Northfield Bank - COVID-19 Lending Programs

CARES Act (Paycheck Protection Program)

NORTHFIELD BANK IS NOW ACCEPTING NEW PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM (PPP) APPLICATIONS FROM CURRENT CUSTOMERS, WHOSE BUSINESS DEPOSIT OR LOAN RELATIONSHIP EXISTED ON OR BEFORE FEBRUARY 15, 2020.

We are now accepting PPP applications from current business customers whose business deposit or loan relationship existed on or before February 15, 2020. We anticipate that we will only be able to accept a limited number of PPP applications to allow us to timely process applications received.

Applications will only be provided to eligible customers who submit the Paycheck Protection Program Request below. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to honor your Request for a PPP application. In addition, we can provide no assurances that if we accept your PPP application that we will be able to process it, or obtain SBA approval.

Upon receipt of the Request and verification of your customer status, we will email a link to our PPP online application. We will only be able to provide an email link to a limited number of eligible customers, in the order that we received the Request. This will help to ensure that we can timely process PPP applications received.

PPP applications will only be accepted online through the link provided to eligible customers and will not be accepted at any Northfield Bank location.

Your current Northfield Bank business account (loan or deposit) must reflect the same information as the PPP application you are requesting. The proceeds from any approved PPP application will be deposited into your current Northfield Bank business deposit account reflecting the same title as the approved loan.

Our online PPP application will require you to calculate your average monthly payroll and securely upload supporting documentation of your calculation. It is important that you follow the SBA’s instructions for calculating average monthly payroll, and provide supporting documentation of your calculations.

What payroll documents should you prepare?

For Businesses with Employees:

2019 IRS Quarterly 940, 941 or 944 payroll tax reports
Payroll documents for the year ended December 31, 2019
Support for exclusion of individual salaries over $100,000 for each employee
Support of health insurance premiums paid by the applicant under a group health plan
Support for retirement plan funding that was paid by the applicant

For Independent Contractors and Self-Employed Individuals:

1099s for 2019 for independent contractors
2019 1040 Schedule C, line 31 (net profit amount) and is capped at $100,000 annually
Employee salaries: These include all gross wages paid to your employees shown on Form 941, line 5c
Health insurance: Employer paid health insurance contributions as shown on Schedule C, line 14
Retirement: Retirement contributions as shown on Schedule C, line 19 (This does not include the owner’s portion of retirement contributions which are shown elsewhere on the tax return)
Taxes: State and local taxes assessed on employees compensation (Primarily SUTA).

Eligible customers who submit a Request for a Northfield Bank PPP application and do not initially receive our PPP application link should prepare the required average monthly payroll calculation, and gather your supporting documentation, if we determine that we can process additional PPP applications, and send you an email with the PPP application link. Please reference the Small Business Administration (SBA) PPP Application Form 2483 for further guidance.

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Forgiveness Process

The Small Business Administration (SBA) recently released detailed rules and guidance related to PPP loan forgiveness. The information below is provided as a service to Northfield Bank (“Northfield)” PPP borrowers and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the appropriate authoritative rules and guidance regarding the PPP and loan forgiveness issued by the SBA, and should not be relied on as authoritative. PPP loan forgiveness guidance is subject to change by the SBA at any time. Please visit www.sba.gov for the latest information pertaining to loan forgiveness.

The United States Congress is currently considering revisions to existing rules related to PPP loan forgiveness, including an extension of the current eight-week period of time that eligible costs can be considered as part of the loan forgiveness calculation, as well as reducing the requirement that 75% of PPP loan forgiveness relate to eligible payroll costs. We recommend borrowers monitor these events and consult with their tax advisor, attorney, or business advisor, as appropriate in determining the appropriate time to submit an application for PPP loan forgiveness.

To facilitate the forgiveness application process, Northfield will be utilizing an online application process. An email will be sent to all PPP borrowers approximately eight weeks from the PPP loan disbursement date. In advance of applying for forgiveness, we encourage all PPP borrowers to

Review the SBA’s forgiveness rules and guidance;
Familiarize yourself with the SBA Forgiveness Application and Instructions;
Begin to gather SBA required supporting documentation, and
Consult with your tax advisor, attorney, or business advisor, as appropriate.

