Obtaining SBA Loan Payment Extensions
The COVID-19 pandemic was extremely difficult on businesses throughout South Florida, and many business owners applied for loans through the US Small Business Administration (SBA), including loans through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Based on data from the SBA, approximately four million small businesses across the country received EIDL loans up to amounts of $2 million. When small business owners received EIDL loans, they had an initial deferral period of 30 months before they would need to begin repaying loans. That 30-month deferral period ended for many small business owners, and the SBA created applications to lower monthly payments for businesses experiencing hardship.
The Hardship Accommodation plan became available in 2022, and it was extended in early 2023. Recently, it was extended again. Accordingly, if you have an EIDL loan, you could be eligible for a reduced payment for a length of time. One of the West Palm Beach business law attorneys at our firm can speak with you today about your EIDL loan and about helping you with your hardship application. In the meantime, we want to provide you with more information about EIDL loans and the benefits through the Hardship Accommodation for which your business could be eligible.
Do You Have an EIDL Loan?
If your business borrowed money during the pandemic, it is important to know precisely what kind of loan you have — in order to ensure that you understand the repayment terms, and to determine if you could be eligible for the EIDL Hardship Accommodation. Do you have an EIDL loan?
As the SBA explains, there were two types of EIDL funding that were approved during the pandemic, and businesses receiving funds through the EIDL program received one or both of the following:
- COVID-19 EIDL loan funds, which were provided for businesses to use “for working capital and other normal operating expenses,” and need to be repaid; and
- EIDL Advance funds, which were paid to certain COVID-19 EIDL loan applicants and are more like grants, which means they do not need to be repaid.
To be clear, if you received an EIDL loan or EIDL loan funds — as opposed to EIDL Advance funds — the money must be repaid. In general, EIDL loans were paid out in amounts less than or equal to $200,000, and in loan amounts exceeding $200,000.
How the Hardship Accommodation Works
How does the Hardship Accommodation ease the burden of repaying your EIDL loan? It is important to understand that the Hardship Accommodation is not a type of loan forgiveness but rather is a way to reduce the amount of monthly payments for a set period of time.
The most recent extension for the Hardship Accommodation occurred in November 2023, and it can provide the following for businesses with EIDL loans:
- 10 percent of your payment amount for the first and second 6-month periods;
- 50 percent of your payment amount for the third 6-month period; and
- 75 percent of your payment amount for the fourth 6-month period.
Contact Our West Palm Beach Business Attorneys Today
Is your EIDL loan coming due, or has your EIDL loan recently come due? You could be eligible to have your payments reduced with a successful Hardship Accommodation.
Do you have questions about the Hardship Accommodation for SBA EIDL loans, or do you need assistance applying for a Hardship Accommodation? It is important to work with one of the experienced West Palm Beach business lawyers at Kelley Kaplan & Eller, PLLC to give yourself the best chance of having your application approved. Contact us today to discuss your business’s financial circumstances and to begin working on your application for Hardship Accommodation.
Source:
sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/eidl#:~:text=The%20COVID%2D19%20Economic%20Injury,and%20other%20normal%20operating%20expenses
