Breaking: SBA Announces New EIDL Grant and Loan Changes

The SBA has finally announced important EIDL grant and loan changes under the umbrella of EIDL 2.0 — and it's a big announcement. The press release, released earlier today, talked about the new EIDL rule changes (including eligible uses of funds), the new $2 million EIDL loan limit, and a priority period for certain EIDL applicants. The full recap is below.

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Key Changes Announced in EIDL 2.0

Here are the 5 major changes highlighted in the new EIDL policy changes the SBA has announced.

Increased EIDL Cap. As anticipated, the loan cap has been increased from $500,000 to $2 million. The updates to the EIDL portal went live Wednesday night for many, but was not officially announced until today. If your portal has not updated yet, you can calculate your potential loan increase amount on your Skip dashboard, or sign up here to do so.
Deferred Payment Period. The SBA continues to highlight that any business that applies to the Covid EIDL program will not need to make any payments for 24 months following approval.
Expansion on Use of Funds. In addition to the increase up to $2 million, borrowers can now use EIDL funds to pay off other business debt, past, present, or future. Many businesses took out additional loans to finance their business or used high interest credit cards. All of those debts can now be paid off with EIDL funds.
Simplification for Affiliates. The policy affects affiliate applicants as well. The affiliate application process was changed, modeled after the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, to simplify the process for affiliates in all industries.
30-Day Exclusivity Window. The last major change to highlight is the the "30-day exclusivity window." The SBA will not review any loan increases above $500,000 until October 8, 2021. For the next 30 days, they will be exclusively working on clearing the backlog of applications who are waiting for an initial decision or a decision on their loan increase from the last round.

Targeted EIDL Advances Still Available

In the SBA press release, the SBA states that "We have also ramped up our outreach efforts to ensure we’re connecting with...low-income communities who may also be eligible for the companion COVID EIDL Targeted Advance and Supplemental Advance grants."

There is still money available for those who live in a qualifying low-income neighborhood. If you have not applied for the EIDL loan, apply and the SBA will tag your application as eligible for the $15,000 Targeted EIDL Advances.

Conclusion: EIDL 2.0 Has Major Improvements

The policy changes announced by the SBA will impact every EIDL borrower. We will break down all of the changes in a future post.