Can the SBA Seize Assets from an Estate After the Business Owners Pass Away?
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The transcript of the video follows below for further review.
The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 requires the the Department of the Treasury (DOT) to maintain a schedule of private collection agencies (PCAs), which are private sector companies with expertise in the area of debt collection, to assist the government in its debt collection efforts. As part of the Cross-Servicing program (wherein debts owed to government agencies such as the SBA are referred to the DOT for collection) the DOT attempts to collect delinquent debt through several means, including demand letters, telephone calls, the Treasury Offset Program (TOP), administrative wage garnishment, and credit bureau reporting. Once the DOT has at the very least sent a demand letter and possibly tried other collection efforts, the DOT refers debt collection to one of four PCAs. The activities of the PCAs are monitored by the personnel of the Receivables Management and Debt Services Division of Debt Management Services (DMS).
What is a private collection agency? A private collection agency (PCA) is a private sector company specializing in the collection of delinquent debt. A PCA will attempt to find and contact a debtor by searching various databases, making telephone calls, and sending collection letters. Once the debtor is located and contacted, the PCA will encourage the debtor to satisfy the debt. A PCA may help the DOT resolve the debts through negotiating payment in full, a payment agreement, utilizing administrative wage garnishment, or finding that the debt may be resolved administratively. Incredibly, often times dealing with a PCA is more productive than dealing directly with the DOT.
Fiscal Service awards PCA Task Orders. Fiscal Service awards Task Orders to PCAs for debt collection services under a General Services Administration Schedule. Fiscal Services’s current Task Orders to enlist the services of PCA contractors became effective on March 12, 2012. These Task Orders were awarded in order to increase the recovery of and resolve delinquent non-tax federal debts. The Task Orders were awarded for one base year, with four one-year options available. Fiscal Service awarded the following contractors a debt collection Task Order to provide delinquent debt collection services:
The CBE Group, Inc.
ConServe, Inc.
Performant Recovery, Inc.
Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc.
PCA regulation. The collection efforts of the PCAs are governed by various federal and state laws, including, but not limited to, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Federal Claims Collection Standards (FCCS), and the Privacy Act. If the first PCA is unable to successfully resolve or collect a debt, the debt is then referred to a second PCA. The PCAs are compensated on a performance basis.
If you have defaulted on an SBA loan please contact Protect Law Group at 1-888-756-9969 for a consultation with one of our SBA workout attorneys or contact us online.
We analyze your SBA loan problems and advise you on potential solutions such as an SBA offer in compromise for your SBA loan default.
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 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.
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.
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’s ureau 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.
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