My EIDL Experience

Since so many people have questions and it seems I’m one of the first to receive the full EIDL funding in my group of business friends, here’s a timeline of events so hopefully you’ll get clarity on what to expect from the SBA. Note: This is only the EIDL. Not the PPP.

March 23

Filled out the EIDL COVID long form. This was a weird thing – it was their normal EIDL long form (for normal disasters), but had a special “COVID” announcement at the top. So it was after they started adapting for COVID apps, but before the short form was available. I had to submit financials, tax release docs, etc. Took me two days to gather and submit everything. This is the form that was replaced by the short form a few days later.

March 30 (10:30am since the exact time does seem to make a difference)

Got the announcement about the short form availability with the checkbox for the advance/grant. Immediately filled it out. Selected 3 employees (forgot myself… oops) not knowing what to expect. Took less than 10 minutes and seemed almost too easy.

April 14 (Morning)

A $3k advance ($1k per employee I entered) showed up in our account. Magic. I only knew what it was and what to expect thanks to members of this group posting about the changes to the “$10k grant” becoming “up to” $10k and then the SBA email I got on April 13 with that chart showing PPP vs. EIDL. Paid rent.  Was grateful, still not sure what to expect or how I’d even get considered for the rest of the loan.

April 14 (Evening)

Got an email saying my EIDL app was ready for the next step and to create my account in their new portal. Tried to login to the original portal (from the long form) out of curiosity. It was still there, but all it said was my forms were submitted. Created my account in the new portal and it gave me a slider with how much I could get. I chose the maximum (great terms). The next step was “Verify Your Identity.” Did that. Took about 5 minutes. The next step it said was “Funding.”

April 19 (Evening – 9:15pm)

Got an email saying I was approved and to login and complete the next steps “within 30 days.” Completed the steps before going to bed… Which was just signing loan docs via e-sign. Be sure to read them. There are some conditions you’ll want to be aware of.

April 20 (Yesterday)

Refreshed my account and the portal site all day looking for an update. Tried for more grants & got locked out or denied (like many of you). Crossed my fingers.

April 21 (this morning)

FUNDS DEPOSITED – the full amount they said I was approved for, no subtraction for fees or the advance. So the advance was on top of my loan approval amount. (YAY!!!)

… * I still have not received any notify or email from them saying that the funds are there. They just appeared with no more communication. Again, magic.

Summary

Through this entire process: I did not talk to a loan officer. Never talked to the SBA directly. Also my credit does not seem to have been checked (at least via Credit Karma)… and my credit had plummeted over 100 points in the past month due to this crisis (maxing out the company card to cover expenses). If they’re checking credit for this, I don’t think they’re counting a decrease in credit against you.

Everyone’s experience will probably be a little different. This was mine and I hope it offers hope if you’re still waiting. I’m sure there will be a difference in process for those that only filled out the short form so far.

You may end up working with a loan officer to get the rest of the docs they need to them… I fit in that weird window of time so they already had all my info… which I think sped up the process a bit for me. Best of luck to you!

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Photo Credit: Adobe Stock

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