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SBA outlines guaranty purchase, charge-off process for PPP loans
On July 15, the SBA issued Procedural Notice 5000-812316 to remind lenders of their servicing responsibilities and provide guidance on the agency’s guaranty purchase process for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) first-draw and second-draw loans. Lenders may submit requests for SBA to purchase and charge off PPP loans in instances where a borrower (i) is past due 60 days or more on scheduled loan payments where the default has not been cured; (ii) has permanently closed and does not intend to submit a forgiveness application; (iii); has filed for bankruptcy; or (iv) is deceased in the case of self-employed individuals, sole proprietors, single-member LLCs, or independent contractors. In circumstances where a borrower or any owner of 20 percent or more of the borrower has been indicted for, or convicted of, a felony related to a PPP loan, or in a case where a borrower has appealed an SBA loan review decision, the lender may request guaranty purchase without charge-off from SBA. Additionally, SBA outlines procedures for lenders when a borrower submits a forgiveness application after the lender has submitted a request to SBA for guaranty purchase. Guidelines for submitting guaranty purchase and charge-off requests are provided in the procedural notice.
CFPB publishes rulemaking agenda
On June 11, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the CFPB’s spring 2021 rulemaking agenda. According to a Bureau announcement, the information released represents regulatory matters the Bureau is “currently pursuing under interim leadership pending the appointment and confirmation of a permanent Director.” Any changes made by the new permanent director will be reflected in the fall 2021 rulemaking agenda. Additionally, the Bureau indicates that it plans to continue to focus resources on actions addressing the adverse impacts to consumers due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, and highlighted an interim final rule issued in April that addresses certain debt collector conduct associated with the CDC’s temporary eviction moratorium order (covered by InfoBytes here). The Bureau will also continue to take concrete steps toward furthering the agency’s “commitment to promoting racial and economic equity.”
Key rulemaking initiatives include:
- Small Business Rulemaking. Last September, the Bureau released a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA) outline of proposals under consideration, convened an SBREFA panel last October, and released the panel’s final report last December (covered by InfoBytes here and here). The Bureau reports that it anticipates releasing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the Section 1071 regulations this September to “facilitate enforcement of fair lending laws as well as enable communities, governmental entities, and creditors to identify business and community development needs and opportunities of women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.”
- Consumer Access to Financial Records. The Bureau notes that it is considering rulemaking to implement section 1033 of Dodd-Frank in order to address the availability of electronic consumer financial account data. The Bureau is currently reviewing comments received in response to an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) issued last fall regarding consumer data access (covered by InfoBytes here).
- Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Financing. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Bureau published an ANPR in March 2019 seeking feedback on the unique features of PACE financing and the general implications of regulating PACE financing under TILA. The Bureau notes that it continues “to engage with stakeholders and collect information for the rulemaking, including by pursuing quantitative data on the effect of PACE on consumers’ financial outcomes.”
- Automated Valuation Models (AVM). Interagency rulemaking is currently being pursued by the Bureau, Federal Reserve Board, OCC, FDIC, NCUA, and FHFA to develop regulations for AVM quality control standards as required by Dodd-Frank amendments to FIRREA. The standards are designed to, among other things, “ensure a high level of confidence in the estimates produced by the valuation models, protect against the manipulation of data, [ ] avoid conflicts of interest, require random sample testing and reviews,” and account for any other appropriate factors. An NPRM is anticipated for December.
- Amendments to Regulation Z to Facilitate LIBOR Transition. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Bureau issued an NPRM in June 2020 to amend Regulation Z to address the sunset of LIBOR, and to facilitate creditors’ transition away from using LIBOR as an index for variable-rate consumer products. A final rule is expected in January 2022.
- Reviewing Existing Regulations. The Bureau notes in its announcement that while it will conduct an assessment of a rule implementing HMDA (most of which took effect January 2018), it will no longer pursue two HMDA proposed rulemakings previously listed in earlier agendas related to the reporting of HMDA data points and public disclosure of HMDA data. Additionally, the Bureau states that it finished a review of Regulation Z rules implementing the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 and plans to publish any resulting changes in the fall 2021 agenda.
The Bureau’s announcement also highlights several completed rulemaking items, including (i) a final rule that formally extended the mandatory compliance date of the General Qualified Mortgage final rule to October 1, 2022 (covered by InfoBytes here); (ii) proposed amendments to the mortgage servicing early intervention and loss mitigation-related provisions under RESPA/Regulation X (covered by a Buckley Special Alert) (the Bureau anticipates issuing a final rule before June 30, when the federal foreclosure moratoria are set to expire); and (iii) a proposed rule (covered by InfoBytes here), which would extend the effective date of two final debt collection rules to allow affected parties additional time to comply due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic (the Bureau plans to issue a final rule in June on whether, and for how long, it will extend the effective date once it reviews comments).
