EIDL Hardship Accommodation Plan Open To All EIDL Borrowers

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced that all COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) borrowers have the option of enrolling in the Hardship Accommodation Plan (HAP). Here are the details, what's changed, and the important deadlines to keep in mind.

📌 Pro-tip: If you need 1-1 help with your EIDL loan situation (payments, Hardship, Treasury disputes), you can book a time to talk to someone on the Skip team here.

SBA Goodwill Period Aims At Preventing EIDL Defaults and Delinquency

Nearly 4 million business owners and entrepreneurs received COVID EIDL loans between 2020 and 2022 as part of the CARES Act response to the pandemic. Payments for these loans could be deferred for 30 months; most of these payments began in fall of 2022.

However, a high percentage of these business owners have struggled to make payments due to their business circumstances and the macro economy. In response the SBA has made policy adjustments to improve loan servicing:

1. In November 2022, the SBA announced the Hardship Accommodation Plan as an option for borrowers struggling to make payments
2. In February 2023, the SBA released their new borrower portal to make managing payments and enrolling in hardship easier.

Despite these changes, hundreds of thousands of EIDL borrowers still struggled to make payments or fell behind on payments.

3. In January 2024, the SBA announced the EIDL Goodwill Period to allow borrowers behind on payments to "catch up" and get in good standing.

What Does The EIDL Goodwill Period Allow Borrowers to Do?

The EIDL Goodwill Period has two important changes EIDL borrowers should know about.

First, EIDL borrowers with loans of $100,000 or less, who are behind on payments have until March 3, 2024 to get in good standing. If after March 3, 2024 the EIDL borrower is not caught up on payments or on the Hardship Accommodation Plan and the loan is 120 days or more delinquent, the SBA will send this loan to the Treasury for collection. This is the case for EIDL loans of any amount.

Second, borrowers can now enroll in the Hardship Accommodation Plan even if they're behind on payments. Prior to this, borrowers had to first catch up on payments. You can login at lending.sba.gov to see your options.

Third, if your EIDL loan is currently at the Treasury, and is between 120 and 180 days delinquent, the SBA says that you may be able to manage payments directly on your SBA portal to get on the HAP.

Fourth, if your EIDL loan is 180 days or more delinquent, your loan will be in Treasury Cross Servicing. You'll need to submit this form to the Treasury to request that it be sent back to the SBA.

Need Help with your EIDL Hardship Accommodation Plan?

If you need 1-1 help and want to talk to someone, you can book a time to talk to someone on the Skip team here.