The Government Is Open Again....Yeah!!! Lets Get Those SBA Loans Closed!

As probably everyone is already aware, the Federal Government re-opened as of yesterday morning, Thursday November 13th. We survived the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Now that the government is back open, we can start moving SBA loans forward again. All funding for the SBA loan programs was renewed with the continuing resolution approved by Congress. During the shutdown we continued to work on getting SBA 7A and SBA 504 loans approved and ready to close. We just could not get final SBA authorizations in the case of SBA 7A loans and final SBA approvals in the case of SBA 504 loans until the government opened back up, and we could not close any new loans during the shutdown without these authorizations or approvals. There is a lot of concern about delays in closing SBA loans going forward. Here is where things stand: For SBA 7A loans there is a digital portal that SBA 7A lenders submit loans to have final authorizations pulled called E-Tran. These authorizations are usually pulled by lenders about a week before closing. Typically it takes 24 to 48 hours to get an authorization back once a file is submitted to E-Tran. Most of the E-Tran process is automated. It is anticipated there could be a slight slow down as an additional month of pending SBA closings are submitted in short-order here, which could lead to authorizations taking a bit longer to get approved. A bit longer is maybe going from 24 to 48 hours to at a maximum a week. But this is expected to be short-lived. For SBA 504 loans the portal to submit loans for approval was closed during the shutdown. Certified Development Corporations, that mange the SBA 504 loan program on behalf of the SBA, can now submit loans for approval. Under normal circumstances it typically takes a week or two to get back an SBA 504 approval. There is a more detailed review of SBA 504 files from the SBA before issuing an approval than there is for SBA 7A loans. Now that the system is back open, we do expect delays in the SBA 504 approval process for several weeks. However, hopefully by mid December they will be caught back up. Now for the bad news. The continuing resolution to fund the government only runs through January of###-###-#### So we could be back to a shutdown at the end of January if Congress cannot agree on a budget. My recommendation is to try to get your SBA loans approved and authorizations pulled prior to the end of January, 2026, that way even if a shutdown happens your loan can still close after that date. Hopefully enough political power was lost with this last shutdown that no one will be doing it again, but we live in crazy times. If you ever need any help with SBA 7A or SBA 504 financing, or any other type of business acquisition financing for that point, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time here or directly at redacted Good luck with your acquisitions.