(1) This week, Massachusetts enacted a law providing some relief to small businesses and nonprofits who rent or lease their premises.
“Small” means less than 150 full time (or equivalent) employees. Those small business and nonprofit tenants that are unable to pay rent due to the financial impact on them of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot have eviction proceedings brought against them during this moratorium period. Nor can they have late fees or penalties for nonpayment of rent assessed against them so long as they notify the landlord of missed payments w/ 30 days of their due date and document that it was caused by COVID-19. Unless otherwise agreed to by the landlord and tenant, the missed rent would be due at the end of the moratorium. The moratorium lasts until August 18, 2020 or 45 days after the current Massachusetts state of emergency ends, whichever is sooner.
(2) Today, funding for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) of the federal government was replenished, with $310 billion added. That additional amount will not be available to small businesses/nonprofits until the federal Small Business Administration (SMB) issues new guidelines about its distribution, a focus of which will be on the small lenders who have been earmarked to distribute $60 billion of the $310 billion total. Nonetheless, SBA advises that small businesses/nonprofits who did not receive PPP loans in the earlier round to start working now with their banks on applications so that the can be submitted promptly when the funding becomes available through the SBA portal.
I am available to provide legal assistance on these and other COVID-19 related programs and assistance. At this time, I am also still offering some of that assistance on a pro bono basis to those small businesses/nonprofits who cannot afford it.
“Small” means less than 150 full time (or equivalent) employees. Those small business and nonprofit tenants that are unable to pay rent due to the financial impact on them of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot have eviction proceedings brought against them during this moratorium period. Nor can they have late fees or penalties for nonpayment of rent assessed against them so long as they notify the landlord of missed payments w/ 30 days of their due date and document that it was caused by COVID-19. Unless otherwise agreed to by the landlord and tenant, the missed rent would be due at the end of the moratorium. The moratorium lasts until August 18, 2020 or 45 days after the current Massachusetts state of emergency ends, whichever is sooner.
(2) Today, funding for the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) of the federal government was replenished, with $310 billion added. That additional amount will not be available to small businesses/nonprofits until the federal Small Business Administration (SMB) issues new guidelines about its distribution, a focus of which will be on the small lenders who have been earmarked to distribute $60 billion of the $310 billion total. Nonetheless, SBA advises that small businesses/nonprofits who did not receive PPP loans in the earlier round to start working now with their banks on applications so that the can be submitted promptly when the funding becomes available through the SBA portal.
I am available to provide legal assistance on these and other COVID-19 related programs and assistance. At this time, I am also still offering some of that assistance on a pro bono basis to those small businesses/nonprofits who cannot afford it.