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U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza announced that the SBA will be granting automatic disaster loan deferments through December 31, 2020, to help borrowers who are still paying back SBA loans from previous disasters. Because the change is automatic, borrowers of home and business disaster loans do not have to contact the agency to request deferment. NAWRB is honored to be one of only 11 organizations listed as a Women’s Entrepreneurship Partner for the SBA, and we are happy to be a resource and lend an ear to the over 30 million U.S. small businesses who make up the backbone of our economy.
“The SBA is looking at every option and taking every action to cut red tape to make it easier for small businesses to stay in business. Automatically deferring existing SBA disaster loans through the end of the year will help borrowers during this unprecedented time,” said Administrator Carranza in the SBA’s official press release. “Today’s announcement adds a list of growing actions the SBA is taking to support small businesses. These actions include making it easier for states and territories to request a declaration so small businesses statewide can now apply for economic injury disaster loans, and changing the terms of new economic injury loans to allow for one-year deferments.”
SBA Disaster Loans & New Relaxed Criteria
Renters and homeowners, as well as businesses, are eligible to apply for the SBA’s no cost, low-interest rate economic injury disaster loans even if they do not own a business. The relaxed criteria for small businesses seeking an economic injury declaration has two immediate impacts:
(1) “Faster, Easier Qualification Process for States Seeking SBA Disaster Assistance. Under the just-released, revised criteria, states or territories are only required to certify that at least five small businesses within the state/territory have suffered substantial economic injury, regardless of where those businesses are located.”
(2) “Expanded, Statewide Access to SBA Disaster Assistance Loans for Small Businesses. SBA disaster assistance loans are typically only available to small businesses within counties identified as disaster areas by a Governor. Under the revised criteria issued today, disaster assistance loans will be available statewide following an economic injury declaration. This will apply to current and future disaster assistance declarations related to Coronavirus.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you a small business impacted by the coronavirus and in need of an SBA disaster loan? Learn the steps to apply here! If you are interested in applying for this loan, SBA has answered some FAQ’s below:
- We do offer low-interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) due to the COVID-19 Pandemic declarations in virtually all states.
- Information for the loan program for SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance can be found at: www.sba.gov/disaster
- Interest rates are 3.75% fixed for small businesses, 2.75% fixed for nonprofits, 30 year terms, 1st payment deferred until the 12th month from the note date.
- No cost to apply, amount needed not required upon application, no obligation to take any money if approved, take only the amount needed to survive the recovery period. If you get approved, and find that you still need more or a longer recovery period than expected, you can request an increase. No prepayment penalty.
- If you get stuck while trying to apply online, you can call for help at the Customer Service Center at 1 (800) 659-2955, Wait times may be long, but the agency is hiring as fast as possible!
- Completed Applications with supporting documents requested are processed on a first come, first served basis.
For more information on SBA disaster loans, see another in-depth NAWRB resource here. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter for updates, and subscribe to our newsletter by visiting www.nawrb.com!