

Oh, Those Liens!
Have you ever filed a lien and found you're not in the required lien position on business assets?
Or maybe you’ve refinanced debt from another Lender – and then found out they won't release the lien?
Let’s talk! There are a few liens that can sneak ahead of your new loan’s filings. These include landlord liens, franchisor liens, or seller liens when the seller provided carryback financing.

Lori N. McCausland
Nov 6


The Critical Importance of Updating E-Tran Data When SBA Loans Change: Tips for Lenders
Too often, loan changes occur—whether minor borrower updates or significant structural modifications—without being fully reflected in E-Tran. That oversight can result in servicing issues, audit flags, or worse: denial of the SBA guarantee.
Here’s why every lender should treat E-Tran updates as an important part of their SBA loan servicing workflow.

Lori N. McCausland
Jul 3


Updated Applicant Certification Requirements
Applicant certification requirements under the recently-released SOP 50 10 8 are a mix of new, changed, and familiar.
Many of the Applicant certifications can be found in the current Form 1919 from February 2025. However, we’ve heard that an updated Form 1919 is on the way, though its release date – and its changes – haven’t yet been announced.

Rebecca Mendoza
Jun 6


You’ve Been Audited. Now What?
The Office of Credit Risk Management (OCRM) picked your SBA portfolio to conduct an audit. It could be due to anything from a random...

Rebecca Mendoza
Apr 3


Lean on Us When…
We often see Lenders forget to take advantage of the support a Lender Service Provider (LSP) can offer. So, when should you lean on an...

Rebecca Mendoza
Apr 1


When Two Become One, in Three Parts: Part II
Part I of our series on how to handle the SBA portfolio during a merger – discussed what you need to do before the merger: assessing the...

Lori N. McCausland
Mar 1


When Two Become One, in Three Parts: Part I
Mergers are seldom easy, no matter what industry you’re in. Bank mergers, with all the associated regulations and financial...

Lori N. McCausland
Feb 5


Streamlining Processes for Better Results
Banks have a deserved reputation of being traditionalists, slow to adopt new technologies and often bound up in “how we’ve always done it...

Lori N. McCausland
Feb 4


Electronic Loan File Stacking - Revisited
Do you remember our article back in 2022 on Electronic Loan File Stacking , a.k.a ELFS? Maybe not – 2022 was a long time ago! In that...

Lori N. McCausland
Oct 1, 2024


Got Workarounds?
We’d be willing to bet that your team has some creative workarounds for the sometimes annoying, yet generally unavoidable mismatches...

Lori N. McCausland
Sep 10, 2024


The KISS Rule of SBA Disbursements
As part of our SBA lender consulting services, we’re often contracted to complete loan reviews. Whether it’s a post-closing review, an...

Rebecca Mendoza
Jul 5, 2024


Lori McCausland: a proud SBA 7(a) Geek
For almost my entire career in banking, new projects were handed to me to learn, build initial processes, and then train everyone else. ...

Lori N. McCausland
May 14, 2024


Look out – here comes 2024!
It’s been a lot these last few months. Three new SOPs from SBA ( 50 10 7 , 50 57 3 , and the updates in 50 10 7.1 ). Inflation...

Rebecca Mendoza
Dec 11, 2023


New Litigation Requirements!
Do you litigate? Quick answer: yes, you do – and if you haven’t yet, someday you will when a Borrower declares bankruptcy, or there’s...

Rebecca Mendoza
Nov 28, 2023


SBA Lending: Systems and Process
Whether you’re thinking about starting or expanding your SBA Lending department, or simply updating it based on new SOPs, a key factor is...

Lori N. McCausland
Oct 26, 2023


Changes to Equity Injection Under the New SOP
SBA is cheerfully categorizing the changes in its recently-released SOP 50 7 3 as “improvements” – which they may well be, but Lenders...

Lori N. McCausland
Sep 27, 2023


New Borrower Certification Requirements
There’s either a Technical Update or revised SOP 50 10 7 coming soon, but who knows when “soon” will be. So, “Do what you do – until we...

Rebecca Mendoza
Aug 16, 2023


SBA Says: Do What You Do!
There are a lot of changes in the new SOPs 50 10 7 and 50 57 3 , and all of them are effective 8/1/2023. Yikes. That’s just a few days...

Rebecca Mendoza
Jul 24, 2023


Oh, Those Prime Rate Increases
You knew it was coming – and yes, it’s here: Prime rate increases have been on the rise. On March 15th of 2020, the Prime rate went back...

Lori N. McCausland
Apr 19, 2023


The clock is ticking … don’t miss SBA’s deadlines!
Do you have a list of all the SBA deadlines for your Standard 7a and Small SBA 7a loans? They’re essential to protect the guaranty,...

Rebecca Mendoza
Sep 23, 2022

