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Franchise · SBA lending record

CertaPro Painters: how 43 SBA-financed owners actually did

Painting and Wall Covering Contractors · 129 units financed with SBA 7(a) loans since 2010 · 63 lenders have funded this brand.

Defaults run at or below comparable brands

4 of 43 seasoned units charged off — 4.7%, against 5.3% for similar brands.

Units financed
129
SBA 7(a), 2010 onward
Old enough to judge
43
loans at least 7 years old
Defaulted
4
charged off within 7 years
Default rate
4.7%
comparable brands 5.3%
Typical loan
$240k
$50k–$733k

How this brand compares

share of loan dollars charged off within 7 years
CertaPro Painters
4.7%
Comparable brands, typical
5.3%
All SBA 7(a) loans
2.1%

Franchise disclosure documents are not required to tell you how many owners failed. This is computed from the federal record of every SBA loan made to this brand, so it is the outcome, not the pitch.

Source SBA 7(a) FOIA, franchise field Released 2026-06-30 Sample 43 loans at least 7 years old Method dollar-weighted, grouped by year approved

When owners got into trouble

share of failures by year
Year 2
17%
Year 3
17%
Year 4
17%
Year 6+
50%

Failures usually cluster once the opening cash is spent and the first rent increase lands. Plan working capital for that window, not for month one.

Who still lends on it

last two fiscal years
LenderUnits funded
Live Oak Banking Company6
TowneBank1
Customers Bank1
Port 51 Lending LLC1
ConnectOne Bank1

Fewer active lenders means less competition on your rate, and a harder time if the first bank declines.

Each year's owners, as they aged

cumulative % of loan dollars charged off

Not enough history yet to build a triangle.

Each row is one year's crop of new owners. Read across to watch them age; read down a column to compare different years at the same point in their life. Blank cells are simply too recent to know.

Before you sign anything

This page tells you how past owners fared with SBA debt. It does not tell you whether this brand suits you, what the territory looks like, or how the franchisor behaves. Ask for Item 19, talk to at least five current franchisees and two who left, and run your own numbers.

Check whether the numbers work → What the SBA Franchise Directory is →