Since the opening of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Direct Borrower Forgiveness Portal on Aug. 4, the U.S. Small Business Administration has received more than 340,000 submissions from borrowers with PPP loans of $150,000 or less.
With outstanding debt saddling millions of disadvantaged and underserved small businesses, increasing the rate of forgiveness to PPP borrowers will have an immediate effect in helping the smallest of small businesses recover from the pandemic and access other resources. Prior to this option, businesses that did not apply for forgiveness within 10 months of the end of the covered period were at risk of owing principal and interest payments on their PPP loans.Â
Currently, more than 1,230 PPP lenders, representing over 50% of outstanding loan forgiveness applications, have opted-in to the Direct Borrower Forgiveness Portal. Â
Before direct forgiveness, borrowers had to take the initiative to download forgiveness forms or get forms from their banks to complete and submit. Some lenders had not yet built the technology or processes to even begin accepting forgiveness applications, and many did not actively reach out to borrowers to help them through the process. Forgiveness was not user-friendly, which is why millions of borrowers, including over 700,000 loans made in 2020, had yet to submit their one-page application. Â
Through this process, SBA proactively reaches out to borrowers and provides a pre-populated forgiveness form to the borrower that they can complete in the new direct forgiveness portal. Borrowers can submit using a computer or smartphone. On average users submit their applications in only six minutes and receive their forgiveness decisions within a week from the date of submission.
Borrowers who are interested in starting their applications can access the PPP Direct Forgiveness Portal.
