WorkflowSmall Business & SBA Lending

SBA Guaranty Purchase Preparation

SBA Guaranty Purchase Preparation: the purchase package in SBA's tab order, every tab read the way an SBA reviewer will

Purchase packages that pass first review, repairs caught while fixable.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo318documents2,140 pages from five systems, filed behind SBA's tabs in one run
demo126sfor six agents to read the loan file and score every tab like an SBA reviewer
demo82 → 8riskthe equity injection tab, once the agents found the wire and the escrow ledger
target30of 30package items present or explained before the package goes in
In short

What is SBA Guaranty Purchase Preparation?

It is what a lender sends SBA to ask it to honor its guaranty on a defaulted loan — to buy the guaranteed share. Under the Universal Purchase Package (UPP v3, effective 1 May 2025) it is eight tabs plus tabs for recoverable expenses, every document labelled and in SBA's order, with the Request to Honor signed by an officer of the bank.

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Updated

The problem

Why a purchase package comes back repaired or denied

When an SBA loan defaults, the lender has to prove that origination, closing, servicing and liquidation were done by the rules — often years after the people who made the loan have moved on. The proof sits in a loan file of hundreds of documents spread across the origination system, the closing binder, the servicing system, email and the collections share.

Repairs and denials usually turn on the file, not the credit: an equity injection verified by a check copy, IRS transcripts never compared, a credit memo that does not match the final authorization, a collateral item nobody can account for, late fees left on the transcript of account. On an early default — within 18 months of disbursement — SBA re-reads the underwriting itself, and one weak tab can cost the whole guaranty.

typical197of 545repair and denial recommendations SBA's quality control later overturned — the evidence often existed
typical16of 32overturned decisions the Inspector General sampled and then challenged, $11.54 million of paid guaranties
typical18monthsfrom initial disbursement: a default inside it puts the underwriting under review
Where a purchase package's days goestimated
By hand16 days
With the solution2 days
  • Pulling the loan file from five systems3 → 0.5 d
  • Putting every document in SBA's tab order3 → 0.3 d
  • Re-checking equity, IRS transcripts and the credit memo4 → 0.5 d
  • Following collateral, liens and recoveries3 → 0.3 d
  • Working out the amount and writing explanations2 → 0.3 d
  • Officer review and signature1 → 0.3 d

Estimated split for one 7(a) early-default package, in working days, by hand and with the solution.

How it works

How a purchase request is built

Six specialist agents file the loan file in SBA's order and score every tab like a purchase reviewer; the liquidation officer decides, an officer signs.

What comes in
Loan file in318 documents · credit file, closing, servicing, liquidation
Agents at work
Loan file readerfiles behind 8 tabs
Then
Loan-life timeline builder
Early default examiner
Then
Underwriting and eligibility verifier
Servicing and liquidation checker
Then
Purchase package writeramount + explanations
A person decides
Liquidation officerdecides; officer signs
What comes out
Request to Honor
Binder in SBA's order
Risk score per tab
One case, step by step

One early default, from loan file to signed Request to Honor

Hollis & Pike Bakery, an SBA 7(a) loan of $1,850,000 with a 75% guaranty, defaulted 15 months after disbursement. The bank wants the purchase request in by Tue 20 Oct — 8 days away. Here is what happens, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 01Monday morning

    A loan file in five piles, not yet in SBA's order

    Teresa Lindqvist · SBA liquidation officer

    The loan moved to liquidation on 21 Aug 2026, and its loan file arrived Sun 11 Oct 22:40 — 318 documents and 2,140 pages from the origination system, the closing binder, the servicing system, the email archive and the collections share. The binder's tabs are empty, and the answer SBA is likely to give reads “Not read yet”.

    “Six agents file every document behind its tab of the Universal Purchase Package, then read each tab the way SBA’s purchase reviewers do …”

  2. 02One click

    “Read it like SBA” — the tabs fill one by one

    The agents

    Teresa presses Read it like SBA. The loan file reader files 69 exhibits behind 8 tabs; the timeline builder dates 27 events; the early default examiner applies the 18-month test under SOP 50 10 7.1 and finds the cause — Fairmarket Grocers, 38% of sales, ended its contract in November 2025. Each tab gets its exhibit count and a score as it is read.

