Live Oak Bank Reviews 

Everything was easy and personal. When I went to closing at the title company, the closing agent was so impressed with Live Oak Bank and how thorough and prepared they were with their documents. He was also impressed with how seamless and easy they had made my SBL loan.

If I had to tell someone about my experience with Live Oak from the beginning I would tell them Live Oak Bank was easy to deal with. They communicate really well on the process of the needed information to get your loan. Over all I would be unable to get my farm loan without Live Oak Bank. At first everything was going really well through the process after I was approved. I had had purchased some land to do the farm on and I had all my bids in for the work that would be done to build a farm. (Bid to build the farm had not been signed yet and that cost me almost 300k and a lot of time.) The 1st phase of the project had started then Covid hit. With not having the building bid signed when I started the project it put a major fall back on me. It was too late to get another bid because lumber prices were too high to build. I had to wait for the lumber prices to get low enough to where I could get a signed bid to continue the project. I was in the beginning phase of the land being cleared when Covid hit. It pretty much halted the project and do to the cost of building materials the farm couldn’t be built(I didn’t have a signed copy of the bid yet to have locked in a price). When the lumber prices started to come down some the project moved forward when I got a signed bid. When it finally lowered enough to get back going it would cost me interest for two years than the year it was supposed to have built the farm. The higher cost to build the farm cost me around $300,000 more plus the time I lost from not being able to start a farm within a year when I started. I loosing around $27,000 a year in profit on what I was told I would make by going forward with the higher cost to build. I’m paying the price for what Covid did and the bank didn’t off set it to make the cash flow about the same on what I was originally told. The bank got a higher loan on me than it should have been. When I got up and going to see what it was costing to run the farm I started to notice that what I was told it would take to run the farm was not adding up to a yearly average. I was told I would have 4.9 flocks a year and my expense averages were not what they needed to be to match what I was told the cost of running the farm would be. Story short I realized the bank was only going by what it cost on 4 flocks a year. I figured out the .9 flock cost a year that you still have in a way is not counted. Realizing you have to go through 9 flocks to get the 100% of your flock payment from a 5th flock year. Realizing this I had to have my loan payment taken out of every flock to get by. So my overall experience if I could go back and start again. This is a must have no exceptions if you plan to do a farm is to have a lawyer involved. I wish I would of had a lawyer involved from day one to record every document on what I was provided with on everything that had to do with the project, every bid signed before the loan was approved, starting and completion deadlines on what had to be done like when the dirtwork had to be finished, and my cash flow recorded to where if cost had went up on me it would have not cost me anything. If I had of done that I would still had the profits I was told. If I had of known the situation I was put through I would have not started the project to do a farm. The situation I’m in is not worth it. Maybe what happened to me may help you decide or know what could happen if you don’t think ahead. I give 3 stars do to the bank moving forward on me that cost me about 300k more on my loan and 27k a year loss in profits. If I not had the situation happen to me I would give 5 stars do the customer service and for someone like me being able to do a farm.

LOB has been a great bank to work with. I highly recommend Seth VanDerWoody and the team to handle your SBA loan needs. You won't be sorry!

Working with Live Oak Bank has truly been a pleasure, and I haven't said that about a bank in at least a decade. The only comparably positive experiences I have had was in 2004 (and it wasn't nearly as great, I was just thrilled they were willing to lend me so much money) and more recently was a local single-branch bank. Live Oak Bank has provided the white-glove service of the latter, with the commercial capabilities of the former (exceeding what our most recent business bank offers, and they in the Top 5 commercial banks nationally). Live Oak Bank is managing four commercial accounts and servicing a multi-million dollar loan for our business -- it is not a mom-and-pop relationship. Yet the service is exceptional very intimate. We are literally on a first name basis. I have not had that experience, EVER. Which when we're doing both inbound and outbound transfers exceeding $1M is very important to me. I sleep well at night because of Live Oak Bank.

Your people kept me informed through the entire SBA loan process and went above and beyond when I needed help. They also closed the loan in the projected time

The ease of the application process and the transparency of your company. There were no hidden agendas.
Morgan Harriss and Rachel Owens made this experience more than expected.

The loan experience was fast, smooth and easy. The required paperwork and effort on my part was minimal for the loan product that I received. I would highly recommend Live Oak Bank.

