	Introduction

This report responds to frequently asked questions about the Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Program. Authorized by the Small Business Act, the SBA Disaster Loan Program has been a source of economic assistance to businesses, nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters as they repair or replace property damaged or destroyed in a federally declared disaster. The SBA Disaster Loan Program is also designed to help small agricultural cooperatives recover from economic injury resulting from a disaster. SBA disaster loans include (1) Home and Personal Property Disaster Loans, (2) Business Physical Disaster Loans, and (3) Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). As demonstrated in Figure 1 and Figure 2 , most direct disaster loans (approximately 83%) are awarded to individuals and households rather than small businesses. The program generally offers low-interest disaster loans at a fixed rate that have loan maturities of up to 30 years. SBA Disaster Loan Program: General Information and Questions

		How Is the Program Put into Effect? What Are SBA Loan Processing Times for Disaster Loans? How Much Does Congress Annually Appropriate to the SBA Disaster Loan Program? Business Disaster Loans

		What Type of Loans are Available to Businesses? What Are the Interest Rates and Terms for EIDLs?
This report responds to frequently asked questions about the Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Program. The SBA Disaster Loan Program provides direct loans to help businesses, nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters repair or replace property damaged or destroyed in a federally declared disaster. The program is also designed to help small agricultural cooperatives recover from economic injury resulting from a disaster. SBA disaster loans include (1) Home and Personal Property Disaster Loans, (2) Business Physical Disaster Loans, and (3) Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). Most direct disaster loans (approximately 80%) are awarded to individuals and households rather than small businesses. The program generally offers low-interest disaster loans at a fixed rate with loan maturities of up to 30 years.
Key issues of interest to Congress include:
how the program is put into effect, how much Congress appropriates to the program, what types of loans are available to businesses and homeowners, the use of SBA disaster loans in conjunction with insurance, loan interest rates and terms for SBA disaster loans, eligible activities, loan processing times, and collateral requirements.
For additional information on Small Business Administration Disaster Loan Program, see CRS Report R41309, The SBA Disaster Loan Program: Overview and Possible Issues for Congress, by [author name scrubbed].