No Obligation, Pre-Qualification
Funding After a Bankruptcy, a Tax Lien, or a Score in the 400s
We have helped a lot of business owners who had some trouble with their credit, prior bankruptcies, and even tax liens. Our bad credit business loans reach an extensive network of funders that underwrites on what your business does today, not only on what your credit report says about a bad year.
Bad Credit Business Loans for Specific Situations, Not Generic Profiles
Traditional funders tend to stop at the score. We start from the fact that a credit rating can be dragged down by a single bad year, a medical event, a partner’s default or a filing that was discharged long ago. Our bad credit business loans are built for businesses that can carry a payment but cannot show a clean report, and we size the request to what the revenue supports rather than to what the file would technically allow.
“Bad credit” covers situations that have very little to do with each other. A discharged bankruptcy, an open tax lien, a default you cured last year and a score that never recovered all read differently to an underwriter, and they open different doors. Our network of funders uses underwriting systems that don’t solely depend on your personal credit score, which is why one application can come back with multiple offers even when a bank conversation ended in a single sentence.
A prior bankruptcy. Discharge date matters more than the filing itself. The further behind you the discharge sits, and the more consistent your deposits have been since, the wider the set of programs we can put in front of you. Owners in this position are usually best served by products underwritten on receipts rather than on the credit file.
An open or satisfied tax lien. A lien is a claim ahead of any new funder, so it changes which funders will participate rather than whether anything is available at all. A satisfied lien with proof of release moves you back toward the standard programs. An open lien on a payment plan is still workable, and telling us about it early saves a decline later.
A recent default or charge-off. Recency is the variable that moves fastest in your favor. Twelve clean months after the event changes the conversation materially, and in the meantime the revenue-based programs in our network are the ones to look at.
A score in the 400s. A low score narrows the list of funders rather than ending it. Some programs we can reach start around a 475 score, provided the business side is solid.
- Prior Bankruptcy Considered
- Open Tax Lien? Still Apply
- Scores From Around 475 Up
- Funding in as Little as 24 Hours
See what your business qualifies for.
One application, compared across our extensive network of funders. On average, funding is received within 2-4 business days.
What Each Credit Situation Changes About Your Options
Typically, a credit score below 600 is considered challenging. However, we evaluate businesses on multiple factors, not just credit score.
They shift the underwriting away from your personal credit file and onto what the business takes in. That usually means one of three shapes: an advance against merchant card sales, funding written against your outstanding invoices, or a loan sized to your monthly revenue. All three are looking at deposits and receipts rather than at a score.
Access is what these products actually offer. If the business has steady cash flow, funding is reachable now rather than after two years of credit repair. That is what brings in independent auto repair shops with a bay sitting idle, salon and spa owners rebuilding after a slow year, and e-commerce and online retail businesses whose deposits read far healthier than their credit file. Used deliberately, the same funding can consolidate more expensive debt into one payment, and repaying it on schedule builds a record that widens your options next time.
More. Funders price the added risk, so expect higher rates and shorter repayment terms than a business with clean credit would be quoted. The trade is worth making when the funding earns more than it costs, and it is worth walking away from when it does not.
Typically, funders look for:
- Annual revenue north of $240K.
- A credit score hovering around 475 or more.
- A business history of at least half a year.
Those figures describe the middle of the range, not its edges; elsewhere in our network, programs open up for businesses operating at least three months with a documented sales history.
Revenue does more work here than anywhere else, because it is what replaces the credit file in the decision — the stronger the deposits, the further down the score a funder will go.
- Work out roughly what the money is for and what it needs to cost.
- Pull together the documents: recent bank statements and credit card processing statements.
- Fill out the application. It takes a few minutes and there is no fee.
- Talk it through with a funding specialist once the offers come back.
- Wait on approval, which on some of these programs comes back the same day.
Paying on time and in full builds a business credit record, and that record is what a better-priced funder looks at the next time you apply. It is one of the more practical reasons to take a smaller amount you are certain you can service rather than the largest number on the table.
There are other routes. Business credit cards, personal loans and credit unions all sit outside our network and are worth a look. If the score itself is the block, credit repair services exist for exactly that, and twelve clean months afterwards changes what we can source for you.
Yes, and it is one of the more common uses. If you have a sales record to point at, a busy season coming, and stock you are confident will move, an advance or a revenue-based loan is a reasonable way to buy it.
It is worth considering if the business numbers are solid and the credit file is the only thing standing in the way. The money covers growth, equipment, day-to-day costs, a slow stretch, or consolidating other debt into one payment. Bad credit business loans through our network reach up to $1 million, and there is no fee to apply. Tell us the situation on the application rather than hoping it goes unnoticed, because the funders who work around a bankruptcy or a lien are a different set than the ones who never see it coming.
Steps to Secure Business Funding with Sterling Street Financial
Submit Your Online Application
Fill out the online form. It asks what your business does, what the money is for, and what your revenue looks like. Call, chat or email if a question comes up.
Talk to Our Experts
A funding specialist reads your file and calls you with what the funders in our network sent back — the amounts, the costs and the repayment schedules.
Get Funded!
Choose the offer you want. Approved funds reach your account in as little as 24 hours, and most requests fund within 2-4 business days.
A Few Minutes to Apply
Fill out our online form and get approved quickly.
Compare Options
Both secured and unsecured loans with no personal guarantee.
Customize Terms
Choose what best suits you and your company’s needs.
Get Funded
Funds in as little as 24 hours, directly to your account.
Take your business to new heights.
Tell us the amount you are after and what your business takes in each month, and we will point your application at the programs that fit. No application fees, no obligation, and no impact on your credit score.