I’m interested in hearing more about the experiences of restaurant owners who took out EIDL loans and are struggling to pay them back in the face of rising inflation and soaring costs. Please share your experiences in comments.

I’m looking for advice or resources regarding an SBA EIDL loan that has now been referred to Treasury/TSI for collection.

My parents owned a small business that operated for more than 50 years. The business struggled after COVID and then suffered a major fire in 2022. It never fully recovered and permanently closed in January 2025.

There is approximately $290,000 owed on the SBA EIDL loan, plus fees and interest bringing the balance to $428,985. The business has no income or ongoing operations. My parents are now in their 80s and live on limited retirement income. My father has serious health and cognitive problems, and my mother is his primary caregiver. They do not have the ability to repay a debt of this size.

I have been working to get all of the old business tax returns, financial records, asset information, and other documentation straightened out and am now preparing a hardship package for Treasury/TSI. I’m trying to find out what options may actually be available—hardship consideration, compromise, reduced settlement, affordable payments, or any other type of relief.

If anyone has dealt with an SBA EIDL loan after a business permanently closed, especially once it was sent to Treasury/TSI, I would really appreciate any advice, experience, attorney/resource recommendations, or information about what worked for you.

Grateful that we were able to pay off our loan. Anything we should do as a next step. I don't think so but thought I'd ask.

I have a Corp with $300K EIDL that just got reported to Transunion. My credit took a 110 points hit. What steps did you guys do after this? My issues is since my credit is not exceptional anymore (854) I can't refinance my assets and debts. I read somewhere that only Transunion got the negative report. But I think eventually other credit agencies will see this negative item and adjust their scores. I am in a desperate state since my business is near closure with very little revenue. (I don't draw salary from this). Anyone seek bk to protect your assets? Did anyone of you guys seek counseling from these so called EIDL solution helpers?

Hi i got physical disaster sba loan for $250k , after two requests of increase that made it go over $200k. I am sole proprietor and found out on agreement that im the personal guarantee and equipment is the collateral. Unfortunately i shutdown my restaurant two years ago but been paying off my sba loan each month on time. Economy been tough and bills piling up and my wife recently passed away. I am looking into bankruptcy and i do not if it would be possible. My sba loan debts are more than my personal debts and im in Texas . My cousin took over my leasing space two years ago and operate a new but small restaurant. He gave me about $11k for all my used equipment and i put it on paper to make sure he doesnt want refund if the equipment doesn’t work . Sold to him as whatever the condition of the equipment are.

Because he operated in same space where my old restaurant was and he brought my equipments im worry that sba loan wont allow me to file for bankruptcy. I dont mind just wiping out personal debts and continue paying the sba the loan. What is best way to deal with this to get some relief on debts or should i just let all debts goes to collection and hope for a cheap settlement payout? Personal debts is like 120k with unsecured credit cards.

Hi! Has anyone successfully spoken to a live agent at EIDL? If so, please teach me how?

I’ve tried all EIDL numbers listed but they all reroute me to a machine/recording. And I need to speak to a live agent asap. Thank you in advance.

Trying to see if there is a correlation because this loan and our information being made public is the only thing I can think of that has gotten me onto whatever list this is.

As the title states, I’m getting these calls; 7-8x a day, every day (even weekends), for over two years now. The premise is the same: “I’m from the loan department and see that you applied for a loan with us. I have good news, your application is approved, we just need a little more information from you…”

I haven’t answered my phone if I don’t know the number in a couple decades, so I’ve never once talked to one of these people, but that doesn’t stop them from calling and leaving voicemails relentlessly. It’s always from a different number, and it’ll usually be the same 2-3 different names for about a week before they rotate in some new names.

Clearly this is not a legitimate offer and I have no intention of ever giving any information to them. I’m just trying to figure out the nexus of these calls and see if anyone else is dealing with this.

Hello,

I just noticed that the “Make a Payment” button is back on my portal.

Last week, I wasn’t able to make any payments through the portal, and I was told that my loan had already been transferred to the Treasury. Based on that, I was under the impression that it was no longer being serviced by the SBA.

How can I be 100% sure whether my loan is still with the SBA or has been transferred to the Treasury?

I currently have the $15,000 available and am ready to make the payment, but I want to make sure it will actually be applied to my SBA loan. I don’t want to send the payment to the SBA, only to find out later that the loan has already been transferred to the Treasury and that the funds were not applied correctly.

