Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ Many Latino small business owners we spoke with are struggling with eligibility for rent relief and access to bank loans, leaving many unsure of business success or longevity during the coronavirus pandemic. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

2/ Their stores were closed for weeks.

Meanwhile, Texas didn't prohibit evictions for commercial properties.

Now, stores are reopening — but capacity is limited to help minimize spread of the virus. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

3/ This is happening in a state where there are more than 700,000 Latino-owned businesses, according to the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

4/ Even before the pandemic, Maricruz Ávila was struggling to pay her rent and other fees on time for her sporting goods store, Pasion Deportes.

By the start of May, she owed $5,000 for rent, late fees, maintenance and insurance. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

5/ “I was already in a really bad economic situation,” she said. “I’m a single mother, I don’t have anyone to support me, I don’t have any work, and they still locked me out.” bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

6/ Sonia Rodríguez, owner of the restaurant El Torito, desperately needs some financial relief.

All of her employees are family, which makes her less likely to qualify for PPP loans. And, she said, banks are wary to loan to immigrants like herself. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

7/ The PPP loans use banks as middle men, something that left many small-business owners — without expert help — tied up in bureaucratic messes.

Often, small-business owners said, their calls to banks were not returned. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

8/ And Latino business owners said that they don’t feel that they have as fluent of a relationship with banks as their white peers. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ

9/9 Read more here. bit.ly/3dtnlUQ