Existing applications for the Paycheck Protection Program should be processed expeditiously, SBA officials said
The Small Business Administration will resume accepting applications on Monday for the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, and borrowers that have already applied will be back in contention, officials said late Friday.
After President Trump signed a $484 billion relief bill on Friday refilling the coffers for the PPP, SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a joint statement that the application process would resume at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on April 27 from approved lenders — to ensure that the SBA has properly coded the system to account for changes made by the legislation.
“We encourage all approved lenders to process loan applications previously submitted by eligible borrowers and disburse funds expeditiously,” the statement said. “All eligible borrowers who need these funds should work with an approved lender to apply. Borrowers should carefully review PPP regulations and guidance and the certifications required to obtain a loan.”
Among those certifications are updated guidelines by the SBA requiring applicants to be prepared to certify that the PPP loan funding is necessary to resume operations — something that public companies with access to other sources of capital are not likely to be able to do in good faith, the agency said.
The relief bill added another $320 billion to the PPP and disaster loan programs after they ran dry less than two weeks after first launch, which initially offered $349 billion in loan funding. PPP loans are forgivable if at least 75% of the money is used for payroll.
Though the program is designed for small businesses with fewer than 500 workers, restaurants were allowed an exception and eligible to apply if they had fewer than 500 workers at any one location.
Several large restaurant chains received millions in loans within the first few days of the first round of funding. But facing backlash, several have returned that loan funding.
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