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If you’re searching for ‘MCA defense lawyers’ in Long Beach — you already know this isn’t a normal debt problem. MCA funders don’t play by normal rules. They use confessions of judgment, UCC-1 liens, personal guarantees, and daily ACH debits — and you need a team that knows how to tear those apart under both California and New York law. The top-rated firms are not traditional law firms. They’re specialized debt settlement companies that coordinate with licensed attorneys for the legal work. Here are the three best options in 2026.
Important: Delancey Street is not a law firm. They’re a specialized MCA debt settlement company — and they work with a nationwide network of licensed attorneys who handle the hard stuff: COJ challenges, usury defenses, UCC lien disputes, funder negotiations, and settlement execution for business owners across all 50 states, including Long Beach and all of California. Their attorney network is built around New York’s dual usury framework — which controls almost every MCA contract out there, no matter where your business sits — and the growing body of case law that’s reclassifying MCAs as loans subject to interest rate caps.
Here’s what that means for you as a Long Beach business owner. Delancey Street’s attorneys use California’s strong protections alongside New York law to hit MCA funders from both sides. California’s SB 1235 disclosure requirements, the state’s constitutional usury cap of 10% for non-exempt lenders, and CCP §1132–1134 restrictions on confessions of judgment — all of that becomes ammunition in your case. Their attorneys file motions to vacate confessions of judgment, raise criminal usury defenses when effective APRs blow past 25%, dispute overbroad UCC-1 filings with the California Secretary of State, and use the NY Attorney General’s $1 billion Yellowstone Capital settlement as precedent in funder negotiations. Over $100M in commercial debt settled. No upfront fees. Results-based pricing.
Important: National Debt Relief is not a law firm — and they’re not an MCA defense specialist. They’re the largest debt settlement company in the country, with over $1 billion in debt settled and 550,000+ clients served. They handle general unsecured business debts — credit cards, vendor accounts, lines of credit — but they don’t challenge confessions of judgment, file usury defenses, or dispute UCC liens. If your Long Beach business debt is mostly traditional unsecured debt and not MCA-specific, National Debt Relief is a solid, proven option. But if you’re dealing with MCA funders, COJs, or frozen accounts — you need a firm with MCA-specific attorney involvement.
Important: CuraDebt is not a law firm — and they’re not an MCA defense specialist. They’re a debt resolution company with over 25 years handling business debt, consumer debt, and IRS/state tax resolution. If your Long Beach business is dealing with MCA debt plus California Franchise Tax Board or IRS problems, CuraDebt can handle the tax side while a firm like Delancey Street takes on the MCA defense. They don’t challenge COJs, raise usury defenses, or file legal motions against MCA funders.
MCA defense is not regular debt settlement. This is what we do. It’s a specific area of business debt law built around fighting the weapons MCA funders use to collect: confessions of judgment, UCC Article 9 liens, personal guarantee enforcement, and daily ACH withdrawals that bleed your account dry. The tools are different, the counterparties are different, and the timeline is completely different.
Long Beach businesses are especially vulnerable to MCA distress. The Port of Long Beach drives a massive logistics and trucking ecosystem where cash flow is seasonal and unpredictable. Restaurants and hotels along the waterfront, retail shops in Belmont Shore, service businesses throughout the city — they all turn to MCAs when traditional bank lending falls short. When those advances stack up and daily ACH debits eat 20–30% of revenue, the spiral picks up speed fast.
Here’s the difference. A general debt settlement firm negotiates with credit card companies who follow predictable collection timelines. An MCA defense attorney is going up against funders who can freeze your bank account overnight with a pre-signed confession of judgment, who have already filed blanket UCC-1 liens against every asset your business owns, and who are pulling 15–25% of your daily revenue through ACH debits. The urgency is different. The stakes are different. And if you don’t have the right team, the outcome is different too.
The moment your Long Beach business misses a merchant cash advance payment, the clock starts ticking — and it’s ticking against you. The funder is already asking one question: “Are we about to lose our money?” Defaulting on an MCA isn’t like falling behind on a credit card. It’s governed by Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 9 provisions, lenders can weaponize confessions of judgment (COJs), and everything is tied to daily repayment structures that don’t pause for anything.
