Some LI Business Owners May Need To Reapply For Disaster Loans

LONG ISLAND, NY — Business owners affected by the new coronavirus outbreak are seeking federal disaster loans at record levels, but a U.S. Small Business Administration spokesman said Thursday those who previously sought assistance are being asked to file again. The mandate applies to business owners, private not-for-profit officials and anyone else who may have previously submitted a request via email or through the mail.

The process was streamlined after the agency learned the personal information of about 100 business owners was exposed when a now-disabled portal was functioning, Newsday reported. The agency revamped its website so businesses can apply for disaster assistance, a spokesman from the agency's office that covers New York said Thursday.

The new site launched earlier this week and allows people to apply for both economic injury disaster loan and the EIDL advance on the same application site in a “simple, seamless way”, spokesman Matt Coleman said. The SBA has issued disaster declarations for all 50 states and all United States territories for the first time in recent memory, Coleman added.

The agency is partnering with major technology companies to help process loan applications, which allows requests to be processed much more quickly due to the ongoing need for disaster requests as part of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis. The advance disaster relief fund is funded up to $10 million and the EIDL program does not have a cap with funds being issued directly from the U.S. Treasury Department. The interest rates for loans have been set by Congress at 3.75 percent for small businesses and for not for profit agencies, 2.75 percent.

“This is an unprecedented situation responding to a virus that is affecting the entire nation,” Coleman said. “It’s a unique situation.”