LiveOak Bank is easy to work with. They were extremely helpful with PPP Loan application. Our team at LiveOak Bank are always responsive to our requests and willing to work with you. ABL Portal is easy to use for Line of Credit and Monthly Reporting. Only recommendation would be to have link from portal to outstanding loans or current loan information available on Dashboard, as well as availability to download bank statements directly from Dashboard.

I was approved for a SBA loan through Live Oak Bank and was given many promises and conditions. Everytime i asked about it I was told it is will be okay which happen not to be okay. At the closing very large charge was overlooked which caused me lose more money due to the construction company's false billing which ended with over payment to the company. Would I go through them again I am not sure but know for sure I will not accept okay as an answer.

We had great service throughout the closing process. However, once our SBA loan was finalized we have had difficulty getting timely responses to questions and more importantly, there have been multiple delays when requesting payments to vendors on our behalf.

Good communication with regional representatives. Paying down the loan each month with plans to pay it off ahead of schedule.

I have a large commercial business loan with Live Oak and the interest rate is not fixed. I have discussed the interest rate was getting to where I was not able to pay the monthly statements. I inquired about refinancing or any other help Live Oak can provide. Rebecca sent information to refinance my loan. I provided all the financials and information. Didn't hear back. I sent an email inquiry. She stated she would look into it. I didn't hear back. I inquired back and no response. Now after several weeks, the interest rate may go as high as 9% and I may default. I am very disappointed in Live Oak and the customer service. I have been forced to look to other national banks which have corresponded with me.

We've had our Live Oak Loan for a few years now. We are required to submit quarterly reports. Over the years Live Oak has had some personnel changes and with each personnel change the documentation requirements change. It would be great if Live Oak could make it clear to us (the customer) and their inside personnel what is required so that we weren't having to adjust each time a new person is assigned to our account.

WE HAVE HAD AN SBA SMALL BUSINESS LOAN SINCE 2017 WITH LIVE OAK BANK SINCE THEN UNTIL NOW WEVE BEEN CHARGED TRIPLE THE INTEREST AND STILL WENT UP AGAIN THIS MONTH TO 10.50 PERCENT WE HAVE BEEN A LOYAL CUSTOMER AND MADE ON TIME PAYMENTS THRU OUT AND DEALT WITH BEING CLOSED DURING COVID FOR OVER 6 MONTHS AND 2021 WAS STILL A STUGGLE BUT THE INTEREST ON OUR LOAN JUST KEPT CLIMBING UP EVEN THOUGH BANKS NOW ARE LOWERING THEIR INTEREST RATES ON LOANS AND RAISING INTEREST ON CD S LIVE OAK STILL RAISING OUR INTEREST WE THOUGH SBA LOANS WERE TO HELP SMALL BUISNESS

It became a one way street once my loan was approved. When I asked for anything it couldn't be done.

Bert Smith, Thomas Rutherford, and Tim Hudson made the loan experience easy and convenient. They made a difficult process easy. I would 100 percent use this team again.

Wasted a lot of time with your SBA loan officer with no results.

Sign up was easy and initial transfer of funds in was smooth as well. Great rates and simple online and app experience make Live Oak a great option for business savings. They also offer a good range of personal banking and loan services.

5 Star Rating, Live Oak Bank, #1 SBA 7a Lender
Highest compliments to Eric Rabinovich, Jenna Leissner, and Sam Osmond.
This was for the sale of our family business as a commercial flooring contractor of over 60 years in New Orleans that started in 1963. Live Oak Bank was thorough, detailed, professional, responsive, friendly, and prompt. We tried with local banks to apply for the SBA loan, but they could not make it happen. We found Live Oak Bank by doing a Google search for #1 SBA lenders. Then we found that local banks complete about 10 SBA loans a year, but Live Oak Bank completes 1,500 SBA loans a year. I was promptly contacted by Eric Rabinovich in October of 2022, and Live Oak started the loan process with my employee and his wife. Live Oak is a trusted partner. If you are looking for an SBA loan, you only need to make 1 call….to Live Oak Bank.

I highly recommend Live Oak Bank to anyone in need of a loan! Everyone that was involved in the loan process was friendly, responsive, and eager to help me get to the finish line. What makes it even better is after completing the process and closing the deal, they stayed in contact, providing me with valuable advice and even checking up on me and the growth of my business. If you're considering getting a loan, Live Oak Bank is the way to go! Thank you, Eric Rabinovich!