SBA accepts direct forgiveness applications for small PPP loans

The Small Business Administration on July 28 announced it will launch a streamlined application portal to accept Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness applications directly — bypassing lending institutions — for loans of $150,000 or less. 

Lenders will still be required to determine whether to forgive PPP loans, but SBA’s intent is to streamline the process for both borrowers and lenders. The portal will go live to all borrowers around Aug. 4.

SBA officials also said borrowers who receive second-draw PPP loans of $150,000 or less will not need to supply documentation proving at least a 25 percent revenue reduction during at least one quarter of last year compared to 2019. The SBA is instead using alternative data to determine revenue reduction. 

SBA had become aware that lenders were overwhelmed by the volume of PPP loans and the statutory 60-day requirement to issue forgiveness applications from borrowers created uncertainty among borrowers that they would need to start paying their PPP loans while waiting for lenders to accept and process their loan forgiveness applications. SBA has received comments from borrowers and lenders requesting simplification of the loan forgiveness program, an initiative those groups deemed  “overwhelming and difficult to manage.” 

“SBA believes that lenders that opt-in to using the direct borrower forgiveness process will benefit with reduced costs, increased efficiency and more timely remittance of forgiveness payments from SBA, while borrowers will benefit from the ability to submit loan forgiveness applications directly through the platform and reduce the wait time and uncertainty associated with submission through their lender,” the agency stated. 

Borrowers, however, will be able to continue submitting loan forgiveness applications to their lenders, rather than the platform, if: 

  • The PPP lender does not opt-in to use the direct borrower forgiveness process.
  • The borrower’s PPP loan is greater than $150,000.
  • The borrower does not agree with the data provided by the SBA system of record, cannot validate their identity in the platform, or the platform rejects the borrower’s submission. 

More than 11.8 million PPP loans have been guaranteed by SBA, exceeding $806 billion. As of July 12, SBA had remitted more than 4.3 million forgiveness payments to lenders. Loans of $150,000 or less represent 93 percent of outstanding PPP allocations.  

Last October, SBA and the Department of the Treasury jointly revised the loan forgiveness and loan review procedures to simplify the forgiveness for PPP loans of $50,000 or less. 

Tennessee Bankers Association President/CEO Colin Barrett said the changes will help borrowers and the baking industry move forward. 

“It’s a good thing,” he said.