SBA has issued Procedural Notice 5000-866946, Revisions to SOP 50 57 3.1 for SBA’s Processing of Lender Guaranty Purchase Requests and Certain Servicing Actions (effective April 15, 2025). The notice informs 7(a) lenders of revisions to the 7(a) Loan Servicing and Liquidation SOP governing the standards SBA will apply when examining 7(a) loan purchase requests. The changes are described as being “consistent with 13 C.F.R. 120.180 and SBA’s longstanding historical practice” and essentially reinstate the purchase standards that were in effect prior to August 1, 2023, the date on which version 3 of SOP 50 57 took effect.
As indicated in the notice, effective April 15, 2025, for purposes of “determining Lender compliance with SBA Loan Program Requirements” SBA will apply the following standards:
- For actions related to “loan making, loan closing, and loan modifications that took place on the date of or prior to full disbursement, SBA will apply the requirements of SOP 50 10 in effect when the Loan was approved in ETRAN”; and
- “For all other servicing actions that took place after full disbursement, SBA will apply the requirements of SOP 50 57 in effect when the servicing action was taken“.
It is important to note that the revised purchase standards apply to all “guaranty purchase and servicing decisions made by SBA on or after the effective date of [the] Notice”. Purchase requests that were submitted to SBA prior to April 15, 2025, but remained in process at the Agency on that date, will be decided under the revised requirements.
Please refer to the Notice for the complete SOP 50 57 3.1 revisions.
