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Ask Aaron! Your Questions on Florida Business Law Answered

Am I Personally Liable for a Business Debt?

Posted by Aaron R. Resnick | Apr 21, 2026

Short Answer

A Florida LLC or corporation generally separates company obligations from its owners, and an LLC member is not personally liable solely because of being a member or manager. Personal exposure can still arise through a signed guarantee, individual contract, personal wrongdoing, payroll or tax obligations, improper distributions, or facts supporting a challenge to the entity's separateness. The first step is to identify exactly what was signed, in which capacity, and which claim is asserted. Do not move assets or dissolve the company in reaction to a demand without legal review.

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over 25 years representing business owners in disputes. As seen in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Miami Herald.

Personal guarantee on a business debt, Law Offices of Aaron Resnick

Tell Aaron what happened. What you signed, what the business owes, and what the lender is demanding from you.

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Since 1998Representing business owners in major disputes
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When This Becomes Urgent

  • A creditor has sued you individually, demanded a financial statement, or threatened prejudgment remedies.
  • You signed a lease, loan, vendor agreement, or credit application containing a personal guarantee.
  • The business is insolvent, closing, making owner distributions, or transferring assets.

What Usually Goes Wrong

  • Assuming the LLC name on the contract means no personal guarantee exists elsewhere in the document.
  • Paying company and personal expenses from the same accounts without clear records.
  • Transferring assets after a claim arises in a way that creates additional exposure.

Why Miami Experience Matters

Miami businesses frequently use layered LLCs, property entities, lender guarantees, and cross collateralized obligations. A lawyer experienced in Miami commercial disputes reads the entire structure, including signature blocks, loan documents, leases, related entities, and where the assets are held. Local experience matters because the practical defense may depend as much on the transaction and collection landscape as on the liability language.

Local proof: Miami Beach Bar Association leadership

What to Have Ready

  • The debt instrument, contract, lease, credit application, and all guarantees.
  • Signature pages showing the capacity in which each person signed.
  • Entity records, bank statements, distributions, and intercompany transfers.
  • Demand letters, lawsuit papers, liens, judgments, and collection notices.
  • Insurance, indemnity, collateral, and any proposed workout documents.

What Typically Happens Next

Counsel separates company liability from individual liability and tests each asserted basis for personal exposure. The response may challenge the guarantee, defend the underlying debt, assert offsets, negotiate a workout, protect exempt or separate assets lawfully, or address governance and solvency issues. The strategy must also account for collection risk, because resolving a business debt requires a realistic view of both liability and enforcement.

Related Questions and Reading

We Don't Make Promises. We Have Results to Prove It.

Aaron Resnick has handled business disputes in Miami since 1998 and is a fourth generation Miami attorney. He works hands-on on every case; the client gets Aaron on every major litigation issue, not a junior partner. The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick represents large corporations, Miami businesses and their owners, professional athletes and entertainers in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties and across Florida in business litigation and business counsel. Call 305-672-7495 or request a consultation.

This page provides general information and is not legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome.

Viewing this page or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Deadlines can be short. If your matter is time sensitive, call the office at 305-672-7495.

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About the Author

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Aaron R. Resnick

Aaron Resnick is a Miami business attorney who founded the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick in 2005. He is a past president of the Miami Beach Bar Association and has been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2013.

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