In this article, you will learn if you can have multiple SBA loans.

It's no secret that small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. In fact, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses make up 99.7 percent of all firms in the United States.

The SBA is a government agency that provides support to small businesses through loans and other programs. 

Can a business have more than one SBA loan?

One question that often comes up is whether or not a small business owner can have multiple SBA loans.

The short answer is yes, you can have more than one SBA loan at a time. However, there are some restrictions and requirements that you need to be aware of before you apply for multiple loans.

For starters, each SBA loan program has its own eligibility requirements. This means that you will need to meet the specific criteria for each loan program you're interested in before you can apply.

The following are considerations you’ll need to take into account if multiple SBA loans are something you make try to get:

• Maintain a level of debt that does not exceed the SBA's permitted maximum ($5 million for SBA 7(a) loans and $5.5 million for SBA 504 loans).
• Maintain compliance with the SBA's requirements for businesses to be eligible for assistance.
• Maintain a decent credit score, which should be at least 680.
• Make sure you have some sort of security for the new SBA loan.
• Maintain a positive payment history on your existing SBA loan.

However, if you are accepted for two SBA loans of the same type within a period of ninety days, the SBA may treat the two loans as if they were a single loan for the purposes of underwriting.

How Many Small Business Administration Loans Can You Obtain?

In principle, there is no limit to the number of SBA loans that a borrower can take out, provided that the business stays compliant with the rules established by the SBA. There have been instances in which quickly expanding businesses have taken out as many as nine SBA 504 loans within a period of 15 years.

There is an exception: SBA Green loan

Note above that we have been talking about SBA loans per business. There is an exception to this: The SBA “green” loan. With this loan, you can take out $5 million per project. In this case, depending on how many projects you have in your pipeline, you can most definitely get more than one SBA loan. Find out more about the SBA green loan here.

Questions? Contact one of our experienced commercial loan advisors today.