Resources
Plain answers before you talk to anyone
The vocabulary funders use, the paperwork worth gathering, and the questions that separate a real relief company from a lead broker. Use all of it whether or not you ever call us.
Glossary
The words in your advance agreement
Written the way we would explain them on a call. Every entry has its own link, so you can send one straight to your bookkeeper.
- Factor rate
- The multiplier that sets your total payback. A $50,000 advance at a 1.4 factor rate means you repay $70,000, no matter how fast you pay it.
- Holdback
- The percentage of daily card sales a funder takes before the money reaches you. Usually 10 to 20 percent, applied to gross batches rather than profit.
- Reconciliation clause
- The provision that lets you request an adjusted payment when revenue drops. It is in most agreements and is the single most underused term in the contract.
- Stacking
- Taking a second or third advance while an earlier one is still open. Each new position debits the same account, and the combined pull is what breaks the business.
- UCC-1 financing statement
- A public filing that claims your receivables as collateral. It is how competing funders find you, and how a lien stays attached until it is formally terminated.
- Confession of judgment
- A signed document letting a funder enter judgment against you without a trial. New York restricted their use against out of state debtors in 2019.
- Personal guaranty
- Your promise to cover the business obligation personally. MCA agreements often use a narrower performance or validity guaranty instead, which reaches you only in specific circumstances.
- Reverse consolidation
- A new advance used to fund payments on existing ones. It lowers the daily pull for a while and increases the total owed, which is why it usually deepens the hole.
- Restraining notice
- A post judgment order that freezes an account. A funder cannot issue one without first winning or entering a judgment against you.
- Split funding
- An arrangement where your card processor routes a share of every batch to the funder before you see it. Changing processors to interrupt it typically breaches the agreement.
Before we talk
What to gather for a consultation
None of this is required to start a conversation. It does make the first conversation far more useful, because we can read the actual terms instead of working from memory.
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Every merchant cash advance agreement
All pages, including the addenda and any renewal or refinance paperwork. The terms that matter most tend to sit in the sections nobody reads at signing.
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Three months of business bank statements
They show what is actually leaving the account each day, which is often different from what the funders say is scheduled.
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Any UCC filings against the business
A UCC-1 shows who has claimed a security interest and in what order. You can pull yours from your state filing office if you are not sure what is on record.
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Notices from your funders
Default letters, demand letters, emails about missed payments, and anything that arrived from a law firm. Dates matter more than tone here.
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Processor statements
If an advance is tied to card volume, the processor statements show the split being taken and whether the holdback matches the contract.
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Your current payment schedule
What comes out daily or weekly, on which days, and to whom. A simple list is fine. It becomes the baseline for any restructuring conversation.
Missing a document is not a problem. Bring what you have and we will work out how to find the rest.
Due diligence
How to vet an MCA relief company
Distress attracts bad actors, and this corner of the market has plenty. Hold us to the same list you hold anyone else to.
Warning signs
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Large fees before any work happens
Ask what is charged, when, and what it buys. A company that wants a big payment before it has read your contracts has not earned it yet.
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Promised outcomes
Nobody can promise a specific reduction, a specific timeline, or that a funder will agree to anything. A range drawn from past files is honest. A promise is not.
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Pressure to sign today
Urgency belongs to your situation, not to their sales process. Any offer that disappears if you sleep on it was not a good offer.
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They called you first
Unsolicited calls about your advances often mean your details were bought from a lead broker. Verify who you are talking to before sharing anything about your accounts.
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No written agreement
The scope of work, the fee structure, and what happens if you leave should all be in writing before you pay anything.
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Vague answers about legal work
Ask directly who handles a lawsuit if one is filed, whether that person is a licensed attorney, and how they are paid. The answer should be specific.
Questions worth asking on the first call
- 1 How many merchant cash advance files have you worked, and with which funders?
- 2 What does your fee structure look like, and when is anything owed?
- 3 What happens if a funder sues or restrains an account during the process?
- 4 Who will I talk to after I sign, and can I reach that person directly?
- 5 What have files like mine looked like, including the ones that went badly?
Results vary and are not guaranteed. Figures describe past negotiations and do not predict the outcome of any individual case. No result is promised or implied.
Next step
Ready to see where your file stands?
Two questions about your advance positions, about a minute of your time, and no obligation to go further.
About a minute
- Two questions about your positions
- No documents, no credit pull
- Nothing that touches your file
Services are not available in all states.