The Legal Ground You’re Standing On
Missouri MCA law: the three facts that shape every option
Every resolution strategy — renegotiation, settlement, defense, refinancing — plays out differently depending on these three pieces of Missouri law. A firm that can’t speak to them isn’t the best firm for a Missouri file.
1Usury limits & the recharacterization question
Missouri's general usury cap is 10% (or the published market rate when higher, Mo. Rev. Stat. § 408.030) — but § 408.035 removes rate limits for most commercial credit: parties may agree in writing to any rate on loans to corporations, partnerships, and LLCs, and on any business-purpose extension of credit. So even a Missouri court that recharacterized an MCA as a loan would generally find it exempt from the civil caps as business credit, making usury a weaker defense here than in states that cap commercial rates. Missouri merchants' statutory leverage instead comes from the state's 2024 Commercial Financing Disclosure Law.
Sources: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 408.030 (usury cap) · Mo. Rev. Stat. § 408.035 (business credit exemption)
2Confessions of judgment in Missouri
Permitted only with statutory safeguards Missouri allows judgment by confession (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 511.070), but the procedure has debtor-protective teeth: under § 511.080 the confession must be a written statement signed and verified by the defendant personally, stating the amount and concisely stating the facts out of which the liability arose, and under § 511.090 the court must be satisfied of the defendant's identity before entering judgment. That debtor-executed, verified-statement procedure is a different animal from the pre-signed warrant-of-attorney cognovit MCA funders historically used in New York — the standard MCA confession clause doesn't fit it.
Sources: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 511.070 (judgment by confession) · Elster Law — judgment by confession in Missouri (§§ 511.070–511.090)
3Missouri Commercial Financing Disclosure Law (SB 1359): what funders must tell you
Missouri enacted its Commercial Financing Disclosure Law in July 2024 (S.B. 1359, codified at Mo. Rev. Stat. § 427.300), with compliance required since February 28, 2025. It expressly covers accounts receivable purchase transactions — the MCA structure — plus commercial loans and open-end credit, for business-purpose transactions of $500,000 or less. Providers must disclose at or before consummation: total funds provided and disbursed, the total dollar cost of the financing, payment manner/frequency/amounts, and prepayment costs or discounts (no APR mandate). Brokers must register with the Missouri Division of Finance and carry a $10,000 surety bond. The Attorney General has exclusive enforcement authority ($500 per violation, $20,000 aggregate cap, more after notice); there is no private right of action. If a funder gave you no cost disclosure on a covered post-February-2025 advance, that is a compliance failure worth raising.
Sources: Mo. Rev. Stat. § 427.300 (full text) · Husch Blackwell — Missouri commercial finance disclosure law · Mayer Brown — Missouri provider and broker regulation (SB 1359)
How funders actually enforce here: Out-of-state MCA judgments are enforced in Missouri by registration under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 511.760: the creditor files a verified petition with an authenticated copy, and the debtor has 30 days after personal jurisdiction (35 after registered-mail notice) to assert defenses — limited to lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, failure of due notice, or fraud in procuring jurisdiction — after which the registration becomes a final Missouri judgment enforceable by levy and execution. Post-judgment collection runs through Missouri's garnishment chapter (Mo. Rev. Stat. ch. 525), reaching bank accounts and third parties. Funders also file UCC-1 liens against business assets through the Missouri Secretary of State. Notably, no Missouri appellate or reported federal MCA decision could be verified — the case law here is thin, consistent with § 408.035's business-credit exemption removing the usual usury battleground. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 511.760 (foreign judgment registration) · Mo. Rev. Stat. ch. 525 — garnishments
