Tx: Employer Told Me Paperwork Was For A $1,000 Payroll Bonus. Turns Out I Was Listed As A Guarantor On A $35k Business Financing Deal. Now My Paypal Is Frozen.

Location: Texas, USA

Hi everyone. I’m really hoping for guidance because this situation has me extremely stressed.

A few months ago I was working with a small business (an LLC). The owner asked me to fill out some paperwork and told me it was related to adding me to payroll and getting a $1,000 bonus (Common in my industry to give bonuses). I was in a pretty vulnerable financial situation at the time and trusted what I was told.

I later discovered that the paperwork was actually for a merchant cash advance financing agreement for the business.

Important details:

• The financing amount was about $35,000 funded with about $52k total repayment.
• The business received all of the money, not me.
• I do not own the company and never did.
• I was told multiple times that I would not be responsible and that the paperwork was just part of onboarding.
• I later saw that I was listed as a personal guarantor and described as something like an “operating partner,”which I absolutely was not.
• I never received any of the funds.

I eventually found documentation showing that my name and photo (taken from my Facebook) were used in materials related to the financing deal. I believe my identity and role were misrepresented to obtain the financing.

Recently my personal PayPal account was frozen due to a legal demand / UCC lien tied to the financing company.

As far as I know:

• I have not been served with a lawsuit
• There is no judgment against me
• The lender appears to have contacted PayPal claiming a lien

My questions:

1. If I was misled into signing documents or my role was misrepresented, can they still hold me personally responsible?
2. Is it normal for these financing companies to freeze payment processors before filing a lawsuit?
3. Can a UCC lien really apply to my personal PayPal account if the financing was for an LLC?
4. Should I be filing an identity theft report or taking other steps right now?
5. What type of lawyer should I be looking for if this escalates?
6. I have a MetLife legal plan I can use but none of the firms seemed to want to help until I am served a suit officially.

I’m located in Texas, although the agreement references New York law and venue.

I’m mainly trying to understand how serious this situation is and what my best next steps should be.

I have managed to access to the email currently that the owner of the company used to make this deal happen. I am retaining as much documentation as possible.