SBA to open PPP direct borrower forgiveness platform

Federal Issues SBA CARES Act Small Business Lending Covid-19 Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

On July 28, SBA announced the launch of a streamlined application program to allow borrowers with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $150,000 or less to apply for direct forgiveness through SBA, thereby reducing the burden on participating lenders to service forgiveness applications. The new direct forgiveness platform will start accepting applications from borrowers on August 4. Under the interim final rule (IFR), lenders who choose to participate will be required to opt-in to the program and will be provided a single secure location for all of their borrowers with loans of $150,000 or less to apply for loan forgiveness using the electronic equivalent of SBA Form 3508S. When notice is received that a borrower has applied for forgiveness through the platform, lenders will review both the borrower’s loan forgiveness application and issue a forgiveness decision to SBA inside the platform. Additional procedural guidance will be released in the near future to provide information on (i) the opt-in process; (ii) how qualified borrowers can access the platform and submit loan applications; and (iii) how lenders can access and review forgiveness applications, issue forgiveness decisions, and request forgiveness payments from SBA. During the transition period after the launch of the platform, SBA expects lenders that opt-in “to complete the processing of any loan forgiveness applications that have already been submitted by borrowers to the lender and should inform such borrowers not to submit a duplicate loan forgiveness application through the [p]latform.”

The IFR also extends the loan deferment period for PPP loans in circumstances where a borrower timely files an appeal of a final SBA loan review decision with SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. Additionally, the IFR permits lenders to use a “COVID Revenue Reduction Score” at the time of forgiveness in order to document the required revenue reduction for second draw PPP loans of $150,000 or less, exempting those borrowers from supplying required documentation demonstrating a 25 percent revenue reduction or more in at least one quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter in 2019.

The IRF takes effect immediately.