Hamilton & Merchant publishes original research on merchant cash advances for the owners who carry them and the lawyers, lenders and reporters who follow the industry. Every figure is computed from a dataset we publish, and every dataset cites the statute, court record or agency release it came from.
Studies
State Merchant Cash Advance Laws
7 of those 11 cover only deals of $500,000 or less: California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Virginia. A business taking a larger advance there gets none of their protections.
How Courts Decide Whether a Merchant Cash Advance Is a Loan
We read 59 decisions from 2017 to 2026: 27 held an advance was a loan or let a usury claim go forward, 22 held it was a true sale, and 7 left the question for trial.
Government Actions Against Merchant Cash Advance Companies
The merchant-protection cases produced $1.21 billion in announced judgments and settlements ($1.13 billion still standing after an appeal), including $556.3 million in merchant balances canceled.
What a $500,000 Merchant Cash Advance Stack Costs
A business that owes about $557,000 across five merchant cash advances pays $5,033 every business day: $25,166 a week and $105,698 a month.
How we work
- Every number traces to a source: a statute, a court opinion, an agency release, or a published data set. Each study lists its sources and links to them.
- The data behind each study can be downloaded as a CSV and reused with attribution under CC BY 4.0.
- Models are labeled as models. Where a page uses an illustrative example, it says so and publishes the assumptions.
- We correct errors and date the change. Email [email protected].
- Hamilton & Merchant is a business debt relief consultancy, not a law firm. Nothing here is legal advice.
For reporters and researchers
You are welcome to quote and chart these studies with a link to the study page. For questions about a dataset or a request for the underlying notes, email [email protected] or call (407) 993-1416.