La. Admin. Code tit. 19 § VII-507

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

Section VII-507 - Eligibility/Ineligibility for Participation in This Program

A. Funding requests for any business purpose may be considered, however, the following businesses and purposes shall be considered.

1. Eligible:

a. small business concerns authorized to do and doing business in Louisiana, that maintain an office in Louisiana; small business concerns organized as a sole proprietorship qualified to do and doing business in Louisiana, or either a for profit corporation, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, joint venture, cooperative, non-profit entity with an eligible business purpose as defined above, or other entity which is registered and authorized to conduct business in the State of Louisiana that maintain an office in Louisiana

b. certified small and emerging businesses (SEBs) certified by LED's small business services that maintain an office in Louisiana ;

c. disabled person's business enterprises authorized to do and doing business in Louisiana, that maintain an office in Louisiana.

2. Ineligible:

a. restaurants (except for regional or national franchises), including grills, cafes, fast food operations, motorized vehicle, trailer, curb-side, sidewalk or street vender food operations, and any other business or project established for the principal purpose of dispensing cooked food for consumption on or off the premises having been in operations less than two years;

b. bars, saloons, daiquiri shops, operations for the sale of alcoholic popsicles and other alcoholic food items, packaged liquor stores, including any other business or project established for the principal purpose of dispensing, packaging, or distributing alcoholic beverages;

c. any business or establishment which has gaming or gambling as its principal business;

d. any business or establishment which has consumer or commercial financing as its business;

e. funding for the acquisition, renovation, or alteration of a building or property for the principal purpose of real estate speculation, rental, or any other passive real estate investment purposes;

f. funding for the principal purpose of refinancing existing debt unless under the following conditions:

i. a lender may refinance a borrower's existing loan, line of credit, extension of credit, or other debt originally made by an unaffiliated lender only if the following conditions are met:

(a) . the amount of the refinanced loan or other debt is at least 150 percent of the previous outstanding balance;

(b) . the transaction results in a 30 percent reduction in the fee-adjusted APR contracted for the term of the new debt, to help ensure that funding is used only for transactions that meaningfully benefit borrowers by providing access to sustainable products; and

(c) . proceeds of the transaction are not used to finance an extraordinary dividend or other distribution.

ii. a lender may use funds to support a new extension of credit that repays the amount due on a matured loan or other debt that was previously used for an eligible business purpose when all the following conditions are met:

(a) . the amount of the new loan or other debt is at least 150 percent of the outstanding amount of the matured loan or other debt;

(b) . the new credit supported with funding is based on a new underwriting of the small business's ability to repay the loan and new approval by the lender;

(c) . the prior loan or other debt has been paid as agreed and the borrower was not in default of any financial covenants under the loan or debt for at least the previous 36 months (or since origination, if shorter); and

(d) . proceeds of the transaction are not used to finance an extraordinary dividend or other distribution.

g. funding for the purpose of buying out any stockholder or equity holder by another stockholder or equity holder in a business;

h. funding for the purpose of establishing a park, theme park, amusement park, or camping facility;

i. funding for the purpose of buying out any family member or reimbursing any family member;

j. funding for the purpose of pyramid sales;

k. funding activities related either directly or indirectly to cryptocurrency.

B. In addition to the eligibility and ineligibility provisions above, applicant/borrowers lines of credit guarantees and loan guarantees in connection with this program shall meet the following criteria.

1. The applicant/borrower(s) shall employ 500 employees or less at the time the loan is enrolled in this program;

2. This credit support shall not be extended to applicant/borrower(s) that have more than 750 employees;

3. Any loan supported in this Program shall not exceed a principal amount of $ 5,000,000;

4. Any credit extended through this Program shall not exceed a principal amount of $ 20,000,000;

5. SSBCI funds utilized in this Chapter 3 Program will be permitted only for new extensions of credit; that is, funds of the SSBCI Program shall not be used to support existing extensions of credit, including but not limited to prior loans, lines of credit or other borrowing, that were previously made available as part of a state small business credit enhancement program unless under the following conditions:

a. a lender may refinance a borrower's existing loan, line of credit, extension of credit, or other debt originally made by an unaffiliated lender only if the following conditions are met:

i. the amount of the refinanced loan or other debt is at least 150 percent of the previous outstanding balance;

ii. the transaction results in a 30 percent reduction in the fee-adjusted APR contracted for the term of the new debt, to help ensure that SSBCI funding is used only for transactions that meaningfully benefit borrowers by providing access to sustainable products; and

iii. proceeds of the transaction are not used to finance an extraordinary dividend or other distribution.

b. a lender may use SSBCI funds to support a new extension of credit that repays the amount due on a matured loan or other debt that was previously used for an eligible business purpose when all the following conditions are met:

i. the amount of the new loan or other debt is at least 150 percent of the outstanding amount of the matured loan or other debt;

ii. the new credit supported with SSBCI funding is based on a new underwriting of the small business's ability to repay the loan and new approval by the lender;

iii. the prior loan or other debt has been paid as agreed and the borrower was not in default of any financial covenants under the loan or debt for at least the previous 36 months (or since origination, if shorter); and

iv. proceeds of the transaction are not used to finance an extraordinary dividend or other distribution.

6. Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loans shall not be purchased in loan participations through this program.

La. Admin. Code tit. 19, § VII-507

Promulgated by the Department of Economic Development, Office of Business Development and the Louisiana Economic Development Corporation, LR 481476 (6/1/2022), Amended LR 481930 (7/1/2022).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 36:104, 36:108 and 51:2312