SBA updates PPP FAQs
On June 8, the SBA updated its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) frequently asked questions to clarify certain conditions related to whether a nonprofit organization that has received approval of an application for tax exemption from the Puerto Rico Departamento de Hacienda qualifies as a “nonprofit organization” under section 7(a)(36)(A)(vii) of the Small Business Act. The FAQ discusses exemption criteria for certain nonprofit organizations, and specifies that SBA will treat a nonprofit organization that has obtained approval of its application for tax exemption from the Puerto Rico Departamento de Hacienda as meeting the definition of “nonprofit organization” under section 7(a)(36)(A)(vii) of the Small Business Act “if the nonprofit organization reasonably determines, in a written record maintained by the nonprofit organization, that it would be an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (without regard to the notification requirement in section 508(a) of the Internal Revenue Code) and is therefore within a category of organizations that are eligible to be exempt from taxation under section 501(a), regardless of whether the nonprofit organization has applied for recognition from the Internal Revenue Service.” However, these nonprofit organizations must meet all other applicable eligibility criteria in order to receive a PPP loan and loan forgiveness, SBA emphasizes.
As previously covered by InfoBytes, the SBA stopped accepting new PPP loan guarantee applications on June 1.
CFPB updates status on women and minority-owned business data
On May 24, the CFPB filed its fifth status report in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California as required under a stipulated settlement reached in February with a group of plaintiffs, including the California Reinvestment Coalition. The settlement (covered by InfoBytes here) resolved a 2019 lawsuit that sought an order compelling the Bureau to issue a final rule implementing Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the Bureau to collect and disclose data on lending to women and minority-owned small businesses.
Among other things, the Bureau notes in the status report that it has satisfied the following required deadlines: (i) last September it released a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA) outline of proposals under consideration (InfoBytes coverage here); and (ii) it convened an SBREFA panel last October and released the panel’s final report last December (InfoBytes coverage here). The Bureau reports that its rulemaking staff continues to brief new Bureau leadership on significant legal and policy issues that must be resolved in order to prepare a notice of proposed rulemaking for the Section 1071 regulations, and states that the parties have met to discuss an appropriate deadline for issuing the NPRM. According to the status report, should the parties agree on a deadline they “will jointly stipulate to the agreed date and request that the court enter that deadline.”
Find continuing Section 1071 coverage here.
PPP closes to new applications
On June 1, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an announcement on the closure of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to new loan guaranty applications. The PPP has provided over $798 billion in economic relief to over 8.5 million small businesses and nonprofits across the nation, and was among the first Covid-19 economic disaster relief programs to provide small businesses affected by the pandemic with emergency funds. According to the announcement, the PPP supported the “smallest of small businesses with 32 percent of the loans going to Low-and-Moderate Income (LMI) communities.” Additionally, Community Financial Institutions played a role in PPP lending to underserved communities by providing 1.5 million loans, which totaled around $30 billion. SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman pointed out, “in 2021, 96 percent of PPP loans went to small businesses with fewer than 20 employees. Moving forward, [the SBA] will continue to prioritize equity in all SBA programs and services.”
House subcommittee explores fintech companies’ role in PPP loan processing
On May 27, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis sent letters to two banks and two fintech companies seeking information on the companies’ handling of loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). According to a press release announcing the launch of the subcommittee’s investigation, the letters (available here, here, here, and here) were sent to four companies that facilitated PPP loans but may have allegedly failed to adequately screen PPP loan applications for fraud. The subcommittee notes that recent reports lend “credence to reports that criminal actors sought out [fintechs] for fraudulent PPP loans because of the speed with which the [fintech] companies processed the loans—which in some cases could be approved in ‘as little as an hour’—and the fact that the [fintech] loan application process appeared to include very little scrutiny of its applicants.” The letters request documents and information to assist the Subcommittee in understanding the fraud controls and compliance systems that the companies applied to their PPP loan programs.
FTC settles with MCA providers for $9.8 million
On April 22, the FTC announced a settlement with two New York-based merchant cash advance providers and two company executives (collectively, “defendants”) for allegedly engaging in deceptive practices by misrepresenting the terms of their merchant cash advances (MCAs), using unfair collection practices, making unauthorized withdrawals from consumers’ accounts, and misrepresenting collateral and personal guarantee requirements. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the FTC filed a complaint against the defendants last year claiming, among other things, that the defendants (i) falsely advertised that MCAs do not require collateral or personal guarantees, but when consumers defaulted on their financing agreements, the defendants frequently filed lawsuits against them, including against individual business owners who provided personal guarantees, to collect the unpaid amount; (ii) misrepresented the amount of total financing in the contract that consumers would receive by withholding fees that are deducted from the promised funds; and (iii) made unfair, unauthorized withdrawals from customers’ bank accounts in excess of consumers’ authorization without express informed consent, while continuing to debit customers’ bank accounts after the MCAs were fully repaid.