    Every step is shown as it runs, with what it found and how long it took.

  3. 032 min 6 s later

    SBA's likely answer: a repair of about $57,600

    Purchase package writer

    Every tab now carries a risk score. Tab 4.3, Equity injection proof, scores 82: the closing checklist relied on Nathan Pike's source-of-funds statement, never signed, and a copy of his father's $60,000 check. Only $158,000 reached the business account — $48,800 short of the $206,800 required. The reviewer's likely words are written on the page in red ink.

    “Likely repair: injection verified by unsigned statement” — $36,600 at stake, 75% of the $48,800 not proven.

  4. 04Same run

    The loan's life, every date tied to its document

    Loan-life timeline builder

    Origination, closing, servicing, default and liquidation in five lanes, with the 18-month early-default window shaded from 14 Mar 2025 to 14 Sep 2026 and the default of 14 Jun 2026 inside it. Below, each event shows the document and page it was read from and the check made against it.

    The timeline builder never fills a date it cannot cite.

  5. 05Riskiest tab first

    “Find the proof” — and the tab turns green

    Teresa Lindqvist · SBA liquidation officer

    Teresa opens the riskiest tab first and asks the agents to find the proof. They search the email archive and the closing agent's folder and find wire confirmation FED-0312-8871 of 12 Mar 2025 and Saltmarsh Title & Settlement's escrow ledger, which credited the $60,000 to the buyer at closing. $218,000 of $218,000 is traced before the 14 Mar disbursement, and the tab drops from 82 to 8.

    A check copy alone never counts — only a cleared statement, a wire or an escrow ledger dated before disbursement.

  6. 06Tab 8

    A van sold without the lien: repair it up front

    Teresa Lindqvist · SBA liquidation officer

    The collateral list has 46 items; the post-default list has 45. The 2024 Ford Transit was sold on 9 Jan 2026 and the bank's lien was never noted on the Ohio title, so Tab 8 scores 71 — a likely repair. Teresa chooses a $21,000 voluntary repair, 75% of the $28,000 likely auction value, rather than argue it. It is above her $10,000 limit, so it goes to Malcolm with the package. The tab drops to 14.

    The agents never offer a repair. A person chooses: a voluntary repair, or an explanation without one.

  7. 07Tab 1

    A credit memo that never caught up with the authorization

    Teresa Lindqvist · SBA liquidation officer

    The authorization was modified on 7 Mar 2025 from $1,800,000 to $1,850,000 for a larger deck oven, but the credit memo still reads $1,800,000 and DSCR 1.38x. On an early default, SBA reads an unexplained mismatch as an underwriting failure. Teresa asks for the explanation: recomputed at $1,850,000, coverage is 1.35x — still above the 1.15x minimum.

    “Possible denial: credit memo does not match the final authorization” — the full guaranty at stake if left unexplained.

  8. 08Every tab clear

    Predicted at first review: pays as requested

    Purchase package writer

    The explanation is filed as exhibit 1-6 and Tab 1 drops from 58 to 9. Package items read 30 of 30, and the prediction at the top of the binder moves to “Pays as requested”: $1,145,539.24 after the $21,000 van repair offered up front, with no tab above 35.

  9. 09The amount

    From balance to purchase request, every line tied to the transcript

    Purchase package writer

    Principal at the earliest uncured default, $1,718,201.06, less the deposit offset and the net equipment auction, gives $1,497,484.64. SBA's 75% share is $1,123,113.48, plus 75% of 120 days' interest at 10.25%, $43,425.76, less the $21,000 voluntary repair: a purchase request of $1,145,539.24. The Tab 2 loan summary is drafted from the timeline, for counsel to read.

