Florida Merchant Cash Advance Laws: What Business Owners Need to Know

Reviewed October 2026. Statutes and court records linked throughout.

Florida is one of the busiest merchant cash advance markets in the country. Many funders are headquartered here, Florida businesses sign advances from New York and New Jersey funders every day, and Florida courts and bankruptcy courts see a steady stream of MCA disputes. This guide explains the Florida rules that actually govern those disputes: the 2023 disclosure law, Florida’s usury statutes, the state’s treatment of confessions of judgment, how out-of-state judgments are enforced here, garnishment deadlines, and the relief options available to Florida business owners.

Credible Law is a national attorney referral network, not a law firm. Nothing on this page is legal advice. If you are already facing a lawsuit, a frozen account, or a recorded judgment, see MCA lawsuit defense or call (888) 201-0441 to be connected with independent counsel.

Are merchant cash advances legal in Florida?

Yes. Florida has no statute prohibiting merchant cash advances, and Florida appellate law supports the industry’s core position: a genuine sale of future receivables is not a loan. In January 2021, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a Miami-Dade judgment in Craton Entertainment, LLC v. Merchant Capital Group, LLC, holding that the agreement before it was not a disguised loan subject to the criminal usury statute. The court relied on long-standing Florida authority that a transaction is not a loan where repayment is contingent on the success of the underlying venture rather than absolute.

That ruling is the starting point, not the end. Craton turned on the agreement in that case, which had a working reconciliation provision. Florida courts and the federal bankruptcy courts in Florida have since looked hard at agreements whose fine print takes the risk back from the funder. The question in any Florida dispute is not “is an MCA legal” but “is this particular agreement what it claims to be.” That question is covered in the usury section below.

The Florida Commercial Financing Disclosure Law

Florida’s main MCA-specific statute is the Florida Commercial Financing Disclosure Law, Part XIII of chapter 559 of the Florida Statutes (sections 559.961 through 559.9615). It was enacted in 2023 as chapter 2023-290, Laws of Florida, and it applies to commercial financing transactions consummated on or after January 1, 2024. Merchant cash advances fall within it as “accounts receivable purchase transactions.”

What a covered funder must disclose

Under section 559.9613, a provider must give the business one written disclosure, at or before consummation, that states:

• The total amount of funds provided under the agreement.
• The total amount actually disbursed, if lower because of fees deducted at funding, payoffs of a prior balance, or payments made to third parties.
• The total amount to be paid to the provider.
• The total dollar cost, which is the difference between what the business must pay and the funds provided.
• The manner, frequency, and amount of each payment, or for variable payments, the method of calculation, the estimated initial payment, and when payments may vary.
• Whether there are costs or discounts for prepayment, with a reference to the contract provision that governs it.

Only one disclosure is required per transaction. A modification, forbearance, or later change to the deal does not require a new one, which matters for businesses that have been through several “renewals.”

Which transactions are excluded

Section 559.9612 sets the scope. The law does not apply to:

• Transactions consummated before January 1, 2024.
• Transactions of more than $500,000.
• Providers that consummate no more than five commercial financing transactions in Florida in a 12-month period.
• Federally insured depository institutions and their affiliates and subsidiaries, Farm Credit lenders, and licensed money transmitters.
• Financing secured by real property, leases, and purchase money obligations.
• Certain dealer, vehicle rental, and manufacturer or distributor financing.

Broker rules

The law also regulates the brokers who place many advances. Under section 559.9614, a broker may not collect or solicit an advance fee from a business for broker services, may not make false or misleading representations or omit material facts in offering its services, and must disclose its actual address and telephone number in its advertising. Broker conduct is often where the misrepresentations in a stacked-advance case begin, so emails, texts, and recorded calls with the broker are worth preserving.

Who enforces it, and what a violation is worth

This is the part most online coverage gets wrong. Section 559.9615 gives the Florida Attorney General exclusive authority to enforce the law. Fines run $500 per incident, capped at $20,000 for aggregated violations, rising to $1,000 per incident and $50,000 after a provider has received written notice of a prior violation. The statute then says two things plainly: a violation does not affect the enforceability or validity of the underlying transaction, and the law creates no private right of action.

