SBA Debt Articles - Protect Law Group

Millions of Dollars in SBA Debts Resolved via Offer in Compromise and Negotiated Repayment Agreements without our Clients filing for Bankruptcy or Facing Home Foreclosure

Millions of Dollars in Treasury Debts Defended Against via AWG Hearings, Treasury Offset Program Resolution, Cross-servicing Disputes, Private Collection Agency Representation, Compromise Offers and Negotiated Repayment Agreements

Our Attorneys are Authorized by the Agency Practice Act to Represent Federal Debtors Nationwide before the SBA, The SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals, the Treasury Department, and the Bureau of Fiscal Service.

SBA FAQS

I received a letter from the SBA stating that I have only 60 days from the date of the letter to submit an SBA Offer in Compromise before the case is referred to the Department of the Treasury. What does this mean?

If your SBA loan is in default and you are working with your lender to wind down the business and settle the deficiency with an offer in compromise, time is of the essence. Banks generally do not wait much longer than 60-90 days after the defaulted borrower (business) has been liquidated or shut down to tender an OIC to the SBA for consideration which, if accepted, could potentially release the guarantors from the deficiency for a lesser amount. Generally speaking, the bank or CDC will send you what is commonly known as a Notice of Default, Acceleration and Demand for Payment for the entire loan balance due. If litigation is not a fiscally viable option and after certain collateral liquidation, you may be offered the chance to submit an SBA OIC with the bank or CDC for SBA consideration. If your case is ultimately transferred to the SBA, you should receive a 60-day Official Notice and demand for payment. If you fail to timely submit an SBA OIC within the administrative time frame as noted in this letter, the SBA will then refer your debt to the U.S. Department of Treasury for enforced collection, and thus, you will probably lose your one (1) time shot to settle for less than what is purportedly owed on the SBA debt through the SBA Offer in Compromise process..It should be noted that Treasury rarely collects on these bad loans directly – rather they hire private collection agencies (PCAs) to handle this. These PCAs don’t know anything about the history behind the loan – their job is to be ruthless in their collection endeavors as they generally receive a generous percent of the collected amount or actually bought the so-called junk federal debt for pennies on the dollar. Several of these federally approved private collection agencies or junk debt buyers are particularly nasty, and rarely settle for less than 50% of the outstanding amount as the incentives for collection, litigation and judgment pursuit are very high. Contrast that with the results that we have reviewed and settled and it’s easy to see the importance of addressing your outstanding SBA debt sooner rather than later, whether you’re working with a non-attorney consultant, an SBA Attorney or Federal Agency Practitioner, or attempting to do it yourself. If you think your banker is nasty or difficult to work with, you don’t want to experience the tactics of these collection agencies or junk debt buyers.

Can A Going Concern Business Pursue An SBA Offer In Compromise?

An SBA Offer in Compromise with a “going concern” business is extremely rare and generally the SBA does will not consider this unless settlement arrangements have been made with all other creditors and the business must show it will not be able to operate under its current debt structure.

What Types Of SBA Loans Are Available?

Most SBA loans fall under two categories: 7(a) and 504.In an SBA 7(a) transaction, a loan is secured from a private sector lender and, provided that the lender and borrower have satisfied the requirements of the SBA, if the borrower defaults on the loan, the SBA will reimburse the lender for a percentage on the loan loss (usually 75% or 85%, depending on various factors).In an SBA 504 transaction, typically, a loan is secured from a private sector lender with a first position lien covering up to 50% of the project cost, and a second loan is secured from a private sector lender with a junior lien position covering up to 40% of the project cost, and the borrower makes a contribution of equity equal to at least 10% of the project cost. After the closing of the first and second loans, and provided that the lender and borrower have complied with the requirements of the SBA, a debenture is sold to investors, the proceeds of which pays off the second loan, whereupon the second loan is assigned to a Certified Development Company (“CDC”) and then to the SBA, which provides a 100% guarantee of the debenture.The existence of the SBA’s guarantee in each of these transactions is an inducement for the lender to make a loan on terms it would otherwise not make. However, the SBA guarantee does not allow the lender to disregard standard commercial underwriting principles such as collateral and personal guarantees. The SBA guarantee does allow the lender to loan more money, extend longer terms, and approve loans to less mature businesses than it otherwise would.The SBA’s purpose under these financing programs is to help businesses gain more access to capital, thereby creating jobs and expanding the tax base. Pursuant to the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (“2010 Act”), the maximum SBA guarantee to the lender on a 7(a) loan was increased to $5,000,000; and on a 504 Loan, the maximum debenture amount was increased to $5,000,000.

Is there a creditor committee in a Subchapter V?

Creditors' committees commonly occur in traditional Chapter 11 cases, but they need a cause in Subchapter V cases.

Subchapter V trustees' primary function is to create a standard plan with the debtor and creditor. They do have the authority to audit the debtor's finances, but their primary purpose is mediation.

The reason for this is Congress sees impartial third-parties' increasing the likelihood of a sound resolution among the debtor and its creditors. Unbiased third parties are especially useful for small businesses whose creditors are tentative as a result of COVID.

What are the other benefits of Subchapter V?

The new Chapter 11 Subchapter V bankruptcy has many differences from a regular Chapter 11. For instance, some of the changes are as follows:

Plan easier to confirm
Only debtor can file plan
Disclosure statement not required
Contested plan may be confirmed over objecting impaired class
Absolute priority rule not applicable
No creditors committee
No quarterly U.S. Trustee payments

These changes will result in faster and thus less expensive reorganizations for small business.

$488,000 SBA 7A LOAN - SBA OHA LITIGATION

Clients personally guaranteed an SBA 7(a) loan. The SBA referred the debt to the Department of Treasury, which was seeking payment of $487,981 from our clients. We initially filed a Cross-Servicing Dispute, which was denied. As a result, we filed an Appeals Petition with the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals asserting legal defenses and supporting evidence uncovered during the discovery and investigation phase of our services. Ultimately, the SBA settled the debt for $25,000 - saving our clients approximately $462,981.

$350,000 SBA 7A LOAN - NEGOTIATED STRUCTURED WORKOUT AGREEMENT

Client personally guaranteed SBA 7(a) loan for $350,000. The small business failed but because of the personal guarantee liability, the client continued to pay the monthly principal & interest out-of-pocket draining his savings. Client hired a local attorney but quickly realized that he was not familiar with SBA-backed loans or their standard operating procedures. Our firm was subsequently hired after the client received the SBA's official 60-day notice. After back-and-forth negotiations, we were able to convince the SBA to reinstate the loan, retract the acceleration of the outstanding balance, modify the original terms, and approve a structured workout reducing the interest rate from 7.75% to 0% and extending the maturity date for a longer period to make the monthly payments affordable. In conclusion, not only we were able to help the client avoid litigation and bankruptcy, but we also save him approximately $227,945 over the term of the workout.

$150,000 SBA 7A LOAN - NEGOTIATED STRUCTURED WORKOUT AGREEMENT

Client personally guaranteed SBA 7(a) loan for $150,000. COVID-19 caused the business to fail, and the loan went into default with a balance of $133,000. Client initially hired a non-attorney consultant to negotiate an OIC. The SBA summarily rejected the ineligible OIC and the debt was referred to Treasury’sBureau of Fiscal Service for enforced collection in the debt amount of $195,000. We were hired to intervene and initiated discovery for SBA and Fiscal Service records. We were able to recall the case from Fiscal Service back to the SBA. We then negotiated a structured workout with favorable terms that saves the client approximately $198,000 over the agreed-upon workout term by waiving contractual and statutory administrative fees, collection costs, penalties, and interest.