  10. 10Signed and submitted

    An officer of the bank signs the Request to Honor

    Malcolm Achebe · SVP, SBA servicing and liquidation

    Teresa marks the package ready and sends it to Malcolm, with a note on the $21,000 van repair. Malcolm signs the Request to Honor, and the package — 71 exhibits, 412 pages — goes to the National Guaranty Purchase Center in Herndon by secure file transfer, with E-Tran noted and a receipt on the case.

    The agents never sign, submit or offer a repair on their own.

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who carries a purchase request.

The same early default, seen by the four people who work it — in their own words, before and after.

TL
Teresa LindqvistSBA liquidation officer
Prepares purchase packages
Before
“I'm proving decisions made by people who left the bank two years ago” — one document at a time, from five systems.
Now
Opens a binder already in SBA's tab order, with the riskiest tab on top and the reviewer's likely words written on it.
MA
Malcolm AchebeSVP, SBA servicing and liquidation
Signs the Request to Honor
Before
“A denial costs us the whole guaranty. A repair we can live with if we chose it” — and he learns which one at SBA's first review.
Now
Signs knowing SBA's likely answer, with every repair a choice the bank made up front.
OC
Owen CastellanoSpecial assets officer
Site visits, collateral, auctions
Before
“If it isn't on the post-default list, SBA assumes we lost it” — and a missing item turns up when the package is already in.
Now
Sees every collateral item followed to its disposition, and every site-visit and purchase clock in the portfolio.
PR
Priya RamanHartley Voss LLP
Lender's counsel (guest)
Before
“Say what happened, cite the page, and stop” — and gets explanations that do neither.
Now
Reads each written explanation next to the exhibits it cites, before the package goes in.
Built on the engine

6 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Six specialist agents file the loan file in SBA's order and score every tab like a purchase reviewer; the liquidation officer decides, an officer signs.

Loan file reader

Reads every document in the loan file — origination, closing binder, servicing, email and collections — identifies its type, date, parties and amounts, and files it behind its tab of SBA's Universal Purchase Package.

  • Never edits, re-dates or re-signs a document
  • Cites source and page for every item
  • Reports any required item that has no document
Loan-life timeline builder

Dates every event in the loan's life — approval, modifications, closing, disbursement, payments, default, site visit, demand, recoveries — from the transcript, servicing notes and correspondence.

  • Never fills a date it cannot cite
  • Every event links to its document
Early default examiner

Applies the 18-month early-default test under the SOP in effect at approval, and finds the evidence of what caused the failure — customer loss, casualty, illness, market change.

  • Never calls a default “not early” against the dates
  • Uses the SOP of the approval date, not today's
Underwriting and eligibility verifier

Re-checks the approval the way an SBA reviewer will: equity injection traced to its source, IRS transcripts compared with the returns, credit memo against the final authorization, eligibility, SAM, CAIVRS and Form 1919.

  • Never treats a check copy or an unsigned statement as proof the money moved
  • Uses the SOP of the approval date
Servicing and liquidation checker

Follows every collateral item from approval to its disposition and checks lien perfection, insurance, site-visit timing, demand on every obligor, recoveries, and the transcript against Form 1502.

  • Never reports collateral as liquidated without a document
  • No loan fees left on the transcript of account
Purchase package writer

Scores every tab against SBA's repair and denial reasons, predicts the first-review answer, computes the purchase amount, drafts the Tab 2 loan summary and the written explanations, and orders the exhibits in SBA's index.

  • Never signs or submits
  • Never offers a repair on its own
  • Never shows a prediction without the evidence behind it
Liquidation officer

Decides repairs and explanations; an officer signs. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about the loan, in plain words

Ask about the loan's life, any SBA requirement or the amount — or say what to draft. Every answer cites the document it rests on.

Is this an early default, and why did the business fail?

Yes. The loan was disbursed on 14 Mar 2025 and the earliest uncured default is the payment due 14 Jun 2026 — 15 months later, inside SBA's 18-month window, so SBA will re-read the underwriting. The cause is documented: Fairmarket Grocers, 38% of sales, ended its contract on 14 Nov 2025, and monthly sales fell from $201,400 to $124,900. The explanation is behind Tab 4.

