Program Description
7(a) loans are the most basic and most used type loan of SBA's business loan programs. Its name comes from section 7(a) of the Small Business Act, which authorizes the Agency to provide business loans to American small businesses. The loan program is designed to assist for-profit businesses that are not able to get other financing from other resources.
All 7(a) loans are provided by lenders who are called participants because they participate with SBA in the 7(a) program. Not all lenders choose to participate, but most American banks do. There are also some non-bank lenders who participate with SBA in the 7(a) program which expands the availability of lenders making loans under SBA guidelines.
General Program Requirements
All applicants must be eligible to be considered for a 7(a) loan. The eligibility requirements are designed to be as broad as possible in order that this lending program can accommodate the most diverse variety of small business financing needs. All businesses that are considered for financing under SBA's 7(a) loan program must: meet SBA size standards, be for-profit, not already have the internal resources (business or personal) to provide the financing, and be able to demonstrate repayment. Certain variations of SBA's 7(a) loan program may also require additional eligibility criteria. Special purpose programs will identify those additional criteria.
Eligibility factors for all 7(a) loans include: size, type of business, use of proceeds, and the availability of funds from other sources.
http://www.sba.gov/financing/subfiles/type_of_business.html
http://www.sba.gov/financing/subfiles/use_of_proceeds.html
http://www.sba.gov/financing/subfiles/availability.html
Loan Terms
The maximum length of the loan is 25 years for real estate and 7 years for working capital. The maximum loan amount is $2 million. See http://www.sba.gov/financing/subfiles/prepayment_penalties.html of more information on prepayment penalties.