He’s also advised doctors to suspend their federal student loan payments until September 30—another option created by teh CARES Act. “A lot of physicians have hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans, so it’s beneficial to have a six-month reprieve,” he said.
Jon Harrington, a senior advisor at Milestone Financial Planning LLC in Bedford, N.H., said he has had several nonprofit clients and one business owner with 150 employees who have been approved for PPP loans.
The business’s “revenue was down 50% so it was crucial to help them not lay off anyone for the next two months,” said Harrington.
Harrington said he has heard anecdotally from his network of advisors that local and regional banks and credit unions have been more nimble, responsive and successful at procuring loans for their clients, while small businesses seem to have gotten lost at big, commercial banks and still need funding.
Harrington said his recommendation for any business still waiting for a PPP loan is to shop your business banking relationship to smaller or regional institution that are successfully procuring PPP loans for smaller companies. “They should look at what banking relationships they can move to a smaller bank or credit union and offer to move their relationship there now. Have you called other banks? Keep calling other banks.” Harrington said.
Larry Luxenberg, founder of Lexington Avenue Financial Management in New York City, said about 10 of his business clients have been successful in getting PPP loans, while 10 have not.
Some of the national banks his clients work with have been slow, but some have been very good in processing his clients PPP loans, added Luxenberg, who said all his clients have relationships with commercial banks.
“Some will be successful in this round, but some will probably not. But I don’t think this will be the last round. I’m expecting a difficult economy for a year or two,” Luxenberg said.
“It’s really a bank-by-bank story. While one client who operates a one- to two-person business had a personal account with Chase, they hadn’t worked with the bank’s business unit, which is why their PPP application was overlooked. I’ve suggested they open a business banking account now, so in future rounds their application will get traction,” he said.
“It’s hard to say how critical this funding has been for businesses just yet. Conditions are still unfolding. But a month or two months from now, the funds may be very critical,” added Luxenberg.