Live Oak Bank Reviews 

Above and Beyond!
Everyone that I worked with, Dawn, Nick, Ryan, and Spencer, continuously went out of their way to help me with everything throughout the SBA loan approval process and closing. Even though it is a long process from start to finish, with a lot of checkboxes, they do a superb job helping anywhere they can. I couldn't be more appreciative of them and the business relationship established.

Live oak bank prides themselves on helping small business, but I cannot think of a single time they attempted to help. Sure, helping us get the loan (and I will say their construction coordinator is amazing) but past that, they are just another bank with a bunch of people who can't help or get anything done. Lackluster follow through. I wouldn't recommend.

After 4 years and quarterly reports, I have not been contacted by LiveOak Bank to discuss my “financials”. As per the contract/loan LiveOak Bank is to supply me with financial advise as long as I submit my quarterly reports. I will stop immediately with my quarterly reports till an advisor reaches out to me.

I recently had the pleasure of securing an SBA loan through Live Oak Bank, and I must say, the experience was nothing short of exceptional. From the very beginning, the team at Live Oak demonstrated professionalism, expertise, and a genuine commitment to my business's success.

The loan process can often be daunting, but Live Oak Bank made it seamless and straightforward. Their knowledgeable staff guided me through every step, ensuring I understood all the details and requirements. The communication was clear and prompt, which greatly helped make the process stress-free.

What sets Live Oak Bank apart is their personalized approach. They took the time to understand my business needs and provided tailored solutions that fit perfectly. It's evident that they value their clients and strive to build long-lasting relationships.

I wholeheartedly recommend Live Oak Bank to anyone looking for an SBA loan. Their exceptional service, expertise, and commitment to clients make them a standout choice. Thank you, Live Oak Bank, for being a reliable partner in my business journey.

I got a poultry loan though liveoak bank. I worked with Michael Imming and he has been very helpful and great to work with.

During the process of getting a SBA loan the VP Ford told us that we would not incur any fees if we did a bridge loan...... Boy was he wrong; cost us 34K.

Very helpful staff

Worst business loan experience of our lives. Plan to refi asap to get as far away from LOB as possible. Would never bank with, or recommend them again.

In response to your request for an email. I would be foolish to think there wouldn’t be repercussions if you knew my identity. As if sending you an email would cause any change to occur. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have needed to write this review to begin with. My purpose in writing this review is simply to warn other potential business loan customers that LOB has no one’s best interest but theirs at the forefront of every transaction. I’ve seen other reviews detailing similar experiences, so I know we are not alone. Read every word of the loan agreement and have a lawyer look it over as well. Pay particular attention to the part that we overlooked whereas LOB has the authority to utilize the proceeds of your loan to pay off capital expenditures as they see fit, and will leave you with little or no working capital should your project go over budget due to circumstances beyond your control. Nothing says we’re setting you up for failure like, “oh I’m sorry we had to use your working capital to pay off a piece of equipment, because the credit department felt that allowing you to finance it is a liability for us.” If it weren’t for the generosity of a close friend, I have no idea how we could have paid any of our opening expenses, including payroll. Then LOB had the audacity to demand an explanation of where we got the money to ensure we weren’t incurring any additional debt that could adversely impact THEM. So much for “we’re looking out for your best interests.” We have been very fortunate, achieving success beyond all of our projections, and now that we’ve fulfilled the terms of our early payoff penalty for SBA, we have begun the process of refinancing our loan to get as far away from LOB as possible. I would starve and be homeless before giving this institution another dollar of our hard earned money. Perhaps if enough people who’ve been screwed over by this bank also wrote reviews about their experiences, the bank who gloats about paying their employees six figure salaries and flying execs around on their private jets, would be knocked down off if their self proclaimed pedestal.

This bank understood our needs more than any bank we spoke to. They were quick to respond and processed our loan in a timely manner. I was super impressed and will be using them in the future.

The bank is always asking for personal information that they really do not need since I have a business loan and the company is doing very well, never missing a payment and have expanded with no additional need for money. Two banks I have used have been hacked and we have had also ten attempts of people applying for credit cards in my wife's name. We do not need the additional risk of Live Oak being hacked and having our personal information out there to be used for fraud.

Live Oak was consistent and helpful, but they earned 5 stars when the pandemic hit. All their guidance in staying on top of all the changes with SBA loans, the PPP loan program, etc... They went above and beyond to look out for my business at every turn. Would love to use them as a lender again in the future.

Live Oak Bank did a great job guiding us through the l construction loan and loan closing process. The communication was good and the support team was very helpful. Our build out took place during a very volatile time in the economy and COVID. Supply chain issues, skyrocketing prices and delays due to COVID made the project tremendously challenging. We prevailed and Live Oak was very helpful during the process.

Now that the loan has closed and the interest rates have dramatically changed over the two years we needed to complete the project. It would be helpful if the SBA and or LOB offered some solutions to the crushing interest rates, by either reworking the rates to more reasonable levels or allowing for other relief. We are managing, but 11+% interest is a long way for the 6-7% originally quoted.

It would be helpful if there was a central point of contact at LOB who we could have candid discussions about potential solutions for getting a more reasonable rate on our loans.

At this point, my loan is pretty routine, but Live Oak has always been there when things got tough, especially when we were new 15 years ago and during the pandemic.

From meeting with Andrew to get my loan process started to getting the loan closed with Heather, I don’t have enough good to say about Live Oak Bank. My ENTIRE TEAM has been and continues to be phenomenal and I believe they set me up for success! I highly recommend them to get anything done you need.

I was excited to put some of my EIDL loan dollars at Live Oak in 2023. The interest rate was good and I was making a few more dollars than my payments back to the SBA. When my CD matured it was set to auto roll-over. Sadly, I missed the 10 day grace period to remove it from the auto-renew. When I did contact Live Oak 12 days after the grace period expired. I was told that there would be 90 days of interest penalty if I wanted to move the money back to my savings. The representative discussed this with his "Leadership Team" and they said there was nothing they could do about the penalty. So, ultimately, I gave Live Oak my money for a period of 12.5 months and due to the penalty at a higher interest rate than the matured CD, I received 8 months of interest in return. Needless to say, I removed my money (over six figures) from these accounts and closed them. Policies like this are what give bankers such a nasty reputation. I won't be back.

I believe the bank takes advantage of the clients just because they can. I am an owner in a small business that has an SBA loan that is serviced by this bank. They decided (not SBA rules) to put a 150% lien on my property as collateral for our existing loan that we have been paying very diligently for over 3 years. They now have more collateral than they had originally and we owe a whole lot less on the loan than we did when we obtained it. The customer doesn't really matter to them. Very disappointed with their decisions.

I did not appreciate, the total control that Live Oak Banks takes with customers. That was never explained from the beginning. They want to have total control over everything, which I don't feel is right. I would of them rather of denied me the loan they put a first position on all my assets. I was told that they would probably not have to because of the good price we were buying the new acquisition for, since there was equity in the property,which turned out to be a total lie. They have never spoken to us about it again. I feel I could have went else where for this loan having bought other funeral homes through SBA. I listened to a friend , big mistake!

Very disappointed that Live Oak is not offering any loan options or assistance for Pharmacies that have SBA loans to help then through The DIR cliff the first 6-9 months of 2024.

I was very pleased with my experience of getting a SBA Loan. Everyone I interacted with was very helpful, patient and knowledgeable.

The process of getting a SBA loan is quite lengthy and tedious, however Live Oak Bank made it fairly streamlined and kept me informed of the next steps almost daily.