In practice, a disclosure failure is leverage rather than a defense. A documented pattern of non-compliance is regulatory exposure a funder would rather not carry, it can move a settlement, and it can support an Attorney General complaint. It does not cancel the balance, and it is not a basis for a lawsuit against the funder. The claims that can actually void or reduce an MCA in Florida are different: recharacterization as a usurious loan, fraud, procedural defects in how a judgment was obtained, and the funder’s own breach. Florida’s place among the ten states with commercial financing disclosure laws is covered in our merchant cash advance laws by state guide.

Florida usury law and when an MCA becomes a loan

Florida’s usury framework is in chapter 687. For loans of $500,000 or less, the civil ceiling is generally 18 percent per year simple interest (sections 687.02 and 687.03). For larger loans, the transaction is usurious only above the criminal threshold. Under section 687.071, willfully and knowingly charging more than 25 percent per year is a misdemeanor, and more than 45 percent is a third-degree felony. Section 687.071(7) provides that an extension of credit made in violation of that section is not an enforceable debt in Florida courts. A lender that willfully violates the civil cap forfeits the interest under section 687.04.

Annualized, many advances price far above 25 percent. That is why recharacterization is the central question in Florida MCA defense: if the transaction is a loan, these statutes can apply with severe consequences for the funder. If it is a true sale, they do not apply at all. Florida’s usury statutes also require intent, which is often contested.

In re IVF Orlando: a Florida court looks past the label

The clearest recent Florida example is In re IVF Orlando, Inc., No. 6:24-bk-05475-TPG (Bankr. M.D. Fla. Oct. 3, 2025). A fertility clinic signed two advances with Hollywood, Florida funders weeks before filing a Subchapter V case. Both agreements were governed by Florida law and called themselves sales. The funders argued they owned the clinic’s receivables and that the plan could not restructure them.

The court disagreed on several grounds. It held that a business cannot sell receivables that do not yet exist, so the funders did not own the post-bankruptcy receivables. Turning to the contracts themselves, it found both were loans in substance. One agreement had an indefinite term and a two-way reconciliation clause, but the owner’s so-called performance guaranty was in effect a guaranty of payment, with a right to restrain his accounts without notice. The other agreement conditioned the merchant’s reconciliation right on not being in default and gave the funder full recourse to the guarantor. The court gave the transfer of risk the most weight and confirmed the plan over both funders’ objections.

The opinion also addressed a provision in the disclosure law stating that a provider’s characterization of a receivables purchase as a purchase is conclusive that it is not a loan. The court read that language as limited “for purposes of” Part XIII, meaning it does not bind a court deciding the sale-or-loan question for other purposes. Expect funders to argue otherwise; the point is not yet settled by a Florida appellate court.

For a business owner, the practical lesson is to read your agreement for the three features above, and to keep evidence of any reconciliation request and the funder’s response. A refused or ignored reconciliation request is also the foundation of a reconciliation-based defense.

The New York choice-of-law clause

Most advances signed by Florida businesses choose New York law. New York’s civil usury cap generally does not protect corporations, though its 25 percent criminal usury limit can be raised as a defense. Florida courts can decline to apply a contractual choice of law that would offend a strong Florida public policy, and Florida has historically treated usury as such a policy, but whether that argument succeeds depends on the facts and the forum. Agreements written by Florida funders, like those in IVF Orlando, often choose Florida law, which puts chapter 687 directly in play.

Confessions of judgment in Florida

Florida is among the most restrictive states on confessions of judgment. Section 55.05 declares that every power of attorney to confess judgment made before an action is brought, by anyone, inside or outside Florida, is absolutely null and void. A Florida court will not enter a judgment on a pre-signed confession.

