LOL - It's called a 1040 Long form. You fill that out, pay your taxes, and the politicians give it to their big business, big bank and big union buddies. That's your bailout.

Horatio, What a frustrating story, but unfortunately the experience of many. The kind of certification that went into your $35,000 loan would never have been done for a $5 million 7(a). You can get a $400,000 mortgage in 30 days with 1/10th the paperwork. The 'immediate relief' for 'viable but distressed' businesses never happened. But you will continue to see the SBA, Karen Mills, and the politicians patting themselves on the back for all the help they give small businesses, whille dumping hundreds of billions on their real buddies - big business, big banks, and big unions. (funny you don't seen any of them on forums like this).

I managed to get an ARC Loan.  It was the first and last my bank will ever do.  I would not have tried to get one knowing what I know now.  The paper work has been a huge joke. Months of receipts to verify that expenses are real business expenses.  (This is a C Corp).  Vendors getting calls to verify receipts. Business Landlords needing to sign agreements for the bank.  (All landlords at all my retail locations) Signing new statement of financial condition EACH MONTH of disbursement. Provide updated receipts and verification on actively used loan accounts each month during disbursement. Disbursement unable to be made when I pay down part of pre existing loan myself... Unable to depend on SBA disbursement to pay down loans in a timely manner such that late fees not created.   It was a 7 month process for an 'immediate financial hardship'  

It might not be the SBAs fault. As a former commercial lender, I would not waste my time (especially when trying to meet goals) on a small ARC loan. Keep searching - try smaller community banks, you might have more luck there or even contact the SBA to see who they recommend in your area. Big businesses received the bailouts because the make the most noise - if small businesses want government help - they have to start banning together and make noise.

The SBA is fully culpable for making claims about what they are doing to help small business and continuing to do so in the face of the facts.  The banks aren't forcing the SBA to make these claims and lie to their constituency about the lack of assistance.     The SBA and the politicians are fully culpable (much more so than the banks themselves) for a number of reasons:  1) Karen Mills touted the ARC loan as 'immediate relief' for 'distressed but viable' small businesses.  The banks didn't force her to say this or to continue to falsely tout the success of the program that only very healthy small businesses are able to take advantage of, while 'distressed but viable' businesses never got a shot at them. 2) The US government owns majority positions in many banks and minority positions in hundreds of them via the bailouts.  They are telling these banks how much money their employees are allowed to make, but won't raise a finger to require them to adminstrate the ARC loan process.  You can't have it both ways - either you tell the banks what to do because you own them, or you wash your hands of it. 3)  The paperwork requirement is not of the bank's making- the SBA is requiring almost the identical paperwork for the tiny little $35k ARC loan as for the $5million 7(a) program.  They could make this easier for the banks - they have chosen not to.  The SBA has announced they expect a 56% default and yet are requiring paperwork that makes this almost impossible for any business with the slightest bit of distress to ever see this loan. 4) The government gave hundreds of billions in a matter of days to hundreds of banks that could not qualify for the $35k ARC loan they won't give to small businesses that are more viable than they are - the government is doing nothing to fix this. 5) The SBA and the government has committed 3/10ths of one percent of the $787 hundred billion bailout to small business, which constitutes 50+% of the GDP.  They have done nothing to fix this inequity.   What part of the above is the fault of the banks?   The banks are the only ones following their charter.  They are in business to make money, which they are trying to do.  The SBA and the politicians are in business to protect our country from every threat, foreign and domestic.  The NSA rated the economy a higher threat to our national security than terrorism this year!  And yet the amount of ARC loans made isn't even half of the $255 million announced in Feb. 2009 - ten months ago.  That is a national security problem, and the fact that they government owns portions of hundreds of banks and does nothing to fix it falls directly on the SBA.     If the SBA said - 'we're not going to do anything to help small businesses get through this recession - you're on your own' - that would be fine - no different than any other recession.  It is the ongoing consistent claims by Karen Mills and the politicians that they ARE doing something to help small business that is wrong.  We have become the aborigine's in the missionary's photo op - they are using us to raise money for themselves that we will never see (the government gave the SBA over $300 million directly that small businesses will never see).   Please tell me what parts of this are not the responsibility of the government and the SBA that is supposed to be the arm of the government that serves small business?

The SBA is fully culpable for making claims about what they are doing to help small business and continuing to do so in the face of the facts.  The banks aren't forcing the SBA to make these claims and lie to their constituency about the lack of assistance.     The SBA and the politicians are fully culpable (much more so than the banks themselves) for a number of reasons:  1) Karen Mills touted the ARC loan as 'immediate relief' for 'distressed but viable' small businesses.  The banks didn't force her to say this or to continue to falsely tout the success of the program that only very healthy small businesses are able to take advantage of, while 'distressed but viable' businesses never got a shot at them. 2) The US government owns majority positions in many banks and minority positions in hundreds of them via the bailouts.  They are telling these banks how much money their employees are allowed to make, but won't raise a finger to require them to adminstrate the ARC loan process.  You can't have it both ways - either you tell the banks what to do because you own them, or you wash your hands of it. 3)  The paperwork requirement is not of the bank's making- the SBA is requiring almost the identical paperwork for the tiny little $35k ARC loan as for the $5million 7(a) program.  They could make this easier for the banks - they have chosen not to.  The SBA has announced they expect a 56% default and yet are requiring paperwork that makes this almost impossible for any business with the slightest bit of distress to ever see this loan. 4) The government gave hundreds of billions in a matter of days to hundreds of banks that could not qualify for the $35k ARC loan they won't give to small businesses that are more viable than they are - the government is doing nothing to fix this. 5) The SBA and the government has committed 3/10ths of one percent of the $787 hundred billion bailout to small business, which constitutes 50+% of the GDP.  They have done nothing to fix this inequity.   What part of the above is the fault of the banks?   The banks are the only ones following their charter.  They are in business to make money, which they are trying to do.  The SBA and the politicians are in business to protect our country from every threat, foreign and domestic.  The NSA rated the economy a higher threat to our national security than terrorism this year!  And yet the amount of ARC loans made isn't even half of the $255 million announced in Feb. 2009 - ten months ago.  That is a national security problem, and the fact that they government owns portions of hundreds of banks and does nothing to fix it falls directly on the SBA.     If the SBA said - 'we're not going to do anything to help small businesses get through this recession - you're on your own' - that would be fine - no different than any other recession.  It is the ongoing consistent claims by Karen Mills and the politicians that they ARE doing something to help small business that is wrong.  We have become the aborigine's in the missionary's photo op - they are using us to raise money for themselves that we will never see (the government gave the SBA over $300 million directly that small businesses will never see).   Please tell me what parts of this are not the responsibility of the government and the SBA that is supposed to be the arm of the government that serves small business?

Thank you for your input....it has been the clearest bit of information I have read lately...

Thank you for your input....it has been the clearest bit of information I have read lately...

It might not be the SBAs fault. As a former commercial lender, I would not waste my time (especially when trying to meet goals) on a small ARC loan. Keep searching - try smaller community banks, you might have more luck there or even contact the SBA to see who they recommend in your area. Big businesses received the bailouts because the make the most noise - if small businesses want government help - they have to start banning together and make noise.