Vermont HB 648: New MCA Regulations Follow Texas — What Brokers and Funders Must Know in 2026

Vermont just became the second state to adopt Texas-style merchant cash advance regulations — and the penalties for non-compliance are severe enough to wipe out your entire deal. Governor Phil Scott signed House Bill 648 on June 16, 2026, bringing sales-based financing and factoring under the state's regulated financial services framework. The commercial financing provisions take effect July 1, 2027.

If you're funding Vermont merchants or brokering deals in the state, this is not optional reading. Here's everything you need to know — including how HB 648 compares to Texas HB 700, what's different, and what you need to do before the deadline.

What Is Vermont HB 648?

Vermont HB 648 is a comprehensive financial services bill that extends the state's licensing, disclosure, and conduct requirements to providers and brokers of sales-based financing (merchant cash advances, revenue-based financing) and factoring (receivable purchase agreements). The law was passed by the Vermont House and Senate and signed by Governor Phil Scott on June 16, 2026.

The bill draws heavily from Texas HB 700, which established the first state-level ACH debit restrictions for MCA providers in 2025. But Vermont goes further in several key areas — most notably by including factoring transactions and imposing licensing requirements that Texas did not.

The law applies to transactions under $1 million in funding and exempts banks, traditional financial institutions, and sellers financing their own goods or services.

The Six Major Provisions of Vermont HB 648

Here's what the law actually requires, broken down provision by provision:

1. Licensing Requirements for Funders and Brokers

Every provider of sales-based financing and factoring must obtain a lender license through the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. This is a significant departure from the Texas approach — Texas requires registration with the OCCC, but Vermont requires a full lending license with ongoing state supervision.

The licensing requirement extends beyond funders. Lead generators, brokers, and anyone advertising MCA products online, by direct mail, or by phone must also obtain a loan solicitation license. If you're running Facebook ads for an MCA company targeting Vermont businesses, you need a license. If you're a lead vendor selling aged merchant leads from Vermont, you need a license.

This is broader than any other state's MCA regulation to date. The Vermont DFR will have direct oversight of the entire MCA supply chain — not just funders.

2. ACH Auto-Debit Restrictions

The provision that made Texas HB 700 a landmark has been copied nearly verbatim into Vermont law. Providers cannot establish automatic ACH debits from a merchant's deposit account unless they hold a validly perfected first-priority security interest in that account.

In practical terms: if you're pulling daily or weekly ACH payments from a Vermont merchant's bank account, you need a perfected first-lien position on that account. No other funder, lender, or creditor can have a superior claim on those funds. For stacked positions — an everyday reality in the MCA world — achieving first-priority is structurally impossible unless all other funders subordinate their interests or are paid off entirely.

This effectively makes Vermont a first-position-only market for any funder using ACH collection, just like Texas.

3. Mandatory APR Disclosure

Vermont HB 648 requires providers to disclose the full Annual Percentage Rate (APR) using Federal Truth in Lending Act methodology at the point of offer. This is a direct challenge to the MCA industry's traditional use of factor rates, which can obscure the true cost of capital.

For brokers, this means you can no longer present a deal to a Vermont merchant using only a factor rate. The APR must be calculated and disclosed before the transaction closes. If you're using an underwriting calculator that doesn't compute APR, you'll need to upgrade your tools.

Vermont joins California, New York, Virginia, and Utah in requiring some form of commercial financing cost disclosure — but Vermont's APR mandate using TILA methodology is among the strictest.

4. Confession of Judgment Ban

Vermont HB 648 bans confessions of judgment (COJs) in all sales-based financing and factoring contracts. A confession of judgment is a clause that allows a funder to obtain a court judgment against a merchant without trial or notice — historically one of the MCA industry's most aggressive collection tools.

New York banned COJs for out-of-state transactions in 2019, and several states have followed. Vermont's ban applies to all covered transactions regardless of where the contract was signed or where the funder is located.

If your funder contracts still include COJ clauses, they are unenforceable for Vermont merchants under this law. Update your contract templates before July 2027.

5. Vermont Law Governs All Disputes

Merchant agreements must be governed exclusively by Vermont law, and all disputes must be brought in Vermont courts. Additionally, any arbitration clauses in the contract cannot require in-person proceedings outside Vermont.

This eliminates a common MCA contract tactic: requiring merchants to arbitrate or litigate in a funder-friendly jurisdiction like New York or Delaware. Vermont merchants will resolve disputes locally, under Vermont rules.

6. Factoring Is Covered Too

This is where Vermont goes beyond Texas. HB 648 explicitly covers factoring transactions — traditional receivable purchase agreements — alongside sales-based financing. Texas HB 700 only covered sales-based financing.

If you're an invoice factoring company that has been positioning yourself as outside the MCA regulatory framework, Vermont disagrees. The same licensing, disclosure, and conduct requirements apply to factoring as they do to merchant cash advances.

Penalties: Forfeit Everything

Vermont's penalty structure is arguably the most aggressive of any state MCA regulation:

• Knowing and willful violations: Complete forfeiture of all collection rights — including principal. You don't just lose your profit; you lose the entire funded amount.
• Non-knowing violations: Recovery limited to principal only — all interest, fees, and factor rate markup are stripped.

