SBA Office of the National Ombudsman (15 U.S.C. § 657b)

What this actually is

If a federal agency has treated your small business, non-profit or small government entity unfairly in enforcement — an excessive fine, a punitive audit, an inspection that felt like retaliation — this is the office created by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act to hear about it. It is free, independent and confidential, it takes your comment to the agency for a high-level review, and it reports annually to Congress on how responsive each agency was. Filing "does not limit your rights or obligations related to the federal agency involved" — it runs alongside your appeal rather than replacing it. Almost nobody outside Washington knows this exists. File at federalcomments.sba.gov, email a PDF to ombudsman@sba.gov, or call 888-REG-FAIR.

Who qualifies, and what trips people up

Open to small businesses, small government entities and not-for-profit organisations — not to individuals in a personal capacity. It covers federal agency conduct: enforcement actions, audits, inspections, compliance contacts, and concerns about existing regulations. It does not cover state or local agencies, and it is not an appeals tribunal — keep filing your actual appeal on its own deadline.