NCET

Legislative changes will make a U.S. Small Business Administration loan program more accessible to small businesses facing financial loss when the owner or essential employee is called to active military duty by extending the application period, increasing the unsecured loan threshold, and raising the maximum loan limit.

Changes to the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL) program became effective October 28.

Under the new rules, a small business can apply for an MREIDL on the date the essential employee receives notice of the expected call-up. The application period is extended to one year after the essential employee is discharged from active duty, an increase from the previous 90-day application window.

In addition, the small business is no longer required to pledge collateral to secure an MREIDL of $50,000 or less. Previously, the business was required to put up collateral if the loan amount exceeded $5,000. The Small Business Disaster Response and Loan Improvements Act, passed in May 2008, also increased the MREIDL cap from $1.5 million to $2 million.

Businesses can apply online by going to the Web site at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance. To get an application by mail, or for other questions about the loan program, contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 or by e-mail at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Technorati Tags: U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA, SBA Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan, MREIDL, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 9:35 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.