing out of LIBOR may adversely affect our results of operations.
We have certain loans and investment securities indexed to LIBOR to calculate the interest rate. The continued availability of the LIBOR index is not guaranteed after 2021. We cannot predict whether and to what extent banks will continue to provide LIBOR submissions to the administrator of LIBOR or whether any additional reforms to LIBOR may be enacted. At this time, no consensus exists as to what rate or rates may become acceptable alternatives to LIBOR (with the exception of overnight repurchase agreements, which are expected to be based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR) and it is impossible to predict the effect of any such alternatives on the value of LIBOR-based securities and variable rate loans, subordinated debentures, or other securities or financial arrangements, given LIBOR's role in determining market interest rates globally. SOFR is observed and backward looking, which stands in contrast with LIBOR under the current methodology, which is an estimated forward-looking rate and relies, to some degree, on the expert judgment of submitting panel members. Given that SOFR is a secured rate backed by government securities, it will be a rate that does not take into account bank credit risk (as is the case with LIBOR). SOFR is therefore likely to be lower than LIBOR and is less likely to correlate with the funding costs of financial institutions. Whether or not SOFR attains market traction as a LIBOR replacement tool remains in question and the future of LIBOR remains uncertain at this time. Uncertainty as to the nature of alternative reference rates and as to potential changes or other reforms to LIBOR may adversely affect LIBOR rates and the value of LIBOR-based loans and, to a lesser extent, securities in our portfolio and may impact the availability and cost of hedging instruments and borrowings, including the rates we pay on our subordinated notes and trust preferred securities. If LIBOR rates are no longer available, and we are required to implement substitute indices for the calculation of interest rates under our loan agreements with our borrowers or our existing borrowings, we may incur significant expenses in effecting the transition, and may be subject to disputes or litigation with customers and creditors over the appropriateness or comparability to LIBOR of the substitute indices, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Ineffective liquidity management could adversely affect our financial results and condition.
Effective liquidity management is essential to our business. We require sufficient liquidity to meet customer loan requests, customer deposit maturities and withdrawals, payments on our debt obligations as they come due and other cash commitments under both normal operating conditions and other unpredictable circumstances, including events causing industry or general financial market stress. An inability to raise funds through deposits, borrowings, the sale of loans or investment securities and other sources could have a substantial negative effect on our liquidity. We rely on customer deposits and at times, borrowings from the FHLB of Des Moines and the Federal Reserve and certain other wholesale funding sources to fund our operations. Deposit flows and the prepayment of loans and mortgage-related securities are strongly influenced by such external factors as
the direction of interest rates, whether actual or perceived, and the competition for deposits and loans in the markets we serve. Further, changes to the FHLB of Des Moines's underwriting guidelines for wholesale borrowings or lending policies may limit or restrict our ability to borrow, and could therefore have a significant adverse impact on our liquidity. Although we have historically been able to replace maturing deposits and borrowings if desired, we may not be able to replace such funds in the future if, among other things, our financial condition, the financial condition of the FHLB of Des Moines, or market conditions change. Our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on terms which are acceptable could be impaired by factors that affect us specifically or the financial services industry or economy in general, such as a disruption in the financial markets or negative views and expectations about the prospects for the financial services industry or deterioration in credit markets. Additional factors that could detrimentally impact our access to liquidity sources include a decrease in the level of our business activity as a result of a downturn in the markets in which our deposits and loans are concentrated, negative operating results, or adverse regulatory action against us. Any decline in available funding in amounts adequate to finance our activities or on terms which are acceptable could adversely impact our ability to originate loans, invest in securities, meet our expenses, or fulfill obligations such as repaying our borrowings or meeting deposit withdrawal demands, any of which could, in turn, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Societal responses to climate change could adversely affect our business and performance, including indirectly through impacts on our customers.
Concerns over the long-term impacts of climate change have led and will continue to lead to governmental efforts around the world to mitigate those impacts. Consumers and businesses also may change their behavior on their own as a result of these concerns. We and our customers will need to respond to new laws and regulations, as well as consumer and business preferences resulting from climate change concerns. We and our customers may face cost increases, asset-value reductions and operating process changes. The impact on our customers will likely vary depending on their specific attributes, including reliance on or role in carbon intensive activities. Among the impacts to us could be a drop in demand for our products and services, particularly in certain sectors. In addition, we could face reductions in creditworthiness on the part of some customers or in the value of assets securing loans. Our efforts to take these risks into account in making lending and other decisions, including by increasing our business with climate-friendly companies, may not be effective in protecting us from the negative impact of new laws and regulations or changes in consumer or business behavior.
