NOTES AND LOANS PAYABLE

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

NOTES AND LOANS PAYABLE

7. NOTES AND LOANS PAYABLE

Notes payable at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, are summarized as follows:

	December 31,
	2024			2023
Notes and loans payable	$	9,209,896		$	2,280,743
Less current portion		(8,958,171	)		(2,136,077	)
Long-term portion	$	251,725		$	144,666

Long-term debt matures as follows:

	Amount
2025	$	8,958,171
2026		114,764
2027		4,764
2028		4,764
2029		4,764
Thereafter		122,669
Total	$	9,209,896

Promissory Note – Settlement Agreement

On June 11, 2024, the Company entered into a settlement agreement and release of claims with the holder of 165 shares of series R convertible preferred stock and certain convertible promissory notes (see Notes 29-2, 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3 referenced in Note 8. Convertible Notes Payable). Pursuant to the settlement agreement and release of claims, the holder agreed to cancel its shares of series R convertible preferred stock and convertible promissory notes in exchange for a new fixed amount settlement promissory note in the principal amount of $535,000.

The note does not bear interest and requires fixed payments as follows: (i) if the Company raises at least $5 million but less than $6 million in its planned underwritten public offering (the “Offering”), then it must pay $250,000 on the closing date of the Offering, with payments of $125,000, $125,000 and $35,000 to follow on the 90^th day, 180^th day, and 240^th day following the closing of the Offering, respectively; (ii) if the Company raises at least $6 million but less than $7 million in the Offering, then it must pay $390,000 on the closing date of the Offering and $145,000 on the 90^th day following the closing of the Offering; and (iii) if the Company raises at least $7 million in the Offering, then it must repay the entire principal amount on the closing date of the Offering. If the Offering is not completed by August 15, 2024, then the Company is required to pay $25,000 on such date and to continue making payments of $25,000 on each monthly anniversary thereof until the entire principal amount is repaid in full. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company abandons the Offering and conducts a new public offering thereafter, then the Company is required to make a payment of $100,000 on the closing date of such other public offering, a second payment of $100,000 on the 90th day following the closing of such offering and $35,000 each month thereafter until the entire principal amount is repaid in full. If any portion of the principal amount remains unpaid on the second (2^nd) anniversary of the date of the note, it shall become immediately due and payable on such date. The Company may prepay the entire principal amount at any time without penalty. The note is unsecured and contains customary events of default for a loan of this type. Upon an event of default, interest would automatically begin to accrue at a simple interest rate of ten percent per annum. This transaction was accounted for as a debt extinguishment and a gain on settlement of $78,834 was recorded to the consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2024, in accordance with FASB Topic 470 Borrower’s Accounting for Debt Modifications. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company paid $125,000 against the outstanding principal balance. At December 31, 2024, the remaining principal balance was $410,000.

Loans and Notes Payable – Unrelated Party

On March 12, 2009, the Company issued a debenture in the principal amount of $20,000. The debenture bore interest at 12% per year and matured on September 12, 2009. The balance of the debenture was $10,989 at December 31, 2024 and 2023. The accrued interest of the debenture was $8,869 and $7,547 at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The Company assigned all of its receivables from consumer activations of the rewards program as collateral on this debenture.

Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Loans

On June 2, 2020, the Company obtained an SBA loan in the principal amount of $150,000 with an interest rate of 3.75% and a maturity date of June 2, 2050. The principal balance and accrued interest at December 31, 2024 was $142,916 and $0, respectively, and principal and accrued interest at December 31, 2023 was $149,655 and $956, respectively.

Line of Credit

On September 29, 2023, the Company and Nova entered into a two-year revolving purchase and security agreement with DML HC Series, LLC (“DML”) to sell, with recourse, Nova’s accounts receivables for a revolving financing up to a maximum advance amount of $4.5 million. A review is performed on a quarterly basis to assess the adequacy of the maximum amount. If mutually agreed upon by the Company and DML, the maximum amount may be increased. On April 24, 2024, the Company and Nova entered into amendment No. 1 with DML which increased the maximum advance amount to $8,000,000 and defined the discount fee equal to 2.25% per purchase and claims balance forward on new purchases with a minimum fee to now be $10,000. On June 11, 2024, the Company and Nova entered into amendment No. 2 with DML which further increased the maximum advance amount to $11,000,000. On December 27, 2024, the Company and Nova entered into amendment No. 3 with DML which further increased the maximum advance amount to $15,000,000. As of December 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, the Company had $8,645,991 and $2,120,100, respectively, outstanding balance against the revolving receivable line of credit. The unused line of credit balance as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 was $6,354,009 and $2,379,900, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, there was $315,031 of interest accrued related to the line of credit. The revolving purchase and security agreement includes discounts recorded as interest expense on each funding and matures on September 29, 2025.