SBA 7(a) Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in California

The nation's top state, with a high cancellation floor

California holds the top rank, 1, for veterinary clinic loans under 7(a): 318 loans and $463.9 million from FY2017 to FY2026. Two measures separate this cell from clinics under both programs and from 7(a) clinics elsewhere. The median of $977,100 is 1.58x the figure clinic borrowers see in other states, with the central half from $352,500 to $2.1 million. And the cancellation floor is 16.0% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, 16.4% with undisbursed loans counted, so a meaningful share of approved clinics never closed. Franchise share is 0.00%.

Very low charge-offs

The loss record is the opposite. Among 159 loans disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021, 0.63% show as charged off to date, and none of the 159 had been charged off within five years, a printed 0.00%. Both are floors, but they are low, and they sit against a class rank in California of only 17 of 39.

Lenders and counties

Dwarfing the field, Live Oak Banking Company accounts for 87 loans and $200.9 million; the next names are Wells Fargo Bank National Association (30 loans and $38.8 million, PNC Bank, National Association (18, $39.7 million), Banc of California (16, $26.5 million) and, in fifth place, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association (14, $6.1 million)). As SBA reports it, each loan sits with its current holder. Los Angeles County has 69 loans, Orange 43, San Diego 29, San Bernardino 24 and Riverside 21.

Years

The strongest year was FY2021 with 49 loans and $89.8 million; FY2026 shows 26 loans and $26.9 million so far.

Testing a California clinic

A California clinic study should treat the project as a business purchase or a build-out of a sizeable facility, since typical loans are near a million dollars. It should test the client base and veterinary staffing in the specific county, the cost of the building or lease, equipment, and the seller's revenue history in an acquisition. The cancellation floor says deals fall through, so the study should show a closing path, and coverage should hold if the founding veterinarian's patients do not all stay after a sale. The appraisal should separate goodwill from real estate.