Get a Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan
Reviewed for legal accuracy on April 16, 2026
Read this if a disaster caused you to suffer losses to your home, personal property, businesses (including nonprofits and associations), business income, or farm. You may apply for a SBA Disaster Loan if you are renter, leaseholder or an owner.
Contents
1. Basics
What are Small Business Administration Disaster Loans?
Disaster loans are the main way homeowners and small businesses get aid to repair or replace property that insurance or other aid didn’t cover entirely. Despite being from the Small Business Administration, these loans can be for businesses of any size.
Often, homeowners and renters will use aid from both the FEMA programs and the SBA Disaster Loan assistance program.
Farmers, ranchers and agriculturally impacted communities might have special aid available to them after a disaster from the USDA. Learn more about USDA Disaster Aid.
Do I have to own a small business to get a Small Business Administration Disaster Loan?
No. You don’t have to be a small business owner to apply for an SBA Disaster Loan. The SBA Disaster Assistance program also includes Disaster Loans for homes and personal property.
The U.S. Small Business Administration and FEMA both provide aid after a disaster. Their programs are connected and share data to make sure you aren’t given duplicate benefits. Even though the Small Business Administration runs the program, the Disaster Loan program does help disaster survivors who don’t own businesses but still need recovery loans. This program helps individuals, families, communities, nonprofits, associations (like neighborhood associations), farms, ranches, and business owners (for businesses of all sizes).
Do I have to apply for an SBA Disaster Loan before I can apply for other FEMA Disaster assistance?
No. You don’t need to apply for an SBA Disaster Loan before being able to apply for some types of FEMA Disaster assistance.
But, the different kinds of FEMA and SBA Disaster aid are connected. So, depending on the type of assistance of program, eligibility and benefits related to one program could affect another program’s eligibility or determinations. You will be required to apply for an SBA Disaster Loan before being able to qualify for certain kinds of FEMA aid.
If you apply for an SBA Disaster Loan and don’t accept the loan, then certain other FEMA assistance could no longer be available to you. If you apply for an SBA Disaster Loan and are denied, then certain special additional FEMA aid could become available to you.
I applied for FEMA Disaster Assistance and got referred to the Small Business Administration, what do I do?
This means you may not qualify for other types of FEMA Disaster Assistance unless you apply for the SBA Disaster Loans and are denied. You should apply for the SBA Disaster Loans if you think it is right for your situation or if you want to proceed with trying to get other FEMA Disaster assistance. For some types of FEMA Disaster aid, you must be denied an SBA Disaster Loan before you can qualify to get FEMA assistance.