Stop the Calls, Part 21: "We'll pay off your advance." Ask these 5 questions first

"Good news. We can consolidate your current advance, pay it off, and cut your daily payment in half. Can you send your last three statements?"

It sounds like relief. The daily debit stings, and someone is offering to make it smaller. That's why this pitch works.

This is Part 21 of Stop the Calls. Part 4 showed how brokers learn you got funded, and Part 20 gave you the call-back test for anyone claiming to be your funder (https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-20-funder-renewal). Today: five questions that sort a real offer from a pitch, and the line that ends the call when the caller can't answer them.

General information, not legal advice.

What the pitch usually leaves out

"Consolidation" can mean a new funder pays your current funder in full. It can also mean nobody gets paid off: you get money in pieces to help cover the old payment while a new payment starts on top. Same word, very different deal. On the phone you hear the smaller daily number, not the total payback or whether the old debit stops.

The tactic: the five consolidation questions

Keep these by the phone, or have your AI receptionist ask them before it transfers anyone (Part 5: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-5-call-screening).

Question 1: "Who pays off my current funder, and how?" You want a clear answer: the new funder sends the payoff directly to your current funder, against a written payoff letter.

Question 2: "Does my current daily debit stop on day one?" If the answer is "not right away" or "we'll help cover it," you may be making two payments at once.

Question 3: "What is the total payback amount, in dollars?" Not the daily payment. The total.

Question 4: "How much of the new money goes to my old funder, how much to fees, and how much to me?" Get all three numbers.

Question 5: "Will you send the written offer and disclosures before I send anything?" Some states require them (below).

Then use the line:

"Send it in writing to the email I give you. I'm not sending statements on this call. If you can't put those five answers in writing, take my number off your list."

That last sentence is a do-not-call request. Log the date and time (https://mcafax.com/notebook/toolkit/call-log-template). If they call back, Part 2 shows the written stop request (https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-2-written-stop-request).

Bonus step: call your own funder first. Ask, at the number on your contract, for your payoff amount in writing and whether any early payoff discount applies.

The rules behind it, and where they stop

• Under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, telemarketers may not misrepresent material facts about the cost or terms of what they're selling (16 CFR 310.3(a)(2)), and since 2024 that reaches business-to-business calls too (16 CFR 310.6(b)(7)): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.3

• New York's Commercial Finance Disclosure Law requires covered providers of financing up to $2,500,000, including sales-based financing like many advances, to disclose the total repayment amount, the finance charge and an estimated APR when they make a specific offer. When a renewal with the same provider pays off the old balance, the disclosure has to say whether any of the new money covers unpaid finance charges or fees: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr202302011 and https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-york/23-NYCRR-600.6

• California requires covered commercial financing providers, including merchant cash advance providers, to give disclosures with the offer, and the recipient must sign them before the deal is finalized: https://dfpi.ca.gov/regulated-industries/california-financing-law/about-california-financing-law/california-financing-law-commercial-financing-disclosures/

• Your do-not-call request is covered by FCC rules (47 CFR 64.1200(d)): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200. The National Do Not Call Registry covers personal numbers, not business lines, and a dedicated business line gets less protection.

Rules vary by state and deal, and none of this promises an outcome. Have a licensed attorney read any consolidation contract before you sign. Report unwanted calls at https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html, or at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov if money was lost. More: https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/know-your-rights and https://mcafax.com/notebook/merchant-cash-advance-alternatives

Your checklist

1. Get your real payoff amount from your own funder first.
2. Ask the five questions on every consolidation call.
3. Send nothing until the offer and disclosures arrive in writing.
4. Compare total payback, not the daily payment.
5. If they can't answer, say the do-not-call line and log it.

Coming in Part 22: the "you're pre-approved" text with your exact funding amount in it, and what it tells you about where your data went.