The SBA guaranty
The federal government’s guaranty is considered the most important collateral for an SBA loan. This is especially true for any SBA 7(a) loan. The Third Party Lender’s ability to collect on an SBA guaranty, however, is not absolute.
The SBA has established written procedures for liquidating loans. They are detailed, complex and also very cumbersome. For example, SBA’s regulations dictate that third party lenders obtain the SBA’s written approval before they take certain liquidation actions, and that the third party lender notify the SBA in advance of its intention to pursue certain other liquidation and/or collection actions.
In addition, SBA regulations also require third party lenders to take certain actions that they ordinarily would not take on their own conventional loan portfolios, particularly where one of the SBA loan obligors files for bankruptcy or dies. Finally, even if a third party lender makes all of the right decisions and selects the appropriate course of action, it may not document its action sufficiently in accordance with the SBA’s requirements.
As such, when it comes time for the third party lenders to enforce their rights under an SBA loan but makes a mistake or fails to act in strict compliance with the applicable SBA regulations, the SBA may limit its obligation to reimburse the third party lender for liquidation costs, may reduce the amount of the SBA guaranty, or may even refuse to honor the guaranty outright.
Moreover, because the guaranty purchase is the last step in the SBA loan liquidation process, third party lenders typically do not discover a costly mistake until it is too late to correct the problem. In too many cases, a lender’s errors do not come to light until the SBA denies a guaranty purchase request or penalizes the lender with a reduction in its guarantee.
When certain irregularities associated with an SBA guaranty purchase are discovered, it may provide federal SBA debtors additional ammunition to contest the validity or enforceability of subject SBA debt. The argument is that the SBA should not have honored or purchased the guaranty presented by the third party lender insofar as the third party lender did not strictly comply with specific written SBA regulations. Had the SBA knew or should have known of the third party lender’s non-compliance, the SBA guaranty would have either been denied or, at the very least reduced. This fact, alone, had it been discovered, would then call into question the validity and/or enforceability of the SBA debt as it relates to the federal SBA debtor.
Therefore, it is extremely imperative for SBA loan obligors or guarantors to consider, at the outset, whether the federal SBA debt is even enforceable against them – notwithstanding the existence of a signed promissory note or personal guarantee – as those initial documents preceded the transactions involving the SBA guaranty and assignment of the collection rights regarding the SBA loan from the original third party lender to the SBA or Treasury.
LIABILITY INVESTIGATION
Protect Law Group’s SBA Attorneys and United States Treasury Dept. Practitioners offer SBA debtors the rarest of commodities: highly skilled federal administrative law practitioners who are well-versed in SBA’s regulations.
Our SBA & DOT Practitioners look at all angles of defending, appealing and settling SBA debts. They recognize that it is important to uncover certain irregularities in an attempt to negotiate an SBA OIC or DOT compromise based on the applicable findings. To do so, they try to look for certain guaranty purchase issues and violations of applicable SBA regulations that may have occurred but went unnoticed by the SBA during the liquidation process. If discovered, then the next strategic endeavor is to call into question the actual validity or enforceability of the SBA debt as against the SBA debtors or obligors.
If you are struggling with circumstances that involve SBA loan default or DOT collection action, you deserve professional help! Our attorneys know how to settle SBA OIC and DOT compromise cases. If you contact us, we can help you settle SBA debt once and for all. After you schedule an appointment, you confer with a dedicated SBA OIC and DOT Practitioner who helps you through your administrative legal battle. After your claim is resolved, you never again have to worry about your SBA loan default or DOT collection problem haunting you. Our team of lawyers has assisted many clients through the years. Now it is your turn! You truly can settle SBA debt for good!
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.
Clients executed several trust deeds pledging seven (7) real estate properties and unconditional personal guarantees for an SBA 7(a) loan from the participating lender. The clients' small business failed and eventually defaulted on repayment of the loan exposing all collateral pledged by the clients. The SBA subsequently acquired the loan balance from the lender, including the right to liquidate and collect all pledged collateral pursuant to the trust deed instruments.
The Firm was hired to negotiate separate release of lien proposals for all 7 real estate properties. In preparation for the work assignment, the Firm Attorneys initiated discovery to secure records from the SBA and Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service. After reviewing the records and understanding the interplay between the lender and the SBA, the attorneys then prepared, submitted and negotiated the release of lien (ROL) for each of the 7 real estate properties for consideration.
After submitting the proposals, the assigned SBA Loan Specialists approved each ROL package - significantly reducing the total SBA debt claimed.
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.
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.
.jpg)
