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TX MCA Attorney: Usury, Venue, Business Court (2026)

Texas has no MCA-specific disclosure law. How TX common-law usury, Finance Code, and new Business Court rules affect MCA cases — and finding counsel.

By Bar Alezrah12 min readPublished April 16, 2026 · Updated April 16, 2026

Texas is a large MCA market with a relatively light statutory overlay. Unlike New York or California, Texas has not enacted a commercial financing disclosure law, and it does not have a dedicated MCA regulator. That means the legal toolkit for a Texas merchant defending an MCA case leans on contract law, common-law and statutory usury, and procedural leverage around venue and the new Business Court. This guide covers what a Texas MCA attorney actually works with and how to find one. It is not legal advice about your specific case, which only a licensed attorney can give. For the statewide framework, see MCA laws in Texas and the broader MCA attorney complete guide.

No MCA-Specific Texas Law: Why That Matters

Several states have moved to regulate commercial financing with explicit disclosure statutes. New York's Commercial Finance Disclosure Law, California's CFDL, Florida's HB 601, Virginia's SB 1347, and Utah's Commercial Financing Registration and Disclosure Act are the leading examples. Texas has not. There is no Texas law that specifically requires MCA funders to disclose an APR, a standardized cost table, or the structural features of the deal. Legislative efforts have been proposed but not enacted as of 2026.

The practical effect is that Texas merchants cannot ground a defense in a missing statutory disclosure the way a California or Florida merchant can. That removes one tool from the kit. It does not remove the tools that matter most in practice, which include breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud in the inducement, unconscionability, and common-law usury when the facts support recharacterization. Texas courts have a long history of addressing aggressive lending behavior under these doctrines, and a well-prepared Texas MCA attorney frames the case accordingly.

The absence of a state disclosure statute also shifts pressure to federal tools. Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank, which requires small business lending data collection, and the general UDAAP framework under the CFPB remain available as regulatory reference points even where state law is silent.

Texas Usury Law and How It Applies

Texas usury is set by the Finance Code. Chapter 302 establishes general interest ceilings, and Chapter 303 addresses ceilings for specific commercial lending. The statutory civil ceiling is generally tied to a formula that produces a ceiling for most commercial loans that is higher than most consumer rate caps but well below MCA effective rates, which routinely exceed 50% annualized. Separate criminal usury thresholds exist as well.

As elsewhere, usury applies to loans rather than to true sales of future receivables. A Texas MCA that is structured and performed as a purchase falls outside the usury analysis. The defensive argument is the same as in other states. An attorney walks the court through the economic substance of the transaction, including reconciliation practice, the certainty of repayment, and whether the funder bears real risk of non-collection. If the court treats the advance as a loan, the Texas usury ceilings come into play and penalties can be significant, including forfeiture of principal and interest in certain statutory usury scenarios.

Texas appellate courts have not produced as thick a body of MCA-specific recharacterization case law as New York, which means your Texas attorney often has to argue from first principles and analogize to out-of-state authorities including the NY appellate line. That is doable but requires briefing depth.

A practical note on penalties. Texas statutory usury remedies can be severe. In some circumstances a finding of usury entitles the obligor to recover an amount equal to three times the amount by which the interest charged exceeds the authorized amount, plus reasonable attorney fees. That is not automatic and depends on procedural compliance with notice requirements under the Finance Code, but it is a meaningful reason a well-prepared usury defense can produce real settlement leverage even before trial.

Common-Law Defenses Beyond Usury

Without a disclosure statute to rely on, Texas MCA defense leans on contract doctrines that every experienced commercial litigator knows. Fraud in the inducement is available when a funder's sales representatives made specific representations about reconciliation, total cost, or renewal terms that the contract contradicted or the funder later refused to honor. Unconscionability, both procedural and substantive, comes up where the contract was presented on a take-it-or-leave-it basis to an unsophisticated merchant with material terms buried in fine print and economics that shock the conscience.

Breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing has a narrower footprint in Texas than in some states but remains viable in specific contexts. More often, a Texas defense combines a contract construction argument with factual evidence of funder misconduct to deny summary judgment and force the case into discovery, where settlement discussions typically become more productive.

Your Texas MCA attorney should be able to identify which of these doctrines fit the actual facts of your deal within the first 30 to 60 minutes of reviewing your contract and funding history. If the attorney's answer is "we'll figure it out in discovery," that is a weaker answer than "here are the two or three theories your facts support and here is the case law I would lead with." Ask for specifics.

Forum Selection: NY Choice-of-Law Clauses in TX Cases

Almost every MCA contract includes a choice-of-law and forum-selection clause pointing to New York. When a funder sues a Texas merchant, it usually files in New York under that clause. When a Texas merchant sues a funder first, the funder usually removes or moves to transfer under the clause. Texas courts enforce forum-selection clauses under general contract principles and the Texas Supreme Court has historically deferred to them absent unusual circumstances.

What this means in practice:

• If you are sued in New York on an MCA, you need New York counsel. A Texas attorney alone cannot handle a New York Supreme Court case.
• If you want to bring affirmative claims against the funder, filing in Texas is possible but often ends with the case transferred to New York over your objection.
• Some Texas attorneys coordinate with a New York law firm as co-counsel, which can work if the New York firm has real MCA experience.
• There are narrow exceptions under which a Texas court may decline to enforce a forum-selection clause, including fraud in the inducement of the clause itself or a showing that enforcement would be unreasonable. These are hard to win but occasionally available on specific facts.

Your first conversation with a Texas MCA attorney should include a clear read on whether the case can be kept in Texas, transferred, or requires New York co-counsel. For the playbook when a suit has already landed, see MCA lawsuit being sued playbook.

Texas Business Court and MCA Disputes

The Texas Business Court, created by the 88th Legislature, became operational on September 1, 2024. It is a specialized court for complex business disputes with subject-matter jurisdiction over qualifying commercial cases, including many contract disputes where the amount in controversy exceeds $10 million, plus certain corporate governance matters and disputes involving publicly traded companies. Parties may also agree to opt in for qualifying cases below the threshold.

For most MCA cases, the threshold means Business Court jurisdiction does not automatically apply. A typical MCA dispute of $50,000 to $500,000 does not qualify on amount alone. However, two situations can bring the Business Court into play. First, if multiple advances stack across a single funder and total obligations exceed $10 million, the dispute may qualify. Second, parties sometimes agree to opt in to access specialized commercial judges and faster dockets, which can benefit a well-prepared defendant who wants sophisticated motion practice.

The Business Court's published procedures and judge biographies are on txcourts.gov. A Texas attorney who has already appeared in the Business Court has a meaningful advantage over counsel who has only handled cases in the district court system. Ask directly whether the attorney has practiced in the new court and what their view is on its application to your case.

Finding a Texas MCA Attorney

Start with the State Bar of Texas attorney search. The free lookup shows license status, bar number, admission date, and public discipline history. The Texas Board of Legal Specialization certifies attorneys in areas like civil trial law and commercial real estate, but there is no certification specific to commercial finance or MCA work. Use general civil trial law certification as a positive signal, not a substitute for MCA-specific experience.

Practical vetting questions that work in Texas:

• How many commercial finance or MCA defense matters have you handled in the last 24 months, and what were the venues?
• Have you litigated a forum-selection clause challenge in a case with a New York choice-of-law provision?
• Do you have New York co-counsel relationships if my case is transferred or filed there?
• Have you appeared in the Texas Business Court since it opened in September 2024?
• What is your fee structure and your realistic estimate of total cost through settlement or trial for a case like mine?

For general context, the sibling guides on MCA defense attorney, MCA lawsuit attorney, and MCA lawyer cost explain what these lawyers actually do and how they charge. The best MCA debt relief companies article covers when a relief firm can work in parallel with attorney representation.

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