Contact Our SBA Attorneys for Nationwide Representation of SBA and Treasury Debt Problems
Book a Consultation CallIf you have received the 60-Day Official Notice from the SBA offering you the opportunity to petition for an administrative review of the debt, make an SBA Offer in Compromise or enter into a Repayment agreement for an SBA loan default, you may not know which way to turn. Not only has your SBA debt come back to haunt you but if you fail to respond to the 60-Day Official Notice within the stated time frame, your case will be cross-referred to the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service, where the Government will add an amount up to 32% of the original SBA debt balance as “administrative fees and costs.”
Sometimes, based on your financial status, an SBA Offer in Compromise won’t be an option. Some SBA debtors have too much in liquid assets and/or their monthly income is too high such that the SBA will not be amenable to an SBA Offer in Compromise.
If your financial profile and net worth disqualifies you for an SBA Offer in Compromise, one of your options is to negotiate a Repayment agreement with the SBA. After carefully reviewing your financial profile, an SBA Attorney can negotiate a reasonable Repayment agreement with the SBA prior to the cross-referral of your case to Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service.
A Repayment agreement with the SBA is used to pay the claimed debt over a reasonable period of time. However, the SBA unilaterally defines a “reasonable period of time” as no more than 3 years. It, however, will not take into consideration certain factors as noted in the SBA Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) or the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) to derive the monthly amount unless you assert your rights. Instead, the SBA will just calculate the monthly amount by dividing the unverified amount of the SBA debt by 36 months.
It is a one-sided negotiation that favors that SBA. Don’t fall into the trap by trying to negotiate the Repayment agreement terms by yourself. Instead, let an SBA Attorney analyze your financial profile and compare it against the FCCS to derive a “reasonable” amount that you can afford and present the terms to the SBA to arrive at a “win-win” negotiation that works for both parties.
Contact us today for a Case Evaluation.
Sometimes, based on your financial status, an SBA Offer in Compromise won’t be an option. Some SBA debtors have too much in liquid assets and/or their monthly income is too high such that the SBA will not be amenable to an SBA Offer in Compromise.
If your financial profile and net worth disqualifies you for an SBA Offer in Compromise, one of your options is to negotiate a Repayment agreement with the SBA. After carefully reviewing your financial profile, an SBA Attorney can negotiate a reasonable Repayment agreement with the SBA prior to the cross-referral of your case to Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service.
A Repayment agreement with the SBA is used to pay the claimed debt over a reasonable period of time. However, the SBA unilaterally defines a “reasonable period of time” as no more than 3 years. It, however, will not take into consideration certain factors as noted in the SBA Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) or the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS) to derive the monthly amount unless you assert your rights. Instead, the SBA will just calculate the monthly amount by dividing the unverified amount of the SBA debt by 36 months.
It is a one-sided negotiation that favors that SBA. Don’t fall into the trap by trying to negotiate the Repayment agreement terms by yourself. Instead, let an SBA Attorney analyze your financial profile and compare it against the FCCS to derive a “reasonable” amount that you can afford and present the terms to the SBA to arrive at a “win-win” negotiation that works for both parties.
Contact us today for a Case Evaluation.
Client’s small business obtained an SBA 7(a) loan for $750,000. She and her husband signed personal guarantees exposing all of their non-exempt income and assets. With just 18 months left on the maturity date and payment on the remaining balance, the Great Recession of 2008 hit, which ultimately caused the business to fail and default on the loan terms. The 7(a) lender accelerated and sent a demand for full payment of the remaining loan balance. The SBA lender’s note allowed for a default interest rate of about 7% per year. In response to the lender's aggressive collection action, Client's husband filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an attempt to protect against their personal assets. However, his bankruptcy discharge did not relieve the Client's personal guarantee liability for the SBA debt. The SBA lender opted to pursue the SBA 7(a) Guaranty and subsequently assigned the loan and the right to enforce collection against the Client to the SBA. The Client then received the SBA Official 60-Day Notice. After conducting a Case Evaluation with her, she then hired the Firm to respond and negotiate on her behalf with just 34 days left before the impending referral to Treasury. The Client wanted to dispute the SBA’s alleged debt balance as stated in the 60-Day Notice by claiming the 7(a) lender failed to liquidate business collateral in a commercially reasonable manner - which if done properly - proceeds would have paid back the entire debt balance. However, due to time constraints, waivers contained in the SBA loan instruments, including the fact the Client was not able to inspect the SBA's records for investigation purposes before the remaining deadline, Client agreed to submit a Structured Workout for the alleged balance in response to the Official 60-Day Notice as she was not eligible for an Offer in Compromise (OIC) because of equity in non-exempt income and assets. After back and forth negotiations, the SBA Loan Specialist approved the Workout proposal, reducing the Client's purported liability by nearly $142,142.27 in accrued interest, and statutory collection fees. Without the Firm's intervention and subsequent approval of the Workout proposal, the Client's debt amount (with accrued interest, Treasury's statutory collection fee and Treasury's interest based on the Current Value of Funds Rate (CVFR) would have been nearly $291,030.
Clients personally guaranteed an SBA 7(a) loan that was referred to the Department of Treasury for collection. Treasury claimed our clients owed over $220,000 once it added its statutory collection fees and interest. We were able to negotiate a significant reduction of the total claimed amount from $220,000 to $119,000, saving the clients over $100,000 by arguing for a waiver of the statutory 28%-30% administrative fees and costs.
Clients obtained an SBA 7(a) loan for $324,000 to buy a small business and its facility. The business and real estate had an appraisal value of $318,000 at the time of purchase. The business ultimately failed but the participating lender abandoned the business equipment and real estate collateral even though it had valid security liens. As a result, the lender recouped nearly nothing from the pledged collateral, leaving the business owners liable for the deficiency balance. The SBA paid the lender the 7(a) guaranty money and was assigned ownership of the debt, including the right to collect. However, the clients never received the SBA Official 60-Day Notice and were denied the opportunity to negotiate an Offer in Compromise (OIC) or a Workout directly with the SBA before being transferred to Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service, which added an additional $80,000 in collection fees. Treasury garnished and offset the clients' wages, federal salary and social security benefits. When the clients tried to negotiate with Treasury by themselves, they were offered an unaffordable repayment plan which would have caused severe financial hardship. Clients subsequently hired the Firm to litigate an Appeals Petition before the SBA Office & Hearings Appeals (OHA) challenging the legal enforceability and amount of the debt. The Firm successfully negotiated a term OIC that was approved by the SBA Office of General Counsel, saving the clients approximately $205,000.
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