What can you do if you cannot make your EIDL payments?
Short answer
Contact SBA before the debt reaches 90 days past due. For COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loans, SBA's page points borrowers to CESC@sba.gov. A satisfactory written repayment agreement that you keep current stops the debt from counting as delinquent for 7(a) and 504 eligibility.
Start by contacting SBA, and do it before the account goes 90 days past due. That date matters for future SBA borrowing.
Who to contact
SBA's disaster page (read November 8, 2026) gives these channels:
- COVID EIDL loans: CESC@sba.gov.
- Other disaster loan questions: DCS@sba.gov or 800-659-2955.
- Loan management: the SBA Loan Portal.
Why 90 days matters
SOP 50 10 8.1 treats a federal debt as delinquent when it has not been paid within 90 days of the due date (Sec. A, Ch. 1, Para. E, Delinquent Federal Debt). A delinquent federal debt bars the applicant or a guarantor from 7(a) and 504 loans.
A debt is not delinquent if you have a satisfactory written repayment agreement with the agency and you are paying as agreed.
Hardship programs
SBA's lender page lists an April 9, 2024 training that covered a Hardship Accommodation Plan for COVID EIDL (sba.gov/sba-lenders, read November 8, 2026). The primary sources we reviewed do not state that plan's current terms or whether it is still open. Ask SBA directly.
What can follow a default
If SBA later records a loss on the loan, that can become a prior loss under the SOP. A prior loss bars 7(a) and 504 loans until fully satisfied. Lenders check the federal Credit Alert Verification Reporting System (CAIVRS) database for both problems.
What is not covered here
The primary sources we reviewed do not describe SBA's collection steps on an EIDL.
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