The Small Business Administration has reopened its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in accordance with the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Non-Profits, and Venues Act by making $284 billion available to new (First Draw) and certain existing (Second Draw) borrowers. Tomorrow, Jan. 15, SBA will re-open the PPP loan application portal to approximately 5,000 PPP-eligible lenders with $1 billion or less in assets, including community banks, credit unions and farm credit institutions. The portal fully reopens to all participating PPP lenders today, January 19 .
The SBA has issued the following new PPP loan guidance:
Under the new PPP loan program:
- there may be a time lapse between loan application and loan funding, but the loan forgiveness process should be quicker;
- maximum potential loan amounts for Second Draw PPP loans are $2 million per loan and $4 million per corporate group;
- borrowers can adopt covered periods of between eight and 24 weeks;
- in addition to previously allowed expenses, new loan proceeds may be used for certain operational, property damage, supplier and worker protection expenditures;
- potential PPP borrowers now include 501(c)(6) nonprofits; and
- certain First Draw PPP loan borrowers are eligible to modify their loan amounts.
A PPP borrower is generally eligible to apply for a Second Draw PPP loan if it:
- has received a First Draw PPP loan and fully uses the proceeds for authorized expenses only;
- has no more than 300 employees; and
- can show at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable calendar quarters in 2019 and 2020.
Important: Dealerships applying for a new PPP loan must certify that the loan is “necessary to support ongoing business operations in light of current economic conditions.” This parallels the certification dealerships made when applying for PPP loans in 2020. But for many dealerships, current market conditions and economic circumstances are better than what they were when PPP loan applications were filed between April and August 2020.
Dealers interested in applying for new PPP loans should consult with legal counsel, accountants and prospective lenders.
