June 1, 2021 Caity RoachEditor SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — SBA OIG Receives Record-Setting Number of Hotline Complaints “Since March 2020, our focus has been on providing oversight of SBA’s pandemic response efforts to combat program fraud, ensuring these programs are being efficiently and effectively managed.” says SBA Inspector General, Hannibal ‘Mike’ Ware in his…

May 28, 2021 Caity RoachEditor Fraud Friday — Bank Executive Pleads Guilty to Scheme That Implicates Giants Baseball Team Owner Last week, Former Sterling Bank & Trust executive, YiHou “Fanny” Han, pleaded guilty to originating at least 1,288 fraudulent residential mortgage loans through the bank’s low-documentation Advantage Loan Program. The plea deal gives federal investigators…

May 27, 2021 Caity RoachEditor Coleman Movers & Shakers  –  Warren Baas, Michael Donato, and Lindsey Hagerty Warren Baas Joins First Business Bank as Vice President of SBA Lending “Warren is a great addition to our team,” says Marty Ferguson, Managing Director of SBA Lending at First Business Bank. “He’s very passionate about helping small-and…

May 26, 2021 Caity RoachEditor C-Suite Wednesday –  SBA Updates the 7(a) Lender Oversight Fee Schedule Last week, the SBA issued an updated fee schedule for FY 2021. Effective immediately until  September 30, 2021, the annual fee for lender oversight will be $127.96 (for SBA supervised lenders) and $133.14 (for federally regulated 7(a) lenders). The…

May 25, 2021 Caity RoachEditor SBA Hot Topic Tuesday – Small Business Job Openings Remain at Record High “Small business owners are seeing a growth in sales but are stunted by not having enough workers,” says NFIB Chief Economist, Bill Dunkelberg. “Finding qualified employees remains the biggest challenge for small businesses and is slowing economic…

May 24, 2021 Caity RoachEditor Main Street Monday – 60% of Small Business Owners Expect Their Revenue to Increase This Year Bank of America’s 2021 Small Business Owner Report released earlier this month indicates that U.S. small business owners have started to recover from an unprecedented year of challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.…

May 21, 2021 Caity RoachEditor Fraud Friday – Fintech CEO Pleads Guilty to PPP Loan Fraud 24-year-old fintech CEO, Sheng-Wen Cheng (aka Justin Cheng) has pleaded guilty to using forged documents to obtain over $3.7 million in government-guaranteed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Cheng’s PPP loan proceeds have been traced to numerous personal luxury expenses,…

May 20, 2021 Caity RoachEditor Coleman Movers & Shakers — Lance Sexton, Brad Abel, and SomerCor Lance Sexton Joins Fountainhead Commercial Capital “I am so excited to be part of one of the best and most knowledgeable SBA teams in the industry at Fountainhead Commercial Capital,” says Sexton. “I have admired and respected Fountainhead’s commitment…

May 19, 2021 Caity RoachEditor C-Suite Wednesday — Restaurant Paycheck Trends Accelerated by the Pandemic  Historically, restaurants are the largest recipient of SBA 7(a) loans and a profitable lending niche when underwritten correctly. Therefore, it is important for SBA lenders to stay up to date on how the industry has been changed by the COVID-19…

May 18, 2021 Caity RoachEditor SBA Hot Topic Tuesday – SBA Inspector General Issues Report on EIDL Fraud On May 6, 2021, the SBA Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an evaluation report on the handling of identify theft in the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. According to the report, as of January…