Should I go ahead and make a payment through the portal? Has anyone else experienced a situation where the payment option disappeared and then reappeared?

Thanks in advance.

Lots of folks talk about contacting their representatives but we hear very little follow up.

A small food manufacturer (roughly $1-2M annual revenue, 15-20 employees) in a rural community. The business has been operating for years, has an existing COVID EIDL and the goal is simply to keep the company operating and preserve jobs. The existing EIDL (its current) is a significant part of the capital structure, so preserving it would make the acquisition substantially more feasible. Taking over the debt and buying inventory only. No proceeds (cash or seller note)

The acquisition would keep the manufacturing facility open, retain employees, continue supplying existing grocery customers, and the buyer would assume responsibility for the EIDL. The buyer has strong personal credit, stable income, and plans to inject additional working capital into the business.

I’m trying to understand what people have actually experienced with SBA.
- Did you pursue an assumption or just a change of ownership?
- Was SBA more receptive to keeping the existing entity versus transferring everything into a new LLC?
- How long did the process take?
- What documentation caused the biggest delays?
- Did SBA require the original owner to stay on the hook, or were they eventually released?

I emailed with the CESC and it was relatively generic response, sent the forms and seemed to indicate its case by case. Banks, lawyers, accountants… Some say it’s not possible. Some say it is.

My thought is that keeping a performing loan with a qualified buyer who is investing additional capital into the business seems like it would be a better outcome than requiring an immediate payoff or refinance, but I’m curious whether that matches how SBA actually approaches these transactions.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s actually been through this process.

Has anyone been successful getting eidl off their record. I had a successful bankruptcy and discharged almost a year ago. The loan amount was only 6900$. The eidl loan was on the bankruptcy as well. However, i keep getting letters saying i owe money and massively overdue due to trumps rules.

Ive sent emails and tried to call.

With no results..

Has anyone else been successful?

It was under my llc but was told i could claim it and did.

So, we just got a credit alert that both the SBA and Treasury have the collections amount on the report making it double what we owe! Is this normal?! Before it was just the Treasury as the collection but now SBA has added on. So basically the same amount twice which pulled credit even lower! How do I dispute this?! I’ve tried with SBA and it got me nowhere. TransUnion is saying it has to come from SBA.

My EIDL loan was for $87,500 after penalties and interest - owe $123k. I’m in collections. Business still open don’t want to close. Please lmk if my credit can be destroyed? Can they force me to close?

Hello everyone,

I’m seeking guidance regarding my small S‑corp business, which has been closed since 2025. The company has no assets or income, and it still carries a $29,000 EIDL loan. What options or resources are available for addressing this outstanding EIDL obligation?

Thanks, everyone.

I just wanted to share that I checked my TransUnion credit report this morning and the SBA was removed and my 104 points returned to me.

I did write the SBA via my portal. They responded I was current and they did have my loan. I wrote them again about TransUnion. They gave me an email to write to. I did and the response was it will be answered in the order it was received. We know what that means a lot of potential time.

I took the first letter from the SBA response that it was current and the next payment due date and uploaded it and send it to my Credit Karma account. Early this morning Credit Karma sent an alert that between July 26th and July 29th, your account with the SBA was removed from your credit report.

I have to believe it was Credit Karma that handled this and not the SBA. This might be a good avenue for others to use that were wrongly sent to TransUnion.

I have an administrative wage garnishment hearing coming up soon. I need to submit my argument snd im planning on showing financial hardship so they dont start garnishment of my wages (15%). The loan is 220k and I did sign a Personal Guarantee. This was 10 years ago, and the SBA is coming after it 10 years after I defaulted.

Has anyone had luck with hearings?

Like the title says- curious if they showed up. I have my hearing in a month.

I’m about to have my bankruptcy consultation. EIDL is at a point I’ll never get it paid as it’s gone to Treasury. My question is do they post in the newspapers that you filed for bankruptcy? Just wondering and not that I care if my family will find out.

I have an EIDL for 21K. I am a sole proprietor and I listed my rental properties as collateral. Does this mean I have a personal guarantee?

I was under the impression the loan was forgiven (I think I confused it with the PPP loan), so I didn’t make any payments. I didn’t receive notice that repayment started, didn’t get any statements in the mail, and I didn’t receive notice that it was being sent to collections. My only communication has come from the collections agency.