If our enterprise risk management framework is not effective at mitigating risk and loss to us, we could suffer unexpected losses and our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We maintain an enterprise risk management program that is designed to identify, quantify, monitor, report, and control the risks that we face. These risks include interest-rate, credit, liquidity, operations, reputation, compliance and litigation. We also maintain a compliance program to identify, measure, assess, and report on our adherence to applicable laws, policies and procedures. While we assess and improve these programs on an ongoing basis, there can be no assurance that our risk management or compliance programs, along with other related controls, will effectively mitigate all risk and limit losses in our business. As with any risk management framework, there are inherent limitations to our risk management strategies as there may exist, or develop in the future, risks that we have not appropriately anticipated or identified. If our risk management framework proves ineffective, we could suffer unexpected losses and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We are subject to certain risks in connection with our data management or aggregation.
We are reliant on our ability to manage data and our ability to aggregate data in an accurate and timely manner to ensure effective risk reporting and management. Our ability to manage and aggregate data may be limited by the effectiveness of our policies, programs, processes and practices that govern how data is acquired, validated, stored, protected and processed. While we continuously update our policies, programs, processes and practices, many of our data management and aggregation processes are manual and subject to human error or system failure. Failure to manage data effectively and to aggregate data in an accurate and timely manner may limit our ability to manage current and emerging risks, as well as to manage changing business needs.
Our growth or future losses may require us to raise additional capital in the future, but that capital may not be available when it is needed, or the cost of that capital may be very high.
We are required by federal regulatory authorities to maintain adequate levels of capital to support our operations. At some point, we may need to raise additional capital to support our growth or replenish future losses. Our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, will depend on conditions in the capital markets at that time, which are outside our control, and on our financial condition and performance. Accordingly, we cannot make assurances that we will be able to raise additional capital if needed on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, our ability to further expand our operations could be materially impaired and our financial condition and liquidity could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, any additional capital we obtain may result in the dilution of the interests of existing holders of our common stock. Further, if we are unable to raise additional capital when required by our bank regulators, we may be subject to adverse regulatory action.
As a community bank, maintaining our reputation in our market area is critical to the success of our business, and the failure to do so may materially adversely affect our performance.
We are a community bank and our reputation is one of the most valuable components of our business. A key component of our business strategy is to rely on our reputation for customer service and knowledge of local markets to expand our presence by capturing new business opportunities from existing and prospective customers in our current market and contiguous areas. As such, we strive to conduct our business in a manner that enhances our reputation. This is done, in part, by recruiting, hiring and retaining employees who share our core values of being an integral part of the communities we serve, delivering superior service to our customers and caring about our customers and associates. We provide many different financial products and rely on the ability of our employees and systems to process a significant number of transactions. If our reputation is negatively affected by the actions of our employees, by our inability to conduct our operations in a manner that is appealing to current or prospective customers, or otherwise, our business and, therefore, our operating results may be materially adversely affected.
The Company may not attract and retain skilled employees.
The Company's success depends, in large part, on its ability to attract and retain key people. Competition for the best people can be intense, and the Company spends considerable time and resources attracting and hiring qualified people for its operations. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of the Company's key personnel could have a material adverse impact on the Company's business because of their skills, knowledge of the Company's market, and years of industry experience, as well as the difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement personnel.
Our ability to pay dividends is subject to the ability of the Bank to make capital distributions to the Company.
Our long-term ability to pay dividends to our stockholders is based primarily upon the ability of the Bank to make capital distributions to the Company, and also on the availability of cash at the holding company level in the event earnings are not sufficient to pay dividends. Under certain circumstances, capital distributions from the Bank to the Company may be subject to regulatory approvals. See "Part I. Item 1. Business—How We Are Regulated—Regulation of Sound Community Bank—Capital Rules” and “—Regulation of Sound Financial Bancorp—Limitations on Dividends and Stock Repurchases" for additional information.