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If you're a Texas business owner dealing with an MCA mess — confessions of judgment, UCC-1 liens, personal guarantees, daily ACH debits draining your account — you need a firm that lives and breathes this world. Texas has no commercial usury cap (Tex. Fin. Code §306.001), so New York law defenses are your best weapon — since that's where most MCA contracts are governed. Here are the three best options in 2026.
Here's what you need to know: Delancey Street is not a law firm. They coordinate with a nationwide network of licensed attorneys who do the actual fighting — COJ challenges, usury defenses, UCC lien disputes, funder negotiations. Their attorney network is built around New York’s dual usury framework — which governs the vast majority of MCA contracts regardless of whether your business operates in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, or El Paso. This is what they do.
Their attorneys don't just negotiate — they challenge. They file motions to vacate confessions of judgment, raise criminal usury defenses when effective APRs exceed 25% under NY law, dispute overbroad UCC-1 filings with the Texas Secretary of State, and use the NY Attorney General’s $1 billion Yellowstone Capital settlement as precedent in funder negotiations. Texas is one of their largest markets. Over $100M in commercial debt settled. No upfront fees. Results-based pricing.
Not an MCA defense specialist — and they'll tell you that straight up. National Debt Relief is the largest debt settlement company in the United States, with over $1 billion 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 Texas business debt is traditional unsecured debt and not MCA-specific, they're a proven option. If you're dealing with MCA funders, COJs, or frozen accounts — you need a firm with MCA-specific attorney involvement.
Not an MCA defense specialist either. CuraDebt handles business debt and IRS/state tax resolution — they've been doing it for over 25 years. No COJ challenges. No usury defenses. No legal motions against MCA funders. If your Texas business also has federal tax obligations (Texas has no state income tax), CuraDebt can handle that side while a firm like Delancey Street handles the MCA fight.
Let's cut to it. MCA defense is about one thing — stopping funders from destroying the business you built. We're talking confessions of judgment, UCC Article 9 liens, personal guarantee enforcement, and aggressive daily ACH withdrawals. This isn't general debt settlement — the legal tools, the counterparties, and the timeline are completely different.
Texas is a massive market for MCA products — over 3 million small businesses, no state income tax, and a pro-business environment that attracts entrepreneurs across every industry. But here's the problem: Texas does not impose a usury cap on commercial lending transactions under Tex. Fin. Code §306.001, which means MCA funders face zero state-level rate restrictions when lending to Texas businesses. The Texas Finance Commission regulates certain lending activities, but MCAs structured as purchases of future receivables fall outside traditional lending oversight.
The agreement you signed is written entirely in the funder's favor — we've never seen a fair one. That's just the nature of unsecured lending. And Texas state law gives you almost nothing against high-rate commercial products. That's why you need an attorney who knows how to attack the contract from the outside using New York law — usury challenges, procedural defects in COJ filings, unconscionability arguments, and the growing body of case law reclassifying MCAs as loans.
Here's what happens — and it happens fast. The moment your Texas business misses an MCA payment, the funder assumes the worst. This isn't like a traditional loan default with a 30/60/90-day collection cycle. MCA default is governed by Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Article 9 provisions, funders use confessions of judgment filed in other states, and everything is tied to daily repayment structures.
Your bank account gets frozen. UCC liens get filed on your receivables with the Texas Secretary of State. Personal assets get seized if you signed a guarantee. Whether you're running an energy services company in Houston, a real estate firm in Dallas, a tech startup in Austin, or a restaurant in San Antonio — the daily ACH debits can destroy your cash flow overnight. Oil and gas contractors, construction firms, seasonal tourism operations — any Texas business with variable revenue cycles is especially vulnerable.
Good news first: Texas doesn't allow confessions of judgment. Period. They're prohibited under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §30.002 — any COJ clause is void and unenforceable in Texas state courts. But here's what funders do anyway: they include COJ provisions and file them in New York, where most funders are headquartered.
Strategy 1: Challenge the COJ In Court. You have a powerful dual defense. First, COJs are void under Texas law. Second, New York's 2019 CPLR §3218 reform banned COJ filings against out-of-state defendants. If a funder filed a COJ against your Texas business in New York after August 2019, it's likely voidable. Even older COJs can be challenged on grounds of improper execution, missing notarization, or due process violations.
Strategy 2: Negotiate Post-Default. Funders always prefer repayment over litigation — especially against Texas businesses where COJ enforcement is unavailable. Litigation in Texas is expensive for NY-based funders who must hire local counsel and deal with an unfamiliar jurisdiction. That's your opening. Offer a lump-sum settlement (30–50% of the balance) from refinancing or asset liquidation — Texas's strong real estate market often provides collateral options.
You took a second MCA to pay the first. Now the daily payments eat 30% of your revenue. Under UCC § 9-607, funders place UCC-1 liens on your receivables filed with the Texas Secretary of State — which makes getting new financing virtually impossible. Every lender will see it during due diligence. In Texas's competitive markets — construction, energy services, tech — that's a death sentence for growth.
