Delancey Street Debt Relief: 6 Things to Know Before the First Call

The first call to Delancey Street goes better when the owner already knows what the company says it is, what it says it is not, and what it has left unsaid. Everything below comes from the company's own public statements on its homepage, read in September 2026, with the gaps marked where the homepage is silent; none of it is a figure about results, because the only honest figure about your result is the one that does not exist yet.

Six things are worth knowing before the phone rings.

1. It Negotiates, and It Is Not a Law Firm

The homepage states it plainly: "We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice; legal matters are handled by independently licensed attorneys." Elsewhere the company describes itself as attorney founded and attorney owned. Both statements can be true together, and the first is the one that governs what the company does for you. It negotiates with funders. It does not appear in court, file a bankruptcy case, or give legal advice, and when a matter needs a lawyer it coordinates with counsel who are separately licensed and separately engaged.

That division matters most on the day something is served. A summons, a restraining notice on a bank account, or a judgment entered on a confession requires a lawyer's response on a court's deadline, and the owner should know before the first call which lawyer that would be and under what engagement letter.

Some businesses need a bankruptcy lawyer rather than a settlement company. A business facing several judgments at once, or one whose operations cannot carry any restructured payment, may need the automatic stay that a bankruptcy filing generally triggers, and no private negotiation creates that stay. A good first call should be willing to say so.

2. Its Focus Is Merchant Cash Advances, With Other Business Debt Confirmed Case by Case

The company says it was built for merchant cash advance debt, and its homepage also describes negotiating SBA and stacked-debt restructures. Its intake form lists merchant cash advances, SBA loans, business lines of credit, equipment financing, and multiple types. Those statements do not line up perfectly, so treat eligibility of anything other than an MCA as a question for the review rather than a promise. Personal credit card and consumer debt, the company says, is "not our lane," and it will point an owner elsewhere.

3. The Review Is Free, Confidential, and About Documents

The homepage describes "a free, confidential review of your contracts, bank activity, UCC filings, and any active threats," with no cost or obligation for the consultation, and it says the company does not pull credit on a consultation. It describes thirty minute strategy calls and says it maps a strategy before accepting a client. That last point is the one to hold it to: the review should end with an explanation of what the company would do with your file, and whether it would take the file at all.

4. What to Bring to the First Call

The review is only as good as the paper on the table, and owners who arrive with a balance and a feeling leave with an estimate built on a balance and a feeling. Gather these before the call.

Every funding agreement, with every amendment, renewal, and addendum, and the personal guaranty signed with each. If a confession of judgment affidavit was signed, find it; if you are unsure whether one was, say so, because the answer changes the urgency. The bank statements for the last several months, with each funder's debits marked, and any returned or stopped debits noted with the date and the reason the bank gave. A search of the UCC filings against the business in its state of organization (the filing office's own search will show which funders filed, when, and against what collateral, and it may turn up a financing statement from a funder the owner had forgotten, or one filed under a name that never appeared on any contract the owner remembers signing). Any court papers, restraining notices, or letters from a funder's lawyer. Any notice a funder sent to your customers directing them to pay the funder instead; under UCC 9-406, a customer who has received an authenticated notice of assignment may no longer discharge its bill by paying you, so those letters change the negotiation. And any reconciliation request you have made, with the funder's reply.

It helps, too, to bring a plain operating picture: a month of sales, the payroll and rent that must be met, and the debit the business could carry through a weak week. The company's review is designed around contracts, bank activity, and filings, and this sheet turns those into a decision.

You bring the paper and they tell you what the paper says. That is the call.

5. The Homepage Publishes No Fee Schedule

The homepage names "transparent fees" as a feature and publishes no fee amount, percentage, or timing. So ask. The questions are the ones to put to any settlement company: what the fee is measured against, when it is earned, where settlement money is held, and what happens to it if the owner leaves.

Federal fee timing rules offer less protection here than owners assume. The Telemarketing Sales Rule's ban on collecting debt relief fees before a settlement exists does not reach calls to a business, though since May 16, 2024 its prohibitions on misrepresentation, including misstatements about how much a customer may save, do apply to business calls under 16 CFR 310.3. Any savings estimate from any company is an estimate until a funder signs. There are good reasons to price a service the way a company prices it, though that conversation belongs on paper.

6. Where It Works, and When to Call

The company describes itself as a private business debt relief firm based in New York serving businesses in 49 of the 50 states, and its homepage does not name the state it leaves out; confirm yours at the start. It also describes a pre-default program, launched in April 2026, aimed at businesses still current on their advances, which fits its own advice that the better time to call is before a payment is missed. The line listed on this site is (888) 559-0156, and the company's own site is delanceystreet.com.

Before the Phone Rings

An owner who arrives with the contracts, the statements, the filings, and the court papers will get a more useful answer from any company, this one included. The review costs nothing. The paper is where the bargaining power, if there is any, has been sitting the whole time.