CUNA supports efforts from Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Judy Chu, D-Pa., House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., and 37 other members of Congress to stop penalizing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lenders. More than 300,000 PPP borrowers are facing loan forgiveness issues due to good faith miscalculations, many through no fault of their own.

The legislators ask if the Small Business Administration has the legal authority to make certain PPP loans received with “excess loan amount errors” eligible for loan forgiveness, and if not, whether a statutory change to the Small Business Act is required.

“Credit unions of all sizes were proud to offer more than 170,000 PPP loans to help keep businesses afloat during an unprecedented pandemic,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “Credit unions rose to meet the challenge, despite confusing and ever-changing rules and guidance, because their communities needed them to. The ‘Good Faith Error’ rule would help forgive these loans for businesses that were doing their best to stay open during unpredictable times and it has our full support.”

The letter cites “constant and rapidly changing nature of PPP rules combined with numerous other factors” as creating circumstances “making it inevitable that the smallest businesses, which are the least likely to have access to attorneys or accountants, would make good faith loan amount miscalculations.”