Guide · If you already have an advance
Your funding offer changed after you sent your bank statements. Is that a bait and switch?
By Alex Makowski Published
Not necessarily. No funder can price an advance before reading your statements, so any figure quoted earlier was an estimate, and underwriting legitimately changes the amount, factor and term. It is a bait and switch when the earlier figure was presented as an offer, or when the contract differs from the final offer you were shown.
In this guide
- 01What underwriting is allowed to change
- 02The signs it was a bait and switch
- 03How to compare the offer to the contract
- Won't affect your credit
- Free, no obligation
- Up to $500K
01
What underwriting is allowed to change
Your statements are the underwriting. A funder reads average daily balance, deposit consistency, negative days and returned items, and any existing advances it can see debiting. Each of those moves the offer, and none of them is visible from a phone call.
| What the statements show | What usually changes |
|---|---|
| Deposits lower than you estimated | A smaller amount; the amount is sized to deposits |
| Negative balance days or returned items | A higher factor, a shorter term, or a decline |
| An existing advance debiting | A smaller amount, a shorter term, or an offer to buy it out |
| Large one-off deposits | Excluded from revenue, which lowers the amount |
| A low average daily balance | A smaller amount or a shorter term |
02
The signs it was a bait and switch
A changed offer with a reason attached is underwriting. A changed contract with no reason, or a number that was never possible, is the complaint that shows up again and again in reviews of this industry.
- You were quoted a specific factor rate, amount and term before anyone saw a statement, and told it was approved.
- The company on the contract is not the one you were talking to, and nobody explained why.
- Fees appear on the contract that were not on the offer.
- The term on the contract is shorter, or the payment larger, than the final offer, with no reason given.
- You are pressed to sign the same day because the offer "expires".
03
How to compare the offer to the contract
Before you sign, put the final offer and the contract side by side and check five numbers: the amount funded, the fees deducted, the cash you will actually receive, the total payback, and the payment and its frequency. If any of the five differs, ask why in writing.
Several states now require a funder to disclose the total cost of commercial financing in writing before you sign. Our guide to commercial financing disclosure laws lists the states and what the disclosure has to contain; if you are in one of them, that disclosure is the document to compare against.
Business Loans for America does not quote a rate before a funder has read your statements, for exactly this reason. The offers you see are the funders' own, with the payback stated in dollars.
Written by
Alex Makowski, Owner
Alex Makowski owns and runs Business Loans for America and has been placing funding for U.S. small businesses since 2021. Businesses he has worked with have secured $50M+ in financing across 1,200+ placements. He writes and reviews every guide on this site.
FAQ
Related questions.
- Can a funder lower the amount after I accept the offer?
- Until the contract is signed, yes, and final verification sometimes does. After signing, the contract governs; a funder changing terms after you have signed is a different matter and worth a lawyer's view.
- Why did the funder ask for more statements?
- Usually to see a longer pattern, often because something in the recent months, a dip, a large deposit or a new debit, needs context. It is not a bad sign in itself.
- Where do I complain about a bait and switch?
- Your state attorney general and the FTC both take complaints about small-business funding practices. Keep the original quote, the offer and the contract.
Guides
More on if you already have an advance
Debits after payoff
Get the paid-in-full letter, call the bank the same day, and demand the lien release in writing.
If you are behind on an advance
The order to do things in, what not to do, and which guide answers your exact situation.
Consolidating your positions
One new advance pays off the old ones. One debit instead of three, and the total it adds, worked through.
Reverse consolidation
The old advances stay open and a new funder covers their debits. Breathing room, at a price.
Refinancing with an SBA or bank loan
Not while the advance is still running. What SBA's October 2026 rule allows, and what a bank reads instead.
"Take the advance, we'll refinance you later"
Nothing makes the later loan happen, and the advance itself makes it harder to get.
Sources
- FTC — Report FraudWhere to report advance-fee and business-funding scams.
- California DFPI — Commercial Financing DisclosuresWhat a provider must disclose to a California small business, and when.
- New York DFS — Commercial Finance Disclosure Law, 23 NYCRR 600The regulation itself, including the duties it places on brokers.
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Find out what you qualify for before you need it.
Eleven questions, about two minutes. You see offers side by side and take one, or none.
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