The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) requires most borrowers to complete the SBA Form 1919 – the Borrower Information Form.
This form helps the SBA and its approved lending partners to assess the background of a business and its owners, including their personal character.
The information provided on SBA Form 1919 is one way the SBA and its lending partners help determine whether or not a small business is likely to pay back a loan. Learn more about SBA Form 1919, including how to fill it out, below.
Page written by Kat Cox. Last reviewed on August 12, 2024. Next review due October 1, 2025.
Also known as the Borrower Information Form, SBA Form 1919 gives the SBA and its lenders a more thorough overview of any small business applying for an SBA 7(a) loan. The form is split into three parts:
The applicant will need to supply information about the reason they’re requesting the loan, what kind of debt they or the business have, any other government financing the business may have received and other information. Each owner or principal should also be prepared to answer truthfully about any criminal history or pending court cases, possible conflicts of interest including family employment and identifying information such as Social Security Number, phone number and address.
Filling out the form properly the first time can help speed up the application process for an SBA loan and get you funding faster.
Anyone applying for an SBA 7(a) loan will need to fill out SBA Form 1919. This includes all stakeholders or principals with at least 20% ownership in the business, trustors or anyone who’s been hired to run the general operations of the business.
You’ll want to be prepared to fill out the form if you’re applying for any of the SBA 7(a) loan programs, including SBA Express, Export Express, Export Working Capital, International Trade, Veterans Advantage, CAPLines or a small loan.
Before you start filling out SBA Form 1919, it’s a good idea to gather the documents you’ll need to fill out the different sections.
Make sure you have:
Getting these documents gathered in advance will help you make sure you’re supplying the right information to the SBA. Make sure every owner who is filling out the form has the same information.
While SBA Form 1919 can appear long and complicated, it’s easiest to go through it step by step. Understanding what they’re asking of you can help you fill it out thoroughly and accurately. If you’ve already gathered the information and documents that will provide answers to all the questions, as well as additional information, you’ll start off on the right foot.
Section I of SBA Form 1919 establishes some information about the small business applying for the SBA loan.
Before you start filling out the numbered questions, you’ll enter your business’s contact and identifying information. This includes:
Next, you’ll provide some information about the loan and why you’re applying for it. This includes:
Finally, you’ll enter information about partners or business owners, including their full legal names, titles, how much stake they own in the business (percentage) and their addresses. You can attach extra sheets to this section if you need to.
The rest of Section I includes questions you’ll need to answer. Questions 1-11 are yes or no questions about the business and its affiliates. These questions allow the SBA to understand how the business operates, some of the business’s history and the business’s eligibility for an SBA loan based on basic SBA requirements. It also helps establish who will be filling out SBA Form 1919 for the business, such as which co-applicants are involved or if there is a paid third party helping you fill out the form.
If you answer “yes”, you’ll have to provide more documentation or information, as specified in the question. Answering yes to some of the questions may disqualify you from receiving an SBA loan, such as question 11 regarding whether the business operates in an industry considered to be a “vice activity”, such as pornography, gambling, cannabis sales or loan packaging.
Questions 12-16 are true or false questions regarding the appearance of a conflict of interest with the SBA, including whether or not your business is owned by anyone who currently works for the SBA or has in the past year, members of the federal government, government employees, or members or employees of a small business advisory council. Any question in this section that you answer as “false” may not necessarily disqualify you from the loan, but it may require that your SBA lender will have to process the loan differently. This could mean that the loan takes longer or that you have to provide more information, so it’s important to be aware of that when applying.
Make sure you’ve answered all the questions in Section I and provided any additional information that may have been triggered by your answer. You should also read over the representations and certifications, as they’re legally binding. If everything is correct and all the right information is attached, you can sign and date the section.
In Section II, you’ll fill out the personal information for all the owners or principals for your business. Each individual is responsible for filling out their own version of Section II.
Any of the following types of employees should be prepared to fill out information for Section II:
In the top section, each individual (or entity) will provide their legal name, Social Security Number or EIN, birthday, where they were born, home address, phone number and percentage of ownership. They’ll also have the opportunity to answer data questions about their veteran status, gender, race or ethnicity, but this section is fully voluntary.
The rest of Section II is a series of yes-or-no questions, much like in Section I. In this instance, the questions pertain to individual personal history, such as criminal history, delinquency in obligations, citizenship, business ownership history and others.
As in Section I, if you answer “yes” to any of the questions, you’ll have to provide further information. If you answer “yes” to Question 17 regarding your current criminal history, the loan request is automatically declined.
Once again, you’ll be asked to review the section to make sure it’s correct and that you’ve attached all the necessary additional information. Read through the representations, authorizations and certifications to make sure you understand them. When everything is in order and correct, you can sign and date the section.
In Section III, you’ll be asked to provide identifying information about your business entity again. This includes the business’s physical address, EIN or tax ID and every owner’s individual contact information.
There are just five questions in Section III dealing with your business entity’s eligibility for an SBA loan. These are point-blank questions about whether your business is barred from participating in federal funding, what other business affiliates your business has (such as DBAs), if your business has ever filed for bankruptcy, if your business has any other legal actions pending and if your business has any other federal loans. On the last question, you’ll need to answer whether or not you’re behind on payments on those federal loans as well.
Again, if you answer “yes” to these questions, you may be asked to provide further documentation or information.
As with the other sections, you should review the information you supplied and make sure it’s correct and complete. You should also review the certifications and make sure you agree. Check that you’ve attached all necessary documents or information, and then sign and date.
Once you’ve completed SBA Form 1919, you’ll print it out to sign and date each section. You’ll submit your completed SBA Form 1919 along with any other SBA forms and documents, including your application, to your lender. From there, they’ll review your documents and application and determine whether or not your loan is approved.
It’s a good idea to get a second set of eyes on the form before you submit it. As with any loan document, having your business accountant or loan adviser review your application can help ensure it’s correct.
Also, be prepared to answer any questions that your lender or the SBA may have about your loan, especially if you answered “yes” or “false” to any of the questions throughout SBA Form 1919.
If you’re looking for business funding, including applying for an SBA loan, Swoop can help. Regiter online, answer a few questions and find the right financing for your small business today.
Written by
As a B2B finance content specialist, Kat Cox's goal is to distill complicated financial issues into useful information for small business owners, to save them time they could be using to build their companies. Her work has been featured in Forbes and on financial health platform Nav.com. When she's not writing blogs, web copy, or fiction, Kat can be found walking her dog or singing karaoke in Austin, Texas.
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