Jaffe & Asher LLP: Who They Are and What to Do If They Contact You About an MCA Balance

What Jaffe & Asher is

Jaffe & Asher LLP (jaffeandasher.com), 600 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10016, phone (212) 687-3000, toll free (888) 625-9895, fax (212) 687-9639, ClientServices@JaffeandAsher.com. The site lists offices in White Plains (opened December 2016), New Jersey, California, Hollywood, Florida, Georgia and Texas, and practice areas in bankruptcy, commercial litigation, corporate and transactional law, creditors' rights, family law, insurance, lender liability and workout litigation, and real estate finance. Gregory E. Galterio is managing partner. The footer carries the New York City debt collection disclosure and a link to the city's Department of Consumer Affairs glossary, which a firm prints when it collects debts from New York City residents.

Its creditors' rights page describes a team of collection litigation attorneys handling low balance to high balance debt, consumer and commercial, from 10,000 dollars to multi-million dollar debts, tens of thousands of matters a year nationwide through local counsel in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, for the nation's major credit card issuers, financial institutions and investment banks, including nationwide counterclaim defence for one of the country's largest credit card issuers.

The Better Business Bureau lists Jaffe & Asher LLP at 600 3rd Avenue under collections agencies: not BBB accredited, rated A+, business started May 31, 2000, BBB file opened April 26, 2011, 0 complaints on file (checked September 24, 2026).

What it is not: a funder, a lender or a merchant cash advance provider. There is no Jaffe & Asher advance, no factor rate and no reconciliation clause of its own. If our earlier page led you to expect any of those, disregard it.

What the firm says about merchant cash advance work

The clearest statement of the firm's MCA role is its own. In a May 15, 2017 article, Does Your Merchant Finance Agreement Pass the Purchase vs. Loan Test?, managing partner Gregory Galterio wrote that the worst nightmare of every merchant finance company is a judicial determination that its purchase agreements are usurious loans in disguise, and set out a four-question checklist for funders: an adequate non-recourse provision, an adequate reconciliation clause, no automatic guaranty trigger on bankruptcy or non-wilful breach, and an indefinite rather than fixed term. He cited Merchant Funding Services v. Volunteer Pharmacy and Pearl Capital Rivis Ventures v. RDN Construction, two 2016 Westchester County decisions that found MCA agreements to be loans. The article closes by saying the firm's client roster includes numerous merchant finance companies for which it provides contract revision, counterclaim defence, operational advice, collection of delinquent accounts and enforcement of judgments in all 50 states.

Read that checklist from the merchant's side and it is the list of what to look for in your own agreement: the reconciliation clause, the non-recourse language, what triggers the personal guaranty, and whether the term is fixed. Those are the same four points New York courts examine when a merchant argues the advance was really a loan.

Where it appears in the court record

• Consumer FDCPA suits against the firm. Federal dockets show Fair Debt Collection Practices Act suits naming the firm as defendant, all closed within a year of filing: Toliao v. Jaffe & Asher (N.D. Cal., 2010), Monet Davis v. Jaffe and Asher (C.D. Cal., 2011), Halpin v. Jaffe and Asher (C.D. Cal., 2012) and Danehy v. Jaffe and Asher (E.D.N.C., 2014). We have not read the pleadings, so this page does not characterise the allegations or outcomes beyond the docket. They concern consumer accounts, which is the credit card side of the practice.
• FTC v. RCG Advances. In the Federal Trade Commission's case against RCG Advances (Richmond Capital Group) and Jonathan Braun (S.D.N.Y. 1:20-cv-04432), the FTC's December 11, 2023 motion for judicial notice listed among its exhibits a complaint captioned Pearl Capital v. Jaffe and Asher. The exhibit is not in the public archive we use, so we record only that it exists; it indicates a dispute between an MCA funder and the firm, nothing more.
• The firm's name appears in more than 80 federal dockets overall, most of them as counsel in commercial and creditor matters.

No regulatory action or disciplinary record against the firm was located in the sources checked.

Why a business owner hears from the firm

Because a creditor has placed the account with it for collection, suit or judgment enforcement. On a merchant cash advance that creditor is the funder; on a business credit card it is the issuer. The firm is the creditor's counsel, and on its own account also drafts and revises the agreements funders use. The agreement, the debit history, the personal guaranty and any UCC filing belong to the creditor, and that paperwork decides what can be argued.

What to establish from your own paperwork

• Which creditor, which agreement and what balance. Ask in writing, at 600 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10016, for the creditor's name, the agreement date, the amounts advanced and payable, every payment or debit credited and the balance claimed.
• The four purchase-versus-loan points. Using the firm's own checklist: find the reconciliation clause and whether you asked for reconciliation; find the non-recourse language; read what triggers the personal guaranty; check whether the term is fixed. These decide whether a usury argument exists and how strong the guaranty claim is.
• Whether a suit or judgment already exists, and where. Search NYSCEF and your own state's docket for the business name and the guarantor's name. If a summons exists, the answer deadline runs from service, usually 20 or 30 days.
• Whether the FDCPA applies. A merchant cash advance is a commercial transaction, so the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act generally does not apply to it, even though the firm has faced FDCPA suits over consumer accounts. New York City collection rules, attorney conduct rules and the general prohibitions on misrepresentation still apply.
• Any UCC filing, confession of judgment or personal guaranty. These decide what can be reached and how fast. See how MCA debt relief works.

If a lawsuit has been filed

The plaintiff will be the creditor, with Jaffe & Asher as counsel, possibly through local counsel in your state. Answer before the deadline; a default judgment ends the negotiation and opens judgment enforcement, which the firm handles in all 50 states. See what to do if a creditor represented by Jaffe & Asher sues.

Can the balance be settled?

Usually, if the underlying account is real. The firm's own description of its practice is negotiating resolutions with sophisticated settlement documentation, and placed balances settle within limits the creditor sets; a documented revenue drop, bank statements and a realistic lump sum or schedule tend to be heard, before or after a suit is filed. See how a balance Jaffe & Asher is collecting can be settled.

Business Debt Adjusters reviews the agreement, the debit history and any filings, and tells you what is realistic before you commit to anything.

Sources

• Jaffe & Asher LLP website, Creditors' Rights practice page
• Gregory E. Galterio, Does Your Merchant Finance Agreement Pass the Purchase vs. Loan Test?, Jaffe & Asher LLP, May 15, 2017
• Jaffe & Asher LLP, New York headquarters contact page
• BBB Business Profile: Jaffe & Asher LLP, New York, NY (not accredited, A+, started 5/31/2000, file opened 4/26/2011, 0 complaints)
• CourtListener docket search: suits naming Jaffe & Asher as defendant (FDCPA dockets 2010 to 2014) and FTC v. RCG Advances, S.D.N.Y. 1:20-cv-04432 (exhibit list, December 11, 2023)

Facts on this page were checked against the linked sources on September 24, 2026. Business Debt Adjusters is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized to represent the company described.