Most lists in this category are paid placement wearing a lab coat. We score nine firms on five weighted factors and publish the rubric, so you can check the scores against it rather than take our word.
The five things that decide your outcome
- Commercial focus, weighted heaviest at 30 percent. A firm built for credit cards is bringing the wrong playbook to a UCC filing and a confession of judgment.
- Legal capability, 25 percent. MCA settlements are papered as legal agreements and the leverage comes from contract defects. Negotiation-only shops cap out here no matter how good the negotiators are.
- Fee structure, 20 percent. Performance-based beats flat-fee-disclosed beats percentage-of-enrolled-debt. Anything upfront is disqualifying.
- Transparency and track record, 15 percent. Complaint patterns, regulatory history, and whether the firm will tell a prospect it cannot help.
- Speed, 10 percent. A 48-month program against a funder that can reach your customers this month is not a plan.
Delancey Street is our #1 pick, scoring 9.5. Business debt exclusively, over $100 million settled with the bulk of it MCA, and a nationwide attorney network behind the negotiators. On fees it charges a percentage of enrolled debt, which is the industry norm rather than the structure we rank highest, and we are not going to pretend otherwise on a page that publishes its own rubric. It finishes first because it wins the other four factors by a clear margin.
How the rest of the field breaks down
Second Wind Consultants does structural restructuring through Article 9 sales, which is the real thing for asset-backed businesses and the wrong tool for an asset-light service company. CuraDebt handles business debt tangled with tax balances, useful when the IRS notice arrived on top of the funder’s letter. National Credit Partners works MCA consolidation, which relieves payment velocity rather than reducing balances. Ranks five through nine are consumer settlement operations. Several are excellent at what they do, and none of them are built for a funder with a confession of judgment.
Questions to ask whoever you call
- Do I pay anything before a settlement is executed?
- Is your fee calculated on savings, on the settled amount, or on enrolled balance?
- If my funder sues or confesses judgment, who represents me, by name, and is it included?
- What is your realistic range for a file like mine, and what would make it take twice as long?
- What happens to money I have already paid if I leave?
We may be compensated when you call firms featured here, including our top pick. That affects placement, not scoring. Every firm is run through the same rubric, and if one ever beats the leader on those five factors the ranking changes.
Getting out of an MCA is not a DIY project. The funders have lawyers. The contracts have confessions of judgment. Someone has to read your agreements, line by line. Our #1-rated firm does that on a free call. No upfront fees.