Government credit guarantees are intended to improve access to credit, but the benefits may not be fully passed through to borrowers. We exploit a 2013 Small Business Administration (SBA) policy that eliminated guarantee fees for loans up to $150,000 and use repayment histories and secondary-market prices to estimate risk-adjusted profit (RAP). Following the policy, SBA RAP falls for fee-waived loans, while lender RAP increases by 1.03 cents per loan dollar for high-guarantee loans. Lender RAP shows no comparable increase for loans with a constant 50% guarantee and the same fee relief. We find no corresponding relative improvement in interest spreads, loan size, or aggregate approved lending. Thus, increased government support can raise intermediary financial value without improving observed credit outcomes, and the effect depends on the guarantee structure.

Homestead protection shields an owner's home from creditors, preserving household wealth but also limiting a lender's recovery. We link SBA loans originated in 2011–2019 to mortgage and deed-of-trust records across 49 jurisdictions, and to business collateral and filing records in California, Colorado, and Florida. A 1 percent higher exemption amount is associated with 0.016 percentage points more home-equity pledging. Using an exogenous shift that admits marginal borrowers into the market, we find that lenders take home equity upfront where debtor protection is stronger.