Terms of use
Last updated August 17, 2026
The short version
- Everything here is education and process documentation, never advice about your specific deal.
- The figures come from a public federal file and the tools reflect our reading of the rules. Both can be wrong. Verify before you sign.
- Quote us, cite us, screenshot us. Please link back, and please do not pass our work off as yours.
- Found an error in our data? Tell us and we will fix it and log it.
The site
The Closing Binder is a free publication operated by Ground Plane Studio, LLC, a California limited liability company. By using the site you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the site. Questions go to hello@theclosingbinder.com.
Not financial, legal, or tax advice
Everything on the site is process documentation and education. Nothing here is individualized financial, legal, tax, or investment advice, and nothing here creates an advisory relationship. We are not your broker, lender, attorney, or accountant. An SBA acquisition is a large, leveraged transaction: engage your own advisers before acting on anything you read here.
The data and the tools
Loan figures on the site are computed from the SBA 7(a) FOIA data file, a public federal dataset, and each figure carries its cohort and as-of date. The calculators implement our reading of current SBA rules. Both are offered as-is: the dataset contains errors at the source, rules change between our updates, and our computations can contain mistakes. Verify anything material against primary sources before relying on it.
Lender information and corrections
The lender directory, the state pages, and the outcome tables report figures computed from the federal loan file. They are statements of what that public record shows for a given cohort, not our characterization of any institution, and they carry their sample size and as-of date so anyone can check them. If you represent a lender and believe a figure is wrong, write to hello@theclosingbinder.com with the specifics. We will check it against the file, correct it if it is wrong, and say so.
Content, data, and reuse
The underlying federal data is a public record and belongs to no one. Our writing, analysis, tables, charts, and code are ours. You may quote short passages and reproduce individual figures or a chart with attribution and a link back to the page you took it from. Do not republish substantial portions of the site, present our analysis as your own, or scrape the site in a way that burdens it.
Links to other sites
The site links to lender websites, government sources, brokers, and business listings that we neither control nor endorse. A lender appearing in our tables is a fact about the loan file, not a recommendation, and a business appearing in our deal write-ups is an illustration of how we would analyze it, not an offer, a solicitation, or a suggestion that you buy it. We have no relationship with the parties to any listing we discuss, and listings change or disappear without notice.
No warranty, limited liability
The site is provided as-is and as-available, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Ground Plane Studio, LLC is not liable for any loss arising from use of the site, including decisions made in reliance on its content or tools.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any dispute arising from the site or these terms belongs in the state or federal courts located in California, and you agree to that venue.
Changes and the rest
We may update these terms as the site grows. The date at the top reflects the current version, and continued use after a change is acceptance of it. If any part of these terms is unenforceable, the rest still stands. These terms, together with the privacy policy and the disclosure, are the whole agreement between us about the site.