Can we prove all $218,000 of the equity injection?

Yes, every dollar, before disbursement. SBA required $206,800. $158,000 moved from Nathan Pike's brokerage to the business account on 10 Mar 2025. The $60,000 gift from Raymond Pike never reached the business account — the credit file only had a check copy — but it was wired to the closing agent on 12 Mar and credited to the buyer on the escrow ledger.

How is the purchase amount worked out?

Principal at default $1,718,201.06, less recoveries $220,716.42; 75% of principal $1,123,113.48; 75% of 120 days' interest $43,425.76; less the $21,000 voluntary repair on the van: a purchase request of $1,145,539.24. The $1,214.37 of late fees are off the transcript, so it ties to Form 1502.

Draft the explanation for the credit memo gap

Drafted and filed behind Tab 1. The authorization went from $1,800,000 to $1,850,000 on 7 Mar 2025 for a larger oven, but the memo was never re-issued. Recomputed, coverage is 1.35x against 1.38x — above the 1.15x minimum — and the extra $50,000 went to the oven vendor. Tab 1 drops from 58 to 9.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

The package binderSBA's tabs down the side, each scored for repair and denial risk, the riskiest tab open with the reviewer's likely words, and SBA's likely answer at the top.
The loan file, as it arrives318 documents and 2,140 pages from five places, and the eight repair and denial reasons every tab is scored against.
Read it like SBAEach agent's step in view as the tabs fill: documents filed, events dated, the 18-month test applied, the approval re-checked.
The loan's life27 events in five lanes with the 18-month early-default window shaded, each tied to the document and page it came from.
Repair and denial risksEach risk with its SBA rule, the amount at stake, how it was estimated, its status and the written explanation for SBA.
Equity injection proofThe wire and the escrow ledger found by the agents and filed as exhibits 4-9 and 4-10 — $218,000 of $218,000 traced before disbursement.
Collateral45 of 46 items accounted for: the van sold without the lien on the title, with a voluntary repair or an explanation to choose.
General loan informationThe credit memo still at $1,800,000 against a final authorization of $1,850,000 — a possible denial until it is explained.
Pays as requestedEvery tab answered, 30 of 30 package items, and SBA's likely answer at first review: pays as requested.
The purchase requestFrom the balance at default to the purchase request line by line, the Tab 2 loan summary, and the decision checklist.
Signed and submittedReviewed by the liquidation officer, the Request to Honor signed by the SVP, and the package sent to the National Guaranty Purchase Center.
Liquidation portfolio23 SBA loans in liquidation with the next clock for each — site visit, purchase target, wrap-up report, litigation plan.
The rulesThe SOP by loan vintage, the early-default window, the clocks, the proof of equity and the approvers.
Governance

Prepared by agents, decided and signed by the bank.

Every finding cites its document and pageEach exhibit, timeline event, risk and explanation links to the document and page it was read from, so a reviewer — or SBA — can check it in one click.
Agents prepare; people decideThe agents never sign, submit or offer a repair. The liquidation officer reviews every risk and every written explanation before the package goes in.
An officer of the bank signsThe Request to Honor is signed by an officer of the bank — here the SVP, SBA servicing and liquidation — with the meaning of the signature and the time recorded.
Repairs are chosen, with a limitThe liquidation officer may offer a voluntary repair up to $10,000; above that, the SVP decides. Each repair shows how it was estimated.
The rules of the loan's own vintageUnderwriting and eligibility are read against the SOP 50 10 in effect on the approval date, and servicing actions against the SOP of their date — not today's.
Every step on the recordWhat the agents read and found, and what a person changed, decided or signed, is on the audit trail of the case. Changes to the rules are versioned too.
Configuration

Your bank's rules, and SBA's

The clocks, checks and approvers every purchase case is checked against are settings — versioned, and on the audit trail.

