A San Diego collection agency was approved for a $5,000,000 SBA 7(a) loan to finance a change of ownership. That matches the statutory ceiling on a single 7(a) loan to the dollar.

The name on the loan is Patenaude & Felix, a debt collection firm, approved June 1, 2026. OceanFirst Bank wrote it through the SBA's Preferred Lenders Program, and the SBA guaranteed $3,750,000 of it, or 75%. The term runs 120 months at 9.25% variable.

The loan projects that there will be about 165 jobs supported. The median 7(a) acquisition loan approved in 2025 or 2026 reports 8 jobs, and only 30 of those 10,562 loans reach 165 or more.

Looking through the dataset, collection agencies barely show up. Only 14 change-of-ownership loans have gone to collection agencies since 2020, out of 39,004 7(a) acquisition loans in that window, and this one is by far the largest of them.

Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level data, as of 6/30/2026.

Huntington National Bank more than tripled its share of SBA 7(a) acquisition lending in a single year. No bank has written more of these loans since 2024.

Live Oak Bank ran the biggest book in this corner of the market for four straight years, holding between 10.7% and 12.4% of 7(a) acquisition loans from 2020 through 2023. Huntington is the one that moved. In 2022, it ranked third. In 2023, it wrote 3.1% of every 7(a) acquisition loan in the country. In 2024, it wrote 11.2% of 7(a) acquisition loans and took first place outright, and it has held the lead in 2025 and 2026 YTD.

Live Oak ended 2025 roughly where it stood four years earlier. It wrote 679 acquisition loans in 2025, eleven fewer than in 2021.

Huntington and Live Oak wrote 21.5% of all 7(a) acquisition loans approved from 2024 through 2026 YTD. The next eight lenders combined wrote 13.4%, and the third-place bank on the list, First Internet Bank of Indiana, managed 2.8%. Some 988 distinct lenders appear in that window, so two names hold a fifth of this market, and 986 split the rest.

The two lenders don't look alike on paper, either. Huntington's average acquisition loan over 2025 and 2026 YTD is $802K across its whole book. Live Oak's is $1.32M, about 65% larger.

Their books differ underneath, too. Huntington's biggest category is full-service restaurants, 8.7% of its loans, averaging $465K within that industry. Live Oak's is home health care, 6.3% of its loans, averaging $1.27M.

Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level data, as of 6/30/2026, filtered to BusinessAge = Change of Ownership, calendar year by approval date.

Sunroom Contracting Installation, Pennsylvania (relocatable, tri-state territory). A sunroom and patio-enclosure installer working in 15 counties, with no single storefront address disclosed. Asking $3,250,000 against $4,213,619 in revenue and $658,788 in Cash Flow, about 4.9x. Founded 1996, with 12 employees producing all of that revenue. The owner is retiring after more than 30 years, per the listing.

Kitchen Design, Remodeling, Custom Cabinetry, Chicago, IL. A kitchen design and custom cabinetry business running on three employees. Asking $1,600,000 against $2,062,839 in revenue and $510,059 in Cash Flow, about 3.1x. The listing's own description claims more than fifteen years in business, but the year-established field says Not Disclosed, so that history is the seller's account rather than something the page verifies.

Precision Custom Manufacturing, Chicago, IL. A CNC machining job shop running medical, automotive, and packaging components for roughly 15 to 20 active clients. Asking $700,000 against $257,065 in revenue and $139,102 in Cash Flow, about 5.0x.

Household Plumbing Service, Chicago, IL. This company was founded in 2001 and they have 8 employees. The owner is asking for $339,000 against $1,625,356 in revenue and $341,325 in Cash Flow, about 1.0x.

Net profit, total debt, FF&E, and real estate are all marked "Not Disclosed" on the listing.

Source: individual listing pages at BusinessBroker.net, each verified on its own page and re-checked 2026-08-31.

The SBA 7(a) loan is the Small Business Administration's flagship lending program and its most flexible one. A bank or other approved lender makes the loan, and the SBA guarantees a portion of it (typically 75% to 85%), which lowers the lender's risk and makes it easier for a small business to get approved.

Loans go up to $5 million and can be used for working capital, equipment, real estate, refinancing debt, or buying an existing business, which is why it shows up so often in acquisition data. Repayment terms usually run up to 10 years for most uses and up to 25 years when real estate is involved, and rates are often variable, tied to the prime rate plus a spread.

The key difference from the 504 program is structure. A 7(a) is a single loan from one lender, while a 504 splits the financing between a bank and a nonprofit Certified Development Company and is built mainly for fixed assets like real estate and major equipment.

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