What GAO Found The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Disaster Loan Program provides low-interest loans to businesses, nonprofits, homeowners, and renters to help repair, rebuild, and recover from physical and economic losses after a declared disaster. In 2023 and 2024, SBA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) separately adopted rules affecting the program. SBA’s rule expanded options for loan recipients and adjusted program limits to reflect inflation. For example, it increased the maximum loan amount for repairing or replacing a primary residence from $200,000 to $500,000 and extended the loan deferment period from 5 to 12 months. FEMA’s rule removed the requirement that certain disaster survivors apply for an SBA loan—and either be denied or receive only partial funding—before qualifying for some types of FEMA assistance. According to SBA’s guidance, its field operations centers are responsible for outreach materials for declared disasters that affect localized areas. SBA relies on press releases and fact sheets to inform disaster survivors and the media about the Disaster Loan Program. However, field operations centers did not consistently update SBA’s disaster-specific press releases or fact sheets to reflect key components of SBA’s 2023 and FEMA’s 2024 rules. GAO’s analysis of outreach materials for 76 presidentially…
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Disaster Loan Program: SBA Should Ensure Consistent Outreach to Survivors
Source: US GAO Reports — US Government, Public Domain