Whether you run a freight forwarding company near the port, a restaurant on Pine Avenue, or a healthcare practice in Bixby Knolls — the consequences of an MCA default hit immediately: frozen bank accounts, liens on receivables, personal asset seizures if you signed a guarantee. But here’s the thing — those consequences aren’t inevitable. California law gives you real protections, and an experienced attorney can put them to work for you.
You signed an MCA agreement that contains a COJ — a legal clause that lets the funder get a judgment against you without notice if you default. Most MCA funders are based in New York, and they file COJs in New York courts even when your business is in California. Here’s the good news — Long Beach business owners have strong defenses against this.
Strategy 1: Challenge the COJ Under California and New York Law. California Code of Civil Procedure §1132–1134 severely limits confessions of judgment — making them largely unenforceable against California businesses. On top of that, New York’s 2019 COJ reform (CPLR §3218 amendment) bans the filing of COJs against out-of-state defendants. If a New York-based MCA funder filed a COJ against your Long Beach business after August 2019, it’s almost certainly voidable. An attorney files an Order to Show Cause to stay enforcement and argues the COJ violates due process.
Strategy 2: Negotiate Post-Default. Funders always prefer getting paid over going to court. Litigation is expensive — and the funder knows that even if they win in New York, enforcing a judgment across state lines in California requires a domestication proceeding, which adds time and cost. That’s your opening. Offer a lump-sum settlement (30–50% of the balance) from refinancing or asset liquidation.
You took a second MCA to pay the first. Now the daily payments eat 30% of your revenue. We get it. Under UCC § 9-607, the funders have placed UCC-1 liens on your receivables with the California Secretary of State — which means no bank, no lender, nobody will touch you for new financing. This is incredibly common for Long Beach businesses in seasonal industries — port-related logistics companies that see volume swings, tourism-dependent hospitality businesses, and retail operators along 2nd Street and Belmont Shore.
Strategy 1: Consolidate via Ch. 11 or California State Law. Chapter 11 can pause collections and reclassify MCAs as unsecured debt. California’s SB 1235 requires MCA funders to disclose APR-equivalent rates — and if they didn’t, that gives your attorneys ammunition to argue that undisclosed effective rates constitute deceptive business practices. If your MCA’s effective rate exceeds California’s constitutional usury cap of 10% for non-exempt lenders, you may have grounds to void the contract entirely.
Strategy 2: Use Your Cash Flow Reality as a Weapon. Provide funders with 6 months of bank statements showing unsustainable withdrawals. For Long Beach businesses dependent on port traffic or tourism cycles, demonstrating seasonal cash flow disruption is especially effective. The goal is simple — paint a picture for the funder that they have to settle, because the alternative is getting $0.00 from you.
MCA contracts routinely hide APRs that exceed 100%. Let that sink in. California has a strong usury framework: Article XV of the California Constitution caps interest at 10% per year for non-exempt lenders, and New York courts have increasingly reclassified MCAs as loans — triggering usury penalties under NY Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-501. The NY Attorney General’s $1 billion judgment against Yellowstone Capital — which voided $534 million in outstanding MCA balances across 18,000+ businesses nationwide — showed the world just how exposed these funders really are.
Strategy 1: Usury as a Defense. A $50K advance at a 1.4 factor rate costs $70K over 6 months — that’s approximately 150% APR. California’s constitutional usury cap is 10% for non-exempt lenders. New York’s criminal usury threshold is 25%. If the MCA is reclassified as a loan, the contract is void under either state’s law. Discovery is key — subpoena the funder’s underwriting docs. If they used credit scores or fixed repayment terms, courts may deem it a loan.
Strategy 2: California’s SB 1235 Disclosure Violations. California’s SB 1235 (effective December 2022) requires commercial financing providers — including MCA funders — to disclose the total cost of financing, APR-equivalent rates, and payment amounts. If your MCA funder skipped those disclosures, that creates another legal argument that the entire transaction was deceptive. That strengthens both settlement talks and potential court challenges.
