Reviewed by Craig Hoebing, AZ Commercial Mortgage Banker CMB-1047342 · Updated October 2026
B&I is a rural business program, not a Phoenix infill mortgage with a different label. USDA Rural Development describes eligible areas through its own eligibility maps. A site that feels rural to the sponsor can still sit inside an ineligible census tract. The map is checked before anyone talks about proceeds. USDA describes the program on its Business & Industry Loan Guarantees page at rd.usda.gov.
The borrower is usually the operating company or a related real-estate holding company that the operating company uses. Owner occupancy matters. A landlord assembling a multi-tenant investment property in a rural town is a different request from a manufacturer, a clinic, or a distributor that occupies the building. Investment property that belongs in a life company or bank conversation should stay there.
Capital Market Funds arranges financing from Scottsdale under Arizona CMB-1047342 and NMLS 1445066. It is not a USDA-approved lender by virtue of this page, and it does not claim an office outside Arizona. The approved lender is the one that applies for the guarantee and closes the loan.
What the guarantee does and does not do
USDA's guarantee covers a portion of the lender's loss if the loan defaults, subject to the program's rules and the lender's own underwriting. It is not a grant, not a check written to the borrower at application, and not a promise that every rural business will be approved. The lender still has to want the credit.
Guarantee percentages, maximum loan sizes, and eligible uses are set in USDA's regulations and notices, and they change. This page does not reprint a percentage or a dollar cap, because a stale cap would read like a quote. The lender and the state Rural Development office confirm the current notice against the file.
Uses that sponsors commonly bring are the building they operate from, machinery tied to that facility, and refinancing of eligible debt when the program and the lender both allow it. Speculative land development is not this program and is not a product on this site.
How an arranger fits next to the approved lender
The practical sequence is eligibility of the address, a lender willing to use its B&I authority, and a file the lender can send to USDA. Capital Market Funds can help a sponsor see whether the request even belongs in that sequence, and can work with an approved lender when one is the right capital source. We do not skip the lender and 'send it to USDA' ourselves.
Compare B&I with SBA 504 when the business occupies the real estate but the address may not be rural. 504 is a bank first mortgage plus a CDC debenture, made by an SBA lender and a certified development company. Capital Market Funds is neither. A conventional bank loan can also be the better path when the guarantee's fees and process do not buy anything the bank needed.
Timing follows the lender's credit process plus USDA's review. It is not a two-week bridge. Sponsors with a hard purchase date should say so at the first call, because a guarantee that cannot be issued in time is not a financing plan.
What to gather before the first call
The property address, how the business uses the building, and whether related companies occupy any of the space. A rent roll that shows outside tenants changes the occupancy story. Three years of business financials, a current interim, and a short description of the project are enough to see if a conversation is worth the lender's time.
Personal liquidity and the existing debt schedule matter because the guarantee does not replace equity. If the plan depends on the guarantee to avoid any borrower cash, say that early. It is usually not how the program is used.
The FAQ covers what this desk will and will not do. The glossary defines guarantee, owner-user, and CDC in ordinary language. Neither page is an application.
Rural guarantee questions
- Is Capital Market Funds a USDA lender or the agency issuing the B&I guarantee?
- No. An approved lender makes the loan. USDA issues the guarantee under its rules. This desk arranges and compares; it does not grant the guarantee.
- Does a rural-feeling Arizona address automatically qualify for B&I?
- No. USDA's eligibility map controls. The address is checked against that map before a lender is asked to spend time on the file.
Related
Get a free rate & structure check
The form is a request to talk. It is not an application and not a commitment to lend.