“You can go to sba.gov on an iPhone and fill out an application in 15 minutes,” said Tom Sullivan, vice president of small business policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “My advice is to apply for an SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan yesterday,” he said. “It will take several days to hear back.” These loans can reach $2 million at a 3.75 percent rate over as many as 30 years with one-year payment deferral. The turnaround from application to receipt of funds is usually two to three weeks, he added.

The Paycheck Protection Program, another tool for small business owners, provides loans of as much as $10 million at 0.5 percent interest over two years for payroll and other operational costs, Sullivan said.

Companies can apply for both. Landlords, tenants and self-employed consultants alike are eligible, said C.E. Rowe, president and CEO of America’s SBDC, a support network that provides free, one-on-one counseling and advice for small business owners. “Reach out to your tenants and make sure they know about it,” he advised landlords, pointing out that the application website is multilingual and easy to use. “Small business can talk to one of our advisors to determine what kind of loan they’ll need,” he added. “It depends on how much help you’ll need. You don’t need a CPA or a lawyer to apply. There’s no cost.”

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