New York Tribeca Group Filed Suit: 7 Questions to Answer Before You Respond

The summons said New York Tribeca Group. You took a minute to rub your eyes, but the words were still there. The worst thing you can do when sued is ignore the lawsuit. If you ignore a lawsuit and do nothing, the person or business who sued you can obtain a judgment against you. Get an experienced attorney on your side ASAP. Don’t try to respond yourself. Here are the top 7 questions to answer before you respond to a Merchant Cash Advance Lawsuit:

1. Lawsuit, letter or judgment?

There’s a difference between a judgment and a lawsuit. In general, if you received a letter or call demanding you to pay a debt, you haven’t been sued…yet. If you don’t know which one you’re looking at, the first thing to do is identify what exactly the paperwork is. You should scan and save copies of your documents for safe keeping.

2. Who was sued, and where?

The answer to who was sued may not be obvious. Who exactly was sued? Your LLC or corporation, or you personally? An attorney can tell you if you were sued individually. You can be sued in either state court or federal court. It’s important to know where you’re being sued because where you’re being sued can determine which rules apply. Even if your business is outside New York, you could also be sued in New York under specific circumstances.

3. When does your clock run out?

The answer to this question is incredibly important. If you’re sued in New York, you only have 20 days from the date you were served to respond if you’re served personally inside the state. If you’re served any other way, you have 30 days to answer. If papers were left with someone else at your home or business, you would have to look up when the affidavit of service was filed in court. Service is complete 10 days after it was filed, so at least 40 days from the day of filing. You appear by serving an answer, a notice of appearance, or a motion. If you don’t respond in that amount of time, there can be a judgment against you by default. The last thing you want to do is try to count out the days yourself. There are too many variables involved here. Remember the funder wants to collect the debt. The funder isn’t going to tell you the right timeline for you to respond.

If the funder’s lawsuit is for money only, the case may not even start with a complaint. Instead, if they want to use a summary judgment procedure against you, the process may begin with a summons and notice of motion for summary judgment. Your papers are due by the date stated in the notice of motion.

4. Who will appear for the business?

If you do have an attorney for the business, that attorney should be the one to appear in the lawsuit for the business. If you don’t have an attorney for the business, it’s important to know that you can’t appear as a non-attorney on behalf of the business. A settlement company won’t be able to appear in court for your business. If your LLC or corporation were sued, hiring an attorney to defend the lawsuit is different than hiring a person to try to settle the lawsuit.

5. Does their number hold up?

Double check and verify the numbers the funder claims you owe. How do the numbers stated in the lawsuit compare to what you have? Have you looked at the supporting documents such as the contract you signed? Just because they tell you what you owe doesn’t mean it’s accurate.

Not every funding advance is a loan. This would have to be decided by a judge. This question depends on the exact circumstances of your case. On Feb 19, 2026, New York’s 1st Appellate Division upheld a lower court’s ruling that merchant cash advance company Richmond Capital Group’s MCAs were actually loans. The key parts of the court’s decision were that Richmond never really did reconciliations, the payments were fixed, and they went after personal guarantees for defaulted MCA’s. Knowingly collecting more than 25% a year on a loan is a crime in New York. If the deal you got was not a loan, then some of the loan laws may not apply. Ask an experienced lawyer what it means for your situation.

6. What is happening to your money?

Has the funder taken money or tried to take money from your account yet? If your bank account has been frozen by the lawsuit, tell the attorney you hire. Get the actual papers in your hands. A uniform commercial code (UCC) filing, a notice of assignment and a court restraintare all different. Just because you received some scary letter demanding that money be held, turned over or paid doesn’t always mean that the letter is valid. An experienced attorney can tell you if what the funder is doing is legal and if the paperwork is correct. You could put yourself in a worse position by transferring money between accounts.

7. Judgment already, or settlement?

If there’s already a judgment against you, then your options and the court procedures available are different. If you decide that you want to get your case reopened and ask the court to set aside the default, you need to do it quickly and it has to be done in a specific way. To do it, you must file a motion based on excusable default within one year after service of the judgment plus written notice of entry. Confessions of judgment can only be filed with the clerk of any county in New York state where the defendant is residing or has a place of business. The filing must be made within 3 years of signing the confessions of judgment.

Decide if you want to try to settle the case. Do so after weighing your defense, cash flow and any other creditors you have. The written settlement offer should give the total settlement payment you will pay, specific dates when the payments will be made, and the amount of each payment. Spell out how any payments already taken or due will be credited. Will all guarantors be included? Also confirm how the suit is ended and judgment satisfied, if there’s a release of any bank restraints, Uniform Commercial Code filings or third party customer demands and what if a payment is missed. If you settle with one company, it won’t fix any other merchant cash advances you have.

A free contract review costs nothing and takes a day or two. Call (888) 837-7053, or send the agreements to Delancey Street for a straight read on your options.