How MCA Debt Relief Works, Step by Step

MCA debt relief at Anchor Resolve runs in four steps. A free consultation that includes a review of every position, program documents that contain every term and every fee, negotiation with each funder, then a new agreement the owner signs with that funder. Nothing changes without that signature. Results vary. No outcome is guaranteed.

Key facts

The process starts with a free consultation and ends with an agreement the owner signs with each funder.
Program documents contain every term and every fee, and the owner reviews and e-signs them before any work begins.
There is no separate fee agreement at Anchor Resolve.
Merchant cash advances draft daily or weekly, and each position is worked on its own line.
Nothing changes on any position without the owner’s signature.
Anchor Resolve is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

On this page

01The four steps, one at a time.
02The honest calendar, position by position.
03Where the money waits, and whose name is on it.
04Our fees, in plain writing.

01 / The four steps

How does the process work, step by step?

Activities, not promises. Outcomes are never promised inside a step.

01Free

The consultation and position review, free

It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

What happens. You talk to a real person, not a script. You tell us what is going on: how many positions you hold, what each balance is, whether each one drafts daily or weekly, and whether anything has already arrived in the mail or hit the bank account. We ask questions. We do not pitch. The position review happens inside this step: we take soundings on every advance you hold, the funder, the balance as written, the draft and how often it lands, the factor rate, every renewal and add-on, every UCC-1 lien filed at signing, and whether each contract carries a reconciliation clause you could use today, all set against what the business actually deposits. If we do not think we can help, you hear that here, along with where we would go instead: a bank refinance, a licensed attorney, or a conversation with your own funder about its reconciliation clause.

What we need from you. Nothing to start. A rough list of your advances helps. For a full review: every MCA agreement, including renewals, your last four months of business bank statements, and any letters from funders or collectors, such as default notices, lien notices, or demands.

What you will know at the end. What you owe, to whom, on what terms, what your deposits can carry, and what your real options are, including the ones that do not involve us.

02Your decision

Your program documents

Only when you say so. There is no deadline on our side and nobody will chase you toward one.

What happens. We recommend a path: renegotiating the balances, restructuring the schedule, or neither. We explain the risks before the plan, not after. If the honest answer is a licensed attorney in your state, a bank refinance, or bankruptcy, we say that instead of selling you a program. If you go ahead, you receive one set of program documents containing every term and every fee, and you review them and sign electronically. There is no separate fee agreement.

What we need from you. Your questions, all of them, including the uncomfortable ones. A decision, on your schedule, not ours.

What you will know at the end. The recommended path, its risks, and exactly what our service costs, because every fee is in the documents in front of you.

03Engagement

Negotiation with each funder

Varies by funder and position. The honest calendar is below, and none of it is a promise.

What happens. Positions are taken one at a time, and each balance and its schedule are worked directly with that funder: the hardship documentation, the proposals, the paperwork. Through all of it you hear the truth about how it is going, including when a funder digs in. Nothing requires a funder to agree to new terms.

What we need from you. Honesty when your numbers change, so the plan can change with them.

What you will know at every point. Where each position stands, what happened last, and what happens next.

04Your signature

A new agreement with each funder, signed by you

As each funder agrees. Nothing changes without your signature.

What happens. When a funder agrees to new terms, you review and sign the new agreement with that funder. Nothing changes on that position until you do. As each balance is paid under its agreement, we track the UCC-3 termination that should follow.

What we need from you. Your signature on each new agreement, and on anything that moves money.

What you will know at the end. Exactly what each funder agreed to, in writing, signed by you and by that funder.

The time ranges above are activities, not promises. Nothing requires a funder to negotiate. Results vary. No outcome is guaranteed.

A heavy anchor chain piled on pale concrete.

02 / The honest calendar

Above the waterline, one position at a time.

Relief work is sequential. Each funder gets its own file, its own proposal, and its own written agreement, and the business rises as each one is signed. We do not promise weeks. This is the honest shape of the calendar.

How long this takes depends on how many positions the business holds, what the documents say, and how each funder responds. We give our own read after the position review. We never promise weeks. Results vary. No outcome is guaranteed.

