Some hardworking Texans asked for thousands of bucks in govt aid but have been shocked to only get a couple of bucks from Uncle Sam.

HOUSTON — On Wednesday, the U.S. Small Organization Administration started accepting applications for payment defense software loans to people who previously received PPP financial loans.

But some hardworking Texans are nevertheless bitter following their encounter with the course of action very last yr. They requested countless numbers of dollars in federal government help but were shocked to only get a number of bucks from Uncle Sam.

Traleon Lenton’s 1-male trucking business strike the brakes when the pandemic hit last spring, so the sole proprietor used for a PPP bank loan. But when the cash arrived in, Lenton did a double-choose.

“It was $48,” he mentioned. “I experienced to assume about it, I was, like, ‘Is this true?’”

It was for actual, and Lenton was not alone.

KHOU 11 Investigates discovered dozens of Texans who got PPP loans of $100 or much less. Some as lower as $1.

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“It’s not that it is ridiculous, it’s which is only the way the software was built,” said Tim Jeffcoat, director of the U.S. Small Business Administration in Houston. “So for a sole proprietor or unbiased contractor, what constitutes their payroll is their internet financial gain as noted on their tax return. That can be very low for a whole lot of unbiased contractors and sole proprietors, so therefore, the PPP loan can stop up being really modest.”

But that doesn’t seem good to folks like Robert Richardson, who runs a vending device restore company. A occupation damage in 2019 crippled his net income, ensuing in a PPP personal loan that took a nosedive, too. It was just $100.

“It’s not genuinely worthy of the time and energy for $100,” he quipped.

Soon after Richardson bought healthful and returned to work, the pandemic hit, and business enterprise slowed to a crawl. With so a lot of people today performing from property, the need for vending equipment upkeep all but disappeared. Richardson estimates he misplaced 85% of gross profits in 2020.

“I’m not hurting, I’m determined,” he stated.

The 57-12 months-old said he did obtain other government cash, such as a $32,000 Financial Damage Disaster Personal loan that permitted him to pay his mortgage and other bills. But not like the Payment Security Software funds, that loan is not forgivable and should be paid out again about 25 decades.

“I’ll be lifeless before it’s paid out off,” he explained.