A few days shy of a court-ordered Nov. 19 deadline for the Small Business Administration to release the names, addresses and precise loan amounts for all Paycheck Protection Program loan recipients and all COVID-19-related Economic Injury Disaster Loan recipients, the federal judge who issued the order temporarily stayed it.
The temporary stay was issued until SBA’s request for a full stay of the order is resolved. The plaintiffs in the case—two news organizations seeking the data under the Freedom of Information Act—have until Nov. 27 to respond to SBA’s latest request. SBA said it is considering an appeal of the order.
Earlier this year, SBA released less specific information about PPP loans to protect the personal financial information of borrowers and their employees. For loans totaling $150,000 and higher, SBA released the names and addresses of borrowers but provided a range for loan totals; for smaller loans, it released the exact amount and name of the lender but not the identity of the borrower.
