As AGC continues to pressure the Small Business Administration (SBA) to change its approach to applications for the forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Loans over $2M, the agency finally appears to be doing just that. The agency has yet to make any announcements and details are still missing. There is, however, a growing body of anecdotal and other evidence that the agency is finally accelerating the process of forgiving these loans. Over the last three business days, AGC has received either first-hand or reliable reports that SBA has forgiven another nine of these loans (over $2M) to AGC members.
If this marks a genuine change in approach, it would be a dramatic one for an agency that has emphasized, for well over a year, that it will make a sharp distinction between loans over and under $2M and strictly scrutinize all applications for forgiveness of the latter. To that end, the agency has gone so far as to require all applicants for the forgiveness of such loans to complete a controversial “loan forgiveness questionnaire.” Last December, AGC sued the agency for taking that step. And more recently, AGC has sought to compel the agency to disclose exactly how long it is taking to make decisions.
Needless to say, AGC has a great interest in any additional information that AGC members can provide. If you have a PPP loan of over $2M, and you have yet to contact the association, please just send an email to AGC’s General Counsel, Mike Kennedy, at mike.kennedy@agc.org. AGC is specifically interested in whether you have applied for the forgiveness of your PPP loan, whether SBA has granted your application, and if not, how long you have been waiting for the agency to make a decision.