Consumer complaint received 2021-06-22
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: NC
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Personal line of credit
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan

Complaint:
I applied for the XXXX XXXX PPP loan through Bank of America. I used their online portal, XXXX. There were 2 avenues to apply - W2 employees, and 1099 XXXX XXXX businesses.

Bank of America sent me emails that more documentation was needed several times, including all of the 1099 's for all of my XXXX XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, apparently the SBA changed its guidelines so that XXXX XXXX small businesses did not qualify.

Bank of America did not notify me of this change. They did not change my application process to disclude these documents. 
Bank of America did not kick out my loan entirely. They did not email me to tell me my people no longer qualified. They did not take down the XXXX portal for businesses with XXXX XXXX. Thry did not notify me in any way that those changes were made. Instead, they continued to ask for my documentation including my tax documents for my 1099 XXXX XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, they accepted all of my documentation as complete, including all of the 1099s for all of the people in my business, and concluded that my business was eligible for a considerable loan amount. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, Bank of America approved a loan amount for my business based on the documents they asked for and I provided. 
The paperwork states " Loans will be forgiven up to the loan amount for a borrower 's payroll, rent, mortgage, and utility costs incurred and paid during an eight-week period after the loan is originated. '' This time period was subsequently extended and the payout amount was subsequently decreased. 
My business does not use a payroll service, but Bank of America asked for and accepted my XXXX 1099 's for my approved loan amount. 
In accordance with the forgiveness process, I paid out the money to my XXXX XXXX, rent, utilities, insurances and other covered expenses. The first day I got my loan I paid out nearly half of it as income subsidy for my XXXX XXXX, and continued to pay each of them weekly until we reopened our business after two and a half months. 
Bank of America concluded on XX/XX/XXXX that they should not have considered the 1099 's in my loan amount, and want to " requalify '' my loan for one twentieth ( 1/20th ) of what they found my business to be eligible for based on the documents they asked for and approved. 
I do not have the money because their guidelines told me to pay it out, so I did. 
What this does is essentially force me personally to give away tens of thousands of dollars of personal money I didn't have while my small business was closed and making no money, and I was unable to pay my own bills and living on credit. 
This goes against the premise of the CARES act, and I believe that Bank of America was either fraudulent or incompetent in their communications and application process in the fact that they should have known by XX/XX/XXXX that XXXX XXXX 1099 's were not eligible but they approved mine anyway based on those tax documents.

I called Bank of America and they said that the XXXX XXXX " could have '' qualified on their own as a business. However, they do not hold a business license, they are not an LLC or other Corp, and they do not file business taxes. My business does all of that, and they work for me. Additionally, if they qualified as other businesses, why would their income be considered and approved for my loan? In this case, I should have been able to claim any and all large very wealthy businesses and their income that I wanted to, so that their income could be considered for my loan amount, and I could have asked for millions of dollars instead. Of course this would never be considered, but this is essentially what they are saying they did - considered other businesses incomes for my loan amount. 
I submitted everything that was asked of me in the XXXX portal. I submitted everything correctly. I submitted the documents that I was asked for. I was asked to find a loan amount equivalent to 2.5 months of payroll, which I did, and which was agreed upon and approved, based on those said 1099s. I was told to pay it all out in order to qualify for forgiveness, which I did. I did everything correctly and I believe Bank of America 's handling of this loan has been either fraudulent or incompetent and should be reconsidered for 100 % forgiveness as stated would be granted as long as I paid it out in accordance with the CARES Act guidelines, which I did.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation