Today’s SBA, or small business administration, has new conditions and restrictions on loans. The American government is more excited than ever about supporting small businesses, but the money is also very tight. So you should know the three new rules that apply to loans.

1. Easy credit is no longer easy to obtain. Bank financing is restricted to the strongest, most proven businesses, and money is simply not flowing very quickly. Government bailout notwithstanding, the SBA simply doesn’t have a lot of money to play with.
2. New regulations protect borrowers and put banks at risk. Now, banks can be taken over by the government if they take foolish risks and get into trouble. If you look like one of those foolish risks, nobody is going to look at you twice.
3. Banks used to be relatively lax about their lending policies. States policies were fudged just enough when certain borrowers didn’t have great credit or collateral. No more. Now the banks are sticking to their lending policies like glue and there isn’t much room for leeway.

There are still small business loans being made, of course, but now they are only going to the most qualified applicants, so be sure that if you apply, you are one of them!