Attention small-business owners: Time is running out on an opportunity to access fee-free business loans that are guaranteed up to 90%.

However, barring another act of Congress, SBA-backed loans will revert to their pre-Recovery Act status by the end of November or December, Miller says. The impact will be palpable. Loans made once the funds run out will only get a 75% to 85% guarantee, down from 90%. The decrease will make it tougher to get approved for a loan because lower guarantees raise a bank's risk, says Eric Grimstead, a business advisor at the Center for Economic Vitality at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. In addition, business owners taking out loans through the SBA loan will have to pay a 2% to 3% loan guarantee fee again, he says.