The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently announced that it will allow Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers to request a loan review by the SBA when the lender determined that the borrower was entitled to only partial forgiveness of the PPP loan because the use of the loan proceeds did not adhere to program guidelines.

Borrowers have 30 days to seek a loan review of the partial approval decision. The SBA retains discretion to accept or deny the borrower’s request to review the loan. If the SBA selects your loan for review, the loan is not deferred, and if you are currently making payments, you must continue to make payments on the remaining balance of the loan.

If you would like to discuss the possibility of requesting an SBA loan review of your partial forgiveness decision or discussing alternative payment options, please contact your relationship manager.

On December 1, the Small Business Administration (SBA) released public data about Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers—specifically, the borrowers’ names, addresses, exact loan amounts, and who their PPP lenders were. The release came as a result of a lawsuit brought by media organizations seeking the data.

Cambridge Savings Bank did not publicly disclose the data and played no role in the court decision. Our commitment to protect your privacy is paramount, and we follow all applicable laws and regulations, as well as our identity verification process to protect our customer’s financial information.

Unfortunately, we have heard that some third parties are using the information from the court-ordered data release to market themselves to PPP customers. These communications may reference Cambridge Savings Bank and may even imply that we already have some kind of relationship with these third parties.

Please be very wary of responding to unsolicited communications or sharing information about your PPP loan with any business or individuals not affiliated with Cambridge Savings Bank. If you have any doubt questions, please call us directly.

Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the application forms and instructions noted below to assess which application is best suited for your forgiveness application process. To view our video tutorial for Form 3508S please click here Form 3508S Video Tutorial
 

• FORM 3508 PPP Forgiveness Application and Instructions
• FORM 3508EZ PPP Forgiveness Application and Instructions
• FORM 3508S Simplified PPP Forgiveness Application and Instructions

   

We recommend that you review this instructional video prior to logging in and exploring the portal. Please note, the new application (3508S) may not yet be reflected in this video. You may access the Forgiveness Request Portal by visiting cambridgesavings.lenderscooperative.com. Please follow the steps below to create an account and begin your PPP Loan Forgiveness Application process.

1. Type in your EIN or SSN (with no dashes) and the ten-digit SBA Loan Number (Note: this is not the same as your Cambridge Savings Bank loan number. You can get this loan number from your Relationship Manager). Then click Find your loan.
2. Verify SBA Loan Amount
3. Create an account, enter an email address and password. This will allow you to access your account to view current status, pending items, e-sign documents and review messages. Click Create Account.
   
   If you have previously accessed the Portal:
   • Enter your email address
   • Enter your password
   • Click Login
     • A forgotten password can also be reset here

Review the three application types below:

Form 3508EZ applies to borrowers who meet any one of these three criteria:

• Applied for the PPP loan as self-employed, an independent contractor or a sole proprietor with no employees, or
• Did not reduce salary or wages for any employee by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees (excepting laid-off employees who refused an offer to return), or
• Did not reduce salary or wages for any employee by more than 25% during the covered period and experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19.

Form 3508S applies to borrowers who received a loan of $150,000 or less. To view our video tutorial for Form 3508S please click here Form 3508S Video Tutorial

Form 3508 applies to all others and those borrowers that, together with its affiliates, received PPP loans totaling $2 million or greater.

For loans under $150,000, no documentation is needed. For all others, you will need to provide the following:

Payroll (provide documentation for all payroll periods that overlapped with the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period):

• Bank account statements or third-party payroll service provider reports documenting the amount of cash compensation paid to employees.
• Tax forms (or equivalent third-party payroll service provider reports) for the periods that overlap with the Covered Period or the Alternative Payroll Covered Period:
• Payroll tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the IRS (typically, Form 941); and
• State quarterly business and individual employee wage reporting and unemployment insurance tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the relevant state.
• Payment receipts, cancelled checks, or account statements documenting the amount of any employer contributions to employee health insurance and retirement plans that the borrower included in the forgiveness amount

Non-payroll (for expenses that were incurred or paid during the covered period and showing that obligations or services existed prior to February 15, 2020):

• Business mortgage interest payments: Copy of lender amortization schedule and receipts verifying payments, or lender account statements.
• Business rent or lease payments: Copy of current lease agreement and receipts or cancelled checks verifying eligible payments.
• Business utility payments: Copies of invoices and receipts, cancelled checks or account statements.

This list of documents required to be submitted is not all-inclusive. Please reference your specific loan forgiveness application for a complete list.

