General Inquiries
Yes.
We provide nationwide financing to both food and non-food franchises of all sizes.
Yes, we lend to both franchise and independent restaurants.
Gulf Coast has earned nationwide SBA Preferred Lender accreditation. Often referred to as “PLP” (preferred lenders program), lenders that earn this status have been granted delegated authority to underwrite, process, and close SBA-guaranteed loans on behalf of the SBA. This means that we are dedicated to serving small businesses and are recognized as specialists in SBA lending and our borrowers benefit from a much quicker overall process. Working with Gulf Coast on your SBA transaction will be (approximately) 3-4 weeks faster than if you worked with a non-PLP lender.
Either method is perfectly acceptable. It depends solely on your preference. We deal directly with many borrowers but also work with many referral sources as well.
Quite often the lines between owners/individuals and their business are blurred. We will always consider personal credit histories as one factor in assessing the character of business owners. Additionally, personal credit provides important insight into the personal income requirements of business operators which, in turn, helps us understand the business cash flow that is available to pay the proposed debt.
Yes! Gulf Coast thanks you for your service and to demonstrate our support we are pleased to offer veterans a special enhancement to our standard SBA loan program. We are committed to assisting veterans by providing SBA loans to acquire, start, and/or grow your veteran-owned business. For qualified veteran-owned businesses, Gulf Coast will waive the packaging fee, (up to) $2,500 for your SBA loan.
To qualify for this program as a veteran-owned business you must document that your business is at least 51% -owned and controlled by an individual(s) meeting at least one of the following criteria: Honorably discharged veteran | Active-duty military service member eligible for the military’s Transition Assistance Program (TAP) | Service-disabled veteran | Reservist and/or active National Guard member | Current spouse of any veteran, active-duty service member, Reservist, National Guard member, or the widowed spouse of a service member who died while in service or as a result of a service-connected disability.
“Down payments” (also known as “equity injection”) can be as little as 10% of your project costs. Please contact us for a loan prequalification wherein we can review the details of your loan request and determine the down payment requirement for your proposed transaction.
For loans with terms of up to 15 years, there is no prepayment penalty.
For loans 15 years or longer, the prepayment penalty is 5% the 1st year, 3% the 2nd year and 1% the 3rd year. After the first 3 years, there is no prepayment penalty.
As with any commercial loan, borrowers are responsible for all related expenses, packaging fee, legal, title insurance, appraisal, credit reports, environmental studies, and other standard closing costs, as applicable. Many of the costs and fees are conveniently rolled into the loan and, therefore, do not require you to pay for them out-of-pocket. For SBA loans, an SBA guaranty fee may be applicable. During your loan prequalification we will be happy to provide an estimate of the costs and fees for your contemplated transaction.
If a loan is not fully secured by collateral that could be liquidated to repay the loan, Gulf Coast and SBA (if applicable) may require life insurance in an amount equal to a portion of the loan. In addition, if a business is wholly dependent on the health of a particular individual owner, and there is no plan in place for succession if that owner should pass away, life insurance may be required on that owner. We strongly recommend that you speak with your trusted advisors about this issue as we often find that life insurance is a good idea in these situations whether we require it or not.
Some of the information we will need to review is as follows:
- Personal resume and background information for the business owners;
- Personal and business tax returns for at least 3 years and interim financial statements for the business that are no more than 90 days old;
- Business debt schedule
- Personal financial statements;
- Information about your personal credit score and a detailed explanation for any derogatory items;
- Business license and entity formation documents (such as Articles of Incorporation);
- Business history with details about your borrowing need and how you will plan to use the loan proceeds.
Based upon your unique situation, additional information may be required. Please contact us for a more comprehensive overview.
No, you do not need to be a U.S. Citizen to apply; however, you must have legal residency status.
No, you need not be a current customer and we won’t require you to move your banking relationship to apply for (or receive) a loan from Gulf Coast. We encourage you to retain and maintain your current bank relationship if that is your preference. Of course, we would be happy to assist if you are seeking new or additional banking relationship or services.
We understand your need to receive a timely and decisive response regarding your loan request. In fact, we pride ourselves on our quick turnaround times. In most cases, you will have a credit decision within 7-10 days of submitting a completed loan package.
Please understand that borrowers can help speed up the overall process by being highly responsive, responding to questions as quickly as possible, and submitting all requested documentation. Failure to do so will result in a much slower process. We need everything that we ask for and if you don’t understand the need or the request, please talk with us. We will be happy to explain!
Currently, we do not have an online application available. SBA (and commercial) loans are difficult to standardize because of the wide variation in business models and information that must be considered in the underwriting process. For now, we believe the personalized approach allows for more flexibility to customize the experience to your unique needs.
Once your loan is approved it typically closes within 30-60 days. Note that construction loans take longer due to the need for permitting and contractor bids.
Please understand that borrowers can help speed up the overall process by being highly responsive, responding to questions as quickly as possible, and submitting all requested documentation. Failure to do so will result in a much slower process. We need everything that we ask for and if you don’t understand the need or the request, please talk with us. We will be happy to explain!
We recommend that you complete our Contact Us form. We are highly experienced in lending and will help you navigate the process from start to finish. We will help you assess the best options, detail the requirements, answer any questions you might have, and can also facilitate a loan prequalification if you are interested in a quick, high-level evaluation.
We love referrals and are pleased to hear that you would like to refer a loan to us! We consider a referral to be the highest form of compliment and we carefully nurture our referral source relationships. For this reason, we routinely work with many referral sources across the U.S. and gladly pay referral fees through our Referral Fee Program. To get started, please contact us. We provide formal fee agreements to our referral sources. Note that some restrictions apply. Referral fees are paid for closed SBA Guaranteed Loans and qualifying conventional loans. See lender for complete details about our Referral Fee Program.
Gulf Coast Franchise Finance is a division of Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co. You can learn more about Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co. by visiting www.GulfBank.com.
Please visit https://www.gulfbank.com/careers. Our parent bank, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co., is growing and we are always looking for energetic employees who share our passion for serving our customers and our communities. Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co. is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.
GCFF Current
and Existing Borrowers
Please review these FAQs as many of the most common questions are addressed. If you have additional questions, please contact:
SBA Loan Servicing Department
Phone: (972) 685-6680
Mailing address: 1505 LBJ Freeway, Suite 350, Farmers Branch, TX 75234
Email: SBAloans@gulfbank.com
Please do not email personal or financial information as email is not a secure method of transmitting sensitive information. Instead, please contact us for a secure file upload link.
Statements are mailed out monthly. Please contact us to confirm your mailing address. If you prefer, we can send your statements via email. To set this up, please complete the Paperless Statement Authorization form.
The year-end interest statements are mailed out annually before January 31st. If you have not received your interest statement by mid-February, please contact us so we can re-send.
Although all collateral securing your loan is required to be held for the life of the loan, please contact us for further details if you have an extenuating circumstance.
If your interest rate has changed it is because your loan carries a variable rate which is (in most circumstances) tied to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Prime Rate plus a spread (for example, WSJ Prime Rate + 2.75%). Therefore, if the WSJ rate increases or decreases your interest rate will change accordingly. If you have additional questions or need specific details about your interest rate, please contact us.
