SBA Guide Information

The US Small Business Administration is an independent body entrusted to oversee the interests of various small business entities by providing them with timely assistance in the form of counseling or loans. The SBA performs a dual function by encouraging the competitiveness of an economy driven market as well as by strengthening the economy of the nation.

The best way of conducting a background check on an individual or a small business enterprise is to approach the FOI/PA offices of the SBA which normally handles all the appellate functions together with the initial requests for the small business administration. The freedom of information and privacy act divisions are also responsible for formulating the various laws and procedures for obtaining records of individuals registered with the SBA.

Going through the SBA records is invaluable while taking a business decision specially if you are keen to purchase a small business enterprise. The economic viability of the project as well as the financial liabilities of the concerned company will help you to determine the credibility of the seller.

Requesting Records

You are free to request any record pertaining to small business enterprises as well as the individuals running them under the freedom of information act. The request for access to your own records should ideally be made stating both the FOI as well as the privacy act of the Federal government. The information that can be retrieved from these records contains:

-Details of the business organization including their physical addresses
-The operating procedure of the agencies
-Regulations as well as forms normally used while conducting the business
-Policy statements that were not published in the Federal Register
Trade secrets are considered to be confidential business information and are normally exempt from being disclosed by the FOI

Information Needed for Obtaining Records

You are required to be specific when requesting for a particular SBA record. Identification of the record by stating the date and title along with other relevant information can be included within the request in order to retrieve the information in the shortest possible time.  You also need to take note of a SBI guide required to obtain a particular type of record. It is mandatory to include a letter stating your concurrence in paying the requisite fees for searching and copying of documents as well. Your own contact details as well as the desired format for receiving the SBA records needs to be mentioned while making the request too.

An online request for records can also be made by accessing the SBA resource at http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/foia/submitarequest/FOIA_SUBMIT_ONLINE_http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/REQUEST.html . A duly filled out request form needs to be submitted to the SBA by mailing it to Chief, Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Office, Small Business Administration, 409 3rd St., S.W., 8th floor,  Washington, DC 20416. It is also possible to submit the form via e-mail at foia@sba.gov or by facsimile at (202) 205-7059.

A lot of SBA information is available on the Internet for free as well. You can check out the details by accessing the website at http://www.sba.gov/localresources/http://www.peoplepublicrecords.org/index.html or http://www.sba.gov/.