2026 Best Business Debt Settlement Lawyers in Las Vegas

Would it not be less expensive to just hire a debt settlement company? The answer here is probably not, and here is why. The debt settlement industry itself is plagued by many companies that under deliver on their services and fail to negotiate the debts as promised. A law firm that handles creditor negotiation and settlement usually does so because there is a litigation component to the program. Nevada has a licensing structure for debt-management operations, but lawyers are exempt. Anyone signing with a registered provider can cancel by midnight of the third business day.

Consider a settlement firm. It charges you an upfront fee to simply take on your case and work on the debts. Now consider that the settlement company after charging this fee does little to nothing, and cannot settle the debts. If the settlement contract allows them to terminate and keep whatever fees you have already paid the company could actually do this. You have already paid fees to have your debts settled, those debts have not been settled, and the money that you used to make payment is spent. In the meantime, accounts and receivables are frozen. And the funders will add contract fees. The fees are fairly significant. The fee for an NSF will typically be around $35 each and of course there is a huge default fee, often around $2,500-$5,000.

A judgment will freeze bank accounts, but with the UCC process, the funder freezes the receivables before they even reach your bank. If the funder has your customer list or your trade references, or bank statements that show deposits, or access to your bank account, then the funder knows who pays you. Fast forward a day or two. Now the funder mails a lien to Square or Stripe and your customers instructing them to now pay the funder instead. This leaves you without revenue to run your business and pay what you owe. It’s embarrassing, and there may be a stigma attached. Customers who receive the notice may see a problem that they would rather not become a part of and take their business elsewhere.

The contract may include a confession of judgment, waiving your right to offer a defense if you default. These were banned in New York for out-of-state borrowers in 2019. So funders now file these in Texas, Illinois and Utah. Most funders just sue when loans or MCAs are defaulted, and lawsuits can still be defended. Those judgments have to be “domesticated” in Nevada before lenders can reach any assets here, but doing so is becoming more common as defaults grow.

Technically, an MCA isn’t a loan. Instead, the funder is buying your company’s future receivables. MCAs began back in the middle of the 2008 crisis, when banks were reluctant to lend to mom-and-pops. The real difference is that you must pay only as sales come in. Sales are tied to payments. With a real loan, the money is already out the door and it is your responsibility to repay it all, regardless of whether there are any sales coming in. There is less risk with a true MCA, since there is no money owed when there are no sales coming in. Some of the worst MCAs earn funders 100% to 200% or more in return, the kind of interest rates a court would likely deem usurious if it deemed the contract a loan. Many contracts are so poorly drafted that a court could do just that. An experienced business debt attorney will be able to spot this and sue the funder to void the contract.

For a commission, brokers will often stack several advances on businesses, promising that the advance is only temporary and that a bank loan will be along shortly. A lawyer experienced in these cases can bring complaints against these brokers.

Most MCAs include a personal guarantee, and many business owners don’t even know they are on hook. Any settlement must be worked out with that in mind. A personal bankruptcy could discharge your guarantee but leave the business to repay your merchant cash advance contract. And a business bankruptcy leaves your personal liability.

In practice, individual owners file Chapter 7 or 13, and businesses can file Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Subchapter V of Chapter 11 allows businesses with debts up to $3,424,000 to apply for a reorganization bankruptcy, and Chapter 11 court filing fees alone are $1,738. All Las Vegas filings go to the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada, which sits in the Foley Federal Building, 300 Las Vegas Boulevard South.

In Nevada, creditors have six years to sue on written contracts. And that clock can be reset, such as every time you make a payment, unless of course those six years have already expired before then.

Always check out a lawyer and law firm before signing with them. Have they been to court? Are they in-court regularly? Will they represent you in court? Do they do personal bankruptcy (Chapter 7 & 13) and business bankruptcy (Chapter 11), and can they discuss both with you? Make sure you find out up-front what their fees are. Fees should be explained, and preferably in writing, covering scope of representation and how the lawyer is paid. And a percentage-of-savings fee must be both written, signed by the client, and provide the formula and its intended calculation in bold print.

There is a wide variation in how individual debts are handled, with settlements working well for some business owners and leading to terrible outcomes for others. Be aware of the risks, first of all, and be careful when selecting someone to represent your interests. Yes, you may very well be seeking a reduction in what you owe, but choose an attorney who can handle it when settlement fails and the issue goes to court.