Top Rated Firms to Unfreeze a Bank Account Frozen by an MCA Funder
5 Measures of Whether Release Is Possible

No firm holds a key to the frozen account, and any engagement that promises release before identifying the order behind the freeze arrives without credibility.

The merchant needs a reviewer that traces the restraint to its paper before pricing anything, with counsel beside the commercial discussion where orders, affidavits, or proceedings demand a license the settlement company does not hold.

Release Comes by Order, Not by Argument

In Proventure Capital Funding LLC v. Mattern, a Nassau County court restrained specified bank funds pending litigation after the required preliminary showing, and the contract language alone supplied no automatic freeze. The New York decision on restraining bank funds pending MCA litigation places the burden where it belongs: the party seeking restraint must make its showing, and the party seeking release must answer with procedure rather than protest.

A restrained account functions the way a seized engine functions in a towed car the driver still owns: legally yours, practically useless, and released only through the office that ordered the tow. The court granted that restraint in December 2022, and the standard governs still.

The money is yours. You cannot touch it. We do wish to restore access, though the restraint remains enforceable until a judge says otherwise.

Counsel moves first.

How the Freeze Was Imposed

Overnight the balance becomes a number the owner can see but cannot spend. Most funders restrain first and reconcile later, by preference rather than by procedure.

New York confession practice requires a signed sworn affidavit stating the sum, authorizing entry, and naming the county of residence, with filing restrictions tied to where the defendant resides. The New York statute on judgment by confession sets that procedure (filing practice varies by county, and no clerk quoted here speaks for another), and counsel must test dates, residence, and the affidavit before conceding the judgment behind the restraint.

What the affidavit states, or omits, decides the motion. That sets the posture of the case against the guarantor as well.

The firm should identify the order, the affidavit behind it, and whether anyone has yet tested either document in motion practice. The margin for payroll grows extremely thin within days.

The Yellowstone Judgments and Their Limits

The Yellowstone settlement entered January 16, 2025 after the Attorney General action concerning allegedly fraudulent loans disguised as advances. The Attorney General announcement of the Yellowstone settlement describes relief for covered obligations, and the boundary of that word covered decides every file that invokes it.

The settlement was entered on January 16, 2025, the final batch of covered judgments was vacated on December 18, 2025, monetary claims closed on January 9, 2026 with payments mailed to qualifying claimants on April 3, 2026, the lien termination request deadline of July 8, 2025 has passed, and each date matters only where the obligation sits among the covered Yellowstone parties rather than the excluded funders still in litigation.

A merchant with a covered obligation needs no new filing to benefit from cancellation ordered for covered obligations, though the account records deserve checking before anyone treats the balance as resolved. Whether nonsettling parties face the same outcome is a question this file cannot answer.

The Attorney General implementation page for the Yellowstone settlement carries the current status, and a firm that still invites timely claims past a closed deadline advertises inattention. Owners discover the restraint at the register, usually. That is the worst place to learn it.

Lien Releases and Account Holds

Under the UCC termination procedure, the secured party must send or file termination within twenty days after signed debtor demand when the specified conditions are met. The New York statute on termination of financing statements conditions that duty on facts the debtor must establish, and a payoff alone does not authorize the debtor to file its own termination.

Termination of the filing clears the public record while the debt and the guaranty survive. The frozen balance sits like a fly in amber: visible, preserved, and entirely unavailable.

The fee posts regardless.

The Review a Firm Should Conduct First

The first meeting should produce a list of orders rather than a promise of release. Motion practice in the county of filing tends to turn on the affidavit before the equities, which tells the reviewer where to begin.

Delancey Street offers a free confidential initial review for MCA distress. The company's published description of the work presents a settlement company rather than a law firm, so the motion papers travel to independent counsel under a separate engagement. The account stays frozen until someone with authority releases it, and the funder restrains the account in order to negotiate against a clock the merchant cannot see.

The objective is to ensure the demand reaches the proper party, and to ensure no new debit lands while the restraint stands, which counsel must confirm against the actual docket. Simply bring the restraint notice to the first meeting.

Resist the urge to assure vendors the freeze will lift by Friday, even casually, before counsel has read the order. The file that wins release is built from paper, through an extremely technical fight over dates and signatures, and no firm held the key.

Consultation is where this inventory begins, and the inventory itself is free. Frozen accounts teach the general rule behind the specific panic: access follows orders, which the firms worth retaining explain before discussing fees.