SettingDefaultChoose from
SOP applied to underwriting and eligibilityBy approval date (automatic)SOP 50 10 5(K) · 50 10 7.1 · 50 10 8, by vintage
Early-default window18 monthsMonths from initial disbursement
Site visit after payment default60 daysOr within 15 days of a material adverse change
Purchase request target60 daysBank policy, from transfer to liquidation
Interest claimed at purchaseUp to 120 daysAt the rate on the earliest uncured default
Routine legal expense limit$10,000Above it, SBA must approve a litigation plan and budget first
Voluntary repair by the liquidation officerUp to $10,000Above it, the SVP decides
Request to Honor signed byMalcolm AchebeSigned by an officer of the bank
Connections

Works with the systems your loan file already lives in

Loan origination systemapplication, Form 1919, credit memo, SBA Authorization
Closing bindernote, settlement statement, UCC-1, invoices
Loan servicing systemtranscript of account, annual reviews, insurance, title
Email archiveapprovals, IRS transcripts, the closing agent's file
Collections sharesite visits, demand letters, auction reports, counsel
SBA submissionsecure file transfer to the purchase center, E-Tran noted
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
30of 30
package items present or explained before it goes in
30 of 30 items
8 tabs + expenses
target
2days
from a complete loan file to a signed purchase request
By handweeks of rework
With agents≈ 2 days
typical
197of 545
repair and denial calls later overturned — the evidence often existed
RecommendedOverturned

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample loan data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (SBA quality-control reviews Oct 2021–Mar 2025 and the Inspector General's challenge, Coleman Report, Sep 2026; SBA Universal Purchase Package v3, 1 May 2025; 13 CFR 120.520). People, banks, borrowers and loan numbers named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What SBA lenders ask us.

What is an SBA guaranty purchase package?

It is what a lender sends SBA to ask it to honor its guaranty on a defaulted loan — to buy the guaranteed share. Under the Universal Purchase Package (UPP v3, effective 1 May 2025) it is eight tabs plus tabs for recoverable expenses, every document labelled and in SBA's order, with the Request to Honor signed by an officer of the bank.

How does it predict a repair or denial before SBA sees the package?

The purchase package writer scores every tab against SBA's usual repair and denial reasons — early default without a documented cause, equity injection not verified, IRS transcripts never compared, a credit memo that does not match the final authorization, proceeds not tied to payees, liens not perfected, a late site visit, fees on the transcript — and the evidence actually behind the tab. Scores of 65 and above are likely, 35–64 possible, 15–34 watch.

How does it handle an early default?

The early default examiner applies the 18-month test from initial disbursement under the SOP in effect at approval, then looks for the documented cause of failure. In the sample loan it found the termination letter from the borrower's largest customer and the drop in monthly sales, and the explanation was filed behind Tab 4.

Does it verify the equity injection?

Yes. The underwriting and eligibility verifier traces every dollar from its source to the business or the closing before disbursement. A check copy or an unsigned statement never counts as proof; when the proof is missing from the credit file, the agents search the email archive and the closing agent's folder for a wire, a cleared statement or an escrow ledger.

How is the purchase amount calculated?

Principal at the earliest uncured default, less recoveries, times the guaranty percentage, plus up to 120 days of interest at the rate on the earliest uncured default, less any voluntary repair. Every line is tied to the transcript of account, and loan fees are removed so it reconciles to Form 1502.

Do people stay in control?

Yes. The agents prepare the package and never sign, submit or offer a repair. The liquidation officer reviews every risk and explanation and may offer a repair up to $10,000; above that the SVP decides, and an officer of the bank signs the Request to Honor.

Which SBA programs and rules does it cover?

The working solution handles 7(a) loans — standard, PLP and SBA Express — and sends each package to the right center: the National Guaranty Purchase Center in Herndon, or the Fresno Commercial Loan Servicing Center. Underwriting is read against the SOP 50 10 of the approval date, and servicing and liquidation against SOP 50 57 4.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your loan files, credit policy and purchase-package style — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will run it on one of your own loans in liquidation first.

See it on
your loan files.

We'll run SBA Guaranty Purchase Preparation on one of your own SBA loans in liquidation.