Fraud checks, errors slow small-business relief loans
Source: Tiger shatters ankle, breaks both legs
The problems plaguing those seeking loans from the government’s revived small-business relief program have ranged from simple to shocking.
Some applications were stalled for weeks by typos. Overzealous fraud filters trapped others. A change of taxpayer identification rules snarled many freelancers and sole proprietors. And then there were the thousands of people turned down because they erroneously registered as having a recent criminal conviction.
Six weeks into the second run of the Paycheck Protection Program, $134 billion in emergency aid has been distributed by banks, which make the government-backed loans, to 1.8 million small businesses. But a thicket of errors and technology glitches has slowed the relief effort and vexed borrowers and lenders alike.
Some are run-of-the-mill challenges magnified by the immense demand for loans, which has overwhelmed customer service representatives. But many stem from new data checks added by the Small Business Administration to combat fraud and eliminate unqualified applicants.
When the Paycheck Protection Program began last year, the Trump administration — eager to get money out the door as quickly as possible — eliminated most of the safeguards that normally accompany business loans. With applications approved almost instantly, thieves and ineligible borrowers siphoned billions of dollars from the $523 billion the program distributed last year.
In December, Congress approved $284 billion for
a new round of lending, including second loans to the hardest-hit businesses. This time, the Small Business Administration was determined to crack down. Instead of approving applications from banks immediately, it held them for a day or two to verify some of the information.
Nearly 5% of the 5.2 million loans made last year had “anomalies,” the agency revealed last month, ranging from minor mistakes like typos to major ones like ineligibility. Even tiny mistakes can spiral into bureaucratic disasters.
In June, Shelly Ross got a $67,500 loan through the program from PayPal for Tales of the Kitty, her San Francisco cat-sitting business. She applied last month for a second loan, but her application sat, stuck in an error queue, for more than a week. Her attempts to reach someone on PayPal’s jammed customer service phone line went nowhere.
Impatient, Ross put in applications at three other lenders, but each was rejected or left in limbo. Finally, PayPal got back to her with an explanation:
Her loan in June was issued under an incorrect employer identification number. The company fixed the mistake, and Ross assumed her loan was imminent — until a new problem arose.
Before taking the PayPal loan in June, Ross had accepted, and then returned, a loan made in April by a different lender. That loan still shows up as active in the Small Business Administration’s system, making it look as if she double-dipped last year, which is forbidden.
Ross has sent multiple emails to the Small Business Administration’s customer service address describing her quandary. After two weeks, she received a generic response instructing her to direct questions to her lender.
Matthew Coleman, an agency spokesperson, declined to comment on individual cases like Ross’. The Small Business Administration “continues to follow through with its commitment to improve resolutions of data mismatches and eligibility concerns,” he said.
Equal justice under the law and a presumption of innocence are basic tenants of our American legal justice system. Unfortunately, in the city of Virginia Beach, the scales of justice are unfairly tipped by giving millions to help supplement the salaries of commonwealth attorneys while providing no additional funding to the Public Defender’s Office.
Now is the time to put the scales of justice back in balance and equally fund both offices.
It’s been 58 years since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a landmark decision that a fundamental right to an attorney is essential to a fair trial. As a result, in Virginia if you are charged with a crime that could result in jail or prison time and suffer from conditions that result in an inability to pay, a public defender is appointed to your case.
In practice this means all minors, people facing charges with long jail times awaiting trial (preventing them from earning an income), people suffering from addiction and mental health problems, as well as those who are simply poor, qualify for services of the public defender’s office. In fact, the majority of people who come to court with an attorney in a criminal case.
I am privileged to work in a public defender’s office that boasts some of the most experienced and talented criminal defense attorneys around, but it suffers from a high turnover primarily because of salary. Even the most committed attorneys in my office find raising their families, paying student loan debt, and even being able to pay for an unexpected expense a struggle. If you go to the prosecutor’s office you will earn at least $20,000$50,000 more, have more support staff and fewer cases. Many excellent attorneys leave for this very reason.
Where did this disparity come from? Both the prosecutor’s office and public defender’s office are funded at the same rate by the state but for years the city has given additional funding to the commonwealth attorney’s office while providing no funding to the public defender’s office. Over time this has led to a large disparity between the salaries of the opposing attorneys. Ideally, the state would well
compensate both prosecutors and defenders but they do not. Colin Stolle, commonwealth’s attorney for Virginia Beach, agrees the pay disparity can lead to inequities in our court system and supports the push to provide pay parity.
I know that times are tough. We are in the midst of an economic downturn due to a global pandemic. My clients worry about staying healthy, putting food on the table and, of course, staying out of jail. They should not have to worry about not having an experienced attorney standing next to them when they need help the most.
A modest salary supplement of 35% (less than 10% of the prosecutor’s budget for attorneys) would allow the public defender’s office to minimize turnover, retain more experienced attorneys and maximize the ability of existing defense counsel available to indigent persons.
A stronger public defender’s office helps work toward a safer, fairer city by providing constitutionally required zealous representation, finding evidence for innocence, mitigation and constitutional defenses, as well as assisting clients with treatment and support.
This year as communities deal with a vast array of inequities in criminal justice, it is a time for an equitable criminal justice system. An equitable criminal justice system begins with equal pay for prosecutors and public defenders.
