Private Collection Agencies: What You Need to Know
If you've defaulted on an SBA guaranteed loan, you'll be hearing from one of four private collection agencies contracted by the Treasury.
Protect Law Group is committed to resolving your SBA loan default problems. Our experienced attorneys can help you through the SBA loan default process with an SBA offer in compromise, administrative wage garnishment defense, or other SBA loan forgiveness processes.
SBA head, Maria Contreras-Sweet, issued her final report as she will be replaced with the new Trump administration. You can down load the report here: sba-exit-memo
Contreras-Sweet noted that early in the financial crisis crisis, SBA fought to protect small businesses from the worst of the downturn. As the economy rebounded, SBA worked to ensure that small businesses continued to share in that recovery. She noted that the SBA focused on four areas:
1. Improving access to capital by modernizing our programs and systems.
2. Expanding opportunities for entrepreneurs from every corner of our nation.
3. Improving support structures for entrepreneurs and catalyzing high-growth, high-impact startups.
4. Broadening access to global markets through exporting.
Since 2009, Contreras-Sweet noted, the SBA guaranteed $179 billion in small business loans, more than any other administration in history. Annual SBA lending in the largest programs was up more than 160 percent since the depths of the recession according to the memo.
The number of SBA loan defaults spiked during the recession, however. In 2004 the default rate was 2.4% but rocketed to nearly 12% by 2009. Former business owner continue to feel the pressure of SBA loan defaults, which occurred during the recession. No statute of limitations exists as to the government's ability to collect on SBA loan defaults and, therefore, even a default that occurred in 2009, for example, remains subject to government collection.
The incoming SBA administrator will face better economic conditions going forward but the results of the recession on SBA loan guarantors will continue.
If you are facing an SBA loan default, contact us at 1-888-756-9969 for a FREE initial consultation. Protect Law Group has helped debtors throughout the United States settle their SBA debt.
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 personal and corporate guarantees for an SBA 7(a) loan from a Preferred Lender Provider (PLP). The borrower corporation defaulted on the loan exposing all collateral pledged by the Clients. The SBA subsequently acquired the loan balance from the PLP, including the right to collect against all guarantors. The SBA sent the Official Pre-Referral Notice to the guarantors giving them sixty (60) days to either pay the outstanding balance in full, negotiate a Repayment (Offer in Compromise (OIC) or Structured Workout (SW)), challenge their alleged guarantor liability or file a Request for Hearing (Appeals Petition) with the SBA Office of Hearings & Appeals.
Because the Clients were not financially eligible for an OIC, they opted for Structured Workout negotiations directly with the SBA before the debt was transferred to the Bureau of Fiscal Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury for enforced collection.
The Firm was hired to negotiate a global Workout Agreement directly with the SBA to resolve the personal and corporate guarantees. After submitting the Structured Workout proposal, the assigned SBA Loan Specialist approved the requested terms in under ten (10) days without any lengthy back and forth negotiations.
The favorable terms of the Workout included an extended maturity at an affordable principal amount, along with a significantly reduced interest rate saving the Clients approximately $181,000 in administrative fees, penalties and interest (contract interest rate and Current Value of Funds Rate (CVFR)) as authorized by 31 U.S.C. § 3717(e) had the SBA loan been transferred to BFS.
Our firm successfully resolved an SBA 7(a) loan default in the amount of $140,000 on behalf of a husband-and-wife guarantor pair. The business had closed following a prolonged decline in revenue, leaving the borrowers personally liable for the remaining balance.
After conducting a comprehensive financial analysis and preparing a detailed SBA Offer in Compromise (SBA OIC) package, we negotiated directly with the SBA and the lender to achieve a settlement for $70,000 — just 50% of the outstanding balance. This settlement released the borrowers from further personal liability and allowed them to move forward without the threat of enforced collection.
Clients obtained an SBA 7(a) loan for their small business in the amount of $298,000. They pledged their primary residence and personal guarantees as direct collateral for the loan. The business failed, the lender was paid the 7(a) guaranty money and the debt was assigned to the SBA. Clients received the Official 60-Day Notice giving them a couple of options to resolve the debt balance directly with the SBA before referral to Treasury's Bureau of Fiscal Service. The risk of referral to Treasury would add nearly $95,000 to the SBA principal loan balance. With the default interest rate at 7.5%, the amount of money to pay toward interest was projected at $198,600. Clients hired the Firm with only 4 days left to respond to the 60-Day due process notice. Because the clients were not eligible for an Offer in Compromise (OIC) due to the significant equity in their home and the SBA lien encumbering it, the Firm Attorneys proposed a Structured Workout to resolve the SBA debt. After back and forth negotiations, the SBA Loan Specialist assigned to the case approved the Workout terms which prevented potential foreclosure of their home, but also saved the clients approximately $294,000 over the agreed-upon Workout term with a waiver of all contractual and statutory administrative fees, collection costs, penalties, and interest.
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