SBA 7(a) Connect Call: 7(a)/504 Decoupled as ITL Volume Triples

July 28, 2026

Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher

SBA 7(a) Connect Call: 7(a)/504 Decoupled as ITL Volume Triples

7(a) First, Then 504. 

Effective July 4, SBA decoupled 7(a) and 504 loan limits under Policy Notice 5000-879058. Structure the deal 7(a) first, then 504, and a borrower can now access the full statutory capacity of both programs instead of sharing one combined ceiling. OCA’s Dan Pische put it plainly: “It’s separating the 7(a) limits from the 504 limits. So 7(a) has its limit, 504 has its own statutory limits.”

The change also kills the old 90-day window for running multiple 504 projects simultaneously — a real-estate purchase and a production line, for example, can now be financed side by side with independent terms and amortizations. Pische called it “one of the more important changes we’ve made to our program in some time.”

ITL Volume Tripled. 

Since the International Trade Loan program’s May 1 expansion added an “Adversely Affected by Import Competition” eligibility track for designated manufacturing and food-supply-chain NAICS codes, monthly ITL volume has nearly tripled. Eighty-eight lenders have made an ITL loan this fiscal year — 47 of them net-new to the product. “There are more unique lenders who made an ITL loan this year than all of last year already,” Pische said.

SOP 50 10 8.1 Is Coming. 

Pische confirmed the next iteration of the SOP is in active development, though no timeline was given.

Where lenders are getting tripped up: the ITL’s 90% guaranty still requires a first lien on the specific assets being financed — and OCA says that requirement, not the guaranty itself, is generating the most questions. Supplemental collateral can’t substitute for it, but a Standard 7(a) loan at 75% guaranty remains the fallback when a first lien isn’t available.

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