That rule has a limit. Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, Florida courts generally must enforce a valid judgment from another state, even one that state entered on a confession. Funders historically used New York for exactly this reason. Since New York amended CPLR 3218 in 2019 to bar confessions of judgment against non-New York residents, that route is largely closed for Florida businesses without a New York place of business. Older judgments, and businesses that do have a New York location, raise different questions. More detail is in our confession of judgment guide.

When an out-of-state MCA judgment is recorded in Florida

Funders that win in New York, or in arbitration later confirmed by a court, bring the judgment to Florida under the Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, sections 55.501 through 55.509. The process is a recording, not a new lawsuit, and it moves on fixed clocks:

1. The creditor records a certified copy of the judgment with the clerk of the circuit court, along with an affidavit giving the debtor’s last known address.
2. The clerk mails notice of the recording to the judgment debtor by registered mail. The creditor may also mail notice and record proof of mailing.
3. Under section 55.505(3), no execution or other enforcement process can issue until 30 days after the clerk mails notice. Under section 55.507, the judgment does not become a lien until 30 days after mailing.
4. Under section 55.509, if the debtor files an action within 30 days contesting the jurisdiction of the court that entered the judgment or the judgment’s validity, and records a lis pendens, the court must stay enforcement while the challenge is decided.

Full faith and credit means a Florida court will not reopen the merits of the original dispute. The challenges that work are narrower: the original court lacked personal jurisdiction, service was defective, the judgment was procured by fraud on the court, it has been satisfied, or it is not final. Those are the same grounds that support a motion to vacate in the original court, and an attorney may pursue both tracks at once.

When an MCA funder sues in a Florida court

Some funders, especially Florida-based ones, sue in Florida. Claims up to $50,000 go to county court and larger claims to circuit court, in one of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits. A defendant generally has 20 days after service to serve a response under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.140(a). Missing that window invites a default.

A default can sometimes be set aside under Rule 1.540, for example for excusable neglect raised promptly, or where the judgment is void for lack of proper service. Those motions are fact-intensive and time-sensitive. Our guide to the MCA lawsuit process walks through the stages of a typical case.

Bank account freezes and garnishment in Florida

In Florida, a frozen business account after a judgment almost always means a writ of garnishment under chapter 77 served on your bank. Florida garnishment procedure is strictly construed, and creditor mistakes are common. The key steps:

• The bank, as garnishee, must answer the writ and hold what it owes the debtor.
• Within five days after the bank answers, the creditor must serve the debtor with the answer and a notice of the right to dissolve the writ (section 77.055).
• The debtor then has 20 days after the date on the creditor’s certificate of service to file and serve a motion to dissolve, stating that an allegation in the creditor’s motion is untrue (section 77.07(2)). The creditor must then prove the grounds for the writ, and the court sets an immediate hearing.
• If the creditor files neither a dismissal nor a motion for final judgment within six months after filing the writ, the writ dissolves automatically (section 77.07(5)).

Two points specific to MCA cases. First, the business entity has no head-of-family exemption; those protections belong to individuals. Second, if the creditor never serves the section 77.055 notice, the 20-day clock does not start. Before judgment, a funder generally collects only through the debits you authorized. Prejudgment garnishment exists in Florida but requires a court order, a bond, and specific statutory showings. For a step-by-step response plan, see how to stop an MCA bank levy and our MCA bank levy guide.

Deadlines depend on how and when papers were served. Confirm every date with a Florida-licensed attorney.

How major Florida banks handle writs of garnishment

When an MCA funder domesticates an out-of-state judgment under Chapter 55 or obtains a judgment in Florida court, they serve a writ of garnishment under Chapter 77 on the business’s banking institution. In Florida, major retail and commercial banks—including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Truist, JPMorgan Chase, and Regions Bank—maintain central garnishment processing departments that act immediately upon service of process.

