Small Business Administration Extends Deferment Period for all COVID-19 EIDL Loans

The SBA has pushed back first-payment due dates for COVID-19 EIDL loans issued in 2020 and 2021.

Did you get an Economic Impact Disaster Loan in 2020? If so, your original first-payment due date was 12 months from the date of the loan. The SBA has extended that to 24 months from the loan origination date.

If you got an EIDL in 2021, your first-payment due date is extended to 18 months now, not 12, from the loan origination date.

EIDL First Payment Due Date Extended

First, the good news. You don’t have to do anything. The additional deferment periods will be automatically granted to EIDL borrowers.

The bad news. During the deferment period, interest will continue to add up on the outstanding balance of the loan. Borrowers should continue to make loan payments during the deferment period.

What the SBA Says about EIDL Loan Deferment

“Small Businesses, private nonprofits and agricultural enterprises, including those self-employed individuals, contractors and gig workers, continue to navigate a very difficult economic environment due to the continued impacts of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, as well as historic Severe Winter Storms in 2020,” then-Acting SBA Administrator Tami Perrillo said.

“The COVID-19 EIDL program has assisted over 3.7 million of small businesses, including non-profit organizations, sole proprietors and independent contractors, from a wide array of industries and business sectors, through this challenging time.”

SBA continues to strive to make available all previously approved Coronavirus Pandemic stimulus funding and administer the new targeted programs related to provisions in the 2020 Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (the Economic Aid Act) as quickly as possible.

“The American people and the nation’s small business owners need our tireless effort and dedication to get this essential funding to those in great need,” said SBA Senior Advisor Michael Roth. “The SBA will not rest until we implement President Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” and its’ additional targeted programs and funds allocated for America’s small business and nonprofit communities.”

Questions on SBA COVID-19 EIDL and disaster loan payments can be answered by email at DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov or by calling SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955.

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This article, "Small Business Administration Extends Deferment Period for all COVID-19 EIDL Loans" was first published on Small Business Trends