La. Admin. Code tit. 19 § VII-109

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 8, August 20, 2024

Section VII-109 - General Loan Guaranty and Loan Participation Provisions

A. The Louisiana Economic Development Corporation will be guided by the following general principles in approving loan guaranties, line of credit guaranties, or loan participations.

1. The corporation shall confirm that the financial institution lender has sufficient commercial lending experience and financial and managerial capacity to participate in this program. The corporation may utilize, among other resources, the financial institution's most recent call report showing the percentage of commercial loans in its portfolio.

2. The corporation shall not knowingly approve any loan guarantee, line of credit guarantee, or loan participation if the applicant/borrower has presently pending or outstanding any claim or liability relating to failure or inability to pay promissory notes or other evidence of indebtedness, state or federal taxes, or a bankruptcy proceeding; nor shall the corporation approve any loan, line of credit, loan guarantee or participation if the applicant/borrower has presently pending, at the federal, state, or local level, any proceeding concerning denial or revocation of a necessary license or permit or any legal proceeding involving a criminal violation other than misdemeanor traffic violations. Further, the corporation shall not approve any loan guarantee, line of credit guarantee, or participation if the applicant/ borrower or his/her/its principle management has a criminal record showing convictions for any criminal violations other than misdemeanor traffic violations.

3. The terms or conditions imposed and made part of any loan guarantee, line of credit guarantee, or loan participation authorized by vote of the corporation board, its board screening committee or its other designated committee shall not be amended or altered by any member of the Board or employee of the Department of Economic Development except by subsequent vote of approval by the board, its board screening committee or other designated committee at the next meeting of the board or committee in open session with full explanation for such action.

4. Each financial institution lender shall be required to have a meaningful amount of its own capital resources at risk in each small business loan included in this program. Such lenders shall bear at 20 percent or more of the loss from a small business loan default.

5. The corporation shall not subordinate its position to other creditors.

B. Interest Rate

1. On all loans or lines of credit guarantees, the interest rate is to be negotiated between the borrower and the lender, but shall not exceed the lesser interest rate of either; 5 percent per annum above New York prime as published in the Wall Street Journal at either a fixed or variable rate; the interest rate cap as established by either the Federal Credit Union Act (FCUA), that established by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), or applicable State legislation that may be enacted.

2. ...

C. Collateral

1. The value of the collateral shall be no less than the guaranteed portion of the loan.

2. The value of the collateral required for certified small and emerging businesses loans may be up to 80 percent.

3. The collateral position may be negotiated, but it shall be no less than a sole second position.

4. Collateral Value Determination

a. The appraiser must be certified by a recognized organization in the area of the collateral.

b. The appraisal shall not be more than 90 days old, except for real estate loans, which shall not be more than 6 months old.

5. Acceptable collateral may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

a. fixed assets-business real estate, buildings, fixtures;

b. equipment, machinery, inventory;

c. accounts receivable with supporting aging schedule; but not to exceed 80 percent of receivable value (to be used with personal guarantee only).

6. Unacceptable collateral may include, but shall not be limited to the following:

a. stock in applicant/borrower company and/or related companies;

b. personal items or borrower's primary residence;

c. intangibles; to include but not limited to, digital currency such as cryp to currency and NFTs.

7. Personal guarantees may be offered but will not count towards the value of the collateral; if to be used, a signed and dated personal financial statements of the guarantors must also be submitted to LEDC.

D. Equity Requirements

1. Equity required will be no less than 15 percent of the loan or line of credit amount for a start-up operation, or acquisition, or expansion. However, if the equity requirement as noted above is not available for a guarantee the following chart may be applied which provides for a guarantee fee attached to a lesser equity position.

Equity %	Guarantee Fee
15 %	3.00 %
14 %	3.20 %
13 %	3.40 %
12 %	3.60 %
11 %	3.80 %
10 %	4.00 %

*In no case shall the equity position be less than ten (10%) percent.

2.Equity is defined to be:

a. cash;

b. paid-in capital;

c. paid-in surplus and retained earnings; or

d. partnership capital and retained earnings.

3. No research, development expense nor intangibles of any kind will be considered equity.

E. Limit on the Amount of LEDC's Guarantee:

1. For small business loans, the corporation's loan guarantee shall be: no greater than 80 percent of a loan not to exceed a guaranty amount of $1,500,000.

2. For certified small and emerging business loans, or disabled person's business enterprise loans, the corporatin's loan guarantee shall be: no greater than 90 percent of a loan not to exceed a guaranty amount of $1,500,000.

3. For small businesses, the corporation's loan participation shall be no greater than 40 percent, but in no case shall it exceed $1,500,000.

4. For certified small and emerging businesses, or disabled person's business enterprises, the corporation's loan participation shall be no greater than 50 percent, but in no case shall it exceed $1,000,000.

F. Terms

1. Maturity, collateral, and other loan terms shall be negotiated between the borrower and the applicant/lending institution, and the LEDC shall have an opportunity to approve the terms of such loans prior to the closing; but guaranty term periods with regard to various types of loan guaranties shall be limited as follows:

a. for revolving lines of credit (RLOC) guarantee term periods may extend for up to and not exceed seven years.

b. for equipment term loans guarantee term periods may extend for up to and not exceed 10 years.

c. for real estate term loans guarantee term periods may extend for up to and shall not exceed 25 years.

G. LEDC SBLGP Program Fees

1. LEDC will charge a guaranty program fee not to exceed a maximum amount of 4 percent on the guaranteed loan amount, unless the board, the board screening committee or other designated committee waives the guaranty fee.

2. LEDC will charge a $100 application fee, unless the board, the board screening committee or other designated committee waives the application fee.

3. LEDC will share in a pro-rata position in any fees assessed by the lender on a loan participation.

4. LEDC will waive the application fee and program fee for businesses certified by LED as an SEB.

H. Use of Loan Funds

1. Loan funds may be used for business purposes, including but not limited to the purchase of fixed assets, including buildings that will be occupied by the applicant/borrower to the extent of at least 51 percent.

2. Loan funds may be used for the purchase of equipment, machinery, or inventory.

3. Loan funds may be used for a line of credit for accounts receivable or inventory.

4. Debt restructure may be considered by LEDC, but will not be considered when the debt:

a. exceeds 25 percent of the total loan, with the following exception:

i. a maximum of 35 percent may be considered on a guaranteed loan, but the guaranteed percentage will be decreased by 5 percent;

b. pays off a creditor or creditors who are inadequately secured;

c. provides funds to pay off a debt to principals of the borrower business; and/or

d. provides funds to pay off family members.

5. Loan funds may not be used to buy out stockholders or equity holders of any kind, by any other stockholder or equity holder.

6. Loan funds may not be used to purchase any speculative investment or real estate development.

La. Admin. Code tit. 19, § VII-109

Promulgated by the Department of Economic Development, Economic Development Corporation, LR 15:448 (June 1989), amended LR 23:41 (January 1997), LR 26:2256 (October 2000), amended by the Department of Economic Development, Office of the Secretary, Office of Business Development and the Louisiana Economic Development Corporation, LR 38:995 (April 2012), LR 40:274 (February 2014), Amended by the Department of Economic Development, Office of the Secretary, Office of Business Development and Louisiana Economic Development Corporation, LR 44229 (2/1/2018), Amended LR 481470 (6/1/2022), Amended LR 481918 (7/1/2022).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 51:2312.