Under the terms of the stipulated order, which was approved by the court on May 5, the defendants are required to pay more than $9.8 million to the FTC to go towards redress to affected customers. The defendants are also permanently prohibited from making misleading statements to consumers about the terms of their financing or making withdrawals from consumers’ bank accounts without first receiving their express informed consent, and are required to clearly and conspicuously disclose any financing fees as well as the actual amount consumers will receive after the fees are assessed. Further, the defendants must establish a process to monitor any marketers or funding companies that work on their behalf to ensure, among other things, that such companies abide by the terms of the settlement.
SBA announces $5 billion in Covid-19 aid for small businesses
On April 23, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a new round of Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) assistance to provide $5 billion in additional assistance to small businesses and nonprofit organizations with 10 employees or fewer that have been severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Supplemental Targeted Advance program is the latest SBA relief program and follows recent SBA actions taken to increase EIDL assistance. As previously covered by InfoBytes, last month SBA raised the loan limit for Covid-19 disaster loans “from 6-months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $150,000 to up to 24-months of economic injury with a maximum loan amount of $500,000,” and extended the deferment period for all disaster loans, including Covid-19 EIDLs, until 2022 (covered by InfoBytes here).
SBA updates deadlines for first-draw PPP loans
On April 19, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an updated procedural notice to lenders related to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) deadlines following the enactment of the PPP Extension Act of 2021 (covered by InfoBytes here). SBA reiterates that under the PPP Extension Act, “from June 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021, SBA shall not accept new PPP Loan guaranty applications from Lenders and shall only process PPP Loan guaranty applications submitted by Lenders to SBA before June 1, 2021.” The updated procedural notice modifies a previously issued notice concerning First Draw PPP loan increases (covered by InfoBytes here), and addresses (i) requests for increased first draws on unforgiven PPP loans approved before August 8, 2020, for eligible partnerships, seasonal employers, and farmers or ranchers; (ii) reapplications by eligible borrowers that fully repaid a first-draw PPP loan prior to December 27, 2020; (iii) re-disbursements to eligible borrowers that returned part of a first-draw PPP loan prior to December 27, 2020; (iv) increases for eligible borrowers that did not accept the full amount of a first-draw PPP loan approved on or before August 8, 2020; and (v) hold codes for unresolved borrowers.
Fed’s Small Business Credit Survey shows Covid-19 challenges
Recently, the Federal Reserve Banks released the 2021 Report on Employer Firms covering findings from their small business credit survey (SBCS), which gathered insights from nearly 10,000 small businesses with fewer than 500 employees on challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as on business performance and credit conditions. SBCS findings showed that few small businesses were able to avoid negative impacts as a result of the pandemic, and notably revealed disparities in experiences and outcomes across business and owner demographics, including race and ethnicity, industry, and firm size. Key findings include:
- Small businesses’ financial conditions sharply declined between 2019 and 2020, with firms owned by people of color reporting greater challenges. Statistics include: (i) 78 percent of firms reported decreases in revenue; (ii) 79 percent, 77 percent, and 66 percent of Asian-owned, Black-owned, and Latinx-owned firms, respectively, “characterized their financial condition as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’” (in contrast to 54 percent of Non-Hispanic White); and (iii) the share of firms carrying more than $100,000 in debt increased from 31 percent in 2019 to 44 percent in 2020.
- 91 percent of small businesses applied for some type of emergency funding. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was the most commonly used program, with 77 percent of PPP applicants receiving all of the funding they requested. Applications were most frequently submitted through large and small banks, with 95 and 83 percent of applicants having an existing relationship with either a large bank or small bank, respectively, prior to applying for a PPP loan.
- 64 percent of small businesses would apply for additional government-provided assistance if it were available, with 39 percent reporting that “they would be unlikely to survive until sales return to ‘normal’ (that is, 2019 levels) without further government assistance.”
- Approval rates on loans, lines of credit, and cash advances decreased. Prior to the start of the pandemic, 81 percent of small businesses were at least partially approved for funding. After March 1, only 70 percent received partial approval.
- Use of online lenders decreased during 2020, with 42 percent of small businesses applying for loans, lines of credit, or cash advances through a large bank (43 percent turned to a small bank). In contrast, the number of small businesses that applied to online lenders fell from 33 percent in 2019 to 20 percent in 2020. Notably, small businesses with lower credit scores applied to online lenders and nonbank finance companies more often than their higher credit score counterparts. Moreover, small businesses that received financing from online lenders reported a decline in net satisfaction.