What to tell your business loan broker upfront

Tell your broker everything a lender will find: every loan and cash advance with its balance, any tax liens or judgments, past defaults, every owner and their percentage, pending lawsuits, and how your revenue moves through the year. Say it on the first call, before your file goes anywhere. A broker can place almost any honest file with the right lender. What kills deals is a lender finding something the broker did not know.

Why surprises kill deals

Lenders check. They pull personal credit, search UCC filings and tax liens, read every line of your bank statements, and on SBA loans, ask you to sign forms under penalty of law. When an underwriter finds an undisclosed advance or lien, two things happen. The file now has a problem, and the underwriter starts wondering what else is missing. Trust is hard to rebuild mid file, and many lenders simply decline.

The data shows how often these issues come up. The Federal Reserve's 2025 Small Business Credit Survey found that among applicants who were not approved for at least some of what they sought, 46% were told lender requirements were too strict, 37% were told they had too much debt already, and 30% were told their credit score was too low. Each of those is something your broker could have planned around if they knew in advance: a lender with looser requirements, a consolidation first, or a product that weighs revenue over credit.

The full disclosure list

The items owners most often leave out

Cash advances and small loans

Owners often forget an advance that is nearly paid off, or a small online loan taken last spring. The lender will not forget. The debits are on your bank statements, and many funders file UCC liens. Taking a new advance on top of an existing one without telling the new funder is called stacking, and many advance contracts treat it as a default. Read loan stacking and why to avoid it. A broker who knows about an open advance can look at refinancing it into the new deal instead.

Tax liens

The IRS files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien as a public document, and it says the lien attaches to all business property and rights to business property, including accounts receivable. The IRS also notes the filing may limit your ability to get credit. That does not end your options. Many lenders will fund with a lien in place if you are on a payment plan and current, and some will pay it off at closing. The IRS releases the lien within 30 days after the debt is paid, so if you are close to paying it off, tell your broker the date.

Ownership

Brokers need to know every owner and their exact percentage. On SBA loans, Form 1919 asks for every person or entity owning 20% or more, and it asks for the natural persons behind any entity owner. Lenders generally want guarantees from owners at that level. A silent partner with 25% who will not sign a guarantee is a deal issue. Better to know it on day one.

Legal actions and federal debt

SBA Form 1919 asks yes or no questions that apply to any SBA loan and are good prompts for any loan. It asks whether the business, an owner or an affiliate has ever defaulted on or been delinquent on a federal direct or guaranteed loan. It asks whether any owner is incarcerated, on probation or parole, or under indictment for a felony or a financial crime, and a yes makes the business ineligible for SBA assistance. It asks about any legal action, and names divorce specifically. If any answer is yes, your broker needs to know before choosing between an SBA lender and a conventional one.

How to say it

You do not need a speech. A short, factual note is best. For example:

Before you submit anywhere, three things you should know. We have an open advance with about $18,000 left, paid at $410 a day, finishing in early January. We are on an IRS installment plan for 2023 payroll taxes, $1,200 a month, current since March, with a lien filed. And my business partner owns 30% and will sign a guarantee.

That paragraph tells the broker exactly which lenders to skip and which to call first. Send it by email after the call so it is on record. How to communicate with your business loan broker has a full kickoff email that includes a spot for these items.

Seasonality is a disclosure too

Seasonality is not a problem, but an unexplained dip looks like one. A landscaping company with $90,000 deposits in June and $14,000 in January will be read as shrinking if the underwriter only sees the last three months. Give your broker twelve months of deposits by month and a sentence on the pattern. A broker can then time the submission, pick a lender that underwrites on annual revenue, or recommend a line of credit sized to the trough.

What your broker does with it

A professional broker uses your disclosures to:

• Rule out lenders whose credit box you do not fit, so you avoid hard pulls that go nowhere
• Pick lenders known to accept your situation, such as liens on a payment plan
• Write a short explanation that goes with your file, in the lender's language
• Structure the deal, for example paying off an advance or lien at closing
• Set realistic expectations on amount, rate and timing

All of this happens before submission. None of it can happen after an underwriter finds the issue first.

What a broker should not ask you to do

A broker should never ask you to leave something off an application, understate debt or describe an owner's share differently from your documents. Misstatements on a loan application create real legal exposure for you, and on SBA forms the certification is made under penalty of law. If a broker suggests hiding something, that is a specific behaviour worth walking away from. Every entry on the register carries a register number and last checked date, so check a broker's standing before you share your file.

Find a broker who can place your file

Some brokers specialise in files with liens, open advances or past credit trouble. Use the match form, list your disclosures in the notes, and you will be matched with brokers who place deals like yours.