Your business is in Long Beach, California — but the legal framework controlling your MCA defense is almost certainly New York law. Most MCA funders are headquartered in New York, and nearly every MCA contract designates New York courts as the governing jurisdiction. That means you’re fighting under the same legal rules as a business owner in Manhattan.
Here’s the thing — that actually works in your favor. New York runs a dual usury framework: civil interest is capped at 16% annually, and any effective rate above 25% constitutes criminal usury. Cross that criminal threshold and the consequences are severe — the contract is void as a matter of law, and the funder loses the right to recover both principal and interest. Recent appellate decisions have increasingly classified MCAs with fixed daily payments and no genuine reconciliation provision as loans subject to these caps.
As a Long Beach business owner, you get the benefit of both legal systems. California’s own 10% constitutional usury cap for non-exempt lenders, CCP §1132–1134 COJ restrictions, and SB 1235 disclosure requirements all stack on top of New York’s usury framework. The CFPB has separately classified merchant cash advances as “credit” under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act — signaling a federal regulatory shift that adds yet another layer of protection.
This matters more than you think. The difference between a good MCA defense attorney and a bad one is the difference between settling your $200K in MCA debt for $80K — and losing your business entirely. Here are the three questions that matter:
1. Have you handled MCA defense specifically — including California cases? Not consumer debt. Not medical debt. MCA debt. Ask how many COJs they’ve challenged, how many usury defenses they’ve raised under both California and New York law, and what their average settlement percentage is. If they can’t answer with specifics, keep looking.
2. Do licensed attorneys handle the legal work? Settlement negotiation alone is not MCA defense. You need attorneys who file motions to vacate COJs, challenge UCC liens filed with the California Secretary of State, subpoena funder underwriting documents for usury discovery, and draft enforceable settlement agreements. Ask whether attorneys are directly involved in every case — or only brought in when things escalate.
3. What are the fees and when do you pay? Legitimate MCA defense firms charge 18–25% of the enrolled debt amount, collected only after delivering results. Any firm that charges upfront fees before settling your debt is violating FTC guidelines. Walk away. For a single MCA, top firms resolve cases in 2–8 weeks. For stacked MCAs, expect 3–6 months.
Here are the three top-rated firms for Long Beach business owners dealing with MCA debt in 2026. Only one — Delancey Street — delivers true MCA defense with attorney-coordinated COJ challenges, usury defenses, and UCC lien disputes. The other two handle broader categories of business debt and may be the right fit depending on your situation.
The only firm on this list that provides true MCA defense — and it shows. COJ challenges, usury defenses, UCC lien disputes, and emergency motions to unfreeze bank accounts, all coordinated through a nationwide network of licensed attorneys. Delancey Street is not a law firm, but their attorney-coordinated model gives you the legal firepower of one combined with the settlement expertise of a dedicated debt resolution company. Over $100M settled. No upfront fees. All 50 states, including full coverage for Long Beach and Los Angeles County.
Not an MCA defense specialist — let’s be clear about that. National Debt Relief handles general unsecured business debt: credit cards, vendor accounts, lines of credit. No COJ challenges, no usury defenses, no legal motions. If your Long Beach business debt is mostly traditional unsecured debt and not MCAs, they’re a proven option with massive scale.
Not an MCA defense specialist. CuraDebt handles business debt and IRS/state tax resolution — no COJ challenges, no usury defenses. If your Long Beach business has California Franchise Tax Board or IRS problems on top of MCA debt, CuraDebt can handle the tax side while a firm like Delancey Street fights the MCA battle.
COJ filed against you? Bank account frozen? Daily ACH debits destroying your cash flow? We get it — and this is exactly what Delancey Street’s attorney network does. They fight MCA funders with usury defenses, COJ challenges, and settlement negotiation — using both California and New York law. Over $100M settled. Free consultation.
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Delancey Street is not a law firm. Delancey Street works with a nationwide network of attorneys and debt specialists who handle MCA defense, business debt settlement, and related services. Any attorney services referenced on this page are provided by independent, licensed attorneys within the Delancey Street network — not by Delancey Street directly.
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