Main Street Monday — 71% of PPP Borrowers are Waiting for More Guidance on PPP Forgiveness

October 26, 2020

Caity Roach
Contributing Editor

Main Street Monday — 71% of PPP Borrowers are Waiting for More Guidance on PPP Forgiveness

Although the SBA began accepting PPP forgiveness applications on August 10, 2020, 74% of PPP borrowers have not yet applied for forgiveness. According to a recent study conducted by Fundera, the reason borrowers are not applying may be a lack of clarification, understanding, and confidence in the forgiveness process.

Here are the key findings from Fundera’s study:

• 71% of PPP borrowers who have not yet applied for forgiveness are waiting for their lender or the SBA to make the process more clear.
  
  
• 64% have not received any proactive communication or aid from their lender on the forgiveness process.
  
  
• Only 8% of borrowers who reached out to their lender with questions about the forgiveness process say that they received a helpful response.
  
  
• 23% of borrowers say that their lender is not accepting PPP forgiveness applications at this time.
  
  
• A substantial portion of PPP borrowers (14%) noted that filling out the forgiveness application itself feels daunting.
  
  
• Less than one-quarter of PPP recipients have applied for forgiveness. 
  
  
• 90% of those who did apply for forgiveness have not received a forgiveness decision from their lender.

While borrowers await more guidance on PPP forgiveness, many of them are already considering the next steps that they will need to take in order to keep their businesses open. Fundera reports that four out of five PPP borrowers say that they would take advantage of a second draw PPP loan if they could. However, Congressional negotiations surrounding bills that would allow struggling businesses to receive a second PPP loan have halted, and many expect that a small business recovery package may not come until after the presidential election.

Sources:
Fundera