WASHINGTON, D.C. -

The week closed with some positive news for dealerships that received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of $50,000 or less.

Late Thursday, the U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, released what officials described as a simpler loan forgiveness application for operators who received that amount of funds.

Leadership of both the SBA and the Treasury Department said this action is designed to streamline the PPP forgiveness process to provide financial and administrative relief to America’s smallest businesses while also ensuring “sound stewardship” of taxpayer dollars.

“The PPP has provided 5.2 million loans worth $525 billion to American small businesses, providing critical economic relief and supporting more than 51 million jobs,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a news release. “Today’s action streamlines the forgiveness process for PPP borrowers with loans of $50,000 or less and thousands of PPP lenders who worked around the clock to process loans quickly.

 “We are committed to making the PPP forgiveness process as simple as possible while also protecting against fraud and misuse of funds. We continue to favor additional legislation to further simplify the forgiveness process,” Mnuchin added.

SBA and Treasury also noted that they tried to ease the burden on PPP lenders, allowing lenders to process forgiveness applications more swiftly. 

“Nothing will stop the Trump Administration from supporting great American businesses and our great American workers. The Paycheck Protection Program has been an overwhelming success and served as a historic lifeline to America’s hurting small businesses and tens of millions of workers. The new form introduced today demonstrates our relentless commitment to using every tool in our toolbelt to help small businesses and the banks that have participated in this program,” SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said.

“We are continuing to ensure that small businesses are supported as they recover,” Carranza went on to say.

A coalition of more than 100 trade associations — including the American Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association and Texas Bankers Association — previously asked federal lawmakers that (PPP) loan of less than $150,000 would be forgiven when operators only had to answer a single, simple question to confirm the funds were used in accordance to PPP guidelines.

The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) president and chief executive officer Dan Berger offered this reaction to the streamlined forgiveness process for PPP loans below $50,000.

“We appreciate the SBA and Treasury’s commitment to streamlining the PPP loan forgiveness process, and the agency’s new forgiveness application for loans under $50,000 is a strong step in the right direction,” Berger said in a news release.

“PPP loans have been critical in helping main street small businesses and our local communities meet the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. NAFCU looks forward to continuing to work with the SBA and Treasury to streamline the PPP loan forgiveness process,” he added.

SBA said it began approving PPP forgiveness applications and remitting forgiveness payments to PPP lenders for PPP borrowers on Oct. 2.

“SBA will continue to process all PPP forgiveness applications in an expeditious manner,” the agency said.

Go to this website for the simpler loan forgiveness application.