11/19/2021
Candace J. Dixon
The COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) provides financial assistance for small businesses in response to COVID-19. Loan funds can be used for normal operating expenses and working capital, including payroll, purchasing equipment, and paying off debt. Small business owners including agricultural businesses and nonprofit organizations can apply even if they have previous loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), or Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG). The deadline to apply is December 31, 2021. Applications for the Supplemental Advance received by December 10 are being processed in the order they're received, and the SBA doesn't guarantee processing of all applications by December 31.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced updated guidance today for the COVID EIDL program:
EIDL and Targeted Advance applications will be accepted until December 31 and will continue to be processed after this date until funds are exhausted.
While Supplemental Targeted Advance applications will be accepted until December 31, the SBA may be unable to process some submitted near the December 31 deadline because of legal requirements, and they encourage businesses to apply by December 10 to allow for processing time.
Borrowers can request increases up to their maximum eligible loan amount for up to two years after their loan origination date, or until the funds are exhausted, whichever is sooner.
The SBA will accept and review reconsideration and appeal requests for COVID EIDL applications they receive by December 31 if they are within the timeframes in the regulation, which is six months from the date of decline for reconsiderations, and 30 days from the date of reconsideration decline for appeals, unless funding is no longer available.
The EIDL program has approved nearly $300 billion in relief aid since it began.
“The COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs still have billions of dollars available to help small businesses hard hit by the pandemic. More than 3.8 million businesses employing more than 20 million people have found financial relief through SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans,” said Patrick Kelley, Associate Administrator for SBA’s Office of Capital Access in today's press release.
Enhancements made in September included a cap increase from $500,000 to $2 million; implementation of a deferred payment period of 2 years after loan origination; expansion of eligible use of the funds to include prepaying commercial debt and making payments on federal business debt; and the simplification of affiliation requirements to make the application process easier.
The SBA also optimized processes, clearing a 600,000+ loan backlog and allowing new applications to be processed immediately, and increased fraud controls.
You can visit the SBA website at www.sba.gov/eidl to learn more about eligibility and application requirements.