Note 3 — Loans Receivable

The Board of Directors and management review and approve the Bank’s loan policy and procedures on a regular basis to reflect matters such as regulatory and organizational structure changes, strategic planning revisions, concentrations of credit, loan delinquencies and nonperforming loans, and problem loans.

Real estate loans are loans secured by liens or interest in real estate, to provide purchase, construction, and refinance on real estate properties. Commercial and industrial loans consist of commercial term loans, commercial lines of credit, SBA and international loans. Leases receivable include equipment finance agreements, which are typically secured by the business assets being financed. We maintain management loan review and monitoring departments that review and monitor pass graded loans as well as problem loans to prevent further deterioration.

Concentrations of Credit: The majority of the Bank’s loan portfolio consists of commercial real estate loans.

Loans receivable, net

Loans receivable consisted of the following as of the dates indicated:

The CARES Act allows financial institutions to assist customers in dealing with financial hardship by (a) providing federal funding so that financial institutions can originate SBA loans to borrowers at a low interest rate under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans with eventual debt forgiveness should the borrower continue to meet certain  criteria; and (b) allowing financial institutions to temporarily modify loan terms by deferring loan payments, loan fees, etc. without considering them Troubled Debt Restructures.

At December 31, 2020, there were $295.7 million of PPP loans included in commercial and industrial loans in the table above.  In addition, during 2020, a total of $1.41 billion of loans entered into payment deferrals under Section 4013 of the CARES Act.

Accrued interest on loans was $15.2 million and $10.0 million at December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Accrued interest at December 31, 2020 included unpaid deferred interest receivable related to loans modified under the CARES Act of $7.5 million, net of a $1.7 million valuation allowance.

At December 31, 2020 and 2019, loans of $2.17 billion and $1.35 billion, respectively, were pledged to secure advances from the FHLB.

Loans Held for Sale

The following table details the information on SBA loans held for sale by portfolio segment for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:

Allowance for credit losses

Activity in the allowance for credit losses was as follows for the periods indicated:

The following table details the information on the allowance for credit losses by portfolio segment for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:

The table below illustrates the allowance for credit losses by portfolio segment as a percentage of the recorded total allowance for credit losses and as a percentage of the aggregate recorded investment of loans receivable for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:

The following table represents the amortized cost basis of collateral-dependent loans by class of loans as of December 31, 2020, for which repayment is expected to be obtained through the sale of the underlying collateral and any collateral dependent loans that are still accruing but are considered nonperforming.

Loan Quality Indicators

As part of the on-going monitoring of the quality of our loan portfolio, we utilize an internal loan grading system to identify credit risk and assign an appropriate grade (from 0 to 8) for each loan in our portfolio. A third-party loan review is required on an annual basis. Additional adjustments are made when determined to be necessary. The loan grade definitions are as follows:

Pass and Pass-Watch: Pass and Pass-Watch loans, grades (0-4), are in compliance with the Bank’s credit policy and regulatory requirements, and do not exhibit any potential or defined weaknesses as defined under “Special Mention,” “Substandard” or “Doubtful.” This category is the strongest level of the Bank’s loan grading system. It consists of all performing loans with no identified credit weaknesses. It includes cash and stock/security secured loans or other investment grade loans.

Special Mention: A Special Mention loan, grade (5), has potential weaknesses that deserve management’s close attention. If not corrected, these potential weaknesses may result in deterioration of the repayment of the debt and result in a Substandard classification. Loans that have significant actual, not potential, weaknesses are considered more severely classified.

Substandard: A Substandard loan, grade (6), has a well-defined weakness that jeopardizes the liquidation of the debt. A loan graded Substandard is not protected by the sound worth and paying capacity of the borrower, or of the value and type of collateral pledged. With a Substandard loan, there is a distinct possibility that the Bank will sustain some loss if the weaknesses or deficiencies are not corrected.

Doubtful: A Doubtful loan, grade (7), is one that has critical weaknesses that would make the collection or liquidation of the full amount due improbable. However, there may be pending events which may work to strengthen the loan, and therefore the amount or timing of a possible loss cannot be determined at the current time.

Loss: A loan classified as Loss, grade (8), is considered uncollectible and of such little value that their continuance as active bank assets is not warranted. This classification does not mean that the loan has absolutely no recovery or salvage value, but rather it is not practical or desirable to defer writing off this asset even though partial recovery may be possible in the future. Loans classified as Loss will be charged off in a timely manner.

Under regulatory guidance, loans graded special mention or worse are considered criticized loans, and loans graded substandard or worse are considered classified loans.

As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the recorded investment in pass/pass-watch, special mention and classified (substandard, doubtful and loss) loans, disaggregated by loan class, were as follows:

At December 31, 2020, of the $155.6 million of loans modified in accordance with the provision of the CARES Act, $99.9 million were in pass/watch, $31.3 million were special mention, and $24.4 million were classified.

Loans by Vintage Year and Risk Rating