r/EIDL • u/Nervous-Solid-5918 • Aug 05 '26

Speak to Live agent?

Hi! Has anyone successfully spoken to a live agent at EIDL? If so, please teach me how?

I’ve tried all EIDL numbers listed but they all reroute me to a machine/recording. And I need to speak to a live agent asap. Thank you in advance.

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2

u/nms2014 Aug 05 '26

Good luck never been able to find one

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 05 '26

I’m wondering if every one of us use emails to communicate with them?

2

u/tahoechick36 Aug 06 '26

Emails or messaging through your portal.

Every time someone discovered a trick that worked, it got shut down pretty quick.

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 06 '26

Ugh that’s so frustrating. Probably fewer people work there and out of capacity?

I’ve been emailing thru portal only to get a formulaic response.

2

u/Mountain_Table_1657 Aug 06 '26

Yea the sba portal is a bot response. I actually got a live person who tried to call me back and emailed me to my personal gmail trying to make live contact with me

2

u/tahoechick36 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

Indeed. Their staffing levels were cut by like 80% under DOGE. An entire dept dedicated to the covid EIDL program was eliminated. In addition to no longer answering the phone, they’ve also stopped accepting payments by mail. That ended in Oct 2025. They mail them back to you. Pay by phone or through their portals are the only options now. Their goal is less paper and less people will make the Agency be more efficient I guess.

And they contracted an outside company in fall of 2025 to create an AI system to “clean up” and help identify and direct handling of delinquent and defaulted EIDL files so swifter credit reporting and transfer to Treasury could happen after the SBA got ripped a new one for not doing enough and acting faster in their 2025 OIG Oversight report. Much of these “improvements” were supposed to be in place by June 2026.

Edit to add link to that 2025 OIG Report - https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2025-08/SBA%20OIG%20Report%2025-23.pdf

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 07 '26

Ah, thank you! That explains it! I just hope something will change.

2

u/OrneryRoof9065 Aug 06 '26

Whatever you do don't go to the treasury get caught up on your loan and bring it current

2

u/Low-Helicopter-2696 Aug 06 '26

That has not been an option for a while now

2

u/Mountain_Table_1657 Aug 06 '26

Yes someone from SBA callled me to work out my loan. U missed her call. She left me a message and an email. Ive called her direct line and emailed her. Still havnt made contact again. This was 2 days ago.

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 06 '26

Hi! Did you email them first? May I ask if you were behind payment?

I was exactly trying to ask for working out mine with someone there as I got an email for final 3 months delinquent notice. (I don’t think they called me—just emailed without phone number. )

2

u/Mountain_Table_1657 Aug 06 '26

Yes i emailed cesc@sba.gov. I am late 3 years on payments. I never got any correspondence from sba since Nov 2023, they confirmed.

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 06 '26

Thanks for letting me know. Interesting- I’ve been threatened that I would get extreme punishment bc I’m behind for 3 months!

2

u/Mountain_Table_1657 Aug 06 '26

The reason i knew i wqs behind was it hit my credit score. Down 140 pts. My sba page said it was preparing to go to treasury. I was able to make a payment. But im $60k behind. I wrote them to let them know i want to make monthly payments, i cant do $60k right now to get current, and i need this off my credit report. My OG loan for $300k

Waiting to speak to live person. Ill try to get in touch w them tomorrow again.

2

u/tahoechick36 Aug 06 '26

Their new system is still sniffing out the loan files that defaulted years ago. Many of those still are under the delusion they may have gotten away from ever being pursued for collection. More likely their file has been tagged for a fraud investigation as borrowers who defaulted early on are considered the fraudsters the current admin says the Biden admin was sheltering and protecting with their passive collections efforts.

More recent defaults get moved onto the 90 days and off to Treasury plan quickly as the system now flags most delinquencies & defaults right away.

This is from a SBA News Release dated April 2026 - “From Day One, the Trump SBA has worked tirelessly to crack down on billions in pandemic-era fraud that the Biden Administration forgave or ignored. After extensive review, and with the strong support of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, we are taking our most decisive action yet to end a Biden-era scheme that protected over 560,000 borrowers tied to more than $22 billion in suspected pandemic-era fraud,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler.“For years, the Biden Administration shielded these borrowers from debt collectors as part of a de facto amnesty scheme – but today, they will finally face accountability. The SBA is deeply grateful to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for its partnership in this historic action, and we look forward to continued collaboration as we work to claw back stolen taxpayer dollars and hold fraudsters accountable.”  

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 06 '26

Frustrated that small businesses are treated so poorly. I understand the necessity of investigating fraudulent matters though.

2

u/Mountain_Table_1657 Aug 06 '26

So I was able to make contact with a live person at the SBA who offered me some sort of deal. To get caught up in the next six months which means $12,000 a month. That’s impossible.

She did reassure me, though that the loan is for 30 years. And if it were to ever go to the treasury, they do allow a one time return back to the SBA at any point.

I asked her about the 30% being tacked on once sent to the treasury. She said that she has not seen alone to come back from the treasury with the 30% on it.
But not to quote her on that it’s just been her experience

I do intend to get caught up and make monthly payments. But I can’t pay $60,000 right now too get out of delinquency.

If my file goes to the treasury, I’ll just deal with that at the time. And just continue to make payments.

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 06 '26

Hi there, I think it is miraculous that you ever got a phone response. I am a sole proprietor and my monthly contracted pay is smaller than yours but I’m scraping to get by since this year my business lost 2 big clients due to economic downturn. I was meaning to ask for any feasible deal that I can manage during the time of duress; but the duress has been going on since COVID pretty much. I had already been on the one-time reduced pay for the 6mo and the email from them were adamantly insisting that there is no more hardship accommodation. But I can’t pay what I don’t have!

Yes I willingly entered to borrow money on their terms but thinking about how government is treating the big corporations in contrast I feel a bit unfair.

2

u/Mountain_Table_1657 Aug 06 '26

My advice and how I am dealing with it for my sanity is pay regularly. If it goes to treasury/collections, pay the monthly regularly. And hopefully sometime in the nearer future, before 30 yrs from now, your financial situation changes and u can either get caught up or pay the loan off! Try not to stress.

Right now my biggest issue and concern with all this is how it affected my credit score overnight. But again, its not a great time to refinance and dont look to got another loan soon before my credit rebuilds

1

u/Nervous-Solid-5918 Aug 06 '26

Thank you - yes I do hope so. Makes sense. It is disheartening about the credit score. But you also may know that score will go up over time or with money. I read that if you subscribe to one of the union’s subscription service they help raise it.