Strategy 1: Consolidate via Ch. 11 or Federal Law. Chapter 11 filed in one of Texas's four federal districts (Northern, Southern, Eastern, or Western) lets you pause collections and reclassify MCAs as unsecured debt. Texas is one of the most active bankruptcy jurisdictions in the country — federal judges in the Southern District (Houston) have deep experience with complex commercial debt. Courts have allowed businesses to discharge MCA obligations by arguing they were disguised loans.
Strategy 2: Use Your Cash Flow Reality as a Weapon. Provide funders with 6 months of bank statements showing unsustainable withdrawals. Texas businesses in cyclical industries — oil and gas, construction, agriculture — are especially well-positioned to demonstrate revenue volatility that makes fixed daily MCA payments unsustainable.
Here's what nobody tells you: funders assume you're lying about your finances. Every single time. That's why you need an MCA defense team that knows how to present the evidence — bank statements, P&Ls, tax returns — in a way funders can't ignore. If you're running a deficit, this is the first real step toward getting out.
Let's talk numbers. MCA contracts routinely mask APRs exceeding 100%. Texas doesn't impose a usury cap on commercial lending — but here's the thing: most MCA contracts designate New York as the governing jurisdiction. 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 — voiding $534 million in outstanding MCA balances across 18,000+ businesses nationwide, including many Texas businesses — showed exactly how exposed funders are.
Strategy 1: Usury as a Defense Under NY Law. Do the math. A $50K advance at a 1.4 factor rate costs $70K over 6 months — that's approximately 150% APR. Texas would permit this on a commercial transaction, but New York's criminal usury threshold of 25% makes the contract void under the governing jurisdiction. Cross that threshold, and the funder forfeits the right to recover both principal and interest. 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: Sue for Unconscionability. Even without a Texas usury cap, Texas courts recognize unconscionability under Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §2.302. A 200% APR imposed on a struggling small business in Houston or a family-owned restaurant in San Antonio — that's challengeable as procedurally and substantively unconscionable, especially when the borrower was in financial distress at signing and had no real bargaining power.
Here's why this matters: most MCA funders sit in New York. Nearly all MCA contracts designate New York courts as the governing jurisdiction. That means a business owner in Houston, Dallas, Austin, or San Antonio is fighting under the same legal rules as a business owner in Manhattan.
This actually works in your favor — and this is what most Texas business owners miss. Texas has no usury cap on commercial lending, so Texas state law alone gives you essentially zero protection against a 150% or 200% APR product. But New York operates a dual usury framework: civil interest capped at 16%, criminal usury at 25%. Cross the criminal threshold and the contract is void as a matter of law — the funder forfeits the right to recover both principal and interest. For Texas business owners, New York's governing jurisdiction clause actually provides stronger protections than Texas law ever would.
The CFPB has separately classified merchant cash advances as "credit" under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act — another signal that these products are functionally loans regardless of how the contract labels them. The Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner has also increased scrutiny of alternative lending products. That gives MCA defense attorneys one more argument in their arsenal.
Three questions matter:
1. Do they actually do MCA defense? Not consumer debt. Not medical debt. MCA debt. Ask how many COJs they've challenged, how many usury defenses they've raised under New York law, and what their average settlement percentage is. Texas has plenty of general business attorneys — but MCA defense requires specialized knowledge of NY usury law, COJ procedures, and UCC lien challenges. If they can't answer with specifics, keep looking.
2. Are real attorneys involved? Settlement negotiation alone is not MCA defense. You need attorneys who file motions to vacate COJs, challenge UCC liens in court, subpoena funder underwriting documents, and draft enforceable settlement agreements. Ask whether attorneys are directly involved in every case or only brought in for escalations.
3. What's the fee structure? Here's how it works: 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 — that's prohibited by FTC guidelines. Walk away. For a single MCA, top firms resolve cases in 2–8 weeks. For stacked MCAs, expect 3–6 months.
Of these three firms, only Delancey Street does real, attorney-coordinated MCA defense — COJ challenges, usury defenses, UCC lien disputes. The other two handle broader categories of business debt and may be appropriate depending on your situation.
The only firm on this list that does real MCA defense: 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 delivers the legal firepower of one combined with the settlement expertise of a dedicated debt resolution company. Texas is one of their largest state markets. Over $100M settled. No upfront fees. All 50 states.
Not an MCA defense specialist — and they'll tell you that straight up. 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 Texas business debt is primarily traditional unsecured debt (not MCAs), they're a proven option with massive scale.
Not an MCA defense specialist either. CuraDebt handles business debt and IRS/state tax resolution — they've been doing it for over 25 years. No COJ challenges, no usury defenses. If your Texas business also has tax obligations, they can handle that side while a firm like Delancey Street handles the MCA fight.
We get it. COJ filed against you. Bank account frozen. Daily ACH debits destroying your cash flow. Delancey Street's attorney network fights MCA funders with usury defenses, COJ challenges, and settlement negotiation. Over $100M settled. This is what we do.
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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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