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Can I Sell My House with an SBA Lien?

In general, you will need permission to sell your home if the SBA lender placed a lien when you took out your SBA loan. There are many circumstances under which you may need to sell a home with an SBA lien on it. Here are a few:

I am changing jobs and must move out of state and buy another home.

If you are not in default of your SBA loan, then you should talk to your SBA Lender about “Substitution of Collateral” and “Replacement Liens”. In certain circumstances, the SBA Lender may be willing to allow you to essentially swap collateral if, in doing so, its rights are not adversely affected. In some cases, the replacement property may, in fact, have more equity making the arrangement even more attractive to the SBA Lender.

Another common scenario is the need to sell a rental property which is simply not making money and provide the SBA Lender with a lien on another property you own that was not previously pledged as collateral. Again, if this arrangement will not adversely affect the SBA Lender, they may allow you to do so and thereby permit you to liquidate non-performing investment property in order to use the capital more effectively elsewhere.

I will lose my house to foreclosure if I don’t sell it, but there is not enough money to pay off my mortgage and the SBA.

Under certain circumstances, the SBA Lender may be willing to accept a short sale if not doing so would likely result in a worse recovery or perhaps no recovery at all. If you are in this position, be sure you determine what it will take to payoff all tax liens and prior mortgages on your home, then approach the SBA Lender with the best offer you can obtain for the property and an appraisal of the property. In many cases, if the deal makes economic sense, the SBA and the SBA Lender will agree to it.

I want to buy a new home. Will the SBA allow me to substitute the lien on my old residence for a new one?

Yes, it is possible, but the SBA does not have to do so. SBA guidelines do allow a Guarantor to substitute a lien on a new residence in exchange for releasing the lien on the Guarantor’s existing residence. However, at a minimum, the following conditions must be satisfied:

A. All of the proceeds from the sale of the Guarantor’s existing residence, other than the funds needed to pay off senior liens and necessary, reasonable and customary closing costs, must be used to purchase the new residence, placed in an escrow account to facilitate the purchase of a new residence, or used to pay down the SBA Loan;

B. The amount of equity in the new residence available to secure the SBA loan must be the same as or greater than the amount of equity in the existing residence available to secure the SBA loan;

C. The release of the existing lien, or proceeds thereof, must be concurrent with the recording of the new lien in the required position of priority and should be done pursuant to an escrow agreement signed by all of the parties involved in the transaction; and

D. Guarantor must provide the title, hazard and flood insurance.

If you would like more information on this subject, you may contact the Perliski Law Group at (214) 446-3934 for a free initial consultation.