Multiple individuals within your organization may create individual portal logins to share access to the forgiveness application.

The PPP Forgiveness Portal is not compatible with Microsoft Internet Explorer. We recommend using browsers like Chrome, Edge, Safari or your preferred browser. In addition, you must be accessing the portal from a domestic VPN. If you still require assistance, please email Lenders Cooperative at support@lenderscooperative.com

Your internet browser may have auto-fill turned on and has mistaken some fields on the PPP application for information you frequently enter into forms. We highly encourage you to double check all data input into the PPP Forgiveness application prior to submission. This will save time and prevent delays in processing. It is also a safer practice to turn off auto-fill in your browser settings to limit the risk of your personal information inadvertently being entered. If you notice an incorrect entry in your forgiveness application after submission, please reach out to your relationship manager for assistance.

This will vary by applicant, based on which of the three applications are being utilized and what is required for documentation.

CSB will review your entire application to make sure that your submission is complete and that you have included all of the appropriate documents. If there are any problems or discrepancies, we will send you an email or call you with instructions. CSB may request additional information. If this happens your application status will change to “Need Additional Info.”

Please check the portal frequently to review your application status and any applicable messages. Your application status can be found in the left panel on the Status page of the portal. When the SBA review is complete, they will notify you along with Cambridge Savings Bank of their decision. You may hear from the SBA before Cambridge Savings Bank via the portal about your forgiveness status. Cambridge Savings Bank could take a few additional days to update our loan records and submit the final loan paperwork to you.

The bank has 60 days (after receipt of a completed application package) to finish a review and submit the application to the SBA. Once the bank reviews the application and approves it, you will receive an email to e-sign the application. This is a mobile-friendly process, if desired. Once the application is signed, the bank will submit the files to the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA then has up to 90 days to review the application and notify Cambridge Savings Bank. When the SBA review is complete, they will notify you along with Cambridge Savings Bank of their decision. You may hear from the SBA before Cambridge Savings Bank via the portal about your forgiveness status. Cambridge Savings Bank could take a few additional days to update our loan records and submit the final loan paperwork to you.

We recommend that you consult your CPA, Financial Advisor, or Payroll Company for guidance around any financial questions you may have. In addition, Cambridge Savings Bank will provide this complimentary service to our customers, so you have access to certified accountants inside the portal to assist you. Simply click on the orange “Ask an Accountant” button inside the portal to email specific PPP accounting related questions, and you can expect a response within 24 hours.

You must retain all other PPP documentation in your files for six (6) years after the date the loan is forgiven or repaid in full and allow authorized representatives of SBA or the Office of Inspector General to access these files upon request.

In conjunction with the Department of Treasury, the IRS has issued guidance regarding the deductibility of expenses for PPP loans in the 2020 tax year. We encourage businesses to contact their tax advisor in advance to be aware of how it may or may not affect your tax filing. To learn more, please visit: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1187. You may also use the Ask an Accountant button inside the PPP Loan Forgiveness Portal to email specific accounting related questions to Wolf & Company PC. This is a complimentary service provided to our customers.

If you are uncertain about the legitimacy of a sender email, please contact us before responding. You must be diligent with whom you share your information. There are phishing attacks underway via email trying to trick you into sharing private financial information.

Borrowers can apply for forgiveness any time up to the maturity date of the loan. If borrowers do not apply for forgiveness within 10 months after the last day of the covered period, then PPP loan payments are no longer deferred, and borrowers will begin making loan payments to their PPP lender. 

For more information, please visit the SBA's website.

Your loan forgiveness covered period generally begins on the date you received your PPP funds (or if you received them on more than one date, the first date you received PPP funds), and ends on a date selected by you between 8 to 24 weeks thereafter.

The SBA has recently announced a COVID Revenue Reduction Score that further streamlines the forgiveness process for 2nd Draw PPP Loans of $150,000 or less. The COVID Revenue Reduction Score satisfies the requirement for all CSB loans under $150,000, therefore you do not need to provide documentation to validate a 25% reduction in revenue when filing for loan forgiveness.

Cambridge Savings Bank has a comprehensive process in place that directly links our loan forgiveness portal to the SBA system. The CSB portal offers a streamlined and efficient experience for our customers, therefore, CSB has not opted into the new SBA Loan Forgiveness Portal for loans of $150,000 or less. Your loan forgiveness application must be submitted through the CSB Loan Forgiveness Portal for all PPP loans.