Small Business Rent & Debt Relief: Eligibility Requirements
III. Eligibility Requirements
Businesses must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- For-profit business located in Santa Ana in operation as of 2018
- Valid and Active Santa Ana Business License
- Valid Certificate of Occupancy (if required by the City)
- Business owner identification
- Must be a small business documented at the time of application by having 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees or less
- Must have a brick and mortar location/physical location in Santa Ana
- Must have been in operation at the current location as 2018 and provide documentation via one of the following:
- Santa Ana Business License
- Certificate of Occupancy
- Commercial Lease Agreement
- Business Tax Returns
- Must document the loss in revenue through the complete annual IRS business income tax filings. IRS Business Tax filings must include the following forms:
- For sole proprietors and single member LLC’s (IRS Form 1040 Schedule C)
- For partnerships (IRS Form 1065)
- For S-Corporations (IRS Form 1120-S)
- For C-Corporations (IRS Form 1120)
- LLCs should follow the instructions that apply to their tax filing status in the reference periods
- A business cannot receive more in grant funding than the total revenue loss
Buinesses approved for funding must provide the City the following prior to funding:
- Unique Entity ID (UEI): Business must be registered and obtain a Unique Entity ID (UIE) through SAM.gov. Visit the following link to register or look up the business UEI: https://sam.gov/content/entity-registration
- City Vendor Forms, IRS form W-9, and IRS form 4506-C
- ACH form for direct deposit of grant funds to a business account.
Ineligible Businesses:
The following types of businesses are not eligible for the program:
- Businesses that have received City of Santa Ana business grant funding that exceeds the loss of revenue are not eligible
- Businesses without a physical location in Santa Ana
- Home based businesses
- Independent contractors
- Passive businesses and investment companies and investors who file a Schedule E on their personal tax returns
- Businesses engaged in any activity that is illegal under federal, state, or local law
- Businesses engaged in financial or lending activities, and leasing
- Commercial or residential rental businesses
- Businesses with active code enforcement violations
- Businesses with 25 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
- Businesses with any owner of greater than 10% of the equity interest that meets either of the following:
- The owner has, within the prior three years, been convicted of or had a civil judgment rendered against the owner, or has had commenced any form of parole or probation, including probation before judgment, for commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a federal, state, or local public transaction or contract under a public transaction, violation of federal or state antitrust or procurement statutes or commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, or receiving stolen property.
- The owner is presently indicted for or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a federal, state, or local government entity, with commission of any of the offenses enumerated in clause above.