Ten signs to slow down before you hire anyone to deal with your funders, seven questions to ask, and where to find help.
4 min readUpdated Oct 2026Written for merchants
If your MCA payments are hurting, your phone and inbox fill up with offers to make the problem go away. Some come from lawyers and firms that do honest work. Others do not. None of the signs below proves a company is bad. Several together mean you should stop and ask more questions before you pay anyone.
Why you are getting these offers
Merchants who are behind on MCA payments are an obvious audience for these offers. An offer does not mean anyone has looked at your agreements or your situation.
Ten red flags
A guaranteed result"We will cut your payments 70%, guaranteed." No adviser controls what a funder agrees to. The FTC lists guarantees among the warning signs of debt relief scams.
A large fee up front, before anything is doneThe FTC's debt relief rules were written for consumer debt, and whether any rule applies to a business's debt is a legal question. The fairness test is the same: be wary of paying a lot before you have seen any work or result.
"Just stop paying" with no explanationStopping debits or telling you to ignore the funder can be a default, which can make the full balance due, add fees, and start collection or a lawsuit. A good adviser explains that risk first. The FTC also lists being told to stop communicating with creditors, without an explanation of the consequences, as a warning sign.
A price quoted before anyone has read your agreementsEvery contract is different. Without reading yours, no one can say what is possible.
Claims of a government program or affiliationBe skeptical of any claim of a government program that erases private MCA debt. The FTC has warned small businesses about financing offers that claim government ties.
Promises to stop lawsuits, liens or judgmentsOnly a court can stop a lawsuit. A lawyer can respond and negotiate, but cannot promise the result.
Pressure to sign today"Only a few spots left" and "the funder will sue tomorrow" are sales tactics. Real help gives you time to read the agreement and ask a lawyer.
Moving your deposits or opening new accounts without a planRerouting deposits can be a default under your existing agreements. Ask exactly how any account change fits the contracts you signed.
No clear answer on who does what, and who gets paidYou should know who will contact your funders, whether a licensed attorney is involved, what will be sent in your name, and how every fee is calculated. A fee based on a percentage of your debt, taken whatever happens, deserves a close look.
Silence about the downsidesLate fees, default interest, personal guaranty exposure, a possible lawsuit, effects on future funding, and whether forgiven debt could count as taxable income. Ask each one.
The FTC material cited is consumer-focused or general small-business guidance. It is used here for the signs it describes, not as a statement of what the law requires for business debt.
Questions to ask
Write the answers down. A reputable provider will answer them in writing.
Have you read my agreements? Which clauses matter, and why?
Who exactly will contact my funders, and what will be sent in my name?
Is a licensed attorney involved? In which state, and who is it?
How do you get paid, when, and what happens to the fee if nothing changes?
What do I keep doing while this happens? Do I keep paying?
What happens if a funder sues or freezes my account?
May I have all of this in a written agreement to read before I sign?
Where to get help
A lawyer licensed in your state who handles MCA disputes. Your state bar's referral service can point you to one.
The SBA's Small Business Development Centers offer free or low-cost business advising in many areas.
Your agreement itself. The reconciliation clause may already do some of what you are being sold. See How MCA reconciliation works.
If you think you were misled by a funder, broker or adviser, you can report it to the FTC and to your state attorney general.
Before you stop paying anyoneTalk to a lawyer first. Stopping debits can be a default under your agreement. See When you can't make the payment.
Where FairMCA fits
FairMCA is a different kind of service. We never tell you to skip a payment, and we don't charge a percentage of your debt. We check what your own agreement allows and show you the difference, for one price per business. Our home page compares us side by side with some MCA debt-relief companies.