What we control is the order and the paperwork. Every position is worked on its own line, every agreement is written before money moves, and you never learn where a file stands by calling to ask.

The renegotiation is carried out by Anchor Resolve and its negotiation partners. Your agreement, and your point of contact, is Anchor Resolve.

The calendar, position by positionExhibit A

The consultationabout 30 minutes

The position review, inside the consultationvaries by position count

Your decision on the program documentsyour schedule

Hardship file to each funderearly in the engagement

A funder’s first responsevaries by funder

One position, start to signed agreementvaries by funder and position

As each agreement is signedthat position, on paper

As each balance is paid under its agreementUCC-3 termination tracked

Timelines vary by funder and by position. We give our estimate after the position review, and we never promise weeks. Nothing requires a funder to negotiate.

Exhibit B / The dedicated program account, on one page

Whose name is on the accountYours

Who controls itYou

Who can see the balanceYou, any time

What moves money outA written agreement you approved

What happens before it is fundedTerms in writing, then your signature

A firm asking you to wire program funds into its own accountsA red flag

Our standard, stated as a rule: the account is yours, and nothing leaves it without a written agreement you approved. Our fees are disclosed in writing before any agreement.

03 / The program account

Where the money waits, and whose name is on it.

Some plans set money aside while talks run, so that when a funder says yes the new terms can actually be funded. In this industry that pool is usually called an escrow account or a dedicated account, and it is where the worst documented behavior lives: firms routing client deposits into their own operating accounts, or collecting deposits and paying no funder at all.

Pattern documented in: Better Business Bureau complaint records for MCA debt relief firms, 2025 to 2026; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and seven state attorneys general v. StratFS LLC, January 2024.

Federal rules for consumer debt relief allow a dedicated account only if the customer owns the funds, can withdraw them at any time without penalty, the provider does not own or control the company administering the account, and the provider does not split fees with it. That is the standard we hold ourselves to, even though business debt sits largely outside that rule. The dedicated account is opened in your name, not ours, and stays under your control for as long as it exists. Money leaves it only under a written agreement you approved, every time. You never have to ask us what is in it, or take our word for it.

If any firm, including us, ever asks you to wire program funds into its own accounts, treat that as the red flag it is.

What funders can still do while we talk to them.

This section is education, not legal advice, and Anchor Resolve is not a law firm. If a funder has already sued you, or a judgment has been entered, that is a matter for a licensed attorney in your state, and we will say exactly that in the first call. The full list of risks, including possible credit impact, continued collection, and tax consequences, is in our Disclosures.

Here is the sentence most firms in this industry will not print: renegotiating does not pause your contracts. Until a new agreement is signed, every funder keeps every right its contract and the law give it. Collection calls can continue. Drafts the contract entitles a funder to can continue. A funder can act on its UCC lien, send notices to your card processor or your customers where the contract allows, and yes, a funder can file a lawsuit while talks are underway.

We put this first because the firms that hide it are the reason this industry has the reputation it has. Better Business Bureau complaint records document clients of some firms who were told to stop paying, paid heavy fees, and were sued anyway.

Source: Better Business Bureau complaint records for MCA debt relief firms, 2025 to 2026.

Now the other half, because fear without a plan is useless. The risk is real, and it is also manageable. The position review maps which of your funders have publicly documented court activity and which tend to work things out, so the plan is built around your actual exposure rather than a generic script. Hardship documentation goes to funders early, because a documented file is what their own collections teams need to justify a workout. And when anything moves, you hear it from us, rather than by calling to ask.

There is also a structural reason renegotiation works at all. A funder’s alternative to a negotiated schedule is collection and litigation, which is slow, costs money, and recovers nothing from a business that closes. Bloomberg Law reported in 2026 that merchant cash advance debt is now routine in small business bankruptcies, with one bankruptcy trustee saying she cannot think of a recent case without them, and nobody has just one. In many cases, funders would rather resolve a balance than chase a collapsing business through the courts. Nothing requires them to. Results vary. No outcome is guaranteed.

Source: Bloomberg Law, “Merchant Cash Advances Piling Up in Small Business Bankruptcies,” February 24, 2026.

