The Small Business Administration’s (SBAs) PPP Loan Forgiveness Portal has accepted one million applications in less than two months. This comes out to over $17 billion of relief money for more than one million of the smallest businesses in the U.S.
A Million Businesses Have Applied for PPP Loan Forgiveness with SBA Portal
When the loan for a small business that has received less than $150,000 is forgiven, it provides great financial relief. Not having to pay the loan back means they can start recovering and rebuilding their business much faster. The monthly loan payments can now go for other parts of their business operations. So, it is imperative for small businesses that meet this requirement to apply for the loan forgiveness. Because the SBA wants you to get this debt out of your books.
As SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, said in the release, “I encourage those eligible PPP borrowers who have yet to apply to visit SBA.gov or contact their lender today.”
To further simplify the process, the number of Direct Forgiveness participating lenders now stands at 1,400 from the 600 when the portal opened. This will allow more businesses to ask the lenders directly from the SBAs Direct Forgiveness portal.
According to Guzman, the SBA has prioritized the streamlining of the application process so small business owners can have a better user experience. Furthermore, owners can apply on their PC or smartphone. And on average users can complete and submit their applications directly to the SBA in just six minutes. Once the application is in, Guzman says most applicants will receive their forgiveness decisions within a week from the date of submission.
Millions of Small Businesses Still Haven’t Applied
Over five million businesses with loans under $150,000 still haven’t submitted their 2021 PPP loan forgiveness applications. This is not the case for 2020 PPP applicants, as 91% of all loans eligible for direct forgiveness have been submitted.
If you meet all the requirements, please submit your application. And if you need further help or have questions you can call the PPP customer service team at (877) 552-2692, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. ET.
The sooner you apply, the sooner you can have the loan forgiven and be on your way to get your business back on its feet.
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