Rather than admit its trying to make up for losing money on the Payroll Protection Program, Bank of America seeks to tie up unsuspecting PPP loan applicants in complicated rules it claims are from the Small Business Administration, but are really from itself.
My firm just received an email from Bank of America which does not forgive all of the PPP Loan received, contrary to what we’re told, but only a fraction of it. Bank of America uses its own calculation of your monthly payroll and comes up with its own cut off point of what can be used. That, on its face, is completely illogical and out of bounds. I wonder if Congress is aware of this? A PPP Loan should be forgiven, and without complications that boil down to an attempt to treat what’s supposed to be an emergency quasi-grant program into a regular bank loan.
The PPP Loan program is going to wind up sticking millions of Americans with debt payments when we were sold a bill of goods.
In all, it looks, to this blogger, like Bank of America – which is on record as being the leading corporate donor to the Donald Trump for President Campaign – is trying to do everything it can to make sure the Payroll Protection Program does not work as intended. It’s fair to ask this question: why did the federal government choose to basically privatize this program? In doing that, it caused a situation where the PPP Loan program has been contaminated by politics.
The Payroll Protection Program should work as it was presented. A number of friends ask me “Is this really a loan forgiveness program? If it’s really a partial loan forgiveness program, then say so, but otherwise, the rules should be adjusted so that 100 percent of the loan is forgiven. That’s what people expect when the Small Business Administration says the PPP Loan is “forgiveable” – the SBA does not say “partially forgivable”.
The way Bank of America treats the loan program, it might as well be just a standard loan program. I feel like the Pandemic was used by Bank of America as a way of suckering unsuspecting and trusting clients into a new loan program it could make money from, only to start changing rules when the firm realized it was losing money on it.
Bank of America itself should ask for government administrative cost assistance in administering the PPP Loan Program, and stop pushing its losses on the American public.
Bank Of America Wrongly Excludes EIDL Loan Funds From PPP Loan Forgiveness, Violating Rule
A: EIDL Grant and EIDL loan recipients may apply for and take out a PPP loan as long as there is no duplication in the uses of funds. Per the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the proceeds from an EIDL Grant will not be deducted from the loan forgiveness amount on the PPP loan.
Note in bold: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the proceeds from an EIDL Grant will not be deducted from the loan forgiveness amount on the PPP loan.. Hmm, 2021 – that’s the work of a Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. Got that?
Bank of America is not following the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act, nor is it remembering its own history with the EIDL and the Pandemic. Is it for political reasons?
Here’s where Bank of America screws up, and I say deliberately. Last year in March, and before the PPP Loan Program was launched, Bank of America, where my firm banks, told me to apply for something called an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or “EIDL” – and when I did visit the page for the COVID-19 EIDL, the pre-fixed amount was for $10,000. Then the PPP Loan asked me to add the EIDL I applied for to the PPP Loan, so I did. The backlog response to my EIDL loan was long, and on two occasions, Bank of America told me they were having computer problems and to reapply for it. I did.
The EIDL wound up being wrapped into my PPP Loan, or that’s how it looked for me. Only Bank of America, only, and not the SBA, months later told me I should have not received the EIDL part of the PPP Loan! Wait. What the SAM HILL is Bank of America doing running the Small Business Administration? The SBA never once sent any email saying that – nor phone call.
That’s one more reason I say Bank of America is trying to undermine the PPP Loan Process. And ask yourself: why is Bank of America going through so much trouble to make Americans look bad during a time of need?
Anyone at B of A got an answer? Is the SBA allowing B of A to get away with murder? Hello! Congress!
PPP Loans Are Political Tool But Congress Must Make Sure They Really Work For All Americans
Meanwhile PPP Loans are used as a political tool to show America “we’re helping people” and by the current administration. Can you imagine President Biden and First Lady Kamala Harris’ looks when they discover that Bank of America is actually undermining the program?
They, and the Democratic-controlled Congress, will first turn to the SBA with questions, and then make quick fixes – otherwise, the pissed off electorate will express that in the 2022 Mid Term Election. Maybe that’s the plan on Bank of America’s part: use our collective problem for its own political tricks. Tell me that’s not what it looks like.
And lest you think that I am the only one complaining, not at all. Here’s one of many unsolicted emails I have received:
Hi Zennie,
I saw your article from earlier this spring on Bank of America’s PPP problem. Unfortunately we have gotten screwed by them too. Here is our story, as told by my admin manager.
I’m trying to figure out what to do now. Do you know of any class action lawsuits going on?
NAME WITHHELD BY ZENNIE
Bank of America CLEARED our 2nd loan request, and submitted it in a timely manner to the SBA.
It was eventually (after quite a long time) REJECTED by the SBA (NOT BofA), in what appears to be a computer protocol thinking we had an incorrect number of employees, although the same information was used for the 2nd loan application as the 1st loan — which was cleared by the SBA, we got the loan, AND that loan was FORGIVEN by the SBA. The SBA (through BofA) also offered a chance for MORE money based on our profit and loss report, which is why I asked you for that. It was submitted when they asked for it.
When we called the SBA about the computer rejection to see what could be done or how we should re-apply (change numbers, different parameters, whatever) the response from SBA was they could not do anything, that the problem needed to be fixed through BofA and that once it was fixed we might/might not have to re-submit.
This was followed by multiple calls to BofA from me to ask them what we needed to do. Each time was told that they were getting many similar calls, it seemed like an SBA computer problem, that we were being put on a priority list, and that BofA would call us back in 2-3 business days to tell us what our next steps should be.
They never called back ANY of these times. Each time, I had to call them back, and each time I called back was told that we were “escalated” to a higher level of importance and that someone would call back within 3-5 business days with instructions for next steps. Also each time, I explained my concern that we would miss the window for funding, and was told that someone would definitely contact me.
Lather, rinse, repeat, until finally being told this week by BofA (after I had to call them back, of course, since they had once again NOT returned my calls) that the SBA was out of money.
Stay tuned.