Do Not Be Disappointed, the SBA Acceptance for an Offer in Compromise is a One Sentence Email

It happens frequently in our office. We do many Offers in Compromise a year, and therefore, we receive just as many acceptances and we know what to expect -- a one or two sentence email -- maybe a paragraph at best, but a very short one. Most often it is from the bank not even the SBA; sometimes it is from the SBA forwarded to us from the banker-in-charge.

Occasionally, we will get a simple phone call from the banker telling us. We, of course, ask for written back up confirmation which will come over but this is what we get.

It seems quite anti climatic. Especially when one considers the three foot stack of paper required to get into the loan, one might reasonably expect another huge paper flow accepting the Offer in Compromise. Not so. It could have been a postcard, that is about as sophisticated as the message is.

In fact, recently we had a dispute with our client who simply refused o believe that this was all we would get. To placate him, we begged a letter on SBA stationary and actually got the banker to ask for and receive one from the SBA. That was unusual, and unprecedented but even this did not make our client happy. He wanted a 'contract' in detail outlining the terms and conditions of the Offer in Compromise and with assorted other excessive documentation and wordage.

It seems as if we are all trained to anticipate reams of unnecessary lawyer speak for anything formal. Further when we do not get it, it seems disappointing, unfulfilling, unsatisfactory, and not right.

In this case, I applaud the government in embracing simplicity, brevity and to the point communication. Really what does it take to say accepted? One word....

So be prepared, if you file an effective Offer in Compromise, and if it is accepted, you will receive the briefest acknowledgment possible. I say hallelujah, it is about time.