Contact Our SBA Attorneys for Nationwide Representation of SBA and Treasury Debt Problems
Book a Consultation CallWe provide individuals with solutions whose SBA loan problems & other federal non-tax debts are referred to Treasury for aggressive collection. We employ practical strategies to resolve your Treasury collection problems and teach you about submitting a Compromise Offer.
On October 7, 2012, the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, issued Treasury Order 136-01 which consolidated and re-designated the bureaus formerly known as the Bureau of the Public Debt and the Financial Management Service as the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.
This Order delegated to the Commissioner, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, the authority that was previously delegated to the Commissioner of the Public Debt and the Commissioner, Financial Management Service.
As a result of this Treasury Order, all federal non-tax delinquent debts are now serviced and collected by this special Bureau of the Treasury Department.
If your federal non-tax delinquent debt (e.g. SBA loan, SEC debt, FCC debt, USDA loan etc.) has been transferred to the Department of the Treasury (DoT) from an existing federal creditor agency, it will be aggressively serviced and collected by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS).
BFS can use those aggressive collection tools available to all federal agencies pursuant to the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996.
Some of the aggressive collection tools available for Treasury debt defense are:
If your federal non-tax debt has been referred to the BFS for cross-servicing, is is critically important for you as a borrower, obligor or guarantor to hire qualified Federal Agency Practitioners who can help defend you against some of the Bureau’s most aggressive collection actions as noted above.
Because practice before the Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Fiscal Service requires specific knowledge and understanding of several core areas of law and process, most notably (1) the federal agency maze, (2) federal administrative law and procedure, (3) constitutional law requirements, (4) federal administrative litigation, (5) federal administrative hearing representation and appeals, (6) federal agency rules and internal procedures of the referring federal creditor agency which originated the federal non-tax debt, (7) federal collection defense representation, (8) Department of Justice collateral liquidation and collection litigation defense, (9) bankruptcy law and asset exemptions and (10) DoT compromise and negotiation tactics, it is very important that you conduct your due diligence and choose your professional representatives wisely.
If your federal agency practitioners are not authorized to practice before the federal agencies pursuant to the Agency Practice Act and do not have experience with the core areas as identified above (and all non-attorney federal agency representatives do not have the necessary qualification as they neither have the education, training or, most importantly, the actual license to legally practice within the scope of these parameters), then “caveat emptor” or “buyer beware.”
As a result of this Treasury Order, all federal non-tax delinquent debts are now serviced and collected by this special Bureau of the Treasury Department.
If your federal non-tax delinquent debt (e.g. SBA loan, SEC debt, FCC debt, USDA loan etc.) has been transferred to the Department of the Treasury (DoT) from an existing federal creditor agency, it will be aggressively serviced and collected by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS).
BFS can use those aggressive collection tools available to all federal agencies pursuant to the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996.
Some of the aggressive collection tools available for Treasury debt defense are:
If your federal non-tax debt has been referred to the BFS for cross-servicing, is is critically important for you as a borrower, obligor or guarantor to hire qualified Federal Agency Practitioners who can help defend you against some of the Bureau’s most aggressive collection actions as noted above.
Because practice before the Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Fiscal Service requires specific knowledge and understanding of several core areas of law and process, most notably (1) the federal agency maze, (2) federal administrative law and procedure, (3) constitutional law requirements, (4) federal administrative litigation, (5) federal administrative hearing representation and appeals, (6) federal agency rules and internal procedures of the referring federal creditor agency which originated the federal non-tax debt, (7) federal collection defense representation, (8) Department of Justice collateral liquidation and collection litigation defense, (9) bankruptcy law and asset exemptions and (10) DoT compromise and negotiation tactics, it is very important that you conduct your due diligence and choose your professional representatives wisely.
If your federal agency practitioners are not authorized to practice before the federal agencies pursuant to the Agency Practice Act and do not have experience with the core areas as identified above (and all non-attorney federal agency representatives do not have the necessary qualification as they neither have the education, training or, most importantly, the actual license to legally practice within the scope of these parameters), then “caveat emptor” or “buyer beware.”
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 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.
Our firm successfully resolved an SBA 7a loan in the original amount of $364,000 for a New Jersey-based borrower. The client filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy but the mortgage on his real estate securing the loan remained in place. The available equity amounted to $263,470 and the deficiency equaled $317,886.
We gathered the pertinent documentation and prepared a comprehensive collateral analysis. We negotiated directly with the SBA, obtaining a full release of the mortgage for $80,000.
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