What the SBA’s 43% Workforce Reduction Could Mean for Your SBA Loan in 2025
Defaulting on a SBA loan with the Trump Administration's reduction in SBA staff will impact your chances for resolution. Learn about the impact and how to protect yourself.
If your lender denied a PPP loan application you have rights to review and appeal. Our experienced SBA attorneys can guide you through the process.
Book a Consultation CallSBA PPP Loan Denied
You will have filed your application for your PPP loan. Unfortunately, the lender denied your application. Importantly, the denial may mean the end of your business. It may result in the termination of employees. As such, the denial of your PPP loan application can have devastating consequences. Nevertheless, you can appeal the decision. However, you must jump through some hoops in order to successfully appeal and denied PPP loan application.
You can only have a decision by the SBA appealed to an administrative law judge. Unfortunately, you cannot appeal the decision of the lender to an administrative law judge first. Therefore, you will have to request a review of the decision first by the SBA. If the SBA, after its review, also denies your application, you can then appeal that decision to the SBA Office of Hearings and Appeals. You must request a review within 30 days.
If your review is unsuccessful, you file your appeal with the SBA's Office of Hearings and Appeals or OHA. Thereafter, the administrative law judge (ALJ) receives the case. In short, an ALJ presides over administrative hearings with the government. Keep in mind, the SBA will appoint an attorney to represent its interests in the appeal as well. As such, you should also have an experienced attorney representing your interests.
Once the SBA issues its review decision, you have limited time to file your appeal. To that end, you must file your appeal within 30 calendar days after your receipt of the final SBA loan review decision. Alternatively, you only have 30 days from your notification by the lender of the final SBA loan review decision. However, the deadline starts running from whichever notification you receive first.
In order to successfully appeal, you must prove that the SBA based its loan review decision on clear error of fact or law. Furthermore, the burden of proof rests with you. Thus, you must show the SBA's decision was in error by a preponderance of the evidence.
To meet your burden of proof, you will need to submit various documents described by SBA rules. Moreover, you will have to include a legal brief showing how the facts and law prove the SBA made an error.
Our attorneys have the experience to aggressively represent you in front of the SBA and the OHA. Contact our offices today to set up your evaluation with one of our attorneys.
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.
Our firm successfully resolved an SBA COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) default in the amount of $150,000 on behalf of Illinois-based client. After the business permanently closed due to the economic impacts of the pandemic, the owners faced potential personal liability if the business collateral was not liquidated properly under the SBA Security Agreement.
We guided the client through the SBA’s Business Closure Review process, prepared a comprehensive financial submission, and negotiated directly with the SBA to release the collateral securing the loan. The borrower satisfied their collateral obligations with a payment of $2,075, resolving the SBA’s security 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.
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.
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