SBA Form 4-L at a glance
What it is: SBA Form 4-L is the U.S. Small Business Administration application for a LowDoc loan.
Who signs: Under VI. Signature, sign and enter the Date. Enter your Print Name and Date, then sign in the Signature box and enter your Title. If Corporation, Attested By is the Signature of Corporate Secretary.
A filled-in SBA Form 4-L example: a bakery asks for a LowDoc loan
How to fill out SBA Form 4-L, box by box
A. BORROWER: business name, trade name, address and tax ID
Please print legibly or type. All blanks must be completed; use "N/A" if blank is not applicable.
Business Name - Legal name of the entity applying for SBALowDoc loan.
Trade Name - The operating name, if different from business name.
Nature of Business - Examples dairy farm, manufacture tires, wholesale shoes, retail toys, lawyer, etc. Date Business Established - The original date the business was started.
Address - Street address of business.
City, State, County, Zip - City, state, county and zip of the business.
Phone - Telephone number, including area code of the business.
IRS Tax ID # - The business employer I.D. number assigned by the IRS, or the owner's social security number.
Please do not use "Pending" on this line.
Number of employees, Business Bank and Checking Balance
Business Bank - Financial Institution business is currently using for checking and/or loans.
Checking Balance - Current amount business has in checking account.
Date Current Ownership Established - The date of the most recent change in ownership.
Number of employees - Number of full and part-time employees on payroll for each pay period for the last 12 months averaged by the number of pay periods.
After the Loan - Anticipated number of employees the business will employ within two years from the date of the loan.
B. LOAN REQUEST: amount, maturity and purpose
Total all SBA debt, including this application, and excluding disaster loans, cannot exceed $150,000 (checked November 11, 2026).
Amount - Total amount of loan requested by borrower.
Maturity - Number of months or years until loan is to be repaid.
Purpose - Briefly explain how the loan will be used.
C. INDEBTEDNESS: business debts
SECTION C: INDEBTEDNESS - Please provide the requested information on all business debts.
NO personal debts should be listed in these blocks unless said debts were used for business purposes.
Provide the number of scheduled payments in a 12-month period or other terms, if appropriate, to report "Pmt. Frequency".
D. PRINCIPALS: each principal of the business
D. PRINCIPALS: Submit all information in this section for each principal of the business. Use separate attachments for each principal.
Principal includes: 1) the owner of a sole proprietorship; 2) each partner of a partnership; 3) each officer, director, and holder of voting stock of a corporation or a limited liability company; 4) any other person, including a hired manager, who has authority to speak for and commit the borrower in the management of the business.
Account for 100 percent of ownership.
% Owned - The percentage ownership of each owner. (The total of all must equal 100 Percent).
Use separate sheet for each principal. D-5 Name - Full legal name.
Phone - Home telephone number including the area code.
Title - Position held in the business (i.e., President, Partner, etc.).
Address - Street, city, state, county, and zip of home address.
Date of Birth - Month, day, year.
Place of Birth - Where borrower was born, by city and state (or city and Foreign Country).
D3 PERSONAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT: principals with 20% or more ownership
D3 PERSONAL FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Complete for all principals with 20% or more ownership.
Non-owner officers and directors and officers owning less than 20 percent complete only parts 1, 4 and 5.
Liquid Assets - Include liquid assets such as checking, savings, money markets, certificate of deposits, bonds, stocks (publicly traded), cash value of life insurance, and marketable securities.
Do not include individual retirement accounts, and similar assets.
Real Estate - Market value of all real estate owned.
Liabilities Real Estate - Total of all debt/mortgages on real estate owned.
Other Liabilities - Total of all debt excluding real estate debt.
Net Worth - Difference between total assets, number 5, and total liabilities, number 8.
If Yes to any IV question and SBA Form 1261
I. Are you or your business involved in any pending lawsuits? Yes No If Yes, provide the details as Exhibit A. Do you or your spouse or any member of your household, or anyone who owns, manages, or directs your business or their spouses or members of their households work II. for the Small Business Administration, Small Business Advisory Council, SCORE or ACE, any Federal Agency, or the participating lender? Yes No If Yes, please provide the name and address of the person and the office where employed. Label this Exhibit B. Affiliates: Do you or the applicant business have any interest in any other business as owner, principal, partner or manager? III. Yes No If Yes, please provide details to Lender. IV. Are you: (a) presently under indictment, on parole or probation, Yes No or (b) have ever been charged with or arrested for any criminal offense other than a minor motor vehicle violation (including offenses which have been dismissed, discharged, or nolle prosequi) Yes No or (c) convicted, placed on pretrial diversion, or placed on any form of probation including adjudication withheld pending probation for any criminal offense other than a minor vehicle violation?
If Yes to any"IV" question, Lender must submit application to local SBA Office for processing under the regular 7(a) program.
I have received and read SBA Form 1261, STATEMENT REQUIRED BY LAW AND EXECUTIVE ORDER. V.
Eligibility and Disclosures: only one signature is allowed in this section; D-4 is Past or present SBA or Other Government Financing.
E. SIGNATURE: signing the application
Under VI. Signature, sign and enter the Date.
I authorize SBA/Lender to make inquiries as necessary to verify the accuracy of the statements made and to determine my creditworthiness. I agree that if SBA approves this loan application I will not, for at least two years, hire as an employee or consultant anyone that was employed by the SBA during the one year period prior to the disbursement of the loan. And, I hereby certify that: (1) as consideration for any Management, Technical, and Business Development Assistance that may be provided, I waive all claims against SBA and its consultants, (2) all information contained in this document and any attachments is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
If you knowingly make a false statement or overvalue a security to obtain a guaranteed loan from SBA you can be fined up to $10,000 and/or imprisoned for not more than five years under 18 U.S.C.1001; if submitted to a Federally insured institution, under 18 USC 1014 by Imprisonment of not more than twenty years and/or a fine of not more than $1,000,000 (checked November 11, 2026).
More rules for SBA Form 4-L
The following directions provide assistance in completing the SBALowDoc application.
Please type or print legibly.
SBALowDoc uses a credit scoring system, thus ALL application entries must be completed or use "N/A" if blank does not apply.
If necessary, use separate sheets of paper for additional answers to each section.
If your situation is different
You are the lender
Name of Lender - Financial Institution.
Lender's Address - Address of Financial Institution **IMPORTANT** Must be street address, all loans documents are shipped FEDEX.
FEDEX will not deliver to a Post Office Box.
SBA Guarantee % - Percentage of SBA Guarantee, maximum 80 percent.
Common questions about SBA Form 4-L
Where do I file it?
Submit the completed application to the lender of choice.
Sources
[1] SBA Form 4-L (3-00), Application for LowDoc Loan, U.S. Small Business Administration (the Official source link on this page).
