Today Marks the First Day Self-Employed, Independent Contractors Can Apply for PPP Loans
TODAY MARKS THE FIRST DAY SELF-EMPLOYED, INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS CAN APPLY FOR PPP LOANS
PPP OPENED TO ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT CATEGORIES
Today, Friday, April 10 marks the first day independent contractors and self-employed workers can apply for forgivable loans through the Payroll Protection Program - a $349 million segment of the $2 trillion federal CARES Act. Independent contractors receiving 1099-MISC forms and self-employed individuals are eligible to apply for these, potentially 100 percent, forgivable loans.
REQUIREMENT: You must have been in operation on Feb. 15, 2020, your business must have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and you must submit required documentation along with your loan application.
WHAT DO I NEED TO APPLY? Once you know with which lender you will apply, complete the PPP application and submit with the required documentation to an approved lender by June 30, 2020.
WHERE CAN I APPLY? Existing SBA lenders and any federally-insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, or Farm Credit System institution is eligible to make PPP loans. Other regulated lenders will be available to make these loans once approved and enrolled in the program. Consult your local lender to determine if it is participating. Visit the SBA's website for a list of eligible lenders.
A number of Chamber member financial institutions are handling U.S. Small Business Administration PPP loan applications. The Chamber has reached out to each of these members to determine availability and have learned that many are prioritizing applications from their existing customers. We recommend you contact your existing bank to determine if they are participating as lenders in the new PPP.
If you would like specific contact information for one of the banks/credit unions accepting new members, we would be happy to make an introduction. Please contact Karen Pelletier, executive vice president, via email.
FOR ASSISTANCE | In addition, the Center for Women and Enterprise, the MA Small Business Development Center Network, and MassDevelopment can aid in the application for PPP loans as well as the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
DETAILS & FORGIVENESS:
• The maximum loan size is up to 2.5 times a contractor's average monthly 1099-MISC or net self-employment income for the past 12 months
• All amounts spent on the following list of items during the first eight weeks of the loan term are 100 percent forgivable: (a) to replace your 1099-MISC income or your net self-employment income, (b) interest on mortgages, (c) business rent, and (d) business utilities. Note, if more than 25 percent of this amount is used for interest on mortgages, business rent, or business utilities not all of the amount spent may be forgivable.
• The interest rate is fixed at 1 percent and the loan term is 2 years
• Loan payments will be deferred for six months
• No collateral or personal guarantees are required
• Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees for the loans.
FOR WHAT CAN I USE THESE LOANS? You should use the proceeds from these loans on your:
• Replacement for your normal 1099-MISC or net self-employment income (capped at $100,000 on an annualized basis for each employee)
• Interest on mortgage obligations, incurred before Feb. 15, 2020
• Rent, under lease agreements in force before Feb. 15, 2020
• Utilities, for which service began before Feb. 15, 2020
NOTE: A previous version of the PPP application guidelines included language precluding companies from calculating compensation figures which reflected independent contractor fees as well as independent contractors and the self-employed themselves from applying for the loan program. Those provisions were lifted today.
Here's What You Need to Know About the Visa/MasterCard Settlement
As a merchant who accepts Visa and Mastercard as a form of payment, you’ve most likely received a NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT AUTHORIZED BY THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT, EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK indicating that the Court has preliminarily approved a superseding settlement of $5.54 billion in a class action lawsuit, called In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1720 (MKB) (JO).
The lawsuit is about claims that merchants (you!) paid excessive fees to accept Visa and Mastercard cards because Visa and Mastercard, individually, and together with their respective member banks, violated the antitrust laws.
In short, if you’ve been accepting Visa and Mastercard anytime between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019, as a member of this class action suit you have an opportunity to get paid back a portion of what you have overpaid in interchange fees during the time your account has been active.
We’ve had many questions about this class action lawsuit and the pending settlement, so we are writing to share what we know.
Brief Update
In 2018, and after years of litigation and the reversal of an earlier settlement, the parties reached this superseding settlement, which the Court finally approved on December 13, 2019. Under the terms of the superseding settlement, claim forms are to be disseminated to merchant-class members as soon as the Court’s final approval becomes final, which, unless appeals are filed, would have been on January 21, 2020. Unfortunately, however, several appeals have been filed. As a result, the approval of the superseding settlement will not become final until those and any other appeals are resolved.
