Illinois Businesses and Residents Affected by Civil Unrest to Avail Disaster Loans

Disaster Loans are available for Illinois businesses and residents affected by civil unrest. Illinois businesses and residents in Cook County and the adjacent counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will in Illinois and Lake in Indiana who were affected by the civil unrest on May 26 through June 8, 2020, can apply for the loans.

The businesses and residents can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA Customer Service Representatives have to be contacted by business owners, homeowners, and renters for scheduling an appointment for immediate one-on-one assistance in completing their applications. They can be contacted at (571) 422-6016 and (470) 363-6079.

A Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center will be open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Friday, July 3). These services are not for COVID-19 related assistance. They are available for the Illinois disaster declaration as a result of the civil unrest on May 26 through June 8, 2020. The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is Aug. 24, 2020. The deadline to return economic injury applications is March 23, 2021.

There are also COVID-19 relief options available as well. You need to be aware of the key differences in the resources available to you.

• Paycheck Protection Program: Loans made by private lenders that are forgivable if proceeds are spent on payroll and other designated uses within 24 weeks. The deadline for submission to SBA is Tuesday, June 30.
• Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Working capital loans made by the SBA that can be used, generally, to pay expenses that a business owner would have been able to pay, were it not for the disaster. They have to be repaid as they are not grants.
• Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance: This is a grant worth $10,000 that comes from the SBA. They don’t have to be repaid and can be accepted even if a business owner’s disaster loan application is denied. The amount of your EIDL Advance, determined by the number of employees you have, will be deducted when applying for PPP forgiveness.