SBA extends Economic Injury Disaster Loan application deadline for another year
Photo / Maureen Milliken
The deadline application for the SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been extended to the end of 2021.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has extended the deadline to apply for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for COVID-19 relief to the end of 2021. The most recent deadline had been Thursday, Dec. 31.
The deadline extension to Dec. 31, 2021 — or until funding runs out — came after another $20 billion was included in the pandemic relief legislation signed into law this week.
Since the pandemic was declared a disaster in March, the SBA has approved 3.6 million of the loans, worth $197 billion. In Maine, the SBA, as of Dec. 17, has made EIDL loans to 10,416 businesses with a total amount of $597,433,800, according to the Congressional Research Service.
The program is available to small businesses that have been hurt by the pandemic, to the extent they can't meet obligations or pay operating expenses and have been turned down for credit elsewhere. Applicants can also get a PPP loan, but the money can't be used for the same things.
The SBA issued FAQs on the program in November, and more information may be coming in the near future, as the recent relief package has changed not only the EIDL program, but PPP and others as well, officials said.
The loans have a 3.75% interest rate for businesses and 2.75% interest rate for nonprofit organizations, a 30-year maturity, and an automatic deferment of one year before monthly payments begin.
Businesses and agricultural enterprises applying must be a "small business" under SBA guidelines, which means 500 or fewer employees, a sole proprietorships (with or without employees), independent contractors, cooperatives, employee-owned businesses or tribal businesses.
EIDL eligibility also includes small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture businesses and nurseries deriving more than 50% of their annual receipts from the production of nursery or other agricultural products. Private nonprofit organizations of any size are also eligible.
The loans can be for up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could have been met had the disaster not occurred. The amount is based on actual economic injury and the company's financial needs.
“The EIDL program has assisted millions of small businesses, including nonprofit organizations, sole proprietors and independent contractors, from a wide array of industries and business sectors, to survive this very difficult economic environment," Administrator Jovita Carranza said in a news release announcing the extension.
Businesses can find out more information and apply at covid19relief.sba.gov.
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