No @darth it was not in the legislation we passed. But it is something I have been really worried about.
I got a message a little while ago from a small business owner beside herself over this exact problem, she put it bluntly: "I am going to go under if this isn't fixed."
I got a message a little while ago from a small business owner beside herself over this exact problem, she put it bluntly: "I am going to go under if this isn't fixed."
Here's the problem: SBA and Treasury were still figuring out/telling people how PPP was supposed to work hours before it went online to process loans.
@GerryConnolly @RepWexton & I talked to lenders who said they didn't know how the program would work.
@GerryConnolly @RepWexton & I talked to lenders who said they didn't know how the program would work.
Banks have regulations governing the kinds of risks they can take in issuing business loans and the kinds of due diligence they have to take before underwriting loans.
SBA and Treasury were all over the place in telling banks what the rules were for PPP loans into the 11th hour.
SBA and Treasury were all over the place in telling banks what the rules were for PPP loans into the 11th hour.
So every big bank, community bank, credit union, etc is trying to make sense of these rules right now. Some are just saying "yes" and hoping for the best, some are processing loans for people they've already underwritten first, and some aren't doing any at all. Chaos.
I have the same message for banks across the US that we gave to VA lenders last night: PLEASE help people. The intent of the law when we wrote it was to make PPP a vehicle to get money to people ASAP to protect workers and keep these small businesses afloat. PLEASE help people.
I know the guidance is unclear, and there is lots of uncertainty. I've been hearing that the portal SBA set up to process these loans for banks has crashed and isn't working. We have to make this work, millions of Americans are depending on this program. We have to get this right
