The Umatilla Electric Cooperative’s Small Business Resource Center announced today that the U.S. Small Business Administration will begin referring defaulted PPP and EIDL loans under $100K to the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service for collection on March 4, 2024.
Small business borrowers who are referred to Treasury and IRS for collection may face significant consequences, including:
• Negative impact on credit scores• Withholding of future state and federal tax refunds and any potential federal government funding (such as social security); and• Referral of your loan to private debt collectors to pursue repayment, who may use tactics like wage garnishment.
For PPP Borrowers:PPP borrowers can avoid default and the repercussions that come along with it without repaying the loan. Those who have met the payroll requirements can complete the PPP forgiveness application, which takes most borrowers less than 15 minutes. If PPP borrowers are unsure if their loan has been forgiven, they can check by logging in to the MySBA loan portal. Once logged in, borrowers will see all of their SBA loans, including PPP loans, and the status of each loan. For PPP loans, the status will show “paid in full” if the PPP loan has been forgiven. PPP borrowers who are not sure if their loan has been forgiven and see other statuses should apply for forgiveness immediately. See the SBA website for instructions on how to apply for PPP forgiveness.
Borrowers who need assistance with forgiveness can contact SBA at their dedicated forgiveness call center: 877-552-2692.
For COVID EIDL Borrowers:All COVID EIDL borrowers must repay their loans, but the SBA has programs to help – including expanded hardship accommodation plans. COVID EIDL hardship accommodation plans significantly lower monthly payments – sometimes as low as $25 per month – for six months, and then paymentsgradually increase over a multi-year period. More information for COVID EIDL hardship accommodation plans is available on the SBA website. Many borrowers can apply for a hardship accommodation plan directly through the MySBA loan portal. Once logged in, COVID EIDL borrowers can click “Loan Summaries” in the toolbar, then “Hardship Accommodation Plan” in the bottom right corner, and finally “Learn More and Enroll.”
For further assistance, please contact COVID-19 EIDL Customer Service at 833-853-5638 (TTY:711) or email COVIDEIDLServicing@sba.gov.
The UEC Business Resource Center provides free and confidential one-on-one business advising. Call at 541-289-3000 or email uecbrc@gmail.com to schedule an appointment.
