SBA's rulebook for 7(a) and 504 loans, in three parts: core requirements, 7(a) requirements and 504 requirements. Version 8.1 took effect on October 1, 2026.
SOP 50 10 is the lender-facing rulebook for SBA’s 7(a) and 504 loans. Version 8.1 replaces version 8, was published on September 25, 2026 and took effect on October 1, 2026. It binds SBA lenders and development companies as part of the Loan Program Requirements.
It has three sections. Section A holds the core requirements for every loan: eligibility, special structures such as eligible passive companies, uses of proceeds, ethics, fees and agents, guaranties, tax verification, hazard coverage and environmental review. Section B covers 7(a) loans by type: Standard, Small and Express, MARC, CAPLines, export loans, and closing and disbursement. Section C covers 504 loans from eligibility through debenture funding.
The appendices, numbered through 20, follow. The ones borrowers meet most are Appendix 15 on changes of ownership, 16 on guaranty amounts, 17 on maturities, 18 on interest rates, 19 on collateral and 20 on what a lender sends SBA. A lender needing an exception to policy asks SBA, and a decision applies to that loan only.
How it shows up in the data here
Not a data field. The SBA loan file's data dictionary still sends readers to SOP 50 10 5 for the meaning of each ProcessingMethod, so use version 8.1 for the rules now in force. Rules for a loan after it is disbursed are in other manuals: SOP 50 57 for 7(a) and SOP 50 55 for 504.
Go further
- How to read SBA loan data: What the SBA files hold, what they leave out, and how this site counts.
- How to read SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data: The SBA publishes the 7(a) and 504 loans it guarantees, lender by lender, every quarter. It is the best public record of who lends to small businesses, and it is easy to misread.
- SBA 7(a) loan package checklist: A 7(a) package is the bank's usual file plus SBA's own list. Know which items SBA requires and you can have them ready before the first call.
- SBA 504 loan package checklist: A 504 project has three parties, two loans and a closing date set by a monthly bond sale. Build the package for all three.
Related terms
- SBA 7(a) loan: SBA's main business loan program. A lender makes the loan and SBA guarantees part of it: up to 85 percent of $150,000 or less and 75 percent of more, on loans up to $5,000,000.
- SBA 504 loan: A fixed-asset financing in which a bank lends 50 percent or more, a certified development company funds up to 40 percent through an SBA debenture, and the borrower puts in at least 10 percent.
- Delegated authority (SBA lending): Authority SBA grants a lender to make its own eligibility and credit decision before SBA issues a loan number: PLP and SBA Express for 7(a), ALP and PCLP for 504.
- SBA Form 1919 (Borrower Information Form): The form each 7(a) co-borrower signs and gives the lender. It reports employees and jobs and the purpose of the loan, and the lender keeps the signed form and enters its data into SBA's system.
Sources
Plain definitions for orientation, not legal, tax or credit advice. A lender's own policy decides what it will do.