Amber Torgerson
LOS ANGELES — Golf star Tiger Woods was “lucky to be alive” Tuesday after being seriously injured in a rollover crash near Rancho Palos Verdes, the Los Angeles County sheriff said.
Woods was the sole occupant of a 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV that was traveling north on Hawthorne Boulevard at Blackhorse Road when he crashed just after 7 a.m. local time, authorities said. The vehicle sustained major damage, and Woods had to be extricated from the wreckage by personnel from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, sheriff ’s officials said.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Woods was traveling at a “relatively greater speed than normal” descending down a hill, noting that the area “has a high frequency of accidents.” The sheriff said that there were no skid marks and no signs of braking and that the golfer’s vehicle hit the center divider, a curb and a tree in the rollover crash.
Villanueva said Tuesday there was no evidence Woods was impaired at the scene.
Woods was taken to HarborUCLA Medical Center by ambulance, where he was in serious condition and being treated for his injuries, the Fire Department said. His injuries included a shattered ankle and two leg fractures, one of which was compound, according to a source familiar with his treatment.
At a news briefing Tuesday afternoon, Fire Department spokesman Daryl Osby said that Woods was conscious and stable at the scene of the crash, but that the rollover meant it was considered a trauma-level injury so he was taken to the
nearest trauma center.
Woods’ manager, Mark Steinberg, said the golfer “suffered multiple leg injuries. He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support.”
L.A. County sheriff’s Deputy Carlos Gonzalez arrived at the scene first, he said.
“Mr. Woods was not able to stand under his own power,” Gonzalez said, noting that Woods was put on a backboard.
“I spoke to him. I asked him what his name was. He told me his name was Tiger, and at that moment, I immediately recognized him,” Gonzalez said.
Aerial images of the scene showed Woods’ vehicle lying about 30 yards off the road on its side.
There did not appear to be skid marks on the northbound side of Hawthorne Boulevard, but the wooden “Welcome to Rolling Hills Estates” sign that had been in the median strip was obliterated. There was a license plate and fluid on the southbound side of the road, and Woods’ SUV narrowly missed a telephone pole as it careened up the hillside.
The PGA star was in Los Angeles as the host of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, a golf tournament that concluded Sunday. He did not play in the event, as he was recovering from his fifth back surgery, but told CBS announcer Jim Nantz in an interview during the final round that he hoped to play in the Masters in April.
“God, I hope so. I’ve got to get there first,” Woods said in the interview. “A lot of it is based on my surgeons and doctors and therapist and making sure I do it correctly. This is the only back I’ve got; I don’t have much more wiggle room left.”
Woods stayed in Los Angeles County after the Genesis Invitational to participate in a two-day content shoot with Golf Digest/GolfTV. Although he did not hit balls or play any holes Monday, a smiling Woods was with retired NBA star Dwyane Wade and comedian David Spade — both of whom documented it on social media — at Rolling Hills Country Club. Part of the shoot involved Woods giving lessons on the course to celebrities.
A source familiar with the investigation said Woods was staying at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes and had left there early Tuesday to head to the Rolling Hills Country Club, about 20 minutes away, for filming. Golf Digest confirmed that Woods was on his way back to the country club for an additional photo and video shoot when the crash occurred.
The crash occurred on a curvy, steep stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard, a major road that cuts through the Palos Verdes Peninsula where signs warn trucks to use lower gears when traveling downhill. The road was closed Tuesday morning as deputies investigated.
Sheriff’s deputies photographed the scene and took measurements before the wreckage was removed. The front end of the SUV was heavily damaged and the windscreen frame had been removed where Woods was extracted from the vehicle.
Investigators were trying to determine whether any other vehicles were on the road at the time and might have played a role in the crash. Data can also be extracted from the vehicle’s computer system, officials said.
Asked about the numerous deputies on scene examining the wreckage and documenting the crash site, Villaneuva said, “Any time there are injuries, an extensive investigation is required.” The sheriff said it could take “days to several weeks” to complete the investigation.
Bob Fong, 67, who lives on Blackhorse Road, just north of the crash site, noticed the numerous police cars at Hawthorne Boulevard on Tuesday morning and thought, “It must have been some big celebrity that crashed.”
Fong knows how tricky the curves on the steep Hawthorne Boulevard can be — so much so that near the crash site there is a runoff lane for use in emergencies.
Laureen Swing, a 15-year resident of Rancho Palos Verdes, was walking her dog a block from the intersection of the crash site Tuesday afternoon. She said it’s a heavily trafficked area.
“There’s accidents all the time . ... I think it’s almost a dangerous stretch of road, and I always stay on the right side because I’m just afraid of people wanting to go fast,” Swing said. “They don’t use turn signals sometimes when they switch lanes. I’ve almost found myself getting into an accident, trying to avoid another car cutting me off on that road. It’s pretty dangerous.”
She didn’t see Woods’ crash, but she said a van crossed the median on the same road a few years ago and nearly hit her.
One 54-year resident of Rancho Palos Verdes who requested anonymity and claimed to live across the street from Hawthorne and Blackhorse, called the intersection a “speed trap.”
“You don’t know how fast you can descend,” the resident said.
Donnie Nelson, a resident of Rolling Hills, said that stretch of Hawthorne is the site of dangerous accidents usually once or twice a year.