Here we go again! More 11th hour changes to the PPP rules. These new changes can strap a business down and take away its options — options a company might very much need to survive COVID-19.

On Friday, October 2, the SBA issued more procedural rules. This time, any PPP loan recipient with an unpaid balance has its hands tied if it wants to sell, transfer, or merge its business or add owners. The lender and SBA now have the power to drag out the sale (transfer or owner shift) and demand compliance with up-’til-now wholly unknown protocol.

One more thing. Have you ever looked at the terms of an actual PPP promissory note? We have — interesting stuff. In due respect, most PPP borrowers don’t have a clue. The SBA keeps adding rules that automatically get included.

Learning Objectives:

• List SBA’s new rules governing sale, merger, or asset transfers of a PPP borrower


• Identify what lurks in the bushes upon a transfer of a PPP borrower’s business (or assets) or when new owners enter the mix


• Identify what exactly is in a PPP promissory note anyway (and what keeps getting stuffed in)


• List any related new SBA PPP rules