SOP 50 10 (SBA Lending Rules)

Definition

The SBA's official lending rulebook, which settles what lenders may do.

Why It Matters

When two lenders disagree about what the SBA allows, this document is the referee, and one of them is usually quoting a version that has been replaced. Major revisions change deal structures overnight: an edition can move the equity injection, rewrite how a seller note is treated, or bring back a franchise directory that had been gone for two years. Ask a lender which edition they are working from when their answer surprises you, because policy and habit are not the same thing.

In numbers: SOP 50 10 8.1 is the edition in force, for applications SBA receives from October 1, 2026. It gathered every change-of-ownership rule into one appendix, where a newcomer's purchase, the Initial Acquisition, needs a 10% injection no lender can reduce and 1.25x coverage on the last fiscal year or the average of the last two.