SBA rewrote its rulebook. Five rules now decide your application.

Every SBA lender in the country underwrites against one rulebook: SOP 50 10 8.1, in force since October 1, 2026. It tightened who can own an SBA-financed business and set the tests your file has to pass. Most business owners learn these rules from a lender’s questions. You are about to learn them first.

The rules

Five rules decide more applications than any business plan:

• Ownership: 100% of owners, direct and indirect, and every required guarantor must be U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals living in the U.S. Green card holders are ineligible owners, and anyone ineligible who owned part of the business in the last six months must have fully divested.
• Credit: SBA sets no minimum credit score. Lenders apply their own policies, and they must explain any credit issue in writing.
• Repayment: cash flow must cover all debt payments at least 1.10 times for 7(a) loans of $350,000 or less, 1.15 for larger 7(a) loans and 1.25 for buying a business.
• Equity: start-ups and business purchases put in at least 10% of total project costs.
• Freshness: your personal financial statement must be dated within 90 days of submission, even though the form itself still prints 120.

The lender’s view

Ownership and eligibility are pass-or-fail. A strong business cannot make up for one ineligible 5% partner. Lenders check these first, often in the first conversation, because there is no point underwriting a file that cannot be approved.

Your move this week