Compare this to Texas, where penalties are $10,000 per violation. Vermont's approach is more existential: a single willful violation on a $200,000 deal means you forfeit $200,000. For a funder running significant Vermont volume, the risk calculus is straightforward — compliance is cheaper than non-compliance by orders of magnitude.

Vermont HB 648 vs Texas HB 700: Side-by-Side Comparison

Provision	Texas HB 700	Vermont HB 648
Effective Date	September 1, 2025	July 1, 2027
ACH Debit Restriction	Yes — first-priority security interest required	Yes — same language as Texas
Licensing	OCCC registration	Full lender license + loan solicitation license for brokers/lead gen
APR Disclosure	General disclosure requirements	TILA-methodology APR required
COJ Ban	No	Yes — all covered contracts
Covers Factoring	No — sales-based financing only	Yes — factoring and sales-based financing
Penalties	Up to $10,000 per violation	Forfeiture of all collection rights including principal
Threshold	Under $1 million	Under $1 million
Venue	No venue restriction	Vermont courts only; arbitration must be in-state

What MCA Brokers Need to Do Before July 2027

If you're brokering deals to Vermont merchants — or plan to — here's your compliance checklist:

1. Obtain a loan solicitation license from the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. This applies to brokers, lead generators, and anyone advertising MCA products to Vermont businesses. Start the application process early — licensing backlogs are common.
2. Audit your funder panel. Confirm that every funder you submit Vermont deals to is either licensed or actively pursuing licensure. If your funder isn't compliant, your deals aren't compliant — and Vermont's forfeiture penalty applies to the entire transaction.
3. Upgrade your disclosure workflow. You'll need to deliver APR disclosures calculated using TILA methodology. If your current process relies on factor rate quotes alone, that won't be sufficient for Vermont. Use our underwriting calculator to model APR scenarios.
4. Remove COJ clauses from your contracts. Any contract presented to a Vermont merchant that contains a confession of judgment clause is non-compliant. Work with your legal team to update templates now — don't wait until June 2027.
5. Know which of your merchants are in Vermont. If you're submitting deals nationally and not tracking merchant state of business, start now. Vermont is a small state, but the penalties make even a few non-compliant deals expensive.

What MCA Funders Need to Do Before July 2027

1. Obtain a Vermont lender license. This is a full license, not a registration — expect a more thorough application process than Texas OCCC registration. Budget time for the licensing review.
2. Solve the first-position problem for ACH collection. The same structural challenge that exists in Texas now exists in Vermont. If you rely on ACH debits, you need a perfected first-priority security interest in the merchant's deposit account. Explore bank partnerships, lockbox structures, or consent-based remittance models.
3. Build APR disclosure capability. Your offer documents must include a TILA-methodology APR calculation. This is not optional and must be delivered before the transaction closes.
4. Purge COJ clauses from all Vermont contracts. Review every contract template used for Vermont merchants and remove confessions of judgment.
5. Update your collections playbook. The forfeiture penalty means a single willful violation could cost you the entire funded amount. Your compliance, legal, and collections teams need to be aligned on Vermont-specific procedures.

The Domino Effect: Who's Next?

Texas established the template in 2025. Vermont adopted it — and expanded it — in 2026. The pattern is unmistakable: state legislatures are increasingly willing to regulate merchant cash advances, and each new law builds on the precedents set by previous states.

States to watch in 2026-2027 include:

• New York — already has commercial financing disclosure requirements and COJ restrictions; ACH debit rules could follow
• California — SB 362 disclosure requirements are already in effect; licensing expansion is being discussed
• Florida — significant MCA deal volume and growing legislative attention to alternative financing
• Illinois — has existing small business lending disclosure requirements that could be expanded to cover MCAs

The funders and brokers that build multi-state compliance infrastructure now will have a durable competitive advantage. The cost of compliance is predictable; the cost of penalties is not.

How to Use MCA Directory to Stay Compliant

MCA Directory's funder search lets you filter funders by state restrictions — so you can instantly see which funders in our directory of 61+ MCA funders are actively funding in Vermont and which have restricted the state. As funders update their Vermont compliance status, their profiles on MCA Directory will reflect those changes.

For brokers navigating the evolving regulatory landscape, MCA Directory's free tools help you work smarter:

• Funder Search — filter by state, revenue, credit score, positions, and more
• Underwriting Calculator — model APR, payback amounts, and debt service ratios
• Industry Blog — compliance updates, regulatory analysis, and deal strategy guides
• MCA Glossary — 40+ terms defined, from factor rates to UCC filings
• MCA Software Marketplace — CRMs, compliance tools, and lead vendors

Create a free broker account to unlock funder contact details and request direct introductions to ISO reps at compliant funders.

Bottom Line

Vermont HB 648 is not a copy of Texas HB 700 — it's an expansion. The licensing requirements are stricter, the penalty structure is harsher, factoring is included, COJs are banned, and dispute venue is locked to Vermont. The law takes effect July 1, 2027, giving the industry roughly 12 months to prepare.

For brokers and funders who built compliance infrastructure after Texas, adapting to Vermont will be relatively straightforward. For those who haven't started, the clock is ticking — and the consequences of getting caught non-compliant in Vermont are worse than in any other state that has regulated MCAs to date.

The MCA regulatory landscape is tightening. Build compliance into your business now, or risk being shut out of state markets one by one.