Coleman Report – SBA Says SOP Should Come Out the First Week of May

April 27, 2023

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Coleman Report – SBA Says SOP Should Come Out the First Week of May

According to testimony in the Senate Small Business Committee hearing, lenders can expect guidance from the SBA on the implementation of the final rules in the coming week.

SBA officials indicated during the hearing that the release date of the highly anticipated, new SOP would be around the first week of May. Though the final rules published in April lack guidance, the publication of the SOP would fill this deficiency.

The Associate Administrator of the Office of Capital Access, Patrick Kelley, informed the Committee that the SOP is going to put in place new anti-fraud measures. The new system will screen for 19 categories of eligibility and fraud across the 7(a) and 504 programs. Any alerts or flags throughout the loan process will be reviewed to determine whether it was a false positive or if it requires prevention.

Chairman Cardin and other Committee members expressed disappointment that the final rules were nearly identical to the proposed rules, even after the input during the comment period and from the Committee. The rule gives lenders more autonomy, allowing the risk of predatory lending practices into the program. Chairman Cardin believes there must be commitments made to exercise caution and vigilance.

Source:
Senate Committee Hearing