Understanding how these institutions process writs is critical during the first 24 to 48 hours of an account freeze:

• Immediate account hold: Upon service of a Chapter 77 writ, central legal processing teams at institutions like Truist or Wells Fargo place an administrative hold on funds up to double the amount listed on the writ (as allowed by Fla. Stat. § 77.06).
• Out-of-state vs. Florida branches: A writ served on a registered agent or central service office in Florida freezes accounts across all Florida locations, even if the primary branch where the account was opened is located in a different county.
• Garnishee answer deadline: Under Fla. Stat. § 77.04, the bank has 20 days to file its written Garnishee Answer stating the exact account balance held. In practice, institutions like Bank of America and Chase file their answers within 3 to 7 business days.
• Service of notice to debtor: Within 5 business days after the bank files its Garnishee Answer, the creditor must serve the business with a copy of the answer and the statutory notice of right to dissolve (Fla. Stat. § 77.055). This notice triggers your 20-day deadline to file a Motion to Dissolve under Fla. Stat. § 77.07(2).
• Merchant processor holdbacks: If your business uses merchant payment processors linked to these banks (such as Stripe, Square, Clover, or Merchant e-Solutions), a served writ often causes connected merchant accounts to suspend daily payouts automatically.

If a writ of garnishment has been served on your account at Truist, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Regions, Chase, or another Florida financial institution, an emergency Motion to Dissolve must be filed before the statutory deadline expires.

Personal guarantees and what Florida protects

Nearly every advance includes an owner guaranty, often labeled a “performance” guaranty. As IVF Orlando shows, courts look at what that guaranty actually allows the funder to do. If the guaranty is enforceable, the funder can pursue the owner personally, but Florida gives individuals some of the strongest debtor protections in the country:

• The homestead exemption in Article X, section 4 of the Florida Constitution protects a qualifying primary residence from most creditors, subject to acreage limits.
• Property held by married couples as tenants by the entireties generally cannot be reached by a creditor of only one spouse. A guaranty signed by both spouses changes that.
• Section 222.11 protects the wages of a head of family, with limits and a waiver exception if the individual agreed in writing.
• Qualifying retirement accounts are generally exempt under section 222.21.

These exemptions have conditions and must usually be claimed. Moving assets to avoid a creditor after a dispute begins can create fraudulent transfer liability, so asset decisions belong in a conversation with counsel.

UCC liens filed against Florida businesses

MCA funders routinely file UCC-1 financing statements covering a business’s accounts receivable, equipment, and cash proceeds. A common point of confusion for Florida business owners is where these liens are recorded:

• Florida Secured Transaction Registry (not Sunbiz): While general corporate records and annual reports are managed through the Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz), UCC financing statements in Florida are filed with the Florida Secured Transaction Registry (FloridaUCC.com).
• How processor account freezes happen: Many business owners only discover a UCC-1 lien when their merchant credit card payment processors—such as Stripe, Square, Clover, or Merchant e-Solutions—suddenly freeze daily credit card payouts or place a hold on reserve funds. Processors run automated monitoring against the Florida Secured Transaction Registry and will hold payouts upon detecting an active blanket UCC filing from an MCA funder.
• Direct customer notices: Under Florida’s version of UCC Article 9 (Fla. Stat. § 679.607), a funder with an active UCC lien may also issue formal letters to your commercial clients or vendor platforms demanding that they divert payments directly to the funder.

Enforcing UCC-3 termination under Fla. Stat. § 679.513

Once an MCA debt is satisfied or resolved through a negotiated settlement, the funder does not always automatically remove the lien. Florida law provides a strict mechanism to force removal:

1. Authenticated written demand: Under Fla. Stat. § 679.513(3), once there is no outstanding obligation and no commitment to make further advances, the debtor may send an authenticated written demand to the secured party requiring them to file a UCC-3 termination statement.
2. The statutory 20-day clock: The secured party has 20 days after receiving the authenticated demand to file the UCC-3 termination statement with the Florida Secured Transaction Registry or send a copy to the debtor.
3. Statutory damages for non-compliance: Under Fla. Stat. § 679.625(5), if a funder fails to file or send the UCC-3 termination statement within that 20-day period, they are liable for a statutory $500 penalty, plus any actual financial damages caused by the continued lien (such as lost revenue from frozen payment processor payouts).

