Where it comes from, and how late it is
From SBA's 7(a) & 504 FOIA loan data on data.sba.gov: FOIA_7a_FY2020_Present_asof_260930.csv and FOIA_504_FY2010_Present_asof_260930.csv. SBA lists their license as "U.S. Government Works", which means no US copyright. We map
each borrower's ZIP to its metro with Census files. We do not use the separate PPP file.
SBA posts these files once a quarter, about a month after the quarter ends. The current files are as of Sep 30, 2026 and
were posted Oct 30, 2026, so this list covers approvals from Jul 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026.
The next files, for Oct–Dec 2026, should come out around the end of January 2027.
To check a line, open the CSV file it names in Excel or Google Sheets and go to the spreadsheet row it gives (the header is row 1), or
search for its BorrName and BorrZip. A text editor's line numbers can differ, because some SBA fields contain line breaks.
Each line in the sample above also shows SBA's own row and a command that fetches just that row.
Every SBA line ends with "SBA data as of Sep 30, 2026", so it never reads as this week's news. The Form D filings in the
same list are weekly.
Approved does not mean paid out
SBA's file records the approval and a status as of the file date. We print "approved" on every line, never more than that, and
under each line the status: "Not yet paid out on Sep 30, 2026 (SBA status COMMIT)", or "Paid out, at least in part, by Sep 30, 2026".
- COMMIT (7(a)) or NOT FUNDED (504): approved, nothing paid out yet.
- EXEMPT: paid out; SBA withholds the current status.
- CANCLD: cancelled. We drop it.
In Houston, 74 of the 105 loans approved in Jul–Sep 2026 had nothing paid out
yet on Sep 30, 2026.
Example: SBA status COMMIT on Sep 30, 2026.
Approved, not yet disbursed (SBA status COMMIT as of Sep 30, 2026)
Allsen Insurance Agency Inc., HUMBLE: SBA 7(a) loan of $3,200,000 approved Sep 28, 2026 through Bankwell Bank (Change of Ownership). (SBA data as of Sep 30, 2026.)
Industry: Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (NAICS 524210)
How a 504 line reads
A 504 project usually has two lenders. The amount we print as the SBA/CDC portion is SBA's part, made through a certified
development company (CDC). A bank makes its own loan for the same project. When SBA's file names it, we print the bank and its
amount, and never add the two.
4 of Houston's 105 loans approved in Jul–Sep 2026 were 504 loans.
Approved, not yet disbursed (SBA status NOT FUNDED as of Sep 30, 2026)
Milam VIC3 Properties, LLC, Houston: SBA 504 loan approved Aug 13, 2026 through Lone Star State Capital Corporation (Existing or more than 2 years old); the SBA/CDC portion is $3,630,000, and First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company has a separate $5,250,000 loan. (SBA data as of Sep 30, 2026.)
Industry: Full-Service Restaurants (NAICS 722511)
What we leave out, and why
First, we drop approvals under $1M, cancelled loans (CANCLD), loans to individuals (or with no business type), and exact duplicate rows.
Then we keep one line per business. When SBA approved more than one loan to the same business in the quarter (same name and ZIP, or the same address, lender and date), we show one and keep the others attached to it, never adding the amounts. So our counts are businesses, not loans.
Last, we hold these out of every metro's list:
- Borrowers named after a person · 26 nationally in Jul–Sep 2026
- A name like “Jane Doe/Acme Inc.” or a one-doctor practice like “Jane Doe, DDS, PLLC” reads as a person. We hold it out of the list, because we publish nothing about a person's finances.
- Accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms · 30 nationally in Jul–Sep 2026
- NAICS 5412. They are a fractional CFO's peers, not clients.
- Addresses that are not where the business works · 2 nationally in Jul–Sep 2026
- A registered agent's office, or a suite shared by many unrelated companies. The metro is unknown, so we hold it.
- ZIPs we cannot place in one metro · 179 nationally in Jul–Sep 2026
- A ZIP that spans two metros, has no Census ZIP area, or lies outside every metro is held, never guessed. So is a loan whose SBA project county points to another metro or state than the address. The project county can settle a split ZIP, but only among that ZIP's own counties.
- Rows that do not re-read exactly · 0 nationally in Jul–Sep 2026
- Before printing, we re-read each row from SBA's file and compare every field we print. A row that does not match is held.