Who has to file a claim?
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all merchants, and all merchants are eligible to receive a portion of the settlement. Only you may file a claim. Please note that, as of this date, the timing of the claim filing process and the determination of how much will be distributed is not yet known.
Can Commonwealth Consulting Group file my claim for me?
No. As a merchant services company, CCG is not involved in the lawsuit, so only you may file a claim and only Visa/MC can reimburse you via the settlement. Even though CCG issues the merchant account you use to process transactions, we don’t set the interchange rates so we are not a part of this suit.
Meet our partner, Financial Recovery Strategies
Although CCG is not permitted to file your claim on your behalf, you may retain the services of our partner, Financial Recovery Strategies (FRS) to help manage your claim and assist in getting back the money you overpaid. FRS is a class action recovery and cost savings firm that specializes in, among other services, class action settlement claims recovery; they are not a court-appointed claims administrator or class counsel. As such, FRS is paid on an agreed-upon contingent-fee basis only upon and from the recoveries they obtain.
How do I retain FRS to help manage my claim?
If you would like to engage Financial Recovery Services, please visit their dedicated portal by CLICKING HERE FOR THE ONLINE AGREEMENT. On that web portal, you may retain FRS by first completing the required fields and submitting the form. This will generate an email with an agreement and an authorization to file your claim. Both of these documents may be signed electronically. FRS will then work with Commonwealth Consulting Group to submit the required documents and information to obtain your recovery.
Note: After you click “Submit” on your online form, you will receive an email from Harris Love, EVP at FRS within moments. If you do not receive the email, please check your SPAM or Junk Mail folder and it should be there to finalize the process.
Do I have to use FRS to file my claim?
No. Class members have the right to file on their own. You should have received an official claim notice in the mail with details about how to register for your settlement. If you didn’t receive your notice, or if you moved your business to a new location, you may request a new notice by submitting a form HERE.
Questions?
This should pretty much sum it up for you, but if you’d like to go straight to the source for additional information, please use the links below.
Helpful Links:
Settlement Website
Official FAQ
Official Notice
Note: No claim forms are available at this time, and no claim filing deadline has been set. Class members have the right to file on their own. No-cost assistance will be available from the Class Administrator and Class Counsel during the claims-filing period. As set forth in FRS’s Class Action Summary, FRS believes that it provides services that could increase a class member’s potential recovery and that are unlikely to be provided by the Class Administrator or Class Counsel. For additional information, class members can visit the court-approved website at
www.PaymentCardSettlement.com, or contact Class Counsel or the Class Administrator.
Is Owning an ATM a Good Investment?
Automated teller machines (ATMs) were introduced 50 years ago. Although some might argue that cash use is diminishing, ATMs seem to be evolving and trending. We believe they will continue to play an important role and fill a need into the foreseeable future.
Savvy business owners should always be looking for ways to increase their revenue. Some merchants look to ATMs to increase passive income.
Brick and mortar businesses such as restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores, hair and nail salons (and more) may benefit from having an ATM. It can attract more customers and improve profitability. If a customer needs cash to purchase a lottery ticket or wants to leave a cash tip, having an on site ATM is a way to guarantee that these opportunities are not lost.
ATMs have evolved to perform a variety of functions that will only continue to expand.The United States has the highest number of ATMs per capita in the world, and the demand for ATMs is not decreasing.
Do you have customers asking the location of the nearest ATM? Have you had to turn away a customer because they wanted access to cash, but you couldn’t provide it? Maybe you have an ATM in your location, but it is not properly maintained, and is often out of cash or out of service. We can help. If you’re still reading, then the odds are high that your business will benefit from having an on site ATM. It’s not complicated. ATMs exist because there is a demand for convenient access to a customer’s cash, and the technology to make that need a reality.
Commonwealth Consulting Group is a full service provider of ATM products and services. Contact us and we will help connect you with the right solution to best fit your location, situation and needs.