Every MCA settlement agreement executed in Florida should explicitly condition final payment on receiving an executed UCC-3 termination statement and require the funder to file it immediately with the Florida Secured Transaction Registry.

Collection conduct and complaints

Florida’s Consumer Collection Practices Act does not protect businesses, but two other rules can matter. The Florida Commercial Collection Practices Act requires third-party commercial collection agencies to register with the Office of Financial Regulation (section 559.544). A funder collecting its own account is generally exempt as a credit grantor, but an outside agency collecting for it may not be. Separately, Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act has been raised by businesses against funders and brokers in some cases; whether it applies depends heavily on the facts.

Complaints about disclosure-law violations go to the Florida Attorney General, the only agency that enforces Part XIII.

Relief options for Florida business owners

The right path depends on where the dispute stands. In rough order from least to most formal:

• Reconciliation request. If revenue has dropped, a documented request under the contract’s reconciliation clause, supported by bank and processor statements, preserves your rights and creates evidence. A refusal can support defenses later.
• Negotiated settlement or workout. Many disputes resolve through reduced payments or a discounted lump sum, with the UCC termination and dismissal of any case built in. See MCA settlement.
• Defending the lawsuit. Responding on time preserves recharacterization, fraud, breach, and procedural defenses that disappear after a default.
• Challenging a recorded judgment. The 30-day action and lis pendens under section 55.509, paired where appropriate with a motion to vacate in the original court.
• Dissolving a garnishment. A motion under section 77.07 within 20 days of the creditor’s notice.
• Bankruptcy. Covered below.

Stacked advances, where several funders debit the same account, add claims and complications of their own. See MCA stacking lawsuit defense.

Subchapter V bankruptcy in Florida

Florida has three federal bankruptcy courts: the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts. A Chapter 11 filing, including the streamlined Subchapter V track for small businesses, triggers the automatic stay, which immediately halts debits, lawsuits, garnishments, and judgment enforcement. Florida bankruptcy courts have been receptive to restructuring MCA claims. Besides IVF Orlando, the Tampa division in In re McKenzie Contracting, LLC (Bankr. M.D. Fla. July 19, 2024) treated claims filed as receivables purchases as contingent and unliquidated, excluding them from the Subchapter V debt limit calculation.

That debt limit is in flux. As of early October 2026, it is $3,424,000 in noncontingent, liquidated debt. Congress passed the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act, H.R. 7730, in September 2026 to restore a permanent $7.5 million limit, and the bill was sent to the President for signature. It applies only to cases filed on or after the date it becomes law, so timing a filing around its effective date is a real strategic question. More on this in MCA bankruptcy options.

What does not work in Florida

• Ignoring a New York summons because it is “out of state.” The judgment will be recorded in Florida.
• Treating a missing Florida disclosure as a reason the debt is void. The statute says otherwise.
• Telling your bank that authorized debits were unauthorized. That can be fraud and damages your credibility in court.
• Moving money into a new entity or a relative’s account. Florida courts treat that as a fraudulent transfer problem, not a defense.
• Revoking ACH authorization or closing accounts without a plan. It usually triggers default and acceleration. See how to stop MCA withdrawals before doing either.

Florida city resources

Local court and venue details for Florida’s largest markets:

• Tampa MCA defense: Hillsborough and Pinellas, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, Middle District of Florida.
• Orlando MCA defense: Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties, Middle District of Florida.
• Miami MCA defense: Miami-Dade, Southern District of Florida.
• Jacksonville MCA defense: Duval County, Middle District of Florida.

For a national overview of how defense works and how to evaluate counsel, see MCA defense attorney.

Frequently asked questions

Are merchant cash advances legal in Florida?

Yes. Florida does not prohibit merchant cash advances, and Florida courts have held that a genuine purchase of future receivables, where repayment depends on the business actually generating revenue, is not a loan subject to the usury statutes. Whether a particular agreement is enforceable as written is a separate question that turns on its terms.

Does Florida cap the cost of a merchant cash advance?

