Small Business Loans in Texas: Three Checks Before You Sign

Before the checks: why are you borrowing?

You are in good company if the answer is “to keep the lights on” or “to grow.” In the Federal Reserve Banks’ 2025 Small Business Credit Survey of employer firms, 60% of firms applied for financing in the prior 12 months, and the most common reasons were to meet operating expenses (56%) or to pursue an expansion or new opportunity (46%). The survey also found that 42% of applicants received the full amount they sought, 36% received some or most, and 22% received none. Those figures come from a survey sample of employer firms, not every business, and say nothing about your odds with any particular lender.

Still, they make a useful point: plan for the possibility of getting less than you asked for. Write down the smallest amount that would still do the job, what you would cut if you got only that, and how you expect the money to pay for itself. Then run the three checks.

Check 1: Look up sales-based financing providers with the OCCC

Texas has a specific registration rule for one kind of business financing. The Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner says commercial sales-based financing under Chapter 398 of the Texas Finance Code is repaid as a percentage of a business’s sales or revenue, or through payments periodically adjusted based on sales or revenue, so payment amounts may rise or fall with sales. According to the OCCC, providers and brokers of it register with the OCCC, and from September 1, 2026, registration applications go through NMLS.

Is your offer sales-based?

Read how the payment is set. If it is the same amount on a set schedule no matter what you sell, it looks like a fixed-payment product. If it moves with your sales or revenue, or gets adjusted based on them from time to time, ask the provider directly whether it treats the deal as commercial sales-based financing under Chapter 398.

Here is an illustrative example of the difference, using made-up figures that are not a real offer:

A payment that shrinks in a slow week can feel easier, but the weekly number alone tells you nothing about the total you will repay or how long payments will last. Ask for both in writing.

How to do the lookup

1. Ask the provider, and any broker you are working with, for the exact legal name it is registered under.
2. Search that name in the OCCC licensee search on the OCCC website.
3. If you cannot find it, ask the company to explain its registration status in writing.
4. For questions about what registration does or does not mean for your deal, contact the OCCC or an attorney.

Check 2: Search UCC filings at the Texas Secretary of State

The Texas Secretary of State explains that the Uniform Commercial Code lets a creditor, typically a financial institution or lender, notify other creditors about a debtor’s assets used as collateral by filing a public notice called a financing statement. It also says its office is the central filing office for financing statements in Texas.

Because these filings exist so that other creditors can find them, it makes sense to look before you apply. Search your business’s exact legal name, and any names it has used, and note who filed, when, and what each record says. If you find a filing you do not recognize, or one tied to a debt you have paid off, ask the filer about it before you apply. Then, for any new offer, ask the lender:

• Will you file a UCC financing statement on this deal?
• What collateral will it describe?
• Does any lender already on file need to be told about, or agree to, this financing?

For more on reading what you find, see our guide to what a UCC filing is.

Check 3: Compare Texas offers on the same lines

Line up every offer you receive on the same lines before you look at anything else:

Not every offer will lay these numbers out for you, so you may need to ask for some of them in writing. Our Florida guide walks through the six items that, according to the Florida Statutes, Florida’s Commercial Financing Disclosure Law asks covered providers to put in writing. The same questions work well as a checklist in any state.

What about SBA loans in Texas?

Many Texas owners also look at SBA 7(a) loans. The SBA says 7(a) borrowers apply through a local lender and always work directly with that lender, not with the SBA, and that the documents needed vary with the size of the loan and the lender’s processing method. SBA loans are not among the products States Funding lists. Our guide to SBA loan requirements covers eligibility if you want to explore that path in parallel.

Where States Funding fits for Texas businesses

States Funding is not a lender. It runs a platform that matches U.S. small and medium businesses with funding offers from independent third-party lenders, who originate and service the financing and decide approval, rates and terms. Offers through its lender network cover business lines of credit, small business term loans, revenue-based financing, invoice financing and non-dilutive capital. If an offer you receive is sales-based, Check 1 still applies to the lender behind it.

It costs $0 to apply, with no obligation to accept an offer. Lender fees on an offer you accept are separate, so put them in your Check 3 comparison too. Any offer you qualify for is shown side by side with full term details, total payback and effective APR, which covers several lines of the Check 3 table, and every owner is paired with a real advisor who explains the trade-offs. The FAQ lists $10K or more in monthly revenue, 6 or more months operating and a 500+ FICO score as a typical floor for its small business loan and revenue-based financing products. That is a floor, not approval criteria. States Funding does not guarantee that an application leads to an offer or that funding closes within any timeframe, and it does not give financial, legal or tax advice. Offers are non-binding until you e-sign a funding agreement directly with the lender, and that agreement governs the loan, fees and repayment. The actual lender written terms govern. Learn how States Funding works, then apply once your three checks are done.

This guide is general information for U.S. business owners, not financial, legal or tax advice. States Funding is not a lender. Loans, advances and other financing products are originated and serviced by independent partner lenders, and States Funding does not guarantee that any application will result in an offer. Any examples are illustrative. The actual lender written terms govern any offer you receive.