Emergency Loan Program

The University has created a mechanism to issue short-term (up to one year) emergency loans to eligible employees. The purpose of this program is to provide loans to employees who have an immediate need for funds as the result of an emergency and have no other source of money available within the time necessary to act, or who have a dire personal financial hardship and cannot obtain a loan from a credit union or comparable lending institution. The program is not intended to compete with local credit unions or other lending institutions; it is intended to fill the needs of University employees that are not being met by those sources.

Eligibility

The University may approve loans to regular full-time employees if the following conditions are met:

  • One year of continuous service in a permanent full-time capacity, immediately prior to requesting a loan (temporary employees are not eligible for this program).
  • Employee must have demonstrated strong performance in the current position.
  • Employee provides documentation of a true emergency that was not caused by negligence or lack of attention by the employee.

Policy Details

  • The University may approve loans up to $1,500 per employee.
  • Minimum repayment of $30 per bi-weekly pay period ($60 per monthly pay period).
  • Maximum repayment period is one year.
  • Employees are limited to one loan per year and three loans during their career at the University. Under no circumstance will an employee receive more than one emergency loan at a time.
  • Under the program, employees may request an emergency loan for reasons of severe financial hardship for which the employee has an immediate need for financial assistance. There may be occasions when emergency circumstances, defined as unforeseen, unplanned, and unavoidable events, demand immediate attention and require an employee to secure funds on short notice. Examples include a family medical emergency, threatened foreclosure or eviction from a primary residence, or termination of utilities.
  • The University does not make payment to or reimburse an employee. The employee must provide a W-9 statement with the Taxpayer Identification Number and mailing address of the business to be paid.
  • An employee may prepay all or any part of their loan balance at any time.
  • If an employee fails to make a scheduled payment, goes on unpaid university leave and does not make payment arrangement, separates from employment at the University, or otherwise fails to fulfill their obligations under the promissory note, the University may accelerate the payment obligations and declare the entire remaining unpaid balance immediately due and payable.

Examples of emergency loans include, but are not limited to:

  • Loss of housing (due to no fault of the employee).
  • Significant household expense that the employee could not have anticipated (examples: a water heater blows up, a pipe bursts, the house floods).
  • Extraordinary utility bills caused by unusual natural occurrences (example: temperatures below 10 degrees for a significant amount of time cause an unusual hardship on the employee that he or she could not have anticipated). This would not include normal temperature fluctuations that should be anticipated.

Examples that will not qualify for an emergency loan:

  • No car expenses will be considered an emergency unless this renders the employee with no means of transportation (including rides from friends).
  • New tires or car insurance never qualify for an emergency loan.
  • No employee legal bills will be considered emergency unless they are essential to protect the safety of an employee or dependent child.
  • Payment of taxes (this is not an "unforeseen" expense).

Process

  • A request should be made to Human Resources by the employee using the University of Richmond Emergency Loan Request form.
  • Employee completes the University of Richmond Emergency Loan Request application.
  • Human Resources approves or denies the loan request.
  • Human Resources may require the employee to schedule an appointment with the Employee Assistance Program for financial counseling as a condition of the emergency loan approval.
  • The employee must sign a promissory note and authorize payroll deduction of the repayment. The promissory note shall be a legal obligation of the employee.
  • The employee must provide a bill or statement and IRS form W-9 of the business to be paid.
  • If the Emergency Loan Request is approved by Human Resources, a check will be requested which will be made payable to the business and may take several business days for processing. Please allow time for processing and mailing of a University check when submitting your request.
  • Loan repayment by the employee occurs through a payroll deduction.