The Small Business Administration’s flagship 7(a) loans program hit its yearly lending cap of $18.75 billion Thursday. The SBA has created a waiting list for the loans. Congress is being urged by small business leaders to up the program’s funding to $23.5 billion.
The government guaranteed loans help provide long-term loans with smaller monthly payments to small businesses.
Because lenders have pushed to get loans approved, realizing the cap would be hit, more than $3 billion in the SBA loans were processed since the beginning of the month, five times the normal volume.
Loans on the waiting list will be approved in the order received if more funding becomes available or other loans are cancelled.
The House Small Business Committee is considering legislation to raise the cap to $23.5 million.
