I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1651 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish requirements for 7(a) agents, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2023 

Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself and Mr. MEUSER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish requirements 

for 7(a) agents, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business 7(a) 

5 Loan Agent Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR 7(a) AGENTS. 

7 (a) OFFICE OF CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT DU8 TIES.—Section 47(b) of the Small Business Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 657t(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period and 

4 inserting a semicolon; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) any 7(a) agent.’’. 

8 (b) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.— 

9 (1) OFFICE OF CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT.— 

10 Section 47(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 657t(e)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 7(a) agent’’ 

12 after ‘‘7(a) lender’’ each place such term appears. 

13 (2) LENDER OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.—Section 

14 48(c)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 657u(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘and any Lend16 ing Partner or Intermediary participant’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘, any 7(a) agent (as defined in section 47), or 

18 any Lending Partner or Intermediary participant’’. 

19 (c) REGISTRATION SYSTEM.—Section 47 of the Small 

20 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657t) is amended by adding at 

21 the end the following new subsections: 

22 ‘‘(j) REGISTRATION SYSTEM FOR 7(a) AGENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

24 a registration system for 7(a) agents that assigns a 

25 unique identifier to each 7(a) agent and collects data 


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1 necessary for the Director to submit the report re2 quired under paragraph (4). 

3 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A 7(a) agent shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) register in the system established 

5 under paragraph (1) before providing covered 

6 services to a lender or applicant; and 

7 ‘‘(B) effective 1 year after the date of the 

8 enactment of this subsection, submit an annual 

9 fee for such registration to the Director. 

10 ‘‘(3) DATABASE.—The Director shall establish 

11 and maintain an electronic database of the types of 

12 covered services provided by each 7(a) agent. 

13 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) 7(a) AGENT.—The term ‘7(a) agent’ 

15 means a person who provides covered services on be16 half of a lender or applicant. 

17 ‘‘(2) COVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘covered 

18 services’ means— 

19 ‘‘(A) assistance with completing an appli20 cation for a loan under section 7(a) (including 

21 preparing a business plan, cash flow projec22 tions, financial statements, and related docu23 ments); or 

24 ‘‘(B) consulting, broker, or referral services 

25 with respect to a loan under section 7(a).’’. 


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1 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend2 ments made by this Act shall take effect 6 months after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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