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Crystal Springs Capital lawsuit: what the Second Department held in Big Thicket

Crystal Springs Capital lawsuit coverage of Big Thicket: the Second Department vacated a default and dismissed the complaint as a criminally usurious loan.

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Home · News · Crystal Springs Capital lawsuit

By Anonymous MCA industry contributor Research, writing and editorial review · MCA sales background

A Crystal Springs Capital lawsuit search usually lands on private New York collection litigation naming Crystal Springs Capital, Inc., not a statewide Attorney General enforcement caption. The clearest published appellate signal is the Second Department's October 11, 2023 decision in Crystal Springs Capital, Inc. v. Big Thicket Coin, LLC, 2023 NY Slip Op 05121, 220 AD3d 745. That panel reversed a Nassau County order that had left a default judgment standing, held the merchant agreement was a criminally usurious loan, vacated the judgment and a bank restraining notice, and dismissed the complaint on documentary evidence. This page sticks to that Slip Opinion and the trial-level order it reversed. It is not a prediction about your file.

Editorial update: 2026-10-27 · Desk research of the published Second Department opinion (and the Nassau order it modified). Not legal advice.

Quick answer

ItemPublic record
Lead published caseCrystal Springs Capital, Inc. v. Big Thicket Coin, LLC, 2023 NY Slip Op 05121, 220 AD3d 745 (2d Dept Oct. 11, 2023)
Trial courtSupreme Court, Nassau County (Quinn, J.), order entered Jan. 10, 2022 (Index No. 609455/20)
Trial postureDefault judgment dated Aug. 20, 2021; Nassau denied merchants' motion to vacate / dismiss / lift restraint
Appellate outcomeOrder modified: vacatur of judgment granted (interest of justice); CPLR 3211(a)(1) dismissal granted; CPLR 5240 vacatur of Gold Pro bank restraint granted; declaratory-judgment request denied (no counterclaim)
Core holdingAgreement was a loan with absolute repayment; annual rate above Penal Law § 190.40's 25% criminal-usury threshold; void

Soft next step if papers name Crystal Springs Capital: compare your reconciliation, fixed-debit, default, and bankruptcy clauses to the three-factor package the Second Department treated as absolute repayment before you assume either label controls.

What happened below and on appeal

In August 2020, Crystal Springs and Big Thicket Coin, LLC, Big Thicket Coin & Bullion, LLC, Gold Pro, LLC, and Big Thicket Group, LLC entered a written merchant agreement. Crystal Springs agreed to purchase $140,000 of future receipts for $90,000. Michael James White signed for the Big Thicket entities and gave a personal guaranty.

Crystal Springs sued for breach in September 2020. The defendants defaulted. On August 20, 2021, Nassau entered a default judgment. In October 2021 the defendants moved to vacate that judgment (including on the ground the deal was a criminally usurious loan), to dismiss under CPLR 3211(a), to vacate a restraining notice on a Gold Pro bank account under CPLR 5240, and for a declaration that Crystal Springs could recover no principal or interest. Nassau denied the motion on January 10, 2022. The defendants appealed.

What the Second Department held

The panel held Nassau should have vacated the default in the interest of justice because the agreement was a criminally usurious loan. CPLR 5015(a) is not exhaustive; a court may vacate for sufficient reason and substantial justice, and a reasonable excuse is not always required (Slate Advance; Woodson).

Applying the familiar three-factor test (LG Funding):

  1. The agreement and addendums obligated fixed $4,000 automatic debits each business day.
  2. Crystal Springs was "under no obligation" to reconcile those fixed debits to a percentage of actual sales.
  3. On default (including changed payment-processing arrangements) or bankruptcy, Crystal Springs could collect the full uncollected purchase amount plus all fees.

Together, those terms made repayment absolute, not contingent on actual sales. Crystal Springs did not dispute that the annual rate exceeded the 25% criminal-usury threshold (Penal Law § 190.40). A criminally usurious loan is void (Adar Bays; Kingsize). Vacatur of the judgment followed, and so did vacatur of the Gold Pro restraining notice.

Separately, CPLR 3211(a)(1) dismissal was required: the agreement itself was documentary evidence that utterly refuted the complaint by showing a void usurious loan. The request for a freestanding declaration was properly denied because the defendants had not answered with a counterclaim for that relief (CPLR 3001). Dillon, J.P., Miller, Dowling, and Wan concurred.

Why this matters for "Crystal Springs Capital lawsuit" searches

This is a merchant-side Second Department win that marks when fixed daily debits, no real reconciliation duty, and bankruptcy-as-acceleration cross from receivables purchase into absolute loan territory. Compare:

  • True Business Funding lawsuit: same Department later affirmed funder SJ where reconciliation, indefinite term, and bankruptcy-as-excuse were present (Guerrero).
  • Apollo Funding (published 2d Dept 2025 NY Slip Op 05055): reverse posture; funder SJ granted on contingent-repayment facts (not a Settlement news page yet).
  • Argus Capital lawsuit: Fourth Department kept merchant usury / fraud theories alive past dismissal (Oakshire).
  • Unique Funding Solutions lawsuit: Nassau granted funder SJ despite an "alarming" reconciliation-receipt addendum (A-Z Imports).
  • Reliable Fast Cash lawsuit: Richmond County Slip Op where reconciliation looked illusory (TLC Homes).
  • Richmond Capital lawsuit: AG / First Department enforcement track (different caption family).

If your caption is Crystal Springs collecting after a default judgment, Big Thicket is the published Second Department signal that interest-of-justice vacatur plus documentary dismissal can follow when the contract package looks like absolute repayment above 25%. A different reconciliation clause or bankruptcy treatment can push the same Department the other way (Guerrero; Principis).

Related funder lawsuit pages

Crystal Springs Capital is a smaller name in the court records. The MCA lawsuit tracker shows where it fits among the funders we follow.

Sources (public)

Takeaway

Treat "Crystal Springs Capital lawsuit" search intent primarily through the Second Department's Big Thicket opinion: Nassau left a default judgment standing; the Appellate Division vacated it in the interest of justice, dismissed the complaint on the agreement itself, and lifted a bank restraint after finding fixed daily debits, no reconciliation obligation, and bankruptcy/default acceleration made repayment absolute and criminally usurious. That is a line-drawing appellate signal, not a statewide ban on every MCA and not an FTC refund story.

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