Desktop review · SBA 7(a) and 504

SBA Records Search with Risk Assessment

The records review SBA requires, with the Environmental Questionnaire, for most commercial real estate loans over $250,000. No site visit is needed. Standard delivery is three business days.

Order an RSRA Which report do I need?

Fees and timing

SBA SOP 50 10 8.1

Standard$550*3 business daysRush+$25024–48 hours

*From. Lender and CDC price for one property, standard SBA scope. Business days and rush hours exclude weekends and holidays. Turnaround is counted from the business day the order is paid and scope is confirmed. Orders received after 5 pm Pacific count from the next business day.

Reliance: Lender, CDC and SBA
Site visit: Not required
Coverage: All 50 states
Payment: Card, borrower link, or invoice for lenders and CDCs

Order an RSRA

Service details

Three business days

Or 24 to 48 hours with rush. Business days exclude weekends and holidays.

Same-day questionnaire check

We check the Environmental Questionnaire the day it arrives, including the owner or operator signature, the date and the 18 U.S.C. 1001 statement, and flag anything missing that day.

One-page lender summary

The risk rating, the reasons for it and the next step SBA requires, on the first page.

Phase I fee credit

Within 75 miles of Santa Cruz, if the RSRA result is elevated, its fee is credited toward the Phase I.

Direct contact

Questions go to Cary. Calls are returned the same business day, or you can book a time.

Not sure which report?

The screener shows whether you need the questionnaire, an RSRA or a Phase I.

Open the screener

How ordering works

1
Order online
Property, loan and lender details, the questionnaire and payment.
2
Checked the same day
If the questionnaire is missing anything, you hear from us that day, not at delivery.
3
Signed in three business days
One-page lender summary up front, with every source attached.

What's included

Each RSRA includes the following.

What an RSRA is not

An RSRA is not a Phase I ESA. It includes no site visit, and it doesn't by itself establish CERCLA landowner liability protections.

Government records search

The records listed in 40 CFR 312.26, for the property, adjoining properties and nearby properties, with the distance, direction, gradient and status of each listing. The full database report is attached.

Historical review

Aerial photographs, city and reverse directories, fire insurance maps and topographic maps for the property and adjoining properties, back to first developed use or 1940, whichever is earlier. Each source is attached, and any data gaps are noted.

Questionnaire review

A review of the Environmental Questionnaire, completed or reviewed by the lender after a site visit and signed by the current owner or operator. If the owner or operator won't sign it, SBA's minimum becomes a Transaction Screen, not an RSRA.

Risk rating

Low Risk or Elevated Risk. Elevated Risk covers SBA's “elevated risk” and “high risk.” With any result other than Low Risk, SBA requires the lender to obtain a Phase I ESA.

Named Environmental Professional

Signed by Cary Geare, an Environmental Professional under 40 CFR 312.10(b). As SBA requires, we are impartial, with no tie to the borrower, seller or operator, and carry at least $1,000,000 per claim in errors and omissions coverage.

One property per RSRA

One RSRA covers one property: one site where all the parcels touch, so one records search and one set of adjoining properties cover it. Up to three touching parcels with the same use are priced as one. Parcels that do not touch need their own RSRA. SBA requires a review of all commercial real estate offered as collateral (SOP 50 10 8.1, Para. E), so other collateral at another location needs its own RSRA too. On sites with several parcels, we confirm scope before any charge.

Reliance

SBA says an RSRA need not be addressed to SBA or accompanied by a reliance letter (SOP 50 10 8.1, Appendix 4). The report includes a reliance paragraph naming your lender, the CDC for 504 loans, and SBA.

Illustration of a fire insurance map: a filling station with underground tanks, an auto repair shop and a dry cleaner among houses.

Historical review

We review historical sources for the property and adjoining properties back to first development or 1940, looking for past uses such as gas stations, auto repair and dry cleaners.

Fire insurance maps

Building footprints, uses and tanks, block by block.

Aerial photographs

What stood on the land, decade by decade.

City and reverse directories

Who occupied each address, and when.

Topographic maps

Early development, fill and drainage.

What you receive

A signed report with a one-page lender summary up front and every source attached. The summary is also sent as the delivery email. SBA requires the report to be dated within one year of the date the SBA loan number is issued.

Full report contents

One-page lender summary: the risk call, the reasons and the next step
Property description
Scope and limitations under SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, with a reliance paragraph for the lender, CDC and SBA
Database review: subject, adjoining and nearby listings
Historical review, with any data gaps
Questionnaire review
The named Environmental Professional's qualifications statement and signature
Appendices: the full database report and every historical source relied on

Page 1 · Lender summarySample

Risk ratingLow Risk

Next step

The questionnaire also shows no further investigation is warranted. Keep this report and the questionnaire in the loan file (SOP 50 10 8.1, Para. E).

Former service station (LUST, case closed)

0.18 mi E · Cross-gradient

Not a concern

Dry cleaner (RCRA SQG, no violations)

0.21 mi W · Downgradient

Not a concern

Auto repair (1962 city directory)

Adjoining S · Downgradient

Not a concern

Illustrative excerpt. Listings and opinions differ on every property.

When the answer is a Phase I

If the result is Elevated Risk

SBA then requires the lender to obtain a Phase I ESA. A Transaction Screen does not meet this. Within 75 miles of Santa Cruz, including the Bay Area and Santa Clara County, we perform it, credit the RSRA fee and reuse the records already pulled. Farther out, we'll arrange a local site visit or refer you to a qualified Environmental Professional.

Fee credit within 75 miles of Santa Cruz

When you need a Phase I instead

If a current or known past use of the property is on SBA's list of environmentally sensitive industries, or the property sells fuel, SBA requires a Phase I ESA whatever the loan size. A current or past on-site dry cleaner needs a Phase I followed by a Phase II. For example:

Fuel salesAuto repairDry cleaningManufacturing or plating

Request a Phase I quote

Bank-policy desktop reviews

If your bank's policy calls for a desktop review, database report review or Transaction Screen, send us the scope and we'll quote it. On an SBA loan, a bank desktop review adds to SBA's minimum. It does not replace the questionnaire and RSRA.

Send us the scope

Order an RSRA

Three business days, or 24 to 48 hours with rush.

Order an RSRA Request a quote