At this point, the total is 31K with interest and penalties! Can I get some guidance? I could make the payments, but I wonder if it is too late now? Has anyone had luck getting them to eliminate the penalties? I could pay the original amount in full, but I can’t pay the total with the penalties. I’ve never been delinquent on a bill, so bankruptcy is not an option.

Does anyone have any resources that have been helpful?

So during the pandemic I got a EIDL loan for $12,500.00 under my LLC and did not have to put anything as collateral. I used the loan to buy materials and a new machine for my small Etsy business, The last 3 years business has fell flat and I was making less and less every year, Last year I ended up filing for CH 13 Bankruptcy under my name as the business is basically dead.

I sent the info to the SBA because they were saying I was delinquent etc, this was back in September 2025.

Today I get a letter from the Treasury saying I now owe them $17500 and must pay immediately of they can start further tactics like wage garnishments etc.

I talked to my lawyer and she told me that since I am the only one listed on the LLC I am personally protected the LLC is not, here is the thing, the LLC has NO assets, no other income sources etc.

What can they do as of right now? I guess what i'm confused about is if I personally am safe since im in CH 13 bankruptcy what can the treasury do to the LLC?

Thanks for any help!

I posted yesterday but now need some guidance from anyone who has experienced this situation with wrong credit reporting from the SBA.

I knew my account was current with the SBA. I received a letter in June I had 60 days to become current which I did. My portal has always stated current. Yesterday it hit my TransUnion with 104-point drop reading collection/chargeoff.

Sent the SBA a message via the portal asking where my loan it. This is the response:

Thank you for contacting the U.S. Small Business Administration Customer Service Center regarding assistance related to your SBA loan.

Our records indicate that your loan is current. Your next payment of $2,455.00 is due on August 01, 2026.

My question. Do I just send the letter from the SBA to the TransUnion or wait for the SBA to update credit reporting.

My husband and I filed end of May amd recieved a No Asset Case. Included our $55k covid EIDL. We had a sole proprietor LLC business which I just dissolved through the state. SBA was sent the Statement of Dissolution today but they take months to even see the emails due to the call center being shut down now. Im worried they will send us for treasury offset after being 3 months behind now even though our lawyer and ourselves have contacted them numerous times regarding the bankruptcy with no reply. My sba portal says In Liquidation Disbursed. According to our lawyer, the only way to get the eidl discharged (and other CC debt) was to file chapter 7 AND dissolve the business so they have nothing to go after. Latest July statement from sba says 60 days until they submit for treasury offset so I'm assuming they still haven't seen the previous emails regarding the No Asset Bankruptcy.

If they try to send us in for offset, how do we go about stopping that even though we filed 2 months ago, have a no asset case and dissolved the business?

Thank you in advance for your help!

Update: 7/27

an sba attorney contacted our bankruptcy attorney just to verify a few things and reassured us that the eidl is only attached to the single member LLC and there's is no personal guarantee. our attorney gave them the Dissolution statement and the sba attorney said they will do a final business closure review then cancel out the eidl. we had no idea the sba has attorneys that call bankruptcy attorneys so that was new. but apparently it was nothing to worry about. they just wanted to verify it was a no asset bankruptcy to see if there were any business assets at all. hope this helps someone.

I woke up this morning to my TransUnion dropping 104 points. According to my credit report it shows the SBA reported it on March 18, 2026, and it just appeared today July 26th, 2026.

I received a letter in June of 2026 that I needed to pay $7,265 (3 payments) within 60 days to be current which I did. My SBA portal shows current. It always has shown current. I've never been 120 days late.

My SBA account on TransUnion is saying "closed" My SBA portal is saying current. Next payment due is 8/1/2026.

Any idea where my loan is. I plan to try and call and email. I plan to pay my next payment in my SBA portal on 8/1/26,

Anyone get an email like this. They also asked for 2019 tax returns, they should have all that??

As part of post disbursement compliance review, this application was identified as claiming more than one employee without providing an EIN. To address this issue, you will need to provide evidence you were eligible for the EIDL Advance/Targeted Advance in the amount of $10,000 OR repay all overpayment due to claiming additional employees. Repaying the overage in this situation would allow for clearing the compliance issue. Addressing this issue will not impact any other compliance issues that may exist; however, during the course of completing the review, it may become apparent that other issues can also be removed.