Costs Eligible for Forgiveness
Costs listed below are eligible for loan forgiveness. Please visit sba.gov for full details.

Eligible Payroll Costs

Cash compensation to employees, including owner compensation (with annual salaries of up to $100,000)
Employer-paid portion of health insurance contributions
Employer-paid portion of retirement contributions
Payment of state and local taxes assessed on compensation of employees

Eligible Non-Payroll Costs

Mortgage interest on real or personal property, in force before February 15, 2020, that was incurred during the eight week period beginning on the PPP Loan Disbursement Date. Loan prepayments or payments on principal are not included in the loan forgiveness calculation.
Rent or lease payments, pursuant to lease agreements in force before February 15, 2020, that was incurred during the eight week period beginning on the PPP Loan Disbursement Date
Utility, telephone, internet, fuel for vehicles or equipment lease payments, for service that began before February 15, 2020, that were incurred during the eight week period beginning on the PPP Loan Disbursement Date

Eligible Time Period
Recent SBA guidance states two eligible time periods for payroll cost disbursements when calculating loan forgiveness:

The eight week period beginning on the PPP Loan Disbursement Date (the date the borrower received the PPP loan proceeds deposited into their Northfield account;
The eight week period beginning on the first day of the first pay period following the PPP Loan Disbursement Date.

Forgiveness Reduction Tests
Loan forgiveness totals can be reduced based on salary/hourly wage reductions, headcount/FTE reductions, and the percentage of payroll vs. non-payroll costs. Please refer to the SBA Forgiveness Application and Instructions on how to calculate these amounts. You may wish to consult with your tax advisor, attorney, or business advisor to get a better understanding of the forgiveness process and how this may affect your PPP Loan Forgiveness calculations.

SBA Documentation Requirements
Borrowers can take steps now to gather documentation to make it easier to apply for forgiveness in the future. Refer to pages 10 and 11 of the SBA Forgiveness Application and Instructions for a list of the documents you will be asked to supply. Such documents may include your payroll software summary, cancelled checks, bank statements, lease and rental agreements, mortgage documents, utility bills, state tax documents and Federal Form 940/941.

When Can You Apply for Forgiveness
Borrowers may apply for forgiveness eight weeks from the date the loan funds were dispersed. Banks must submit the borrower’s application, along with supporting documents to the SBA within 60 days of receiving the borrowers completed PPP Forgiveness Application.

Note: Borrowers must apply for forgiveness with the financial institution that funded their PPP loan

How to Apply for Forgiveness
We will send those customers who received a PPP Loan disbursement through Northfield a link to apply for loan forgiveness, approximately eight weeks from the date of loan disbursement. Our PPP Forgiveness Team is available to assist with any questions. Please contact us at ppp.program@eNorthfield.com or (833) 301-NFBK ext. 4151.

Please visit www.eNorthfield.com/ppp for the most current information about our PPP forgiveness process and www.sba.gov for current guidance.

Commercial Loan Hardship Assistance

If you are a current Northfield Bank Commercial Loan customer experiencing a temporary hardship due to coronavirus (COVID-19), assistance may be available.

To request assistance, please email corona.loan.relief@eNorthfield.com and your loan specialist will contact you shortly with a SECURE email and instructions for you to submit your loan application. You can download the Business Borrower Relief Request form to get started, but we will not accept the application unless you are responding to a SECURE email from your loan specialist.

Please do not email the Request Form until you contact us and we provide the steps to securely transmit the form in order to protect your personal information.

*Note: Not all requests will qualify.

Consumer Loan Relief

If you are experiencing hardship due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and unable to make your payment on your Home Equity Loan or Line of Credit, we may have options available to assist you.

To be considered for a temporary payment deferral if you are experiencing a financial hardship and unable to make payments as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19), please download the Home Equity/Residential Borrower Relief Request and call (833) 301-NFBK extension 2642 for instructions on how to securely send the form to us.

Please do not email the Request Form until you contact us and we provide the steps to securely transmit the form in order to protect your personal information.

*Note: Not all requests will qualify.