When this is not the right move.

Debt relief is a tool, not a religion. Some situations are better served by a bank, your own contract, or a bankruptcy court, and some need a licensed attorney alongside us rather than instead of us. An honest first call will say which to your face. Here are four common ones.

And if it does not work: sometimes a funder will not move, and sometimes the numbers change mid-process. What we control is our behavior when things go sideways. You hear bad news early, from us, with the alternatives laid out. The plan serves you, not our fee.

Your business is healthy enough to refinance with a bank.

Do that first. A bank term loan on reasonable terms is cheaper than any relief program, and we will tell you so on the first call.

You have been served, or a judgment has already been entered.

A lawsuit runs on court deadlines that do not move for negotiations, and only a licensed attorney in your state can file an answer or appear for you, so talk to one now. That does not put your business outside what we do. We work with owners who have liens filed against their receivables and owners with judgments already entered, and many cases use both: an attorney for the courtroom, us for the positions.

You have one advance and a temporary dip in revenue.

You may not need anyone. Many MCA contracts contain a reconciliation clause that lets you request lower payments when revenue falls. Read our free guide to using it before paying anybody, including us.

The business cannot cover basic operating costs even with the debt gone.

Then renegotiating only delays the question. Bankruptcy or an orderly wind-down may serve you better, and an honest consultation will say that plainly.

04 / How we charge

Our fees, in plain writing, before anything is signed.

We do not publish a fee schedule on this site, because every engagement is scoped to the specific situation and a number printed here would be a number quoted to everyone. What we do publish is the rule.

The consultation is free.

A real conversation about your situation. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

The position review is free.

We map every advance, draft, and lien before any engagement is ever discussed, and the review is yours to keep.

Every fee is in the program documents you sign.

Anchor Resolve charges a fee for its services. Every fee is set out in the program documents you review and sign before any work begins. There is no separate fee agreement, and there is no fee that was not in the documents you signed. The consultation and the position review are free and commit you to nothing. If anyone asks you for money before you have read and signed those documents, stop and call us.

Demand this from everyone, including us.

Business debt relief is less regulated than consumer debt relief. That is exactly why you should require fee clarity in writing from any firm in this industry before you engage one.

What people ask once they have read the steps.

What does the position review actually look at?

Every advance you hold, including renewals and add-ons: the funder, the balance as written, the daily or weekly draft, the factor rate, whether the contract carries a reconciliation clause, and whether a UCC-1 lien was filed at signing. We set that against your last four months of business bank statements to see what the business actually deposits and what it can carry. The review is free, it is written in plain English, and it is yours to keep whatever you decide.

Do I have to talk to my funders myself during the process?

Once you approve the plan in writing, we work each funder file directly: the hardship documentation, the proposals, and the paperwork. Funders may still call you, because nothing about renegotiating prevents a funder from collecting or pursuing legal action while balances are being worked out. When that happens you tell us, and we take it from there. You will never be asked to negotiate alone.

Can I keep running my business while balances are renegotiated?

Yes. Keeping the business open is the point. Most of your involvement is gathering documents, answering questions, and making decisions; the mapping, the funder conversations, and the paperwork happen on our side. If your revenue changes during the process, tell us the same week, because the plan has to change with it.

What happens if my numbers change in the middle of the process?

The plan changes with them. A slow month, a lost contract, or a new draft hitting the account all change what your deposits can carry, and a schedule built on old numbers is a schedule that fails. You hear bad news early, from us, with the alternatives laid out: shifting a position from renegotiating the balance to restructuring the schedule, pointing you to a licensed attorney in your state, or naming bankruptcy as the honest backstop. Results vary. No outcome is guaranteed.

Does it matter which state my business is in?

No. Most of the process happens by phone, text, and email, so where the business operates does not change how the work runs. Anchor Resolve works with small business owners across the United States, and most MCA contracts already name an out-of-state forum, so distance from a funder is normal in this market. Our services are offered only where we may lawfully provide them, which we confirm on the first call.

Every question, answered straight

The process, in writing, before a dollar moves.