For more than 10 years, Jonathan Broder said he had seen his South Florida-based business grow.
“We’re essentially Uber for lawyers across the country,” Broder said. “Providing attorneys who go and take care of hearings for other lawyers and law firms.”
But when the pandemic hit in 2020 and shut down courts, he said business essentially stopped. Nearly a year later, he said they were still struggling.
“Unfortunately, we’re down over 90%,” he said. “It’s just kind of been trending along that line.”
Broder said he initially received a $230,000 loan under the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program or PPP.
“It all went to our staff,” he said. “To pay for payroll, to pay for the expenses we had.”
The SBA reopened the program in mid-January for businesses applying for the first time and for those that had already received PPP loans. As of Jan. 24, the SBA said it had already approved 400,580 loans, totaling $35 billion.
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In the latest round, small business owners like Broder may qualify for a second draw loan if they: previously got a PPP loan and will or have used the full amount for authorized uses; have no more than 300 employees; and can demonstrate at least a 25% drop in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020.
“Unfortunately, we’re overqualified,” Broder said.
Broder said he wanted to apply for a second PPP loan but, so far, had been unable to do so through his original lender. He also said he was waiting for the lender to roll out its loan forgiveness application for his first PPP loan.
“That money’s already gone,” he said. “Now we’re just kind of on fumes and so if the money doesn’t come at a certain point, then we’re really in a really tight spot.”
The SBA told NBC 6 they were aware that many lenders were still working on their loan forgiveness application portals. The agency also said you can still apply for a second PPP loan, even if you’re waiting to have your initial loan forgiven.
The deadline to apply for a PPP loan in the latest round is March 31st, 2021.
To learn more about the SBA’s latest PPP loan offerings, click here.
