SBA FOIA loan data: the complete guide to the 7(a) & 504 dataset
Every SBA 7(a) and 504 loan since fiscal year 1991 — borrower name, address, lender, amount, rate, term, industry, status — is published by the SBA itself under the Freedom of Information Act. This page explains where the SBA FOIA data lives, what every field means, where it will mislead you, and how commercial lenders turn it into pipeline.
What is the SBA FOIA dataset?
Under the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. Small Business Administration publishes loan-level records for its two flagship programs: 7(a) (general-purpose, partially guaranteed small-business loans) and 504 (fixed-asset financing through Certified Development Companies). Each row is one approved loan, with the borrower's business name and address, the lender, the dollars, the dates, and the outcome.
It is the single most important public dataset in small-business lending: it tells you, by name and street address, who has already borrowed — which is the strongest publicly observable signal of who will borrow again.
Where do you download the SBA FOIA data?
From the SBA's open-data portal: data.sba.gov/dataset/7-a-504-foia. The data ships as plain CSV files, split to keep file sizes manageable:
- 7(a): four files by decade — FY1991–1999, FY2000–2009, FY2010–2019, and FY2020–present.
- 504: two files — FY1991–2009 and FY2010–present.
- Data dictionary: an XLSX defining every column, published alongside the CSVs.
The SBA refreshes the files quarterly, typically about one month after the quarter ends. Each file name carries its as-of date (e.g., asof 260331 = data through March 31, 2026), so you always know what vintage you're working with.
What fields are in the SBA FOIA 7(a) file?
The current 7(a) file has 43 columns. Grouped by what a lender actually does with them (exact column names in code; always confirm definitions against the SBA's official data dictionary):
Who the borrower is
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
borrname | Borrower business name as approved. May be a holding entity or DBA parent rather than the storefront name. |
borrstreet, borrcity, borrstate, borrzip | Borrower street address — your geographic filter and the starting point for verifying the business still operates there. |
naicscode, naicsdescription | Industry, in NAICS terms — the cleanest way to cut the file to sectors your credit box likes. |
franchisecode, franchisename | Populated when the borrower is a franchisee — useful for franchise-lending desks. |
businesstype | Legal form: corporation, partnership, individual. |
businessage | Age category at approval (e.g., startup vs. existing business over two years old). |
projectcounty, projectstate | Where the financed project is located — occasionally different from the borrower's mailing address. |
jobssupported | Jobs figure reported at approval — a rough size proxy. |
Who the lender is
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
bankname | The lender of record. Filter for competitors that have pulled back from SBA lending, merged, or repriced — their borrowers are your warmest targets. |
bankfdicnumber, bankncuanumber | FDIC / NCUA identifiers — handy for joining to call-report data. |
bankstreet, bankcity, bankstate, bankzip | Lender address. |
sbadistrictoffice, congressionaldistrict | SBA administrative geography. |
The loan economics — where the refi math lives
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
grossapproval | Total approved amount. Not the current balance — amortize from here. |
sbaguaranteedapproval | The SBA-guaranteed portion of the approval. |
approvaldate, approvalfy | When the loan was approved — your proxy for the rate environment it was priced in, and for seasoning. |
firstdisbursementdate | When money actually moved. Blank or far from approval is a flag. |
initialinterestrate | The rate at origination. Combined with the next field, this is the refinance screen in one column. |
fixedorvariableinterestind | F or V. Most 7(a) loans are variable over Prime — a V loan originated at a rate peak is still paying for it. |
terminmonths | Loan term — with the approval date and amount, enough to estimate the remaining balance and current payment. |
processingmethod, subprogram | How the loan was processed (e.g., Preferred Lenders Program) and the 7(a) subprogram (e.g., standard guaranty, SBA Express). |
revolverstatus | Whether the facility is a revolving line rather than a term loan. |
How the loan turned out
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
loanstatus | Outcome code: PIF (paid in full), CHGOFF (charged off), CANCLD (cancelled before use), COMMIT (approved, not yet disbursed), EXEMPT (generally an open, disbursed loan whose detailed status the SBA withholds). For prospecting refis, the open loans are the universe. Every code is defined with the lender's angle in our SBA loan data glossary. |
paidinfulldate | When a PIF loan was retired. A recent payoff can mean a refinance elsewhere — or capacity for new credit. |
chargeoffdate, grosschargeoffamount | Charge-off details — your screen-out filter. |
collateralind | Whether the loan is collateralized. |
soldsecmrktind | Whether the guaranteed portion was sold on the secondary market. |
asofdate, program, locationid | Housekeeping: the extract date, the program (7A), and an internal SBA identifier. |
What the SBA FOIA data does not tell you
The file is the start of prospecting, not the end of it. Know its blind spots:
- No contact details. Business name and street address only — no phone, no email, no owner or officer names. Decision-makers come from state filings, licensing boards, the company's own site, and LinkedIn.
- No current balance.
grossapprovalis the approved amount on day one. Estimate today's balance by amortizing overterminmonthsfromapprovaldate— we wrote up the exact math, with formulas and a worked example — close enough for a first conversation, not for a term sheet. - The rate is the initial rate. Variable loans have repriced with every Prime move since origination. The origination date tells you the spread environment; the current Prime rate tells you what they're paying now.
- Approval is not disbursement. Cancelled and undisbursed approvals are in the file — filter on status before counting a row as a real borrower.
- Businesses move, close, and sell. Any list cut from the file needs verification against live sources before it's a calling list.
How do lenders use SBA FOIA data for prospecting?
The standard workflow: cut the file by geography, NAICS, loan size, and origination window; screen to open loans originated in high-rate periods; estimate balances and run the refinance math; layer on growth signals from the open web; then research each survivor into a call-ready profile. We wrote that playbook up step-by-step in our guide to finding SBA 7(a) loan prospects.
Doing it by hand, the file work is an afternoon and each researched prospect is a couple of hours. This is precisely the work Curter automates: Curt sits on the SBA 7(a) universe — roughly 920,000 borrowers — cross-references it with the open web, and turns your criteria into verified candidates and cited, banker-ready briefs with the refinance projection already run, in about 90 seconds per prospect.
Common questions about SBA FOIA data
Is SBA FOIA loan data legal to use for prospecting?
Yes. The SBA releases it under the Freedom of Information Act because it's public record, and it's widely used by lenders, researchers, and journalists. Your outreach still has to follow the usual rules (TCPA, CAN-SPAM, do-not-call) — but the data itself is public and free.
How current is the SBA FOIA dataset?
It's refreshed quarterly, typically about one month after quarter end. Each file carries an as-of date in its name — asof 260331 means data through March 31, 2026.
Does it include the borrower's phone number or current loan balance?
No to both. You get the business name and street address, not contact details — enrich those from other public sources. And you get the approved amount, not the balance — estimate the remaining balance by amortizing from the approval amount, term, and elapsed time.
What do the loan status codes mean?
PIF = paid in full; CHGOFF = charged off (date and amount in their own columns); CANCLD = cancelled before use; COMMIT = approved, not yet disbursed; EXEMPT generally indicates an open, disbursed loan whose detailed status the SBA withholds. Confirm against the official data dictionary published with the files — or see our plain-English glossary of every code.
The FOIA file, already worked
Curt sits on the full SBA 7(a) universe so you don't have to wrangle CSVs. Describe the borrower you want; get verified candidates and cited briefs with the refi math run.
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