Small Business Administration (SBA) to Re-Open Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to More Small Lenders on January 15 and to All Lenders on January 19

On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it would re-open its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan portal to PPP-eligible lenders with $1 billion or less in assets for “first draw” and “second draw” PPP loan applications on Friday, January 15, 2021.  The PPP portal will then fully re-open to all participating PPP lenders on Tuesday, January 19, 2021.

Earlier in the week of January 11, 2021, SBA granted exclusive PPP loan portal access to Community Financial Institutions (CFIs) as part of SBA’s efforts to reach the hardest hit and underbanked businesses.  The January 15 expansion of the PPP loan portal re-opening will facilitate PPP loan origination by approximately 5,000 additional smaller lenders, including community banks, credit unions and farm credit institutions, ahead of the full re-opening on January 19.

Separately, the SBA issued a Procedural Notice to PPP lenders on January 13, which provides guidance and instructions to lenders about processing requests from PPP borrowers to increase the amount of their “first draw” PPP loans under certain circumstances authorized by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act, including situations in which a borrower returned all or part of its original “first draw” PPP loan or did not borrow the maximum amount for which it was eligible.  PPP lenders will be allowed to approve such increases on “first draw” PPP loans in accordance with the Procedural Notice beginning on Monday, January 25, 2021.