Not directly. Florida caps interest on loans, generally at 18 percent simple interest per year for amounts of $500,000 or less, and treats rates above 25 percent as criminal usury. Those caps reach an MCA only if a court first decides the transaction is really a loan. The disclosure law does not cap pricing.

Does a missing Florida disclosure cancel my MCA?

No. Section 559.9615 says a violation does not affect the enforceability or validity of the transaction, and it creates no private right of action. The Attorney General can impose fines. For a business owner, a disclosure failure is negotiation leverage and a basis for an Attorney General complaint, not a defense that erases the balance.

Which Florida MCAs does the disclosure law cover?

Commercial financing transactions consummated on or after January 1, 2024, of $500,000 or less, from providers that do more than five Florida deals in a 12-month period. Banks and their affiliates, financing secured by real property, leases, and several other categories are excluded under section 559.9612.

Can an MCA funder use a confession of judgment against a Florida business?

Florida itself treats a confession of judgment signed before a lawsuit as void under section 55.05, so a Florida court will not enter judgment on one. A funder can try to obtain a judgment in a state that allows confessions and then record it in Florida. New York, the usual venue, stopped allowing confessions of judgment against non-New York residents in 2019, which closed most of that route for Florida businesses.

What happens when an out-of-state MCA judgment is recorded in Florida?

The clerk mails notice to the judgment debtor, and no execution or garnishment can issue until 30 days after that mailing. If the debtor files an action within 30 days contesting the jurisdiction of the original court or the validity of the judgment, and records a lis pendens, the Florida court must stay enforcement while that challenge is decided.

Can an MCA company freeze my Florida business bank account?

After it has a judgment, yes, typically through a writ of garnishment served on your bank. Before judgment, the funder generally collects through the debits you authorized; prejudgment garnishment exists in Florida but requires a court order and specific statutory showings. Once a writ is served, the creditor must send you the bank’s answer and notice, and you have 20 days to move to dissolve the writ.

How long does a funder have to sue me in Florida?

Florida generally allows five years to bring an action on a written contract under section 95.11(2)(b). Many MCA agreements choose New York law and a New York forum, which can change the analysis, so the applicable limitations period should be confirmed by counsel.

Am I personally liable if I signed a guaranty?

Usually yes, to the extent the guaranty covers the obligation. Florida offers strong protections for individuals, including the homestead exemption in the Florida Constitution and exemptions for certain wages and retirement accounts, but those protections belong to people, not to the business entity, and they have conditions.

Can Subchapter V bankruptcy help a Florida business with MCA debt?

It can. Filing triggers the automatic stay, which stops debits, lawsuits, and garnishments, and Florida bankruptcy courts have treated MCA claims as restructurable in confirmed Subchapter V plans. As of early October 2026 the debt limit is $3,424,000; Congress has passed H.R. 7730 to restore a $7.5 million limit, but it applies only to cases filed on or after the date it becomes law.

Who do I complain to about an MCA funder or broker in Florida?

Disclosure-law violations go to the Florida Attorney General, which has exclusive authority to enforce Part XIII of chapter 559. Third-party commercial collection agencies must register with the Office of Financial Regulation, although a funder collecting its own account is generally exempt from that registration.

Sources

• Fla. Stat. § 559.9612, scope of the Commercial Financing Disclosure Law
• Fla. Stat. § 559.9613, required disclosures
• Fla. Stat. § 559.9614, broker prohibitions
• Fla. Stat. § 559.9615, enforcement
• Fla. Stat. § 55.05, confessions of judgment
• Fla. Stat. § 687.071, criminal usury
• Fla. Stat. § 77.07, dissolution of garnishment
• In re IVF Orlando, Inc., No. 6:24-bk-05475-TPG (Bankr. M.D. Fla. Oct. 3, 2025)

Legal disclaimer

This page is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Credible Law is an attorney referral network, not a law firm. Florida law and court decisions change; this page reflects research current to October 2026. Consult an attorney licensed in Florida, and in any other state where you have been sued, about your specific situation.