They bite.We bite back.

Sometimes, and that question is often the whole case. An MCA is documented as a purchase of future receivables, which is how funders avoid usury limits. New York courts look past the label. Under LG Funding, LLC v. United Senior Props. of Olathe, LLC 181 A.D.3d 664 (2d Dep't 2020), the analysis weighs whether there is a genuine reconciliation provision, whether the agreement has a finite term, and whether the merchant's bankruptcy is an event of default.

If the agreement is properly characterized as a loan, the rate becomes relevant, and rates above 25% per annum implicate criminal usury under Penal Law § 190.40. Most MCA agreements, converted to an annualized rate, come out far above 25%.

No. A confession of judgment is entered by a county clerk on paperwork alone. No lawsuit, no judge, no review. The 2019 amendment to CPLR 3218 bars a New York clerk from entering a confession of judgment against a non-resident debtor, and a substantial volume of MCA judgments were entered in exactly that posture.

Beyond that, the affidavit of confession has to state a sum certain, the amount entered has to match it, and the venue has to be proper. Motions to vacate proceed under CPLR 5015(a), and where the defect goes to the clerk's authority to enter the judgment at all, the one-year excusable-default window is not the operative limit.

It depends on the judge's calendar and on whether the creditor will negotiate, so no honest lawyer will promise you a number of days. What we can tell you is the mechanism. A restraining notice under CPLR 5222 is served by the creditor's attorney directly on your bank and requires no judicial approval. Relief comes from a court, typically by order to show cause invoking CPLR 5240, which gives the court broad power to limit or modify any enforcement procedure.

In practice, creditors' counsel will often agree to carve out payroll rather than litigate an emergency application. That path is frequently faster than the motion itself, and we pursue both at once.

Flat fees where the scope can be defined: a motion to vacate, an answer with counterclaims, a UCC termination demand campaign. Hourly where it cannot, which usually means contested litigation with discovery and an uncertain end date.

You get the number and the scope in an engagement letter before you commit to anything. The case review that produces that number is free, and there is no obligation attached to it.

No, and separate engagements are usually the more expensive mistake. Stacked advances share documents, share drafting counsel, and share defects. The reconciliation-clause argument that works against funder one generally works against funders two through five, and overlapping UCC filings and competing restraints are more coherent addressed as one strategy.

Mr. Usher is admitted in New York, New Jersey and Florida, with federal admissions including S.D.N.Y., E.D.N.Y., D.N.J., S.D. Fla. and the First, Second and Third Circuits. Many MCA agreements contain New York forum-selection clauses, so out-of-state merchants regularly find themselves defending in New York courts regardless of where the business sits. That clause cuts both ways: a New York forum also means New York law on confessions of judgment.

Where a matter belongs somewhere we are not admitted, we say so and help you find counsel who is.