If the lender has a money judgment against you personally (usually from a personal guarantee), they can go after most of your personal assets. Bank and brokerage accounts and a paid-off car are easy to take. Wages held by your employer, most retirement accounts and property held jointly with your spouse are hard to take in Pennsylvania.
The funder's UCC-1 against your company gives them no rights to your personal assets. A New York judgment against you can be filed in Pennsylvania under 42 Pa.C.S. 4306 and enforced under Pennsylvania's rules and exemptions. Read about the steps the funder needs to take to get to your personal assets.
Which MCA Personal Assets Are Exposed After a Guarantor Judgment?
Personal bank accounts are the first target, and the table sorts the rest.
| Type of personal asset | Can the MCA funder get it in Pennsylvania? | Exceptions that change the answer |
|---|
| Personal checking or savings | Yes, minus a $300 exemption | Recurring electronic exempt deposits protect the first $10,000 |
| Joint account with your spouse | Generally no (entireties protection) | Your spouse is also a guarantor |
| Brokerage account or cryptocurrency | Yes, no specific exemption | Little, apart from bankruptcy |
| 401(k) at a company with employees | No, because of ERISA | Money you took out |
| IRA, Roth IRA, or solo 401(k) | No, under Pennsylvania law | Contributions over $15,000 in a year, or a fraudulent transfer |
| Wages at your employer | No, wages are protected | Once deposited into your bank account |
| Personal car or truck | Yes, to the extent of your equity | A perfected loan on the title, or LLC ownership |
| Your home | Yes, the judgment becomes a lien | Owned with your spouse as tenants by the entireties |
| Your interest in another LLC | Yes, by charging order | A single-member LLC interest can be foreclosed and sold |
Why will the MCA funder target my bank account?
The funder gets whatever is in your account when the bank is served with the writ of execution. Under Pa.R.C.P. 3111.1, the bank must leave the first $10,000 if funds it can identify as exempt are deposited electronically on a recurring basis, all of the money if those are the only deposits, and $300 under the general exemption in 42 Pa.C.S. 8123. Federal benefits such as Social Security deposited in the two months before the bank is served are protected under 31 CFR 212.6.
A joint account with your spouse is presumed to be held by the entireties. In Plastipak Packaging, Inc. v. DePasquale, the Superior Court held that a creditor of one spouse cannot execute on such an account without clear evidence rebutting that presumption. The bank may still freeze it when served, leaving you to assert that protection. With a non-spouse co-owner, expect the funder to claim the whole balance until the co-owner proves their share.
Can the MCA funder take my 401(k) or IRA?
Generally, no. A 401(k) covering other employees is an ERISA plan protected by 29 U.S.C. 1056(d)(1), and the Supreme Court held in Patterson v. Shumate that this restriction on transfer is enforceable. A solo 401(k) is not an ERISA plan, so it and any IRA are protected under 42 Pa.C.S. 8124(b)(1)(ix). Contributions exceeding $15,000 in any one year are not protected, nor are fraudulent conveyances. Put $40,000 in your IRA after the MCA went bad and at least $25,000, potentially all of it, is exposed.
Can an MCA Funder Garnish Your Paycheck in Pennsylvania?
No. Your paycheck is exempt from garnishment while in the hands of your employer under 42 Pa.C.S. 8127. Its exceptions (support, divorce, residential rent and a few others) do not include commercial guaranty judgments. Once it hits your account, it is no longer exempt. Whether owner draws from your own company can be garnished is a question for counsel. In New York, a funder can use an income execution to take up to 10% of your gross income under CPLR 5231.
Can the MCA funder take my car?
Yes, if you have equity in it. Pennsylvania has no vehicle exemption, and outside bankruptcy only the $300 general exemption applies. A loan noted on the title takes priority over a later judgment lien (see UCC 9-317), so the funder only gets what is left after the payoff and the costs of sale. A paid-off pickup is a better target than a financed car. A vehicle titled to an LLC is not reached by your guarantor judgment.
Can the MCA funder go after my interest in another LLC?
Yes, they can obtain a charging order, the exclusive remedy under 15 Pa.C.S. 8853. It redirects your distributions to the funder. If distributions won't pay the judgment within a reasonable time, a court can order the interest foreclosed and sold, including the entire interest in a single-member LLC. A rental you own personally gets no such buffer.
Can the MCA funder take my house?
A judgment in the county where the house is located acts as a lien on the house by operation of law under 42 Pa.C.S. 4303. Pennsylvania has no homestead exemption outside bankruptcy. Owning it with your spouse as tenants by the entireties protects it, unless your spouse also signed as a guarantor. See Does a Personal Guarantee on an MCA Cover My House? and 5 Exemptions That Shield Owners in MCA Cases for more.
Can I just move everything into my spouse's name now?
Not if you've already defaulted. Under 12 Pa.C.S. 5104, a creditor can undo a transfer made to hinder or delay it, and moving assets to an insider after a threat of suit is evidence of that intent. And retitling entireties property out of your name gives up that protection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it matter that my MCA contract says New York law?
Not for your Pennsylvania property. Once a New York judgment is filed under 42 Pa.C.S. 4306, it can be enforced just like a Pennsylvania judgment, and the exemptions above still apply. Since New York's 2019 confession of judgment reform, a funder can't file a New York confession against a Pennsylvania resident.
How does the MCA funder know what I own?
Once they have a judgment, they can depose you or serve you with written interrogatories under Pa.R.C.P. 3117. Third parties, like your bank, can be questioned too. If they find property that way, they can charge you with the cost.
If my spouse and I have a joint account, is it safe from the MCA funder?
If your spouse did not sign on as a guarantor, probably. A married couple's joint account is presumed to be entireties property, which a creditor of only one spouse cannot execute on absent clear evidence of a contrary intent. It is not safe if your spouse signed as a guarantor or if you get divorced.