Error #520009 - Account is restricted - php

Question

I get a 520009 error (Account xx#xx.com is restricted) when trying to make a parallel payment. My code worked fine using the sandbox but I switched to the live endpoint and it began failing. The account in question is a valid paypal account and I am using "feespayer=SENDER". Am I missing something? Shouldn't the pay call go through even if the payee is a basic account? Why would this occur?
Here is my code for reference
function deposit($config) {
try {
if (isset($config['return_url']))
$this->return_url = $config['return_url'];
else
return 'Return URL should be set';
if (isset($config['return_url']))
$this->cancel_url = $config['cancel_url'];
else
return 'Cancel URL should be set';
if (isset($config['email']))
$this->sender_email = $config['email'];
else
return 'Email should be defined';
if (isset($config['amount']))
$this->amount = $config['amount'];
else
return 'Amount should be defined';
$returnURL = $this->return_url;
$cancelURL = $this->cancel_url;
$currencyCode = 'USD';
$memo = 'Deposit to ' . $this->ci->config->item('site_name');
$feesPayer = 'SENDER';
$payRequest = new PayRequest();
$payRequest->actionType = "PAY";
$payRequest->cancelUrl = $cancelURL;
$payRequest->returnUrl = $returnURL;
$payRequest->clientDetails = new ClientDetailsType();
$payRequest->clientDetails->applicationId = $this->ci->config->item('application_id');
$payRequest->clientDetails->deviceId = $this->ci->config->item('device_id');
$payRequest->clientDetails->ipAddress = $this->ci->input->ip_address();
$payRequest->currencyCode = $currencyCode;
//$payRequest->senderEmail = $this->sender_email;
$payRequest->requestEnvelope = new RequestEnvelope();
$payRequest->requestEnvelope->errorLanguage = "en_US";
$receivers = array();
$receiver = new receiver();
$receiver->email = $this->ci->config->item('moneyfan_account');
$receiver->amount = $this->amount;
$receiver->primary = 'false';
$receivers[] = $receiver;
$payRequest->receiverList = $receivers;
$payRequest->feesPayer = $feesPayer;
$payRequest->memo = $memo;
$ap = new AdaptivePayments();
$response = $ap->Pay($payRequest);
if (strtoupper($ap->isSuccess) == 'FAILURE') {
$this->ci->session->set_userdata('FAULTMSG', $ap->getLastError());
return json_encode(array('status' => 'false', 'msg' => $ap->getLastError()->error->errorId .' : '. $ap->getLastError()->error->message));
//redirect(site_url('home/api_error'));
} else {
$this->ci->session->set_userdata('payKey', $response->payKey);
if ($response->paymentExecStatus == "COMPLETED") {
redirect($returnURL);
} else {
$token = $response->payKey;
$payPalURL = PAYPAL_REDIRECT_URL . '_ap-payment&paykey=' . $token;
return json_encode(array('status' => 'true', 'msg' => $payPalURL));
//header("Location: " . $payPalURL);
}
}
} catch (Exception $ex) {
$fault = new FaultMessage();
$errorData = new ErrorData();
$errorData->errorId = $ex->getFile();
$errorData->message = $ex->getMessage();
$fault->error = $errorData;
$this->ci->session->set_userdata('FAULTMSG', $fault);
redirect(site_url('home/api_error'));
}
}

Answer 1

No! You cannot do that with a basic account.
For API to work you need to have a VERIFIED Business Account.
In their API it says:
NOTE:
The application owner must have a PayPal Business account.

Answer 2

There are two sources of reference for the PayPal API:
cms.paypal.com pages like the one referenced by Mihai Iorga, and
www.x.com pages like this one:
https://www.x.com/developers/paypal/documentation-tools/going-live-with-your-application
On x.com, it says you must have a verified business account, even though it is unclear from cms.paypal.com that this is the case.